INSPECTORS GENERAL

 

Cathy Helm

Cathy L. Helm is the Inspector General for the Smithsonian. She has the full responsibilities of an inspector general as set out in the Inspector General Act. Her office conducts audits and investigations relating to Smithsonian programs and operations; keeps the Board of Regents and Congress informed about problems and deficiencies found; promotes efficiency and effectiveness within the Smithsonian; prevents and detects cases of fraud, waste and abuse; and makes recommendations regarding existing policies and regulations at the Smithsonian.

Previously, Helm was deputy inspector general at the U.S. Government Accountability Office and served in various roles there beginning in 1979. She became deputy inspector general in 2008; before that she was assistant director for the Office of Inspector General (2004–2008), assistant director for the Human Capital Office (2002–2004) and assistant director for the Natural Resources and Environment Team (1998–2002).

Helm graduated from George Washington University with a master’s in public administration in 1980. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 1978 at Western Kentucky University.

Helm is a federal employee and reports directly to the Smithsonian Board of Regents and Congress.

 

The Honorable Michael E. Horowitz

Michael E. Horowitz was confirmed as Inspector General for the Department of Justice (DOJ) by the U.S. Senate on March 29, 2012, and sworn in as the fourth confirmed Inspector General on April 16, 2012. Since 2015, he has simultaneously served as the Chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE).

As Inspector General, Mr. Horowitz oversees a nationwide workforce of more than 450 special agents, auditors, inspectors, attorneys, and support staff whose mission is to detect and deter waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct in DOJ programs and personnel, and to promote economy and efficiency in Department operations. Prior to serving as Inspector General, Mr. Horowitz worked as a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham, & Taft LLP, where he focused his practice on white collar defense, internal investigations, and regulatory compliance. He also was a board member of the Ethics Resource Center and the Society for Corporate Compliance and Ethics. From 2003 to 2009, Mr. Horowitz served as a Presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed Commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Mr. Horowitz previously worked for DOJ in the Criminal Division at Main Justice from 1999 to 2002, first as Deputy Assistant Attorney General and then as Chief of Staff. Prior to joining the Criminal Division, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1991 to 1999. From 1997 to 1999, Mr. Horowitz was the Chief of the Public Corruption Unit, and from 1995 to 1997, he was a Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division. In 1995, he was awarded the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for his work on a complex police corruption investigation. Before joining the DOJ, Mr. Horowitz was an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton and clerked for Judge John G. Davies of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Mr. Horowitz earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School and his Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from Brandeis University.

 

Allison C. Lerner

Allison C. Lerner assumed the duties as Inspector General of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in April 2009, reporting to the National Science Board and the Congress. As head of the Office of Inspector General she recommends policies for promoting economy, efficiency and effectiveness of NSF programs and operations. She leads efforts to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse; improve the integrity of NSF programs and operations; and investigate allegations of misconduct in science.

Ms. Lerner was appointed in November 2005 as Counsel to the Inspector General at the Department of Commerce, a position through which she acted as the IG's principal legal advisor and managed the office's staff attorneys and provision of legal services.

Ms. Lerner began her federal career in 1991, joining the Office of Inspector General at Commerce as assistant counsel, and has been a member of the senior executive service since 2005. During her tenure at Commerce she served as special assistant to the IG, Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Auditing, and Acting Assistant Inspector General for Auditing. Prior to joining the federal government, she was an associate at a law firm in San Antonio, Texas.

In June of 2011, Ms. Lerner was designated by President Obama as a member of the Government Accountability and Transparency Board. She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency and co-chairs the Council's Working Groups on Suspension and Debarment and Research Misconduct.

Ms. Lerner has been honored by the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) with three awards for excellence: in 2001, for her work reviewing the Department of Commerce's management of 5,000 intra-agency and special agreements worth over $1 billion; in 2002, for her assistance in a complex investigation of false claims submitted under a financial award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and in 2005, for her review of a controversial study that recommended significant structural changes to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Finance and Administrative Services.

Ms. Lerner received her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law and a B.A. in liberal arts from the University of Texas. She is admitted to the bar in both Texas and the District of Columbia.

