Ken Clarke is a management consultant and former federal Inspector General with more than 30 years experience identifying critical organizational issues and effecting necessary improvement across a variety of federal agencies. As a former Board Member of the Association of Inspectors General, he also understands the issues facing state and local organizations.
Organizational Effectiveness
As both a charter Myers-Briggs (MBTI)™ Certified Professional and an Organization and Team Culture Instrument (OTCI)™ Certified Administrator, Ken has led over 20 leadership development workshops for more than 500 people from over 65 organizations.
Serving on the President's Council for Integrity and Efficiency's Human Resource Committee, Ken coordinated the initial identification of core competencies for Office of Inspector General professionals. He communicated his team's findings in a co-authored Journal of Public Inquiry article and by briefing the Institute of Internal Auditor's Washington Conference.
Ken's team-building perspective has been influenced by his interests in: home renovation, for which he successfully completed several training programs at the renowned Yestermorrow Design/Build School; and Qi gong, for which he is an Institute of Integral Qigong & Tai Chi (IIQTC)™ Certified Facilitator.
Ken also has a Masters in Public Administration (M.P.A.) from the University of Tennessee.
Program Evaluations
When he served as Director of the Inspectors General Auditor Training Institute, Ken worked
with the federal evaluation community and provided government-wide training in program
evaluations.
He also designed training and instructed auditors and evaluators in how best to assess
agency implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act. He has a thorough
understanding of the building blocks for agency performance plans and reports—and the essential role to be played by program evaluations in validating program outcomes.
When he served as the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Inspector General's Director of Evaluations, Ken coordinated oversight of Results Act compliance at almost every Treasury bureau. As such, he worked to develop and secure agency support for results-oriented performance measures and ensure incorporation of appropriate measures and methods in component strategic and performance plans. He also conducted briefings for congressional staff and interagency organizations describing performance measures and oversight strategies.
Ken understands the concerns and requirements confronting today's federal Performance Improvement Officers as they implement Executive Order 13450 - Improving Government Program Performance. As federal agencies have administered the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) to diagnose performance, many have felt an increasing strain on their evaluation resources. Even so, Ken believes that rigorous performance assessment must include sufficient internal control testing to ensure program integrity.
Audit Quality Assurance Reviews
Ken Clarke has a long history of supervising internal Quality Assurance Reviews (QAR)
of audit activities as a former audit manager in both the U.S. Department of the Treasury
and the U.S. Department of Energy Offices of Inspector General. When he served as Director
of the Inspectors General Auditor Training Institute, he also supervised development and
implementation of auditor training—including Quality Assurance Reviews—for more than 65 federal departments and agencies.
As an Inspector General, Ken supervised external Audit Peer Reviews of a federal audit activity outside of his own agency. He also was recognized for his expertise about QAR lessons learned as a speaker at the Association of Inspectors General National Conference in New York.
More recently, Ken assisted in an external Audit Peer Review of a State of Texas organization and conducted an internal QAR for a national organization in Washington, DC. Ken was among the first to become a Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) and is a member of both the Association of Government Accountants (AGA/Washington Chapter) and the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA/Tampa Chapter).
Writing and Presentation Skills
Ken Clarke has extensive experience in preparing every form of written communication. His products have included:
Audit Reports
Semiannual Reports to Congress
Congressional Testimony
Executive Correspondence
Policy Manuals
Strategic and Annual Plans
Requests For Proposals
Performance Plans
Published Articles
Training Manuals
Among more than 50 audit reports, Ken wrote the Inspector General's opinion on the quality and thoroughness of the White House Security Review that was signed by the Inspector General and included in the White House Security Review Team's public report. Ken designed and taught a comprehensive 5-day class on team writing for timely reporting. He also enjoys creative writing and attends writers' workshops to develop his ability to write essays, short stories, screenplays and poetry.
Throughout his career, Ken Clarke has briefed large numbers of high-level Government and industry officials about substantive findings from his audit and evaluation work. Ken has briefed everyone from Cabinet-level officials to Congressional committee staff to major oil corporation executives. He has planned, introduced speakers and spoken at nationwide conferences of audit and other professionals.
His selection as Director of the Inspectors General Auditor Training Institute was attributable in large measure to his ability to explain and advocate for the Institute. In that role and others, he briefed visiting dignitaries from Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Malaysia, and other nations. Ken also designed and facilitated a 3-day training program on executive level briefing skills that included role-playing and recorded feedback to help audit executives hone their skills in presenting to senior officials, Congressional committees and the news media.