Khadija Elaine Walker has 23 years of Federal oversight experience—1½ years at the USAID Office of Inspector General (OIG) and 21½ years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) OIG. As Deputy Assistant Inspector General at USAID OIG, Ms. Walker leads five divisions that focus on Africa, Asia, IT, and financial oversight. Her teams work on such projects as the asset disposition of U.S. awards, oversight of foreign assistance in nonpermissive and war-torn environments, and assessments of foreign entities operations that use U.S. aid information and financial systems. She also oversaw audits of financial statements and information systems of USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the African Development Foundation, and the Inter-American Foundation. Under Ms. Walker’s leadership, USAID OIG has issued over 30 audits to Congress and the American public focused on improving the accountability of money disbursed abroad.
At EPA OIG, she held leadership roles across five divisions, serving as director, project manager, and leader of evaluations and assisting on investigations, resulting in over 80 reports that positively impacted the efficiency and effectiveness of federal environmental oversight. Her work has addressed critical issues such as EPA’s responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Irma, the Flint and Jackson water crises—where she was deposed in public trials and supported congressional testimony—and the agency’s mining permit deviations on Native American lands, which informed proceedings in the Minnesota Circuit Court. She also assessed the effectiveness of major programs like the Clean School Bus Program under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
She has received many accolades for her work, including two-Awards for Audit Excellence from the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, the EPA Gold Medal for Excellence, and EPA OIG Awards for Audits of the Year. She also received the Chatham University Cornerstone Award for Women Working in Environmental Affairs.
Ms. Walker holds a bachelor’s degree in global policy studies from Chatham University and a master’s degree in international development, economics, and environmental sustainability from the University of Pittsburgh, with a study abroad at the American University of Cairo, Egypt. As a part of her physical and mental wellbeing, Khadija is a 3rd-degree blackbelt teacher in Isshin Shorinji Ryu Karate. She is a wife and mother of two beautiful children…and one dog!