 

Tammy L. Whitcomb Hull

Tammy L. Whitcomb Hull was appointed as the Acting Inspector General for the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General in February 2016. Ms. Whitcomb Hull has served as the Deputy Inspector General since November 2011. In years prior, Tammy served as the Assistant Inspector General for Audit. Tammy came to the Postal Service in November 2005 as an Audit Director.

Tammy started her government career at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Inspection Service, and transitioned with them as a part of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), established in early 1999. During her career at TIGTA, she was an Audit Manager in Dallas, TX for several years before coming to Washington D.C. as the Director of the Office of Management and Policy.

Tammy holds a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting and Business Administration from W. J. Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Internal Auditor, and a Certified Information Systems Auditor.

 

Kevin Winters

Kevin Winters became the Inspector General on January 31, 2019, after serving as the Deputy Inspector General and Counsel for nearly four years.

Previously, Mr. Winters served as a senior executive with NASA’s Office of Inspector General from 2005 through 2015. As NASA’s Assistant Inspector for Investigations, his staff of special agents, investigative auditors, and computer forensic examiners focused on allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse affecting NASA’s programs and operations. In coordination with the Department of Justice, his staff recovered more than $650 million in civil and criminal fraud-related penalties, and his Computer Crimes Division spearheaded many successful investigations into international computer intrusions affecting NASA, which resulted in holding cyber criminals accountable in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Before joining the OIG community, Mr. Winters had a career with the United States Marine Corps, retiring as a Brigadier General. His initial service was as an armor officer with the Second Marine Division, and then as a judge advocate after attending law school through the Funded Law Education Program. Subsequent domestic and overseas assignments included duties as a prosecutor and defense counsel; as a faculty member at the US Army’s JAG School in Charlottesville; a battalion commander at Parris Island Recruit Depot; and as a senior uniformed legal advisor to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, where his office was also responsible for providing legal support to 172,000 Marines and their families. As an adjunct faculty member for the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies, Mr. Winters led instruction teams in the rule of law and civilian control of the military for senior civilian and military officials in the Republic of Congo, Czech Republic, Philippines, Estonia, and the Republic of Ghana.

His final Marine Corps assignment was as the Assistant Judge Advocate General of the Navy, where, among other duties, he was a principal advisor for military justice policy for the Department of the Navy. He was also in the Pentagon on 9/11 and later served in Iraq.

Originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Mr. Winters has a Bachelor of Science in Commerce and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Louisville and a Masters in Law from the University of Virginia.

 

PRESENTERS

 

Dr. Brett M. Baker (Chair, Federal Audit Executive Council and Conference Moderator)

Dr. Brett Baker is the Assistant Inspector General for Audit (AIGA) at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Inspector General (NRC OIG).  Previously he served as the Deputy Inspector General for Audit for the Department of Defense OIG.  He also worked as the AIGA at the National Science Foundation OIG, AIGA at the U.S Department of Commerce OIG, and the Director for Internal Review at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.  He began his audit career at the U.S. Department of Education OIG.

Dr. Baker earned a doctorate in Information Technology and Systems Management from the University of Maryland. He holds a master’s degree in Information Systems Management from the Central Michigan University, a bachelors’ degree in Accounting from the University of Northern Iowa, and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Iowa State University. He is also a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Information Systems Auditor.

Dr. Baker serves as the Chair of the Federal Audit Executive Council and is a member of the Accounting and Auditing Policy Committee of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB). In addition, he serves on the Government Accountability Office’s Yellow Book Advisory Council and the Green Book Advisory Council.  He is also a member of the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB).  Dr. Baker has also published articles on auditing and data analytics, and is a frequent speaker at national conferences. 

Dr. Baker is a recipient of the 2015 Donald L. Scantlebury Memorial Award for Distinguished Leadership in Financial Management Improvement for his data analytics work that has surfaced $4 billion in improper contract, grant, and benefit payments, but more importantly helped agencies strengthen internal controls to limit the likelihood of future occurrences. He has also received four Awards for Excellence from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.  Dr. Baker is a veteran of the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

 

Darrell E. Benjamin, Jr.

Darrell Benjamin, Jr., Deputy Assistant Inspector General (DAIG), Mission operations, joined the Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) in 1998. The mission of the OIG is to prevent, detect, and report fraud, waste, and misconduct, and promote efficiency in Postal Service operations.

