Maxene M. Bardwell, CPA-CITP, CFE, CIGA, CIA, CISA, CRMA, is the Assistant Inspector General within the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) at WSSC Water in Laurel, Maryland. She leads a team of OIG staff who routinely help save the utility and its customers millions of dollars each fiscal year through various audits, risk mitigation efforts, and the deterrence of fraud, waste, and abuse.

Maxene earned her master’s degree with a finance concentration from Notre Dame of Maryland University and a bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration from The Ohio State University.

Maxene currently serves as the Treasurer for the Association of Inspectors General (AIG), Vice President of the Board of Directors for ISACA-Central Maryland Chapter, American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Auditing Standards Board member, Vice Chairman for the City of Laurel Maryland Ethics Commission, and member of the Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA) Board of Directors.

Maxene is the Certified Inspector General Auditor (CIGA) Course Manager for the AIG’s Inspectors General Institute. She is the AICPA’s 2021 Outstanding CPA in Local Government Impact Award Winner. Maxene is also a national conference presenter, has authored several professional insights articles for the AICPA, and has been featured as a guest for accounting podcasts and the Journal of Accountancy.

Natalie M. Beckwith holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of the District of Columbia and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Public Policy and Management from Bowie State University. While still a student at Bowie State University, Natalie created the MPA Comprehensive Examination Tools for Success Guide and was instrumental in implementing the one day Comprehensive Exam Study Workshop.

Natalie currently serves as the Contract Compliance Manager for the Montgomery County Government’s Department of Health and Human Services where she specializes in contract compliance and Federal and State grant funding financial reporting.

Prior to being employed with the Montgomery County Government she was an Assistant Inspector General with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s Office of the Inspector General. During her tenure with the Commission, she developed and facilitated in-house trainings on Fraud, Waste and Abuse, Audit Refreshers for Managers and Fireside Chats with the OIG. She also provided coordination and administrative oversite of the OIG’s triennial Peer Review and developed a Risk Assessment Forum to document the risks experienced by middle management as a result of a Departmental realignment and a shift in operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms. Beckwith also holds the distinction of being an experienced Certified Inspector General, Certified Internal Controls Auditor and Certified Fraud Examiner.

John Carey became Inspector General of Palm Beach County, Florida on June 23, 2014. His office oversees 42 separate government entities to include the County government and all municipalities within the county.

John is a retired U.S. Marine colonel and retired federal government senior executive. He has more than 46 years of government service in the areas of intelligence, operations, law enforcement, and Inspector General oversight. For the last 22 years, John has served in the Inspector General field. He was the Deputy Inspector General of the Marine Corps; the Deputy Inspector General for Director of National Intelligence; and finally, the Inspector General for the Defense Intelligence Agency before coming to Palm Beach County. John is on the Board of the Association of Inspectors General and the Chair of its Professional Certification Board. He is a Certified Inspector General, Certified Inspector General Auditor, and Certified Inspector General Inspector/Evaluator.

He holds a Bachelors of Arts degree (cum laude) from the Grace College, a Masters of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, and a Masters of Arts in Christian Studies from Palm Beach Atlantic University. He also attended the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, the Federal Executive Institute, and the Kellogg School of Management.

Ms. Chatelain was appointed the 1st Assistant Inspector General for the newly created Jefferson Parish Office of Inspector General (JPOIG) in September 2013. As the 1st Assistant, Ms. Chatelain provides legal counsel and direction across all areas of operations, audit and investigation, as well as provides program oversight and administration. Ms. Chatelain joined the AIG as a member shortly after her appointment, and she became a Certified Inspector General in August 2014.

Ms. Chatelain is a licensed attorney of twenty-eight years, including fourteen years as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Louisiana. She has extensive experience representing governmental entities in state and federal court and advising governmental entities on legislative, administrative, and regulatory matters. Immediately prior to joining the Jefferson Parish Office of Inspector General, Ms. Chatelain was the Director of Governmental and Ethics Compliance for Jefferson Parish. As Director, she developed and implemented new administrative policies across government and launched a program of ethics education.

Ms. Chatelain received her law degree in 1992 from Tulane Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana and her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Louisiana State Univesity, Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1989. She is a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Ethics and Compliance Professional. She is a member of the the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics Professionals.

Kate M. Head is currently the Associate Director of Audit for the University of South Florida, in Tampa Florida. She has over 30 years of experience in internal audit and investigation within a governmental audit shop and over twenty years of experience in data analytics. Kate manages a team of nine auditors including 3 IT Auditors. Prior to being employed with USF, she worked for Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas and for Ernst & Young in Audit and Litigation support. Kate’s passions include risk assessment, information technology, and fraud prevention, detection and investigation. Under Kate’s direction, USF has been using ACL (Galvanize) to implement and grow a data analytics program for over 20 years. Kate routinely presents on data analytics and how to enhance the IT skill sets of operational auditors.

Joe received his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the Florida State University School of Business where he also has degrees in Finance and Marketing. He currently serves as the Vice President for Audit at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (an Inspector General equivalent post). He previously served as City Auditor for the City of Tallahassee and before that Inspector General and Director of Compliance for the State University System of Florida Board of Governors. Joe has over 29 years of service in State of Florida government, serving primarily in Offices of Inspector General and serving as Inspector General for four state agencies.

Joe is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Inspector General (CIG), Certified Inspector General Investigator (CIGI), Certified Inspector General Auditor (CIGA), Certified Government Auditing Professional (CGAP), and Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP). Joe is an active member of several professional organizations including the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), ISACA, Association of Government Accountants (AGA), Association of Inspectors General (AIG), and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).

