Fort Belvoir, Va. –
DCAA presented awards to three auditors in the categories of Auditor of the Year, Technical Auditor of the Year, and Auditor Trainee of the Year. All of these individuals exhibited outstanding performance and dedication to the DCAA mission.
Ms. Mindy West – Auditor of the Year. Ms. West works at the Boeing Oklahoma City Branch Office where she supported two teams simultaneously while also serving as the office data analytics monitor and PowerBI expert. She was assigned to a unique Request for Equitable Adjustment (REA) proposal and also assisted another office on two Truth in Negotiations audits, one with high visibility. During the REA audit, she earned the title “super hero” from the customer for her willingness to go the extra mile and ability to explain complex audit work in a manner understandable to all. Ms. West demonstrated knowledge and commitment to teamwork during her work on the TIN audits. Working with auditors from another office, she quickly became the team lead and impressed the office leadership earning the praise “there is no way I’d be done with it [the audit] …without her help.” As the data analytics and Power BI expert, she developed a milestone planning tool in PowerBI and trained the office in its use. This tool is a very effective management tool and is now in use in multiple offices across DCAA. Ms. West is a model employee and dedicated to the DCAA mission.
Ms. Jolanta Cardillo – Technical Auditor of the Year. Ms. Cardillo is a Technical Specialist in the Operations Technical Support Division, Business Enterprise Branch. She was instrumental in the successful rollout of the Contractor’s Submission Portal (CSP) and led the planning, organizing, and directed the effort necessary to bring the CSP online. The comprehensive communication plan she created clearly delineated the roles and tasks for both DCAA offices and contractors. Ms. Cardillo was also one of only two individuals who served as the CSP helpdesk and her timely responses solved numerous problems. The CSP has been a great success due to Ms. Cardillo’s actions and dedication. Ms. Cardillo also voluntarily took on a major project to reassign audits cause by office reorganizations. She led DCAA’s professional support staff on a project to manually reset over 8000 audit assignments and also perform a quick repair on over 35,000 audit packets in the audit software. Ms. Cardillo is proactive, productive, professional and gets results.
Mr. Juan Santiago Vazquez – Auditor Trainee of the Year. Mr. Santiago Vazquez is an auditor at the Central Florida Branch Office. In just two years with DCAA, he has demonstrated the knowledge and abilities of a much more senior auditor. He has become an integral part of the team and is sought out by teammates and auditors from other offices for his knowledge. All of his assignments were completed in an advanced, efficient, and effective manner meeting the Agency quality standards. He has excellent critical thinking and technical skills including extensive knowledge of PowerBI and data analytics. He was able to learn the contractor’s systems, rate structure, and policies and procedures which supported his team in issuing high dollar audits in a timely manner. He can be counted on to complete his tasks on time and requires little guidance or corrections. Mr. Santiago-Vazquez has been recognized by contractor staff, contracting officers, and regional staff for his work. He is simply an outstanding auditor working at a level above his grade.