Darrell has held various audit director and executive level positions within the OIG in both the financial and operational audit areas. In his current role as DAIG, Mission Operations, his teams perform audits related to the Postal Service’s transportation and mail processing network.

Darrell is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor, and has a Master of Arts in Management. He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Institute of Internal Auditors.

 

Quintin Durden

Quintin Durden has been the Deputy Director of the Operations Division in the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) since April 2015. In this role, he is responsible for tracking all recommendations to improve VA programs and operations from issuance to closure, processing reports in accordance with accessibility guidelines for publication to the VA OIG’s public website, distributing content electronically to Congress and the public, producing the Semiannual Report to Congress and Major Management Challenges, and responding to ad-hoc requests from Congress and other stakeholders for information related to reports and associated recommendations. Prior to his current position, Mr. Durden had been a Management Analyst with the Operations Division since May 2010. Prior to joining the VA OIG, Mr. Durden served in the U.S. Army for five years as a Field Artillery Officer and was stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. At these locations, he served as a Fire Direction Officer, Platoon Leader, and Fire Support Officer at the company level; an Operations Officer at the battalion level; and the Deputy Secretary of the General Staff at post headquarters. As a Platoon Leader and Fire Support Officer focused on lethal and nonlethal targeting, Mr. Durden served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, earning a bronze star. Mr. Durden is a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina and earned a bachelor of science degree from West Point with a major in American Legal Systems, a master of arts degree from Webster University in Management and Leadership, and a graduate certificate from West Virginia University in Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination. In his spare time, Mr. Durden enjoys spending time with his family in addition to sports, wellness, volunteering, and watching the science channel. He and his wife, Shy, have one child.

 

Temika Edwards

Dr. Temika Edwards is a recognized leader, program manager, and speaker with 14 years of private and public sector experience in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), capacity and policy development, change management, and strategic planning.  With an exceptional blend of creativity and analytical skills, Temika is adept at applying a focused, relationship-based approach, which involves working across programs and organizations to develop teams and surpass expectations.

As Acting Director of the Policy, Strategy, and Risk (PSR) division within the DHS OIG’s Office of Integrity and Quality Oversight, Temika is working to build and apply a comprehensive methodology for identifying, evaluating, and addressing internal and external risks to the OIG and, more broadly, the DHS.  Previously, Temika served as Acting Branch Manager for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), in which capacity she led TSA’s ERM program, fostering a successful culture of risk management. In 2016, the Government Accountability Office recognized TSA’s ERM program as among federal government best practices and acknowledged the agency’s efforts in “…sustaining ERM strategy through leadership engagement.” Temika established and led the Council of the Inspector General on Integrity and Efficiency’s ERM working group. She continues to provide consultative and advisory services to other federal government organizations as they strive to develop ERM programs. She also has expertise in staff modernization, domestic and international training, and regulation compliance. 

Dr. Edwards received her Doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Northcentral University; her M.B.A. from Meredith College; and her B.A. from North Carolina Central University.

 

Branco Garcia

Branco Garcia is a senior financial and IT operations audit manager with broad coverage over financial statements reporting compliance and IT modernization infrastructure operations maturity assessment engagements both in the private and government sectors. Branco has served in many roles throughout his career within the IG community but his tenure at CFTC OIG has been one of the most rewarding and maturing as an IG professional.

 

Laurence Hawkins

Laurence Hawkins is the Director of Audit Operations and Quality Assurance at the NASA, Office of Inspector General (OIG).  He has a degree in Accounting from North Carolina Central University.  In addition, he holds a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry.  Laurence has served his country in the audit profession for the past 29 years with the  Department of Interior, FDIC, U. S. House of Representatives, U. S. Postal Service, and NASA Office of Inspectors General.  In October 2009, Laurence accepted his current position with the NASA OIG.   During his tenure at NASA, he has worked to develop and execute a strategy to achieve the mission and vision of the NASA OIG Office of Audits.  In addition, he has successfully developed and managed the staff and the tools to execute, record, and monitor audit project results.  In addition he has overseen a quality assurance team which works to ensure the Office of Audit’s work is performed at or above the acceptable standard for auditing government entities.