Joe and his wife Tracey reside in Tallahassee, Florida. In his personal life he prides himself on being a devoted husband and father of four, third degree black belt in TaeKwonDo, proficient woodworker/handyman, avid runner, triathlete, and obstacle course racer.

Mr. Martinez is a Senior Analyst with GAO’s Forensic Audits and Investigative Service team. He has led and performed a variety of performance audits of federal programs, including those managed by the United States Federal Communications Commission, Food and Nutrition Service, Small Business Administration, Administration for Children and Families, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Transportation Security Administration, and the Department of Education. He has over 15 years of auditing experience with GAO. He is a certified GAO instructor and teaches courses at the GAO, including the application of GAO’s Standards of Internal Controls in the Federal Government (i.e., “The Green Book’) and GAO’s agency protocols for working with auditing entities. He is also a Certified Fraud Examiner and Certified Inspector General Auditor. He is also a member of the Association of Inspectors General (AIG) and served on the Board of Directors and Training Committee for AIG’s District of Columbia (DC) chapter, which provided a number of inexpensive auditing and investigative training to the IG community within the DC area. He received his MPA degree from the Inspectors General Program at John Jay College and graduated with a BA from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Flora Miller started her career in state government in 2000 (Public Assistance Eligibility and Public Assistance Fraud Investigations), joining the Office of Inspector General in approximately 2003, serving as a Regional Investigator and Regional Investigator Supervisor. She currently serves as both a Regional Investigator (covering portions of the Central, Northeast, SunCoast, and Southeast Regions), as well as the Accreditation Manager for her agency.

Mrs. Miller is a Team Leader for Inspector General Assessments for the Florida Commission for Law Enforcement Accreditation (CFA) and has completed over 25 assessments (mock, onsite, and technical assistance) as both Team Leader and Team Member. She has also completed approximately 20 Peer Reviews, serving as both Team Leader and Team Member for the Association of Inspectors General Peer Review Committee, and is the current Chair of the AIG's Peer Review Committee. Mrs. Miller is an instructor for the Florida Police Accreditation Coalition (FLA-PAC) and the AIG Institute. She holds certifications as a Certified Inspector General Investigator (CIGI) through the AIG and Certified Accreditation Professional (CAP) through the FLA-PAC. In her downtime, Mrs. Miller is active in the martial arts community with her husband sanctioning amateur competitive events through the Florida Boxing Commission, as well as in the Bahamas.

Erica Smith graduated from the University of Florida with her Master of Accounting in 2005 and Bachelor of Science in Accounting in 2003. Erica Smith started her career as an auditor with KPMG, LLP in Miami, Florida. She transferred to the New Orleans office in 2008. In 2010, she joined the City of New Orleans Office of Inspector General (OIG) and has served as the Deputy Inspector General for Audit since March 2016. During her tenure, the audit department has identified approximately $21 million in savings to the City of New Orleans. In July 2022, Erica accepted the Deputy Inspector General position with the Jefferson Parish OIG where she will supervise audits and evaluations.

Erica Smith is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF), a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and a Certified Inspector General Auditor (CIGA). She is also an adjunct instructor at the University of New Orleans and University of Holy Cross in New Orleans where teaches Advanced Accounting, Auditing, and various other accounting-related courses. Erica has presented to the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), and the Association of Inspectors General (AIG) on various fraud-related topics.

Erica is also active in the audit community. She is on the AIG Board of Directors and serves on the IIA Board of Governors for New Orleans.

Benjamin Spies joined the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General in 2016 as a Performance Analyst and currently serves as a Chief Performance Analyst for Audit & Program Review. Previously, he served as Director of Economic Development for the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago, where he was responsible for advocacy and neighborhood development efforts. He is a Certified Inspector General Auditor and an alumnus of Public Allies Chicago. Spies earned a BA in English and Communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MA in Public Policy from Central European University in Budapest.

Ben Sutphin has over 32 years of experience auditing for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mr. Sutphin has worked as an auditor for the Auditor of Public Accounts, the Virginia State Police, the Division of State Internal Audit, the Virginia Department of Transportation, and, presently, for the Office of the State Inspector General. Mr. Sutphin received a BBA with a focus in Accounting from Radford University and is a Certified Inspector General Auditor, a Certified Internal Auditor, a Certified Government Auditing Professional, a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Information Systems Auditor. Mr. Sutphin is also a Past President of the Southwest Virginia Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors, a Past President of the ISACA Virginia Chapter and a former representative on the IIA North American Customer Relations Committee covering the all of Virginia, Washington DC and Baltimore, Maryland.

Adam Scott Wandt is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Vice Chair for Technology of the Department of Public Management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is a member of the graduate faculty in the Master of Public Administration program and the Master of Digital Forensics and Cyber Security program.

Professor Wandt is a practicing Attorney and Counselor-at-Law (New York). He has worked on sponsored research for, or in partnership with, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Interpol, the United Nations, Sprint, BlackBoard, Entourage, the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics, as well as law enforcement and educational institutions from around the world.

His primary research and consulting interests include technology law and policy, information security, investigative/surveillance technology, OSINT, cryptocurrency, darknet, social engineering, and UCR crime data. He has over two decades of experience developing custom investigative, forensic, educational, and data management solutions for federal, state and local government agencies. Along with two co-principal investigators, he has recently been awarded a $600,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice to study fentanyl sales on the dark web.