Online Exclusive: Celebrating Excellence

J. Michael Peppers, CIA, QIAL, CRMA, CPA, CAE, University of Texas, has dedicated over 25 years to the internal audit profession. In addition to his work at the University of Texas, UTMB Galveston, and MD Anderson, he has served in many leadership roles, including chair of The IIA’s North American Board of Directors and Global Board and as president of the IIA–Houston Chapter. From 2020 to 2023, Peppers chaired the International Internal Audit Standards Board, which was responsible for the development of the new Global Internal Audit Standards. Peppers is a member of the IIA–Austin Chapter.

Bruce Turner, AM, CGAP, CRMA, PFIIA, CISA, CFE, FAICD, FFIN, FIPA, FFA, FIML, JP, has been a valued, board member and audit committee chair, Wentworth Healthcare, has beena valued IIA volunteer for over 40 years. He has served in various roles, including audit committee chair for IIA Australia and as a member of the IIA Global Professional Guidance Advisory Council. Since 2007, he has held board and governing body roles for over 30 major entities across government, healthcare, telecommunications, and financial services fields. In 2015, he gained national recognition for his professional efforts when he was appointed a member of the Order of Australia — one of only two people ever to receive this honor for contributions to the internal audit profession.

Abdulqader Obaid Ali, CRMA, QIAL, chair of the board, UAE Internal Auditors Association, has given back to the internal audit community and profession for decades. In addition to being a regular keynote speaker on internal auditing around the world, he has spearheaded multiple internal audit conferences in the UAE on topics ranging from benchmarking to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues; championed the translation of the Quality Assessment manual into Arabic; and initiated the UAE Internal Auditors’ Leading Practices in Internal Audit award.

Leonard Okoth Ouma, CIA, CPA, CFE, CISA, CDPSE, Ag director, Internal Audit and Risk, Central Bank of Kenya, is a nine-year volunteer and current president of IIA Kenya. Ouma has proven himself repeatedly as one of internal auditing’s strongest advocates. Under his leadership, IIA Kenya achieved 100% membership growth, launched Kenya’s inaugural Audit Excellence Awards and CIA Challenge Exam, and even initiated Kenya’s first student internal auditor mentorship program.

Renato Trisciuzzi, CIA, CRMA, QIAL, CCSA, CPA, PhD, founder and senior advisor, Instituto Renato Trisciuzzi Ltda, has over 30 years’ experience as an internal audit thought leader. Trisciuzzi has repeatedly demonstrated his knowledge and passion for the profession, particularly on topics related to innovative audit technologies and ethics frameworks. In addition to serving as chair of IIA Brazil and president of the Latin American Foundation of Internal Auditors, he has delivered more than 50 global lectures across four continents.

Valentina Sabet, CIA, CPA, CFE, Global Operational Audit and Risk Management, Intel Corp., has served in many volunteer roles with The IIA, including member of the North American Board, chair of the Chapter Relations Committee, chair of the Emerging Leaders Task Force, chapter president of IIA–Portland, and numerous additional roles dedicated to providing training and support to IIA chapters across the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. As part of the Emerging Leaders Task Force, she cofounded the IIA Emerging Leaders Mentor program, which today has more than 1,000 participants.

Brad Schafer, CIA, associate professor and director of the Internal Audit Center at Kennesaw State University, has developed a strong reputation as one of internal auditing’s strongest advocates among students. In the past seven years, Schafer received the 2022 IIA Atlanta Chapter Leadership Award for his commitment to student advocacy which included inviting more than 20 CAEs and internal audit experts as guest lecturers, raising over $100,000 for student support, issuing more than 300 Internal Audit Education Partnership certificates, connecting more than 50 students to Fortune 500 CAE and director mentors, and mentoring students on winning teams of four of the five last IIA Global Student Conference case study competitions.

