FAEC 2018 Annual Conference

Patent and Trademark Office, Madison South Auditorium
600 Dulany St. Alexandria, VA (King Street Metro-Yellow line)

September 4-5, 2018

General Information

Details coming soon!

Evaluation Forms

CPE forms will be provided only upon receipt of full and accurate evaluation forms which must be received no later than 30 days following the close of the conference. CPE forms should be mailed to Jaclyn.Storch@nrc.gov

Registration

Event Registration


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+1-855-282-6330
Access code: 640 808 953

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Speaker Bios

Inspector Generals
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.


Robert Westbrooks

Bob Westbrooks is the Inspector General of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. He provides independent oversight of our nation’s defined benefit private pension insurance programs. As Inspector General, Bob focuses on “independent, positive engagement” and creating win-wins whenever possible for the benefit of policy-makers and the nearly 40 million Americans who depend on PBGC for their retirement security.

Bob has over twenty-years' federal law enforcement experience. He began his federal career as a U.S. Postal Inspector, where he conducted mail fraud investigations and performed audits in the Washington, DC area. Bob later served in leadership positions with the Offices of Inspectors General for the National Archives and Records Administration, the U.S. Postal Service, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Prior to his appointment at PBGC, Bob served as Deputy Inspector General at the SBA. His oversight experience as an OIG professional has included conducting investigations and audits, managing investigations and audits, serving as legal counsel, managing operational support functions, and serving on detail to a U.S. Senate subcommittee.

Bob is a life-long learner, and he currently serves as the chair of the CIGIE Professional Development Committee. He earned a B.A. in Justice from the American University. He earned a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, and is a member of the Maryland bar. During his federal career, Bob earned the following professional designations: certified public accountant (CPA), certified internal auditor (CIA), certified fraud examiner (CFE), and most recently certified information systems auditor (CISA). Bob’s current area of interest and study is enterprise risk management, and he writes and speaks frequently on this subject.

Bob is a long-time Montgomery County, MD resident, where he lives with his wife of 30 years, Tracy. Bob and Tracy are the proud parents of five children.


Tammy L. Whitcomb

Tammy L. Whitcomb was appointed as the Acting Inspector General for the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General in February 2016. Ms. Whitcomb 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.


Presenters
Dr. Brett M. Baker

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 having served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.


Amanda Barton

Amanda Barton, currently the Process & Policy Manager at the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, has been with the DOT OIG for over 17 years now in a variety of roles. Before the Policy & Process team, Amanda worked in Aviation audits for DOT. Prior to beginning her career in federal service, Amanda was the Director of Greek Life at Elon University. She received her master’s degree in Education and College Student Personnel in 1999 from Eastern Illinois University.


Billy Sherman Benge

Billy is the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area and is considered a leading expert on the art and science of business process reengineering – and the efficient integration of both audit and project management software, including enterprise risk solutions. He is a frequent speaker at related conferences and has been a driving force for innovation and integration solutions. He has 22 year’s experience in auditing, investigative work, information systems and audit project management software development. In 2015, he collaborated and partnered with Warren Blank on Leadership and Coaching services. He has also worked as an independent professional Coach and Strategic Consultant for various nonprofit and community organizations. In 2015, he began advising Biotech startups, and more recently has driven innovation and strategy for cyber infrastructure solutions.


Ridge Bowman

Ridge Bowman is the Director of Space Operations for NASA’s Office of Inspector General, Office of Audits. In this position he oversees the audits related to human exploration. Prior to joining the IG community, Ridge spent over 9 years with the Government Accountability Office as a Senior Defense Analyst, where he primarily worked on audits and reviews of Department of Defense projects and programs.

Ridge is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and holds a master’s degree in Political Science from Kent State University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Akron.


Charles Brunton

Charles Brunton is a Program Analyst for the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General (EPA-OIG). He has worked with the EPA OIG for 10 years. Charles has extensive experience serving as Team Lead in the audit/evaluations field and holds the professional certification of Project Management Professional. Charles holds an undergraduate degree from James Madison University in International Relations, and a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from Yale University.


