Thursday, December 11, 2014

FACES: Jaclyn Vargo, New Director of the Office of Special Investigations (OSI)


Background

Experience

Director, Office of Special Investigations

NYC Department of Education
 – Present (3 months)Greater New York City Area

Principal Budget Coach

Your Budget Builder LLC
 – Present (1 year 8 months)yourbudgetbuilder.com
Your Budget Builder is a hands-on coaching service that specializes in creating customized budgets for individuals and families and personalized instruction on how to implement financial plans. I coach clients throughout the U.S. via telephone and Skype, in addition to in person meetings.

Adjunct Professor

Monroe College
 – Present (1 year 5 months)Bronx, NY
• Teach criminal justice and criminal procedure courses to undergraduate students. 
• Develop curriculum to maintain and improve competence. 
• Prepare teaching materials and lessons.
• Communicate with students on course topics in person and utilizing Blackboard platform. 
• Review written examinations and papers.
• Evaluate oral presentations.

Blogger

The Huffington Post
 – Present (1 year 6 months)
Blog about personal finance and how to improve your financial health.

www.huffingtonpost.com/jaclyn-vargo

Assistant Counsel and Ethics Officer

New York State Gaming Commission
 –  (7 months)New York, New York
Assistant Counsel
• Assisted the General Counsel in all aspects of legal department operations.
• Ensured that all contracts, official documents, policies and operations comply with applicable rules and regulations.
• Advised Commission executives and employees on general legal issues with a primary focusing on commercial gaming and Indian gaming regulation. 

Ethics Officer
• Advised Commission employees regarding the interpretation and implementation of ethics laws, including the State’s public officers laws and lobbying laws.
• Conducted comprehensive ethics training course. 
• Served as liaison between the Commission and Joint Commission on Public Ethics (“JCOPE”).
• Evaluate allegations and refer complaints to JCOPE as appropriate.
• Managed the Commission’s Financial Disclosure Statement (FDS) filers and submitted FDS to JCOPE. 
• Promoted a culture of integrity by fostering awareness of ethics laws and obligations.

Associate Director of Career Services and Diversity Initiatives

Brooklyn Law School
 –  (2 years 8 months)Brooklyn, NY
• Provided individualized career counseling to law students, defining professional goals, and identifying appropriate resources and job search strategies.
• Advised over 250 students, whom I guided in drafting resumes and cover letters, preparing for interviews and creating job search strategies. 
• Supported advisees as they negotiate job offers with employers, including law firms, corporations and government agencies.
• Worked with law firms, corporations and financial institutions to create diversity initiatives.
• Drafted career related handouts, handbooks and information sheets. 
• Produced student programming and distributed information regarding events that focused on diversifying the legal industry.

Assistant District Attorney

New York County District Attorney's Office
 –  (7 years 11 months)
• Supervised and trained assistant district attorneys.
• Supervised and managed attorneys in the Early Case Assessment Bureau. 
• Managed all aspects of hundreds of felony prosecutions, from arrest through to trial and disposition. 
• Investigated cases in conjunction with local and federal agencies, interviewed witnesses and debriefed defendants. 
• Fully developed cases and presented them before the grand jury.

Summer Associate

Martin Clearwater & Bell
 –  (4 months)
Offer extended.
• Assisted senior partners with trial preparation.
• Drafted legal memoranda and motions.

Honorable Kevin Thomas Duffy

United States District Court Southern District of New York
 –  (5 months)
• Assisted in drafting bench memoranda and opinions for civil and criminal matters.
• Analyzed evidence, ascertained facts, and researched applicable law.

Legal Intern

United States Attorney's Office, Civil Division Eastern District of New York
 –  (4 months)
• Wrote memorandum of law to court in case of first impression involving the illegal use of pharmaceuticals.
• Assisted extensively in week-long jury trial resulting in favorable verdict.
• Drafted briefs and answers in Title VII wrongful termination claims and Social Security fraud cases.

