Brings Remarkable Track Record of Success with International Whistleblowers to Position
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) is pleased to announce that GAP International Reform Director Bea Edwards has been named Executive Director of the organization. For the past three months, she has served as Acting Executive Director.
Edwards has been with GAP since 2006, and brings an impressive track record of success to this executive position. She has effectively defended whistleblowers from retaliation at the United Nations, the World Bank, and the regional development banks. For the past five years, she has campaigned for strong whistleblower protection policies at international institutions and through international coalitions.
“In Washington, we’re looking forward to a much improved climate for whistleblowers in government and in key industries like food processing and financial services,” stated Edwards. “And at GAP we’re working to ensure that all workers have the right to speak out about corruption and be protected from retaliation.”
Highlights of Edwards’ tenure at GAP include working with whistleblowers to:
Expose Paul Wolfowitz’s pattern of wrongdoing and duplicity at the World Bank (which resulted in his resignation)
Raise awareness of negligence and wrongdoing in the corporate compliance office of AIG leading up to the financial crisis of 2008
Challenge the Inter-American Development Bank’s decision to terminate a whistleblower after she exposed the Bank’s senior official in Paraguay as corrupt, and
Raise awareness of whistleblower rights across the globe. While at GAP, Edwards has met to discuss whistleblower protections and specific cases with representatives from numerous governments, including the Czech Republic, Nigeria, Argentina, and Mexico.
Edwards will continue in her capacity as International Reform Director, where she closely monitors international financial institutions, and currently, the role of Deputy Attorney General James Cole in the Fast and Furious scandal involving the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Prior to becoming Deputy Attorney General, Cole was the independent compliance monitor at AIG.
GAP President Louis Clark, who has been with the organization since 1977, stated “GAP staff and the Board of Directors are thrilled at the selection of Bea – a person of the highest integrity and a fierce advocate for whistleblowers, accountability, and justice. Her amazing handling of high profile cases, and long record of results, ensures that GAP will continue to soar upwards and reach new heights.”
Edwards assumed the Acting Executive Director position when her predecessor, Mark Cohen, left the organization to become Deputy Special Counsel at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the federal agency charged with protecting and investigating the disclosures of federal whistleblowers. Cohen will report to newly appointed Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner, who has announced her commitment to strengthening the Office.