Matt Burgenger

Michael Burgenger currently serves as a Project Manager and Contracting Officer Representative for the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General (ED-OIG). In this role, Mike is responsible for coordinating technology solutions, developing standard procedures, managing software applications, improving audit practices, and training audit staff. Formerly, he worked as an internal auditor with U.S. Army Internal Review and as a Tax Accountant for Arthur Andersen, LLP. Mike served 26 years with the U.S. Army as an information technology professional including his last 5 years as a Director of Instruction for the Army Reserve’s Information Technology Center and School at Fort Gordon, GA.

A native of Sacramento, CA, Mike holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration- Accountancy from Sacramento State University and is a Certified Fraud Examiner and Certified Knowledge Management Professional.


Kevin Fagedes

Kevin Fagedes is a Project Manager in the Space Operations Directorate. He leads a multi-discipline team of analysts, auditors, engineers, and attorneys to assess NASA spaceflight programs and projects.

Prior to joining NASA OIG, Kevin served as the Inspector General for the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and retired from active duty after 32 years of service. Kevin has a Master of Science degree in Administration from Central Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Xavier University.


Chris Fontanesi

Chris Fontanesi joined Peace Corps OIG in April 2012 and is an attorney-advisor. In addition to providing legal support for Peace Corps OIG operations, for almost four years Mr. Fontanesi has supported the CIGIE Legislation Committee as it provides the views of the IG community to Congress on legislative initiatives. In 2017, Mr. Fontanesi was awarded the CIGIE Glenn/Roth Award for Exemplary Service for his role in the passage of the Inspector General Empowerment Act. Prior to his service with Peace Corps OIG, Mr. Fontanesi served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Romania from 2007-11, working with Habitat for Humanity Romania as a program manager. For his service, Mr. Fontanesi was awarded both the John F. Kennedy Service Award by Peace Corps (2011) and Habitat for Humanity International Linda Fuller Award for Volunteering Excellence (2010). Mr. Fontanesi received his J.D. with honors from American University Washington College of Law, and his B.A. in political science from the University of California Santa Barbara.


John Garceau

John Garceau has been with HUD OIG since October 2014 after having worked over fourteen years for the Department of Defense, most recently oversees in Germany for the Department of Army, where he has worked as an Active Duty Army Signal Corps Officer, enterprise IT services division director, Information Assurance Manager, and IT Certification and Accreditation evaluator.

His federal career includes a unique blend of long-term interdisciplinary experience within the Information Assurance arena. John began his career with the Federal Government and Department of Defense as a Signal Platoon Leader from 2000-2002 in Colorado. John also served as an Information Management Officer (IMO) and IT Operations Army Officer in Germany prior to transitioning to a Department of Defense contractor in Germany as a Certification & Accreditation auditor in 2007. John then transitioned to Federal Civilian service in 2008 with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) in Germany as the Information Assurance Branch Chief from 2008-2010. He participated in the development and implementation of multiple high level cybersecurity and IT projects in the European Theater. In 2010, John was the US Army in Europe IT Service Level Manager and later transitioned to Information Assurance Manager in 2011 and finally the IT Services Division director in 2014 before coming to HUD OIG. John now serves as the director of the IT Evaluations Division in HUD OIG Office of Evaluation.

John studied Computer Information Systems and Operations Management from the University of Colorado for his undergraduate degree and holds a Master’s of Science in Cybersecurity from Regis University. He also holds several IT and IT security related certifications. John currently resides in Colorado with his wife three sons.


Khalid Hasan

Khalid Hasan serves as senior manager for information technology audits. In that capacity, he directs and oversees a team performing audits of the economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and security of the information technology programs and systems of the Board and the CFPB. Mr. Hasan has over 15 years of experience in conducting, managing, and directing IT audits of complex federal information systems, processes, and programs. Before joining the OIG for the Board and the CFPB, he served as an IT audit manager at the General Services Administration OIG. Mr. Hasan is active in the Inspector General community and currently serves on the Federal Audit Executive Council's Information Technology Committee. Mr. Hasan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Decision Sciences and Management Information Systems from George Mason University, a Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering from George Washington University, and a Master in Business Administration from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is also a certified information systems auditor and project management professional.


