Dee Thompson, a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), was sworn in as Counsel to the Inspector General (IG), U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), in January 2017. As Counsel to the IG, Ms. Thompson manages and directs the OIG’s comprehensive legal program, serves as the DOL’s Whistleblower Protection Ombudsman, and manages the OIG’s Hotline, Records Management, Freedom of Information Act, and Privacy Act programs.
Directly before joining the DOL-OIG, Ms. Thompson served as Chief Counsel, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Office of the General Counsel (OGC), Region VI, where she oversaw a Federal sector law office responsible for providing advisory and litigation services to HHS programs located in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and New Mexico. Before that, Ms. Thompson served as: (1) Deputy General Counsel, U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) OIG; (2) Associate General Counsel, DOI-OIG; and (3) Trial and Advisory Attorney with both the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) OGC, and the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), Contract Dispute Resolution Center (CDRC). Ms. Thompson began her career as a Staff Attorney with the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; and also served as a Law Clerk with the United States Court of Federal Claims. Her portfolio has included fiscal law, employment law, procurement law - including procurement fraud, IG Act audit and investigation issues, Federal Tort Claims law, privacy law/information law, ethics, program fraud, and environmental law.
Ms. Thompson has represented Federal agencies before several administrative bodies, including the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and the Office of Special Counsel. She also has assisted and appeared with Department of Justice attorneys in Federal district and appellate court litigation.
Ms. Thompson is admitted to the U. S. Supreme Court, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, the U.S. Claims Court, and the Supreme Court of Ohio. She holds a Masters of Law in Environmental Law from The George Washington University, a Juris Doctor from Salmon P. Chase Law School, Northern Kentucky University (NKU), and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from NKU. Ms. Thompson is also a graduate of the DOI SES Candidate Development Program; and she completed the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Senior Executive Fellows Program. Ms. Thompson entered the SES in 2009.
Ms. Thompson has received recognition throughout her career, including the President’s Council on Integrity & Efficiency Award for Excellence – Audit and the DHHS Regional Director’s Leadership Award.
Mr. Elliot P. Lewis was appointed as Assistant Inspector General for Audit, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Labor, on May 5, 2002. Prior to this, he served as the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audit. In his current position, Mr. Lewis is responsible for and provides overall leadership to the Office of Audit.
Mr. Lewis joined the U.S. Department of Labor in 1991 as an auditor in the Office of Financial Management Audits. He was promoted to the position of director, Office of Financial Management Audits in 1996. In 2000, Mr. Lewis became the director, Office of Audit Operations. Before joining the Federal Government, he was a partner at T. R. McConnell & Company, CPAs, in Columbia, South Carolina, from 1986 to 1991.
Mr. Lewis is a native of Altavista, Virginia. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University of South Carolina in 1978. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of South Carolina, a member of the Association of Government Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Accounting and Auditing Policy Committee of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, and a past member of the AICPA's Governmental Technical Standards Subcommittee.
Debra D. Pettitt was appointed as Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audit, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Labor, on July 29, 2012, and is responsible for providing overall leadership to the Office of Audit. Prior to her work at the Department, Mrs. Pettitt served as the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audit, Office of Inspector General, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Mrs. Pettitt began her career with the U.S. Air Force Audit Agency as an auditor in 1984, and later joined the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG) as an audit director. Mrs. Pettitt was promoted to Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Oversight and Business Evaluations at the USPS OIG before leaving Federal service and joining PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) LLP as an audit manager in 2005. She subsequently joined Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) in 2008 as the Director, Internal Controls, after having worked with HFHI as the acting Vice President for Internal Audit while at PWC.
Mrs. Pettitt is a native of Norfolk, Va. She received her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Old Dominion University in 1985, earned her master’s degree in Public Administration from Auburn University, Montgomery in 1997, and is a Certified Internal Auditor.
