ACi
ACi is delighted to announce the appointment of Luke Cocks as Data Analyst.
Luke is a recent Mathematics graduate from the University of Lancaster. Luke’s work will be instrumental in helping the ACi develop products and services which resonate with our members. He will be working closely with the marketing team to devise targeted campaigns and will help ensure ACi works in accordance with GDPR rules
Please join us in welcoming Luke to Team ACi!
ACi is delighted to announce the appointment of Jacob Atkinson as Research Assistant.
Jacob holds a degree in History and a postgraduate degree in Heritage Studies from Newcastle University. Jacob is assisting with research on certification pathways for corporate investigators, as well as horizon scanning for developments of interest to our community. Jacob also assists with research and editorial work on ACi Core Projects including the production of the Investigator Handbook.
Please join us in welcoming Jacob to Team ACi!
This year, in support of the International Women’s Day 2022 campaign #breakthebias, ACi is collecting quotes, anecdotes and thoughts from our corporate investigation community on working with, hiring, promoting or supporting women in corporate investigations, or your experiences as a woman working in corporate investigations and how we can all break the gender bias. You can read all about the campaign here.
Please share your views with us – just click the button below to send us your quote.
Women’s Day Webinar
You can also register for our #Breakthebias Women’s Day event. It takes place on Wednesday 8th March 2022 from 12.00 pm – 1.30 pm. Click here to see details of our women panellists and register for your free place.
ACi members can read Chapter 21 of GIR’s ‘The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations (sixth edition). The chapter, written by ACi’s CEO Steve Young focuses on Whistleblowers: The In-house Perspective. The document is available in our members’ area. To purchase the full guide, visit:
https://globalinvestigationsreview.com/guide/the-practitioners-guide-global-investigations/2022
The ACi is excited to announce the appointment of Alex Gaft as ACi Advisory Panel Member. As a seasoned corporate investigations professional, Alex will provide the ACi with advice on corporate investigations management, cyber fraud, networking, and will contribute to the ACi’s key projects (including training, investigation standards, and knowledge bank).
Alex has over 20 years of professional investigation experience at both national and international levels, within the public and private sectors. Alex started his career in 2001 as an investigator with the Israeli National Police. From 2010 to 2012, Alex worked as a Regional Head of Forensic Audit for ArcelorMittal, covering CIS and based in Ukraine. In 2012 Alex joined ENRC in London as Group Head of Investigations and between 2014 and 2018 led Corporate investigations team, covering 7 countries in CIS, for Veon, based in Amsterdam. In 2018 Alex returned to Israel and worked in Cyber Security and Cyber Fraud prevention. Since January 2020 Alex is heading Forensic Services team for BDO. He holds an MBA and is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Information systems Auditor (CISA), and is Certified in Financial Crime Prevention.
Speaking of the appointment, ACi’s Executive Director, Mary Eastwood Jones, said:
‘Alex has been a very proactive ACi supporter for some time- in fact, he introduced me to the ACi community. Alex is a highly skilled and talented subject matter expert, networker, and horizon scanner. He really has his finger on the pulse of the key emerging issues of importance to corporate investigators, and we are excited to be working with him for the benefit of our community.’
Please join us in welcoming Alex as an official member of our Advisory Panel.
As we launch into 2022, ACi wishes all our members and supports a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year ahead.
We are working hard to bring you more innovative training, networking and education events this year. While the Pandemic continues to disrupt the usual working practices of investigators, our community is continuing to adapt and evolve, learn new skills and tackle investigations challenges in new ways.
ACi is here to support its members and we appreciate the commitment of our members and our sponsors to help grow our community and to improve investigations standards. Watch this space for news of our upcoming events – to be announced very soon!
The ACi is working on a number of trailblazing projects to champion the role of corporate investigators. These are all reliant on our members’ insights, ideas, and subject matter expertise.
We recognise the demands of your ‘day’ jobs, but we greatly appreciate any time contribution you can give us over the coming year. Where possible, we try to make the engagement as simple as possible for you through a short online survey or invitation to send us your thoughts via email so you can contribute at a time that is convenient for you. Some projects will also include an invitation to a focus or working group. Please take a look at the list of projects below and register your interest. We hope to have as much involvement as possible from around the globe. Thank you in advance.