Steven Hernandez

Steven Hernandez assumed the CISO role at the Department of Education in 2017, where he also worked as a certification and accreditation manager at the Education Department earlier in his career.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Hernandez served as the former chief information security officer at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Hernandez is also a volunteer at the nonprofit International Information System Security Certification Consortium and has served as a board member at the Cyber Corps Association as well as vice president and vice chairman of the board for the CyberCorps Scholarship For Service association.

He worked as a certification and accreditation manager at the Education Department earlier in his career.


Douglas Holt

Doug currently serves as Executive Director of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency’s (CIGIE’s) Training Institute. In this capacity he oversees the Institute’s three academies – Audit, Inspection and Evaluation (AI&E), Inspector General Criminal Investigator Academy (IGCIA), Leadership and Mission Support (L&MS). Prior to his arrival at CIGIE, Doug served as CLO at the Defense Intelligence Agency. Before entering government service, he worked in the higher education community supporting and leading a variety of workforce development functions. Doug holds a Masters in Applied Behavioral Science from Johns Hopkins University.


William Hoyt

William Hoyt is the Assistant IG for Operations with the Smithsonian Institution Office of the Inspector General. He has been with the Smithsonian OIG for 15 years. He maintains the Smithsonian OIG IT infrastructure and implemented CCH TeamMate for his office in 2009. Most recently, he has worked on migrating systems to the Cloud including email and the investigative case management system. With FAACETS and his office audit staff, he is working to determine the next step for electronic work papers.


Jennifer Kaplan

Jennifer Kaplan is the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Congressional and Public Affairs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where she has overseen a staff of eight people since 2013. Before joining the IG community, Jennifer worked in the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Public Affairs, where she served as director of media and editorial services. Previously, at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she fulfilled media relations, speechwriting and outreach functions. Earlier in her career, Jennifer held public affairs positions at VSA arts (an affiliate of the Kennedy Center) and the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. She also was an adjunct instructor at St. Petersburg Junior College (now St. Petersburg College) and a correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times).


Ed Kell

Ed Kell, an electronics engineer with nearly 15 years of engineering experience, works at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, and was the auditor in charge for the 2017 GOES-R satellite audit. Prior to his current position with Commerce OIG, Mr. Kell worked 8 years at Defense OIG where he conducted audits and evaluations on a wide variety of projects, primarily related to highly advanced technical and engineering programs. In addition, Mr. Kell worked for 4 years as a test engineer at the Naval Air Systems Command, where he supported electromagnetics environmental effects testing for numerous fighter jet programs.

Mr. Kell has a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical and computer engineering from Rowan University, in Glassboro, New Jersey, as well as a master's certificate in project management from George Washington University and Defense Acquisition University. He has also received Level III certificates in both systems engineering and test and evaluation from the Defense Acquisition University.


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.


Richard “Krash” Krasner

Richard “Krash” Krasner is a physical scientist with 32 years of experience in operational, measurement, and analysis for geospatial intelligence, atmospheric science, space systems and physics, acquisition management, and software/hardware development. For the last 8 years, Mr. Krasner has been serving as a senior satellite analyst for the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, performing audits of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s multibillion-dollar satellites programs. Prior to joining Commerce OIG, Mr. Krasner worked on science, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance issues at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the Joint Staff Directorate for Intelligence as an employee of Applied Systems Research and Booz Allen Hamilton. In addition, Mr. Krasner retired from the U.S. Air Force where he served from 1986–2006, which included time as a program element monitor for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)—a joint Commerce/Defense/NASA program—and as an advisor for NPOESS Joint Agency Requirements and Senior Users Advisory Groups.

Mr. Krasner earned a Master of Science degree in atmospheric science from Colorado State University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in meteorology and physics from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.


Tara Linne

Tara Linne, Director of Communications, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. Tara Linne has been with the Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) since 2007 and leads the team responsible for the agency’s internal and external communications. She played an integral part in building the various channels of communication the OIG uses today. Prior to joining the OIG, Tara worked in private sector, first as a graphic designer and writer for a daily newspaper, then as marketing and advertising director for a retail tire and auto chain. She is also a member of the CIGIE Public Affairs Group and National Association of Government Communicators.