Laura B. Nicolosi was appointed as Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audit, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Labor, on July 23, 2018, and is responsible for providing overall leadership to the Office of Audit. Prior to her work at the Department, Ms. Nicolosi served as the Mission Support Director for the Office of Audits, Office of Inspector General, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Ms. Nicolosi began her career with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General as an auditor in 2000, and later joined the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General as an auditor in the Chicago Regional Audit Office. During this time, she participated in the organization’s competitive Leadership Development Program. She later became an Assistant Regional Audit Manager in the U.S. Department of Justice, San Francisco Regional Audit Office.
Ms. Nicolosi is a native of North Hampton, New Hampshire. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a focus in Accounting from Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts. She is also a graduate of the Harvard University Senior Executive Fellows Program. Formal recognition of her achievements includes the NASA Inspector General’s Exceptional Service Award, the Department of Justice Inspector General’s Award of Merit, Awards of Excellence from CIGIE and the former PCIE/ECIE, as well as Exceptional Achievement, Superior Service, and Honor awards from NASA, the Department of Justice, and HHS.
Cheryl Garcia was appointed as the Assistant Inspector General for Investigations in August of 2016, and is responsible for Investigations involving Department of Labor programs, labor racketeering and labor trafficking. Prior to that, she served as the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations.
Before joining the executive team, Ms. Garcia served the DOL OIG as the Special Agent-in- Charge for Investigations for the New York Region, consisting of eight states in the northeastern U.S. and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Prior to that Ms. Garcia was the Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge overseeing investigations conducted in New York and Connecticut. Prior to that, she served for 10 years as a Special Agent with DOL OIG, conducting investigations prosecuted in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. She was a Presidential Management Intern and began her federal career with the General Accounting Office.
Ms. Garcia has received numerous awards from the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York for her work conducting and supervising criminal investigations for the DOL OIG.
Before joining the federal government, Ms. Garcia worked in the private sector, marketing computer lease financing services. Ms. Garcia has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Columbia University.
Leia spent nearly 26 years as a special agent with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. She began her career with DCIS in 1989 as a summer intern before being appointed as special agent in 1991. She held multiple DCIS headquarters and field positions, including Computer Crimes Special Agent, Financial Crimes Program Manager, Resident Agent in Charge, culminating in her most recent role as Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations (2009 - 2017). She conducted and supervised successful complex criminal investigations, including health care fraud, counterfeit/defective products, theft, major acquisition fraud, public corruption, financial and computer crimes, and undercover operations. As DAIGI, she was responsible for overseeing investigative activities involving Health Care Fraud, Coordination of Remedies, Undercover, Technical Services, Polygraph, and Asset Forfeiture Programs.
Leia earned a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration from George Mason University where she also played Division I basketball. Leia is married with two teenagers, a son and daughter, who are nationally ranked track athletes.
Thomas D. Williams was appointed as Assistant Inspector General for Management and Policy in May 2015. Mr. Williams is member of the Senior Executive Service with a distinguished career in the federal government that spans more than 30 years. His areas of expertise include developing, linking, and implementing strategic; financial; human capital; operational; technology; and administrative policies and plans for federal research, engineering, and regulatory programs.
Before joining the Office of Inspector General, Mr. Williams was the Assistant Administrator for Resource, Technology, and Management at the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the nation's premier source of energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment.
From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Williams served as an Associate Director for Management at the Food and Drug Administration where he oversaw business, administrative, and technology management associated with the agency mission of protecting the U.S. food supply.
In 2002, Mr. Williams became the first Executive Officer for the newly created National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he directed business operations for national research programs to improve minority health and reduce health disparities.
Mr. Williams also served as the Director of Budget and Strategic Planning at the National Environmental Satellite and Data Information Service at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There, he oversaw strategic planning and financial management for the Nation’s multi-billion dollar satellite-based environmental monitoring programs.
From 1986 to 2000, Mr. Williams held numerous positions at the NIH, culminating in his appointment as the Financial Management Officer at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1996.
