Print pageNeighborWorks America is a congressionally chartered corporation that receives a direct annual appropriation to support our work of strengthening communities and expanding opportunities for affordable housing.
To ensure the funds we receive achieve the most good, we hold ourselves to the highest operational standards and multiple levels of oversight.
Internal Audit Oversight
Frederick Udochi
Chief Audit Executive
Frederick Udochi enjoys his job as NeighborWorks America's chief audit executive because he says it "lets you see the mission being carried out from various perspectives."
His responsibilities include reporting to the board and audit committee, conducting audit reviews and ensuring that the corporation complies with relevant policies, regulations and laws. To carry out this work, he meets with NeighborWorks America staff at all levels and in every department. He says that while the programs and people are different, "what unites everyone is a sense of the common mission."
His mission as the chief audit executive is to make NeighborWorks America "the gold standard" for accountability, transparency and exceptional performance in its industry. To do that, he makes sure that effective risk and control decisions have been made, and he prepares and submits periodic reports with recommendations for improvements. "To be the gold standard, we need to improve continually," Udochi says.
Udochi joined NeighborWorks America in 2000 after years of working as a finance professional in the health care industry. He was the chief financial officer for the WoodBourne group, a health care organization, and director of finance at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, an affiliate of the Johns Hopkins medical system. Both nonprofit organizations are located in Baltimore, Maryland.
Udochi holds two master's degrees, one in business administration from the University of Baltimore and the other in health financial management from Johns Hopkins University. He holds professional designations of Certified Internal Auditor and a Certification in Risk Management Assurance from the Institute of Internal Auditors.
Ezinwanne Hawkins
Vice President, Internal Audit, Risk & Technology
Ezinwanne Hawkins is the Vice President of Internal Audit, Risk & Technology at NeighborWorks America. Prior to joining NeighborWorks America, she was the manager of compliance and inspections for Amazon's Global Work Authorization team, where she designed and implemented internal audit, government inspection and compliance processes for Amazon's global partners. She launched internal audit and compliance programming in more than 20 countries and decreased defect rates from 25% to less than 11%.
Hawkins is both professionally and personally passionate about affordable housing and has more than 20 years of experience developing audit and risk processes for government agencies and nonprofits.
"I am thrilled to join an organization whose mission aligns with my personal belief system: that affordable housing can transform communities."
Hawkins is a native of Washington, D.C., and holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of Maryland. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her three daughters.