Don Patterson

Mr. Don Patterson has over 18 years of extensive experience in the cyber security industry. For 13 of those years, he has led and managed major cyber security and IT Audit initiatives for the Federal government. Mr. Patterson formerly worked as a Senior INFOSEC Specialist supporting the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' enterprise information security program, and now currently works in the DHHS Office of the Inspector General where he manages the OIG's cyber assessments team in conducting penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and cyber threat hunting assessments. His private sector background includes experience as a cyber security engineer in the design, development, testing, and analysis of information security solutions for DoD and Fortune 100 clients. Mr. Patterson holds a B.S. in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and several recognized information security certifications, including the CISSP, ISSEP, CEH, and several SANS GIAC certifications.


David Pouliott

As Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Surface Transportation Audits, Mr. Pouliott is responsible for managing audits, evaluations, and economic analyses of the Department of Transportation highway, transit, rail, maritime, pipeline and hazardous materials programs and projects as well as transportation financing issues.

Mr. Pouliott joined the DOT OIG in 2004 and has 35 years of Federal service. During his career he led numerous performance audits to identify ways to improve the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of program and grant management and made numerous recommendations for improving program outcomes. At DOT OIG, Mr. Pouliott also served as a Program Director, primarily leading audit work covering the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and was instrumental in DOT OIG’s oversight of FHWA under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In 2013, he received the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency award for excellence in transforming oversight of the Federal-aid highway program.

Previously, Mr. Pouliott was with the Department of Justice (DOJ)—first as a senior auditor with the Drug Enforcement Administration and then as a Program Manager for DOJ OIG. Before that, he served for several years as a senior auditor with the Defense Contract Audit Agency.

Mr. Pouliott also has served in the U.S. Army and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Siena College, NY, and a master’s degree in management from the University of Maryland University College.


Robert Proudfoot

Robert Proudfoot works within the Space Operations Directorate. He conducts reviews of contracts and program budgets and preforms technical risk assessments to assess NASA spaceflight and human exploration programs and projects.

Prior to joining NASA OIG, Robert worked at the Department of Education OIG and Kentucky Legislative Research Commission and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bulgaria.

Robert has law degree from the University of Kentucky and a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University.


Morgan Reynolds

Morgan Reynolds is an Information Technology Auditor for the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Inspector General. She has over 12 years of experience conducting Federal audits, with 8 focused on cybersecurity audits, evaluations, and inspections. Her recent projects at Interior include an evaluation that found security weaknesses at a core data center that could expose sensitive data to cyber-attack. She also evaluated industrial control systems that operate the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s hydropower dams.

Prior to Interior, Morgan was an information technology auditor at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Inspector General. She performed audits of NASA’s incident detection and handling capabilities and the security practices on a key NASA mission network. In addition, Morgan’s evaluations of NASA’s practices for securing its nearly 1,500 public websites from cyber-attacks and NASA’s adoption of cloud computing technologies both became the basis for two government-wide reviews on these topics.

Morgan began her audit career at the Big Four public accounting firm, KPMG. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with accounting concentration from Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey.


Jarvis Rodgers

Jarvis is the Director of the Cybersecurity and Information Technology Audit Division at the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. Jarvis leads a team of IT Auditors and Security Analysts that conduct cybersecurity audits across HHS’ vast mission -- over $1 trillion in oversight responsibility. Jarvis holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Information Systems and a Master’s in Business Administration, he is also a Certified Information Systems Auditor and Certified Information Systems Security Professional.


Jenny Rone

Jenny (Virginia) Rone is currently serving as the Acting Deputy Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She joined the USDA OIG executive leadership team in December 2017 as the Assistant Inspector General for the Office of Data Science. In that capacity, Ms. Rone has been responsible for the integration of data analytics into the OIGs primary mission functions in order to promote economy, efficiency, and integrity in the USDA programs and operations. Prior to moving to the USDA OIG, Ms. Rone served the U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau of Fiscal Service in several capacities beginning in 2014 including Executive Director of the Do Not Pay program and Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Debt Management Services. Her final position was as the Acting Assistant Commissioner for Debt Management Services overseeing a staff of 450 and collecting over $7.5 billion in Federal delinquent debt.

