Ann P Kalayil, who has roots in India's southern state Kerela is excited with the two firsts to her credit, being the first woman as well as the first Asian to head the General Services Administration (GSA) of the six-state Great Lakes Region.
Kalayil, 50, wants to improve GSA, which is the federal government's real estate and procurement manager and serves Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
"It's interesting in many dimensions. It's always exciting to be the first and also you are responsible towards duty and government and for others who come behind you," Kalayil told PTI.
Born in Chicago but originally from Keezhoor in Kottayam district of Kerala, she was appointed by President Barack Obama to the post in January this year.
As head of GSA, she has worked for energy conservation policy launched by the Obama government.
GSA is responsible for federal buildings owned and leased - like congressional offices, Internal Revenue Service, and Social Security.
She said that she has the opportunity because of the economy and that she worked to serve federal agencies.
"Our goal is to increase energy star buildings,lighting, infrastructure and decrease water consumption in toilets," she said.
"Our agenda is sustainability. An amount of USD 4.5 billion was given to the GSA through the Act (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) to create high performance green government buildings," she added.
"We are trying to use HVACs (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning), solar energy and storm water management.
Our goal like President Obama's goal is to consume less energy and have zero environmental footprint," she further added.
Kalayil is responsible for an inventory of 128 federal buildings, 986 leased locations and 11 US land ports of entry on the Canadian border.