Mr. Williams holds a Masters of Business Administration from Loyola College where he graduated with Beta Gamma Sigma honors. In 2013, Federal News Radio recognized Mr. Williams as one of the Top 5 Leaders in the Federal Service. In 2015, the President of the United States honored Mr. Williams with the Presidential Rank Award for his years of distinguished service
Charles (Chuck) Sabatos is a career member of the Senior Executive Service. He is a seasoned organizational leader with 30 years of Federal experience within the nexus of management/administration, program operations, and diverse stakeholders.
Within the OIG, Chuck is the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Management and Policy. In this role he is responsible for the strategic performance and results of the OIG staff providing critical services in human resources, budget, information technology, acquisitions, and administrative operations.
Previously, he served for three years as the Senior Advisor for Management and Performance at the Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration. There, he led improvements in management communications, leadership team performance, and employee engagement.
For the six years prior, Chuck served as the Deputy Executive Officer and Acting Executive Officer at the Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition where he provided leadership across a full spectrum of business management functions including human resources, budget, information technology, facilities, logistics, safety, and security. Significantly, he drove results by improving the alignment of organizational goals with resources and leading critical and comprehensive business process reforms.
Chuck’s Federal career began at the National Institutes of Health where he served for 20 years in a variety of progressively responsible positions, including strategic planning, program evaluation, legislative affairs, communications, and knowledge management. Over this time he also gained expertise in identifying and cultivating talented performers and leveraging organizational diversity to build high performing teams that achieve strategic goals.
Chuck is a graduate of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He is also a graduate of Georgetown University’s Senior Executive Leadership Program and the Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Education Program in Driving Government Performance.
Mr. Luiz Santos was appointed as a career member of the Senior Executive Service in 2017, serving as Assistant Inspector General for Congressional and Public Relations, Office of Inspector General (OIG), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). In this role, he oversees the agency’s independent liaison activities with Congress, the Administration, and other government entities. Mr. Santos is also responsible for the production of several official OIG reports, including the Semiannual Report to Congress. In addition, he serves as the agency’s Public Affairs Officer, directing all press, social media, and public relations functions.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Santos served as the OIG’s Director of Congressional and Public Relations for four years. He joined the OIG in 2009 as a member of the OIG’s Office of Management and Policy (OMAP). In OMAP, he was responsible for agency-wide strategic planning and performance reporting, policy development and review, and cross-functional projects in the areas of human resources, budget, information technology, procurement, and administrative operations.
Mr. Santos began his federal career in 2008 after being selected to participate in DOL’s MBA Fellows Program. During this two-year leadership development program, he served in several DOL agencies, including the Civil Rights Center, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, and the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. He was also assigned to the 2008 Presidential Transition Team and to the White House Task Force on the Middle Class.
Prior to joining the federal government, Mr. Santos had more than 10 years of experience in the private sector in the U.S. and abroad, where he worked in the areas of business administration, project management, and journalism.
Mr. Santos has received many awards and commendations throughout his federal career, including several Secretary’s Exceptional Achievement Awards, OIG Excellence and Special Achievement Awards, and the inaugural DOL Willard Wirtz Legacy Award in recognition of exceptional performance and accomplishments in public service. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s in Business Administration from Suffolk University in Boston, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
Prior to joining the OIG in 2016, Ms. Southwell served over 14 years of public service experience, bringing expertise in the areas of governance, strategic planning, performance management, risk management, process improvement and program management. Her career includes working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as the Director of the Office Agency Council Staff under the Office of the Administrator, as well as serving as Chief of the Strategic Planning and Performance Management branch under the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Southwell’s expertise also includes working at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as Chief of the Strategy and Performance Management Branch, and was also involved in DHS’s implementation of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards regulation. Prior to DHS, Jessica worked for the Department of Health and Human Services, where she was involved in the management of an array of all-hazard preparedness programs both in the U.S. and abroad.
Ms. Southwell received a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the American University, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the George Washington University.
Ms. Southwell is responsible for leading a variety of organizational performance and risk management activities across the OIG, working closely with the AIGs and senior leadership to improve how we manage performance and risks to the OIG mission.