Ms. Rone has a long history with the Federal oversight community beginning with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. During her tenure at HHS OIG (1991 – 1998), Ms. Rone served in several capacities including as Special Assistant to the IG in charge of managing all of the IGs responsibilities as the Vice Chair of the (then) President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency and as the first Chief Information Officer / Information Resources Management Director. Ms. Rone then spent the next 14 years serving as an independent contractor/consultant to the IG community including developing and maintaining their website IGnet as well as providing business process and system redesign activities to both the audit and investigations functions for various OIGs. In 2012, Ms. Rone rejoined the Federal government and served as the Assistant Director for Data and Performance Metrics at the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board until 2014.


Ryan Schaedig

Ryan Schaedig is an experienced leader who has lead multiple programs within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service over the past 6 years to include the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), the Collections Information Repository (CIR) and, currently, the Do Not Pay Business Center. Among his current responsibilities as Acting Director of the Do Not Pay Business Center include providing oversight to a team of data scientists located at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis providing advanced analytics, leading a team of Outreach specialist, and ensuring the development and delivery of the DNP Portal, all in support of efforts to identify, detect, and prevent improper payments. In addition to supporting Federal Agencies, Do Not Pay has begun providing some support to Federally funded State administered programs with the expansion of its authorities under the Federal Improper Payment Coordination Act (FIPCA) of 2015.


Ross Simms

Mr. Simms is an assistant director for the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB or “the Board”). His projects have focused on enhancing the conceptual framework for federal financial accounting and reporting, classified activities, user needs, the federal reporting model, and the hierarchy of generally accepted accounting principles. Mr. Simms is a Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Global Management Accountant, and Certified Internal Auditor. He graduated from Jackson State University with a bachelor of science in accounting and received a master’s in business administration from Mississippi State University. Mr. Simms also received a Certificate in Information Technology from the University of Virginia.


Katherine Smith

Katherine Smith is an auditor at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, and has more than 9 years of experience in her field. Ms. Smith has spent the last 8 years focused on acquisition audits, most notably related to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s multibillion-dollar Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R), Joint Polar Satellite System, and Polar Follow-On programs. Ms. Smith’s contributions to these audits have aided in identifying more than $8.6 billion of potential monetary benefits. In addition, Ms. Smith assisted with oversight of the 2010 Census Nonresponse Follow-up—the largest and most expensive Decennial Census operation. Ms. Smith is currently leading another GOES-R audit to assess the adequacy of development and testing, as the first two satellites transition into a fully operational status.

Ms. Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Denver.


Frank Tersigni

Frank Tersigni is a physical scientist with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, and brings nearly 25 years of leadership and technical experience to his current position. Including the 2017 audit of the GOES-R program, Mr. Tersigni has conducted three audits and evaluations of NOAA satellite programs in the past 3 years. Prior to this period, he performed a wide range of duties in the U.S. Air Force (USAF), including, but not limited to, command of USAF's largest overseas combat weather squadron, Defense’s largest air operations center's weather directorate, and a solar observatory. In addition, he led a 150-person regional weather center as well as a 30-person software development branch that introduced classified observations to USAF weather models, and also served as a chief of staff for the Air Force Weather Agency.

Mr. Tersigni has a Master of Science degree in physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology that culminated with a thesis on space charge structures in non-equilibrium plasmas, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology from Florida State University (FSU).


Khadija Walker

Khadija Walker is a project manager for the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General (EPA-OIG). She has worked with the EPA OIG for 15 years. Khadija has extensive experience in leading assignments in the audit/evaluations field and holds the professional certifications of Six Sigma Yellow Belt and Contract Officer Technical Representative. Khadija holds an undergraduate degree from Chatham University in Global Policy Studies, and a Masters in International Development and Policy from the University of Pittsburgh.

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