Stefania Pozzi Porter Named U.S. AbilityOne Commission Inspector General
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 13, 2022 – The U.S. AbilityOne Commission announced today that Stefania Pozzi Porter has been named Inspector General, following a nationwide search.
“It is a great pleasure to welcome Stefania as the Commission’s new Inspector General,” said Commission Chairperson Jeffrey A. Koses. “Stefania’s leadership and expertise will ensure that the Office of Inspector General continues to build trust in the AbilityOne Program by detecting and preventing fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. That work is especially critical at a time of transformation and modernization for the Program.”
A copy of the complete press release may be found here.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) Memorial near the National Mall in Washington DC, picturing FDR sitting next to his beloved Scottish Terrier, Fala. In 1938, FDR signed the Wagner-O’Day Act into law, creating what would later become the U.S. AbilityOne Commission and its Program.
U.S. AbilityOne Commission
The AbilityOne Program is the largest source of employment in the United States for people who are blind or have significant disabilities. Through the AbilityOne Program, over 45,000 Americans who are blind and have significant disabilities are employed in the service, manufacturing, and delivery of over $3.6 billion in federal contracts for products and services to the Federal Government.
The Commission is composed of 15 members appointed by the President. The Commission has designated National Industries for the Blind (NIB), SourceAmerica, and American Foundation for the Blind as central nonprofit agencies (CNAs) to represent and assist the over 500 community-based qualified nonprofit agencies (NPAs) located in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam, that provide employment to blind and significantly disabled Americans.
The Office of Inspector General
On December 18, 2015, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (P.L. 114-113) amended the Inspector General Act of 1978 (IG Act) and created the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at AbilityOne as a designated federal entity IG. The OIG is responsible for conducting audits and investigations, recommending policies and procedures that promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of agency resources and programs, and detecting and preventing fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. The IG Act requires the IG to keep the Commission and Congress fully and currently informed about problems and deficiencies in the Commission’s operations and the need for any corrective action.