Project runs to 11 February 2022
How many different types of investigation do you conduct or are you involved in as a corporate investigator?
From investigations into fraud, bribery and financial malpractice, to security, to bullying, harassment, sexual abuse and exploitation, to ESG concerns, to cyber enabled fraud, the breadth of matters being investigated by corporate investigators is expanding.
Help us map out our constellation of investigation types. The Typology map will be made available as an awareness raising graphic and can be adaptable for in-house use when considering incident classifications.
Please click the button below to register your interest.
Ongoing
What does the gold standard in corporate investigation training look like to you?
Join our working groups and/or take part in our online survey in 2022 to help us enhance our Foundations in Corporate Investigations training and more advanced specialist modules as we develop a pathway to certification.
We are always looking for subject matter experts to peer review educational content, so please register your interest.
Please click the button below to register your interest.
Ongoing
As the leading international authoritative voice on corporate investigations, the ACi is developing a code of ethics and a set of core standards and principles to guide corporate investigators and their functions. We recognise that many of our members will have developed their own in house set of principle to guide case intake, planning, interviews, evidence collection, analysis and reporting. We aim to draw on collective expertise and our extensive research in this area.
Please click the button below to register your interest.
On behalf of the ACi Executive Committee and all the staff we would like to wish our members celebrating a merry Christmas and a prosperous and healthy New Year. We will be bringing you more webinars, training and networking events in the very near future!
We rely on our members’ input, ideas and perspectives so please get involved in one of our many projects, from education and certification pathway, investigation typology, to practitioner series. Please look out for our ‘Pick a Project’ initiative.
ACi is delighted to announce the appointment of Ellie Burden as Marketing Assistant.
Ellie is a recent English Language and Linguistics graduate from the University of Sussex. She has joined the wider marketing team in a newly created role. Ellie will help create and share content across the ACi’s social media channels, assist in the development of new programmes for members, add content to the ACi website and facilitate meetings and events. She joins us, with effect from November 2021, on a part-time basis as she looks to take her first steps in marketing.
ACi’s Executive Director Mary Eastwood Jones said,
‘We warmly welcome Ellie to the ACi community. I am energised by her curiosity and enthusiasm to learn about the world of corporate investigators. On her first day, we talked about some of the core principles and qualities that investigators share. With her inquisitive nature and personal values, Ellie fits right in. We are delighted to have her on board, sharing her perspectives and applying her skills to support our community. Please do join us in welcoming her, and do reach out to Ellie to say hello.’
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Mary Eastwood Jones to the Executive Committee in the role of Executive Director. Mary has over two decades of experience as an Investigations, Whistleblowing and Ethics specialist across the public, private, charitable and humanitarian sectors. With her extensive investigations experience, Mary will be leading several strategic initiatives for the ACi and will be a mentor for staff.
“We are delighted to welcome Mary to the team. She has joined the ACi in a key leadership role to help us deliver some exciting projects that will benefit the investigations community,” Steve Young, CEO, ACi said. “Mary has incredible energy and passion for investigations and I, along with my colleagues, look forward to working with Mary at this juncture in our history. 2022 will be an exciting year for the ACi as we return to face-to-face events for the corporate investigations community throughout the world.”
Mary started her career in criminology research focusing on crime reduction, social inclusion and ethical compliance for a number of UK agencies, including the Ministry of Justice, Youth Justice Board, Home Office, and UK police forces, as well as charities. She then worked in an international NGO as Fraud and Corruption Team lead and most recently as Head of Investigations at the world’s largest university publisher. She is a certified fraud examiner and an investigator with significant experience in fraud, bribery and corruption risk management and prevention of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse. She has successfully set up and managed internal global ‘whistleblowing’ channels, investigations functions and ethics programmes, and has conducted hundreds of complex global investigations across cultures and languages in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, often in hardship settings.
Mary commented, “I am excited to contribute to the vision of the ACi, a global not-for-profit with a mission to recognise, develop, and support the corporate investigations profession and our diverse community. I am passionate and fastidious about this mission, and in particular I truly believe that those in our profession should have the skills and support to investigate without fear, favour or fuss- to the highest professional standards. As someone who has drawn great insights from the ACi community, I am honoured to pay it forward in this role.”
Read Mary’s bio here.