 

Robert Hong

Robert Hong is an auditor at the Department of the Treasury Office of Inspector General (Treasury OIG). Robert has been with Treasury OIG for 8 years, and in the federal audit community for 10 years. At Treasury OIG, he is responsible for the financial statement audits of various Treasury bureaus and Treasury consolidated financial statements. Robert is also responsible for attestation engagements which evaluate controls of service organization and schedules of selected trust funds. He is a Certified Public Accountant, and a Certified Information Systems Auditor. Robert holds a BBA in Management Information Systems from the University of Georgia and Accounting from Georgia State University.

 

Rhonda M. Horried

Ms. Horried is an Assistant Director in USAID OIG’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Audit Division. Ms. Horried leads multiple teams in planning and conducting highly technical and complex audits, and other projects that promote efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability in MCC’s programs, activities, operations, and functions. Prior to joining USAID’s Office of Inspector General for the Millennium Challenge Corporation as an Assistant Director, Ms. Horried worked as a senior audit manager in international affairs and trade team at the Government Accountability Office (GAO). During her 15 year career at the GAO, she received over 20 outstanding performance awards for her significant achievements in leading staff and projects and representing GAO at its office in Baghdad, Iraq and on a detail to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Ms. Horried received a GAO Meritorious Service Award for her outstanding leadership of multi-disciplined teams across several national security, foreign affairs, and trade issues. She also received a GAO Client Service award in recognition of exceptional dedicated analytical work in reviewing the Central Intelligence Agency’s detention and interrogation program. Her sustained excellence to support congressional oversight and decision making in Iraq earned her the GAO Big Picture Award. As a GAO certified Adjunct Faculty and Virtual Facilitator, she earned several GAO Chief Learning Center awards for training entry and senior-level staff in performance auditing and leadership courses. After interning at the State Department at the US embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, USAID, and the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Ms. Horried served as a Peace Corps volunteer at the University of Namibia. She was a past Area Governor in the D.C. area for Toastmasters International and a former GAO Club President. She currently volunteers as a mentor to youth and young adults to empower them to reach their potential, as a part of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the YearUp Baltimore programs. Ms. Horried was the 2016 Big Brothers/Big Sisters Recipient for Through Thick and Thin Award for outstanding mentoring.

Ms. Horried earned a M.A. (Political Science) from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, M.P.A. (International Development concentration) from Rutgers University, and B.A. (Political Science) from Bennett College.

 

Tammie Johnson

Tammie Johnson is a program and management analyst for the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service's Office of Financial Innovation and Transformation. She has worked for FIT for four years on a variety of projects including as the project lead for the financial management strategy study and most recently, the Program Integrity work focusing on fraud data analytics.  Tammie worked on a pilot project to seek to prevent fraud, waste and abuse at the VA and how that work and input from other agencies and industry best practices can be used across the government to build more robust anti-fraud  programs, including using data analytics in antifraud efforts.  She led the efforts to develop the Program Integrity:  The Antifraud Playbook.  She is currently on detail to the bureau's Payment Integrity Center of Excellence and will be continuing to work with agencies to continue addressing fraud and improper payment challenges.

 

Lauretta Joseph

Lauretta Joseph is a Lead Program Analyst for the Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) OIG, New York, NY. Ms. Joseph has worked for the EPA OIG for 16 years. She currently works as a project manager within the Office of Audit and Evaluation where she leads program evaluations that focus mainly on issues such as pesticide usage, environmental justice, climate change, and sustainability issues. As a 2018-2019 CIGIE Fellow, she works as the Acting Assistant Inspector General for Management for AbilityOne OIG. AbilityOne is one of the newest and smallest OIGs that provides oversight for an agency that facilitates over $3 billion in products and services provided by people who are blind and/ or severely disabled through over 500 non-profit agencies.  She is also the former chairperson and Black Employee Program manager for the Office of Inspector General Special Emphasis Program Manager Team for 7 years. Ms. Joseph is currently the senior OIG staff person in the OIG- NYC office for EPA-Region 2. 

