Senior Staff Biographies
Stephen Ravas
Acting Inspector General
Stephen Ravas joined AmeriCorps OIG as Counsel to the Inspector General in August 2019 and has been its Acting Inspector General since May 2023. He served as Acting Deputy Inspector General from January 2022 to May 2023. Prior to joining AmeriCorps OIG, Mr. Ravas served as Assistant Counsel to the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) OIG. There he was the lead attorney for investigative issues related to criminal procedure, law enforcement techniques, and the Special Agent Handbook, and participated in and provided legal counsel for multi-disciplinary investigations, audits, and inspections. Before this, Mr. Ravas served as Special Investigative Counsel for the Department of Commerce OIG, where he focused on administrative and ethics investigations and performed a detail to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (SAUSA). As a SAUSA, Mr. Ravas advised and directed federal agents in ongoing investigations, and represented the United States in federal district court and in grand jury proceedings. Mr. Ravas is the recipient of several awards form the Inspector General community, including awards from the Council of Inspectors General for Integrity and Efficiency, and the U.S. Department of Commence Silver and Bronze medals. Mr. Ravas began his legal career as a law clerk for the Hon. Paul D. Borman, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan. He then entered the private practice of law, representing individuals and Fortune 500 companies in white-collar criminal defense matters, including alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and criminal antitrust violations, and conducted internal investigations. He holds degrees from James Madison University and Wayne State University Law School, where he graduated cum laude and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Wayne Law Review.
Dave Karakashian
Director of Pandemic Oversight
Dave Karakashian joined the AmeriCorps OIG as Director of Pandemic Oversight in September 2021, after 25+ years in the private sector serving Federal government clients. While in the private sector, he specialized in forensic accounting, auditing and consulting for Federal Offices of Inspectors General and other Federal agencies, with an emphasis on grant fraud and data analytics. He was also engaged by the Federal government to provide expert witness testimony in a criminal fraud matter. Dave received a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the Pennsylvania State University, with a minor in business law. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Information Systems Auditor, and Certified Information Technology Professional. Since 2015, Dave has been serving as President of the Metro Washington DC chapter of Certified Fraud Examiners.
Michael Pritchard
Assistant Inspector General for Investigations
Mike Pritchard joined the AmeriCorps OIG in 2021. He oversees the work of special agents in the Investigations Section. Prior to joining AmeriCorps OIG, Mr. Pritchard spent 13 years with the National Science Foundation OIG where he conducted and managed criminal and civil grant fraud investigations, with a particular focus on small business research grant programs. He is active in the OIG community and teaches grant fraud courses for the Inspector General Academy.
Monique P. Colter
Assistant Inspector General for Audit
Veteran Federal auditor Monique P. Colter was appointed Assistant Inspector General for Audit in November 2018. She oversees the AmeriCorps OIG Audit Section and supervises the work of audit managers, auditors and audit contractors. Mrs. Colter began her Federal career with the student cooperative education program at the Internal Revenue Service and progressed as an internal revenue agent reviewing complex large corporation tax returns. She then served the Office of Inspector General at the United States Postal Service where, as an audit director, she led teams that examined the Postal Service supply management, facilities, human resources, and security programs. A native of St. Matthews, SC, Mrs. Colter received a bachelor’s degree from South Carolina State University in 1989. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors.
Kenyatta M. Jackson
Chief Technology Officer
Kenyatta Jackson joined AmeriCorps OIG in August 2020 as Chief Technology Officer. He brings more than 20 years of experience in Federal Information Technology Management. He previously served as Chief Information Security Officer in the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP). He was responsible for SIGTARP’s information and data security. He also provided technical support and IT oversight in support of SIGTARP’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. and four field offices in New York City, Atlanta, Long Beach, and San Francisco. Kenyatta has also served as an IT Specialist (Business Analysis) in the Information Technology/Information Management Strategic Planning Branch in the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), a Process Engineer/System Analyst lead on various processes within the Enterprise Services (ES) domain in the Department of the Treasury’s Internal Revenue Services (IRS), and an IT Specialist (Data Management/ System Analysis) in the Department of the Air Force’s Headquarters Air Combat Command. . He has an intrinsic understanding of the relationship between technology and business and can scrutinize the aspects of business/organizational processes and implementing new technologies to streamline methodologies. He is a dedicated and technically skilled business professional with a versatile managerial and technical skillset developed through multidisciplinary experience in information technology. He is a Federal IT Leader fellow who holds a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Cybersecurity, and multiple information technology certifications.