Jenna Nool, student intern, California State University–Sacramento, has launched networking events and fostered student connections with internal audit professionals as president of the Accounting Society at her university. Through Nool’s efforts, IIA student membership at her university increased from two to an astounding 39. Nool is working to create greater awareness of internal auditing as a viable career path and strengthen industry connections with the school. Nool is a member of the IIA–Sacramento Chapter.

Alex Rusate, CIA, CRMA, CCSA, CISA, CPA, CAE, Arrow Financial Corp., has quickly made a name for himself in the internal audit profession through his volunteer work and thought leadership. A former Internal Auditor magazine Emerging Leader, he spearheaded an initiative to expand the Emerging Leaders Mentor program from 200 to over 800 participants across 50 countries, while still finding time to regularly write for Internal Auditor’s blogs. Rusate is a member of the IIA-Albany Chapter.

Camila Rojas Martinez, CGAP, COSO IC Certificate, QA Certificate, head of the Internal and Ministerial Audit Unit of the Undersecretariat and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Chile, is the youngest CAE in Chile’s public sector. She is primarily responsible for modernizing internal auditing across Chile’s foreign services, such as embassies and consulates, and even led her unit to achieve IIA Spain’s QA certification — one of the first Chilean public sector audit functions to do so. Martinez is a member of IIA–Chile.

Dhayalaruban Thangaraja, CIA, CRMA, ACMA, CGMA, director of Internal Audit, BDO Malta, has been instrumental in launching numerous AI-driven audit tools and methodologies in his audit function and is a strong advocate for the internal audit profession. As an active volunteer, Thangaraja has mentored more than 30 young professionals and contributed substantial thought leadership across The IIA’s many publications. Thangaraja is a member of IIA–Malta.

Karem Obeid, CIA, CRMA, CCSA, director of Internal Audit, Higher Colleges of Technology, and a UAE IAA Executive Committee member, has demonstrated exceptional leadership and innovation in the internal audit profession. As a global speaker at the 2024 ECIIA Conference, UAE CAE Majlis, and IIA Qatar webinars, he is well-known for his transformative insights. Obeid’s work on LinkedIn and TikTok has redefined auditor engagement, empowering young professionals globally. And as an active member of The IIA Global Guidance Council, Obeid helped shape the Global Internal Audit Standards.

Olena Avramenko, COSO IC Certificate, CAE, The National Bank of Ukraine, quickly established herself as a premier internal audit leader through her exceptional results during wartime. Even through the first weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, her audit team continued to operate at peak performance. Just a few of her accomplishments despite such difficult circumstances include: completing a full quality assurance review, implementing the new Standards before 2025, and the completion of numerous complex audits related to ESG, business continuity planning, and cybersecurity. Avramenko is a member of IIA-Ukraine.

The International Internal Audit Collaboration Working Group is the first global internal audit group working in the nuclear sector. By establishing an internal audit knowledge-sharing mechanism to access the limited global pool of nuclear subject matter experts, the group's efforts resulted in a remarkable increase in public trust, as well as improved audit practices and public services. It published an acclaimed whitepaper on technical audits with nuclear regulators that benefited the public sector and nuclear regulatory community. This group represents IIA Canada and IIA United Arab Emirates.

Group Audit Team, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd., leverages advanced analytics tools — including interactive dashboards, machine learning, network analysis, and GenAI — to demonstrate a commitment to innovation that has significantly improved the effectiveness and value of their audit function. In 2024, the team was even invited by PwC to speak at a Financial Services Chief Audit Executive Roundtable to share how they successfully deployed GenAI across several audit focus areas. The team represents IIA Singapore.

DT Group Audit, Deutsche Telekom AG, is being recognized for a groundbreaking transformation that saw the adoption of numerous digitization, agility, upskilling, and value-driven practices across the audit value chain. Through their efforts, the team saw a 19% increase in published audits despite a 10% decrease in personnel, as well as an impressive 96% audit plan fulfillment rate. The team represents IIA–Germany.