Mrs. Joseph is a graduate of Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, graduating magna cum laude. She received her Dual Concentration Master of Public Health degree in Environmental Health and Industrial Hygiene from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her training also includes internships at the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in Brookhaven, New York and USEPA Region III Office of Enforcement, Compliance, and Assurance in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Joseph also served as a Health Disparities Research Training Program Fellow with the Charles B. Wang Center in Manhattan. She currently serves on two advisory boards. One regarding recommending improvements to the special education system in New York State and the other role involves improving literacy rates among at-risk populations in NYC. Ms. Joseph with lives her husband, Michael, in Brooklyn, NY, along with their two children, Caleb and Ethan.

 

Dan Kaneshiro

Dan Kaneshiro is a Policy Analyst with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM), where he is the lead analyst for OFFM’s work on Enterprise Risk Management, Internal Controls, Audit and Inspectors General Issues. Additional responsibilities include Antideficiency Act Violations, Government Charge Cards, and Federal Debt Collection. 

Prior to OMB, Dan served 10 years with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, where he planned, designed and implemented key sections of performance audits, special studies and investigations of alleged fraud, waste and abuse.  Prior to GAO, Dan held positions with the State of Hawaii Department of Public Safety and with the Hawaii Judiciary. 

Dan received both his undergraduate degree in Psychology with a Certificate in Criminal Justice, and a Masters of Public Affairs from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He also received a Juris Doctor from the Catholic University of America located in Washington, DC. 

 

Louis King

Louis C. King is the Assistant Inspector General for Financial and Information Technology Audits at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Inspector General (OIG), where he has worked since 2008. Prior to that, he spent 10 years at Treasury OIG and 9 at the Government Accountability Office. As the Assistant Inspector General for Financial and IT audits, Louis leads the development and execution of an audit plan to test DOT’s accountability over its vast financial resources and its controls over its 450 plus systems and information, including personally identifiable information. He also ensures the execution of this plan using a combination of highly trained financial auditors, information technology specialists and contractors, as well as technological resources. These audits identify DOT’s internal control strengths and weaknesses which we communicate to DOT—to help it improve the management of its financial and technological resources—and to the American public. Mr. King is a CPA and CISA.

 

James E. Long

James Long is currently assigned as the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Major Frauds and Corruption Unit (MFCU), Washington, DC.  SAC Long was hired in April 2017 as part of an effort to bolster DHS OIG’s anti-fraud efforts by building the MFCU and improving DHS OIG’s anti-fraud expertise.  In this capacity, SAC Long developed and executed a strategic plan to build a multi-disciplinary team of financial analysts, forensic accountants/auditors and special agents tasked with uncovering and investigating complex fraud schemes that have significant impact on DHS.  As such, SAC Long oversees large-scale criminal investigations across the Department involving procurement and grant fraud as well as public corruption involving acquisition professionals.  SAC Long has been instrumental in developing investigations involving substantial financial losses in main DHS and its Components, including the Transportation Security Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S Coast Guard, Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Prior to his position with DHS OIG, SAC Long was a Senior Special Agent at the Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Inspector General where he conducted and oversaw investigations of CIA officers and contractor personnel.  SAC Long has also served in the U.S. military for over 28 years.  SAC Long enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1990 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force in 1999.  Throughout the 28 years, SAC Long has served on active duty and in the Reserves.  SAC Long is currently a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve assigned as the Mobilization Augmentee to the Commander of Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI)’s ICON Center on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.

SAC Long holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Northern Illinois University, a Master of Science degree from Central Michigan University, a graduate certificate in Legislative Studies from Georgetown University and is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force’s Command and Staff College and Air War College. 

 

Beverly Lyons

Beverly Lyons is an auditor in the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (DoT OIG) Office of Quality Assurance. Prior to assuming this position in June 2016, she served as the Senior Quality Assurance Auditor at the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. She has over 25 years of federal auditing experience having worked also at the Department of Commerce OIG, House of Representatives OIG, and DoT OIG performing financial statement and performance audits, and monitoring activities of independent public accountants’ audits.

Beverly is the current Vice Chair of the CIGE Federal Audit Executive Council’s Quality Assurance Working Group. Beverly earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of George Mason in Fairfax, VA. She is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Government Financial Manager, Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Internal Auditor, and Certified Government Auditing Professional.

