Dianna L. Seaborn — profile dossier

Pandemic-program role: As Director of the Office of Financial Assistance she owned SBA's 7(a)/PPP loan policy and was the named signatory on the PPP Procedural Notices (the 5000-series) that told lenders how to make, increase, forgive, and clear holds on PPP loans.
Institution · office: SBA · Office of Capital Access, Office of Financial Assistance (Director) · Type: career (SES)
Tenure (relief-relevant): OFA Director through late 2023 (signing Federal Register notices as Director by April 2018).

The job (role mechanics)

Level / appointment: Career civil servant; Director, Office of Financial Assistance.
Reports to: The Associate Administrator for Capital Access (and Deputy AA), within OCA; up to the Administrator.
Core responsibility: Runs OFA: SBA's loan-policy shop owning the 7(a), 504, secondary-market, and microloan programs. Because PPP was operated as a temporary 7(a) program, she owned its loan policy and was the named signatory on the PPP Procedural Notices (the 5000-series) governing lender processing fees, loan increases, forgiveness submission, changes of ownership, and hold codes.
Pay: Not stated in a first-party document.
Expectations / mandate: Set and issue SBA loan-program policy and the operational rulebook lenders follow (procedural notices, peg-rate/interest notices), implement the Administrator-signed PPP IFRs at the lender-process level, and respond to comment/oversight on capital-access programs.
Tenure norm: Continuing (career civil servant; does not turn over with administrations). Her actual service: OFA Director through late 2023, then reassigned to the Office of Entrepreneurial Development (NAGGL, Jan. 2, 2024).

Who they are

Dianna L. Seaborn is a career SBA official who ran the Office of Financial Assistance (OFA), the loan-policy shop inside SBA's Office of Capital Access that owns the 7(a), 504, secondary-market, and microloan programs. PPP was operated as a temporary 7(a) program, which put Seaborn's signature on the operational rulebook lenders followed throughout 2020–2021.¹²

Education

Not stated in a first-party source; her SBA bio lists no education.¹

Career before the pandemic

She was signing Federal Register notices as "Director, Office of Financial Assistance" by April 3, 2018, and a mid-2019 OFA org chart shows her as Director over the 7(a), 504, secondary-market, and microloan division chiefs.³²

Role in the pandemic relief programs

PPP's foundational rules were interim final rules signed by the Administrator (Jovita Carranza in 2020, Isabella Casillas Guzman in 2021). Seaborn's office issued the 5000-series notices that implemented them, and her signature ("Dianna L. Seaborn / Director / Office of Financial Assistance") appears on the procedural notices that governed lender processing fees, loan increases and changes of ownership.⁴⁵⁹ (No evidence she testified before Congress; her name appears in hearing records as the author of SBA comment-response letters.)⁷

Documents written or signed

Specific PPP 5000-series Procedural Notices issued out of her office (her signature appears on 5000-20036, 5000-20057 and 5000-20076; 5000-20038 is signed by Jihoon Kim, Director of the Office of Financial Program Operations, and 5000-20092 by John A. Miller, Acting Associate Administrator for Capital Access):

5000-20036 — Updated PPP Lender Processing Fee Payment and 1502 Reporting (eff. July 13, 2020).⁴
5000-20076 — First Draw PPP Loan Increases After Enactment of the Economic Aid Act (eff. Jan. 13, 2021).⁵
5000-20038 — Procedures for Lender Submission of PPP Loan Forgiveness Decisions and SBA Forgiveness Reviews (eff. July 23, 2020).⁸
5000-20057 — PPP Loans and Changes of Ownership (eff. Oct. 2, 2020).⁹
5000-20092 — Revised PPP Procedures for Addressing Hold Codes / Compliance Check Error Messages (eff. Feb. 10, 2021).⁶
5000-835955 — Extension and Revision of SBA Guidance on Guaranty Purchases and Lender Servicing for PPP Loans (eff. Oct. 5, 2022).¹⁰

She also signed routine SBA Federal Register notices as OFA Director, e.g., the quarterly interest-rate ("peg" rate) notice of April 3, 2018.³

Career after / where they are now

In late 2023 she left the OFA directorship: NAGGL (Jan. 2, 2024) reported she had been "reassigned to new duties in SBA's Office of Entrepreneurial Development," with Alejandro C. Contreras named acting OFA Director, and indicated she planned to retire in mid-January. SBA's bio page captured in 2026 lists her as Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Capital Access.¹¹¹

Sources held in this archive

Original source documents and archived captures

Sources (first-party)

SBA official bio, "Dianna Seaborn." SBA official bio, "Dianna Seaborn." (original: sba.gov · stored capture) ↩
Coleman Report, "SBA Quick OFA Contacts" (July 16, 2019) — OFA org chart under Seaborn. Coleman Report, "SBA Quick OFA Contacts" July 16, 2019 — OFA org chart under Seaborn (original: colemanreport.com · stored capture) ↩
Federal Register, SBA "Interest Rates," Apr. 3, 2018 (83 FR 14306), signed "Dianna L. Seaborn, Director, Office of Financial Assistance." 2018 06689 Pdf 8c61570ee6e3ab6b (original: govinfo.gov · stored capture) ↩
SBA Procedural Notice 5000-20036, "Updated PPP Lender Processing Fee Payment and 1502 Reporting Process" (signature verified). SBA Procedural Notice 5000-20036, "Updated PPP Lender Processing Fee Payment and 1502 Reporting Process" signature ve... (original: sba.gov · stored capture) ; readable copy: PPP Procedural Notice Updated PPP Lender Processing Fee Payment And 15 7e0be85c6b5e6160 (original: home.treasury.gov · stored capture) ↩
SBA Procedural Notice 5000-20076, "First Draw PPP Loan Increases After Enactment of the Economic Aid Act" (signature verified). Department Of The Treasury Guidance On First Draw Paycheck Protection Program Loan Increases After E 344f8c6d02 (original: home.treasury.gov · stored capture) ↩
SBA Procedural Notice 5000-20092, "Revised PPP Procedures for Addressing Hold Codes / Compliance Check Error Messages." SBA Procedural Notice 5000-20092, "Revised PPP Procedures for Addressing Hold Codes / Compliance Check Error Messages." (original: sba.gov · stored capture) ↩
House Small Business Committee hearing record (May 17, 2023) containing a Dec. 12, 2022 SBA letter signed by Seaborn (illustrates that her name in hearing records is as letter-author, not witness). Comment Letter on RIN 3245-AH87, Affiliation and Lending Criteria — NADCO (original: congress.gov · stored capture) ↩
SBA Procedural Notice 5000-20038, PPP loan-forgiveness submission procedures. SBA Procedural Notice 5000-20038, PPP loan-forgiveness submission procedures (original: sba.gov · stored capture) ↩
SBA Procedural Notice 5000-20057, "PPP Loans and Changes of Ownership." SBA Procedural Notice 5000-20057, "PPP Loans and Changes of Ownership." (original: sba.gov · stored capture) ↩
SBA Procedural Notice 5000-835955, PPP guaranty purchases and lender servicing. SBA Procedural Notice 5000-835955, PPP guaranty purchases and lender servicing (original: sba.gov · stored capture) ↩
NAGGL, "New Acting Director, Office of Financial Assistance" (Jan. 2, 2024) — reassignment, Contreras as successor, retirement note. NAGGL, "New Acting Director, Office of Financial Assistance" Jan. 2, 2024 — reassignment, Contreras as successor, ret... (original: naggl.org · stored capture) ↩