A Communications Team Helps Restore Public Trust After a Crisis of Institutional Oversight

SCALE AT SPEED

A Communications Team Helps Restore Public Trust After a Crisis of Institutional Oversight

SCALE AT SPEED

01 CHALLENGE

One of the largest transportation networks in the country was in crisis. After decades of leadership with almost no oversight, the authority's executive director resigned unexpectedly — hours before the entity's board planned to vote on terminating his contract. Criminal investigations into alleged misconduct had been mounting. In the weeks that followed, complaints surged. Internal and external stakeholders questioned the integrity of the authority's practices and operations. The institution had lost the trust of the people it served. The board decided to create an Office of Inspector General.

One of the largest transportation networks in the country was in crisis. After decades of leadership with almost no oversight, the authority's executive director resigned unexpectedly — hours before the entity's board planned to vote on terminating his contract. Criminal investigations into alleged misconduct had been mounting. In the weeks that followed, complaints surged. Internal and external stakeholders questioned the integrity of the authority's practices and operations. The institution had lost the trust of the people it served. The board decided to create an Office of Inspector General.

02 ADVISORY

Stephen led the communications team for the firm selected to serve as the interim OIG — an 18-month engagement with jurisdiction over the entity, its board members, officers, employees, contracts, and all others doing business with it. The communications team had helped win the engagement by authoring a 60-page thought leadership white paper on how to stand up an OIG program — built from research, interviews with retired OIG leaders and subject matter experts, and the firm's own senior investigators' experience leading hundreds of investigations over their careers. The white paper established the firm's authority before the work began. Once engaged, Stephen's team built the communications infrastructure the new OIG required: awareness campaigns reaching employees and riders across the network, executive briefings to the board on strategic issues, and public-facing annual and semi-annual reports documenting the OIG's work and findings.

Stephen led the communications team for the firm selected to serve as the interim OIG — an 18-month engagement with jurisdiction over the entity, its board members, officers, employees, contracts, and all others doing business with it. The communications team had helped win the engagement by authoring a 60-page thought leadership white paper on how to stand up an OIG program — built from research, interviews with retired OIG leaders and subject matter experts, and the firm's own senior investigators' experience leading hundreds of investigations over their careers. The white paper established the firm's authority before the work began. Once engaged, Stephen's team built the communications infrastructure the new OIG required: awareness campaigns reaching employees and riders across the network, executive briefings to the board on strategic issues, and public-facing annual and semi-annual reports documenting the OIG's work and findings.

03 OUTCOME

The agency weathered the crisis. Every complaint received a fair review. Where appropriate, files were referred directly to federal and state law enforcement. Employees and riders found a voice. A culture of integrity — unfamiliar to an institution that had operated without meaningful oversight for decades — began to take hold. Management gained something it had long been missing: independent insight, untarnished by conflict of interest. Several months later, the firm's ability to stand up a critical oversight function under pressure led to a new engagement — this time providing OIG services for the United States Department of Defense.

The agency weathered the crisis. Every complaint received a fair review. Where appropriate, files were referred directly to federal and state law enforcement. Employees and riders found a voice. A culture of integrity — unfamiliar to an institution that had operated without meaningful oversight for decades — began to take hold. Management gained something it had long been missing: independent insight, untarnished by conflict of interest. Several months later, the firm's ability to stand up a critical oversight function under pressure led to a new engagement — this time providing OIG services for the United States Department of Defense.