 

Kristene McMinn

Kristene McMinn is a Senior Supervisory Inspector in the Department of State (DOS) OIG. While there, she has conducted or overseen the conduct of inspections, evaluations, and program audits, served as the Coordinator for Thematic Inspections, and also served as the Executive Assistant to the Inspector General. In addition, she served on a Task Force that provided telephone support to Americans when conflict broke out in Lebanon in 2006. Prior to this, she was an auditor and audit team leader at the Department of Defense (DOD) OIG. Kristene’s inspections, evaluations and audits have covered a wide range of functions including grants, contracts, human resources, financial management, personal and real property management, records management, and enterprise risk management.  They have also addressed core DOS and DOD programs including those to administer foreign assistance and identify export opportunities for U.S. companies. Her inspections and audits have taken her to embassies, consulates and military bases in more than 30 countries.

Kristene has also led several efforts to modernize OIG management and inspection techniques, primarily by gaining access to data to identify high risk inspection areas and by creating dashboards to facilitate OIG decision making.  During her CIGIE Fellowship she led a project to assess OIG community interest in shared services, in which CIGIE or an OIG would provide mission support services to another OIG.  She also assisted the Department of Agriculture (USDA) OIG in standing up Tableau-based executive dashboards and determined the extent to which USDA OIG implemented 51 organizational improvements.  Kristene is a member of the Northern Chapter of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants. She has a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting.  She lives in Vienna, VA with her family.   

 

Leonard F. Meade

Leonard is the Director, Office of Quality Assurance, U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General (DoT OIG). He has over 25 years of experience in auditing and quality assurance at the DOT-OIG. He has worked on a wide variety of assignments, including peer reviews, financial statement audits, quality assurance reviews, performance audits, and investigations support. His work has resulted in identified questioned costs, funds put to better use, and findings of Anti-Deficiency Act violations. Leonard has been recognized with a number of awards, including Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency team awards and DOT-OIG individual and team awards.  Leonard graduated from Penn State with a Bachelor of Science in accounting. He currently lives in Maryland with his wife and two teenage sons.

 

Juana Morales

Juana Morales is a commissioned Foreign Service Officer and auditor for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)OIG and has been with the agency for over 10-years. She severed overseas post in Afghanistan, El, Salvador, and Egypt and has led teams in planning and executing complex performance audits, as well as non-federal audits.  Currently, Ms. Morales is posted in Washington D.C. in the OIG’s Quality Assurance and Review (QAR) Division. In this capacity she leads internal reviews of the organization’s Audits, Investigations, and Management functions to ensure compliance with applicable professional standards, and to identify opportunities for improvements. She is also an active member of the FAEC Quality Assurance Workgroup (QAWG) and has assisted with the development  of the workgroup’s website, and efforts to identify best practices in quality management. Additionally, She was a key participant in FAEC’s efforts to update the CIGIE’s Peer Review Guides to reflect changes made to the new 2018 GAO Yellow Book.

Prior to joining USAID-OIG, Ms. Morales worked at Verizon Communication for 10-years, spending most of her career in the engineering and construction divisions in the Tampa Bay area. At Verizon, Ms. Morales had various roles, one of which was as the Quality Assurance Manager. As the manager, she was responsible for establishing the group to oversee the quality of construction work, reduce customer complaints, and manage relationships with municipalities. Ms. Morales earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University and an MBA with a minor in International Business from the University of Tampa.

 

Judith Oliveira

Judith Oliveira is a Director with the Social Security Administration OIG and oversees the audit work of the Boston, Massachusetts Audit Division where she has responsibility for SSA OIG’s work nationwide related to improper payments and for coordinating issues related to improper payments for the OIG community through the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE).   She is a Certified Internal Auditor and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Bentley College.  She is also member of the Institute of Internal Auditors.

 

Jonelle Pianta

Jonelle Pianta is the Chief Risk Officer for the Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General.  Jonelle began her federal career in 1991 when she joined HUD OIG as an auditor. In 1996, she transferred to private industry for five years. Jonelle returned to HUD OIG as a technical representative in the quality control and oversight division within the Office of Audit and became an Assistant Director in 2012. In response to the Office of Budget and Management Circular-A123 update in July 2016, HUD OIG placed new emphasis on developing a rich enterprise risk management program. The agency appointed Jonelle as the Chief Risk Officer in 2017. She developed the ERM framework, which was adopted by HUD OIG, and is communicating the framework and working to mature the program throughout the organization. Jonelle also works closely to coordinate with HUD’s Chief Risk Officer. Her position is located in a division that also handles strategic planning, employee engagement, and quality control. Jonelle has primary responsibility for developing and integrating the program throughout the organization and within its current processes.

