April G. Stephenson served as Director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) from July 2008 October 26, 2009. Stephenson earned a B.S. in Business Administration from California State University, Chico, in 1987, and an M.A. in Administration from Central Michigan University. She began her career with DCAA in 1987 as an auditor trainee in Mountain View, California, and progressed through various positions such as supervisory auditor, program manager, branch manager, and various positions in the policy directorate at DCAA Headquarters. She served as Deputy Director from June 2005 through January 2008, and assumed the responsibilities of Director in February 2008, although she did not obtain the title until July 2008. She also served as the Defense Secretary’s appointee on the Cost Accounting Standards Board.
On July 23, 2008, very shortly after Stephenson took the helm, the
Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a
report concluding that DCAA had failed to conduct all fourteen audits investigated in a professional and appropriate manner. After
initially questioning the findings of the GAO audit, Stephenson took a different approach in her
testimony before Congress, stating that DCAA took the findings “very seriously.” By February 2009, Stephenson was advising contractors that a
“New Day” of auditing toughness had arrived.
Current and former DCAA auditors placed most of the
blame on Stephenson’s predecessor, William Reed, who stepped down less than three weeks before the release of the GAO report. However, a second critical GAO report led to Stephenson herself being removed from the position and reassigned to the staff of the Defense Department’s Comptroller.