Jonelle earned her Accounting degree from Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan and passed the CPA exam. She recently became a RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional for Federal Government.

 

Shellie Purnell-Brown

Shellie Purnell-Brown is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) with over 20 years of internal auditing experience. Shellie graduated from Seton Hall University with a B.S. in Accounting.  She spent the majority of her career in the private sector and has worked in various industries including telecommunications, manufacturing, and retail. She joined the Federal Government OIG community in 2011 and currently works for the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) as a Senior Auditor.  When Shellie joined the FEC, she implemented a formal risk assessment process which is currently used to help develop the annual audit work plan. Her expertise includes internal controls, process improvements, risk assessment, and managing audit projects. Shellie is the Chair of the CIGIE ERM sub-working group for Implementing an ERM Risk Assessment for Audit Planning purposes. In addition, Shellie is currently on the Board of Governors for the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) DC Chapter.

 

Nathan Richmond

Nathan Richmond serves as the Department of Transportation (DOT) OIG's Director and Counsel for Congressional and External Affairs, acting as OIG’s main point-of-contact for congressional committee and member offices and official spokesman to the media, as well as a liaison to the Office of the Secretary of Transportation, DOT operating administrations, OMB and CIGIE. Mr. Richmond handles congressional requests for technical legislative drafting assistance, facilitates congressional briefings, assists the Inspector General in testimony preparation, contributes to the audit messaging process and development of OIG’s annual budget justification, coordinates with other Federal law enforcement agencies and prosecutors regarding public relations matters affecting OIG investigations, and manages the development and content of OIG’s public website. Mr. Richmond was the chief architect of DOT OIG’s Recommendation Dashboard, which was developed and launched in 2016.

Prior to arriving at the OIG in 2007, Mr. Richmond served as Counsel to the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, where he worked for 5 years managing authorization and oversight responsibilities for a broad array of transportation and fish and wildlife programs.

Mr. Richmond received his Juris Doctorate from the Oak Brook College of Law and Government Policy.

 

Kieu Rubb

Kieu is a federal sector Audit Team Lead who has worked for the Department of the Treasury Office of Inspector General, Department of Energy Office of Inspector General, and Defense Contract Audit Agency.  She has also worked in private industry auditing and finance for Computer Sciences Corporation and CACI International.  When not auditing, she gives tours of the Department of the Treasury Building as a volunteer docent.  She has also made contributions to the auditing profession as a volunteer for the AICPA and provided comments and edits to the 2015 draft Uniform CPA Exam and helped facilitated including an article on the AICPA website on the DATA Act efforts by the Department of the Treasury.

Since 2009, Kieu has been active in the Council of the Inspector Generals on Integrity and Efficiency’s audit activities including the audit peer review process and introductory auditing classes. She is a frequent instructor of the Audit Peer Review classes, a team lead and participant for the audit peer review guides’ revisions, and a major contributor to answering questions on the audit peer review guide. Several years ago, she began teaching a portion of the Government Auditing Standards in the Introductory Auditor training class.

Kieu graduated from California State University in Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and is a CPA and Certified Management Accountant.

 

Domenic N. Savini

Currently serving as an assistant director at the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB), Mr. Savini primarily serves the Board in the area of infrastructure addressing such issues as deferred maintenance and repairs, asset impairment, and public-private partnerships. He is currently leading a project on the accounting and reporting of federal land. He began his career with the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) where he supervised both mobile and resident audit teams performing a host of compliance, operational and financial statement audits. While serving as a customer service liaison with both the Department of Transportation-Maritime Administration and Department of the Navy, Mr. Savini developed DCAA’s first-ever Maritime Audit Plan. As a result of his accomplishments, in 1998 he was selected for the prestigious Director’s Fellowship Program. Mr. Savini also worked for the Department of the Navy’s Military Sealift Command as a financial analyst and contract negotiator. In that capacity he was primarily responsible for financial management of the Navy’s multibillion dollar Maritime Pre-positioning Ship program. Mr. Savini served in several prominent positions with the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC). Notably, as Director of REAC’s Public Housing Authority (PHA) Finance Division, he directed the financial assessment and GAAP conversion of HUD’s 3200 Public Housing Agencies and was also responsible for developing nation-wide financial analysis training for both HUD and PHA staff. Immediately prior to joining FASAB, Mr. Savini held the prestigious position of Director of Finance & Administration with the Smithsonian Institution’s Sackler/Freer Galleries of Art. As a result of his accomplishments toward improved Smithsonian financial management and reporting, Mr. Savini’s financial reporting model was adopted by the Institution and served as the foundation for subsequent Board reporting. Mr. Savini is a member of the Government Finance Officer’s Association (GFOA) Special Review Committee, an Association of Government Accountants (AGA) CEAR Board Member and Board Member to the Institute of Internal Auditing’s Public Sector Audit Center and lastly, a Fellow with the Institute for Responsible Infrastructure Stewardship. Mr. Savini has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Kean University, master’s degree in general administration from Central Michigan University, and is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA). He is also a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New Jersey and Virginia. He is a member of the Institute of Management Accountants, Institute of Internal Auditors, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants.

 

Rebecca Sharek

Ms. Sharek is the Deputy Inspector General for Audits, Evaluations, and Special Projects at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Inspector General. In this capacity, she is responsible for overseeing the OIG's audits and evaluations of the agency's programs and operations, as well as special projects.

Ms. Sharek began her auditing career in 1995. Her experience includes nearly 17 years with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), where she served as the NASA OIG Director of Space Operations Audits. She also served as the John F. Kennedy Space Center audit liaison and internal controls point of contact, as well as a supervisory auditor with the Government Printing Office OIG. Prior to joining the SEC OIG, Ms. Sharek was the Assistant Inspector General for Audits at the Export-Import Bank of the United States OIG.

Ms. Sharek is a Certified Internal Auditor. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Rollins College and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Central Florida.

 

Jessica Southwell

Jessica Southwell, a member of the Senior Executive Service, was sworn in as Chief Performance and Risk Management Officer, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Office of the Inspector General (OIG), in May 2016. She is responsible for leading organizational performance and risk management activities across the OIG, working closely with senior leadership to enhance organizational performance and manage risks to the OIG mission. Prior to joining DOL OIG, Ms. Southwell served at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as Director of Agency Councils under the Office of the Administrator, and as Branch Chief of Strategic Planning and Performance Management under the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

Ms. Southwell also served at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as Branch Chief of Strategy and Performance Management, Verification Division, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and as a risk expert within the National Protection and Programs Directorate where she was responsible for facilitating DHS’s implementation of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards regulation. Prior to DHS, Mr. Southwell served at the Department of Health and Human Services, where she managed an array of all-hazard preparedness programs both in the U.S. and abroad.

Ms. Southwell earned a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from the American University, and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the George Washington University. She is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute.

 

Nomi Taslitt

Nomi Taslitt serves as Director of Quality Control at the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). Prior to joining SIGAR, she served as Assistant Director at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in several locations, including the Boston Regional Office, Frankfurt International Branch, and in the Quality and Continuous Improvement Office at GAO Headquarters. Ms. Taslitt holds a AS in Accounting and BS in Public Administration from Bentley University and a MS in National Security Strategy from the National War College, National Defense University.

 

Kashfia Yasmeen

Kashfia Yasmeen, Program Manager, Office of Chief Information Officer, joined the Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) in 2015 as a contractor. During her time at the OIG she has successfully documented and managed all aspects of multiple high profile projects throughout the project lifecycle.

Kashfia played a key role in developing and deploying the case management system for the Office of Investigations at the USPS OIG. She was also the project manager facilitating the design, development and deployment of Oversight.gov, a publicly accessible, searchable website containing the latest public reports from Federal Inspectors General who are members of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE). She specializes in carrying out all aspects of a project from conception to execution. She has extensive experience developing project scopes and objectives, documenting deliverables, and coordinating with internal and external customers to ensure each target is met, leading to a successful launch.

Prior to joining the Postal OIG Kashfia worked as a Business Analyst with AARP and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. Kashfia received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems from University of Minnesota, Duluth.