Education

Fordham University School of Law

JD
Honors: Editor-in-Chief, Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal

Awards: Archibald Murray Public Service Award Recipient

Activities: Legal Writing Teaching Assistant for Professor Charles Whelan, Black Law Students Association, OUTLaws

arvard University

AB, Social Anthropology
Harvard College Scholarship for Academic Achievement of High Distinction

Elizabeth Cary Agassiz Certificate of Merit

Dean’s List
Activities and Societies: Director, Mainly Jazz Dance Company
Publications

Tips for Informed Outreach to LGBTQ Students

NALP Bulletin/National Association for Law Placement, Inc.® (NALP®)
February 2013
2 authors
  • Jaclyn Vargo
    Jaclyn Vargo
    Director, Office of Special Investigations at the NYC DOE
  • Lorri Olan
    Lorri Olan
    Member, Virginia Association of Colleges and Employers

Volunteer Experience & Causes

National Chair of Ethics Committee

US Figure Skating
 – Present (19 years 4 months)
Chair, Ethics Committee (May 2013 – Present) 
Vice-Chair, Ethics Committee (May 2012 – April 2013)
• Interpret, administer, and apply USFS Code of Conduct, including the development of principles of ethical behavior and conflict of interest applicable to over 173,000 members in more than 700 member clubs. 
• Review and investigate all matters referred by the USFS president or vice-president...more

Board of Directors

Gotham Girls Roller Derby, NFP
 – Present (1 year 8 months)
Founded in 2003, and first bouting in 2004, Gotham Girls Roller Derby is New York City’s only all-female, do-it-yourself (DIY), skater-operated roller derby league. As a 501c3 non-profit organization, GGRD is committed to fostering serious competition on a national and international level, developing amateur athletes for competition, and promoting the physical and mental strength and independent...more
Honors & Awards

Vargo takes skating's life lessons into career

Icenetwork.com
 
Jaclyn Ward Vargo, chair of U.S. Figure Skating's ethics committee, grew up with a passion for skating. As kids, she and her sister, Amanda Ward (the 1993 U.S. novice ladies champion), gladly made the hour-and-15-minute drive (each way) from their home to the Sport-O-Rama in Monsey, N.Y., where they trained with Peter Burrows and Mary Lynn Gelderman.
Vargo competed at the U.S. championships at the junior level. Although she knew her skating skills would only take her so far, she saw herself being involved in the sport long term, and she started trial judging on her 16th birthday.
"I got my first appointment on my 18th birthday," said Vargo, who attended college at Harvard, putting her in close proximity to countless opportunities to judge skating.
"The Skating Club of Boston and the New England community welcomed me with open arms," she recalled. "At that time, Skating Club of Boston had their test sessions either Saturday or Sunday mornings, so it worked very well with a college schedule. It was biking distance. I really lucked out that regionals and sectionals were often a drive away.
"I was able to balance it," she added. "It was a high point. It wasn't ever drudgery or a task. It was something I really enjoyed. I obviously love figure skating. I also loved that judging worked this analytical side of your brain."
After graduating from Harvard and attending Fordham University School of Law, Vargo became an assistant district attorney in the New York County DA's Office. At times, skating took a back seat to her work, but it remained a presence in her life. She received her national judging appointment and judged at the 2007 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, becoming the first African American to sit on a panel at that event.
"Happy to see now I'm not the only one," she noted.
After becoming mother to Isadora, 3½, Vargo found the life of a prosecutor was compatible with motherhood neither from a practical nor emotional standpoint. She and her wife, a social worker who recently began a psychotherapy practice, also have Blake, 1.
Since 2011, Vargo has been associate director of career services and diversity initiatives at Brooklyn Law School. She also is a budget coach, helping individuals and families create and implement financial plans -- something skating taught her a lot about.
"Growing up in such a small community (Sullivan County, N.Y.), I don't think that I would have had the world view that I have without figure skating," Vargo said. "People would come from all over the world to train during the summer. That gave me a lot of exposure.
"I can say, 'My name is Jackie' in Japanese," she added. "It also taught me about accountability. There is absolutely no short cut."
In addition to skating, Vargo has also been involved with Gotham Girls Roller Derby -- even competing and winning a national title in 2008.
As a career counselor at Brooklyn Law School, Vargo works with students from the time they enter to a year after graduation. Her job involves advising students about career options and helping them define professional goals. She also is involved in diversity initiatives, working with nonprofit organizations and bar associations to discover and develop opportunities for LGBT students and students of color.
She tries to instill in the students the same sense of determination and resilience she learned through skating.
"Life is about the ability to tuck and roll and adapt," Vargo said. "Just like in skating, you fall, you get up and keep moving."
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousMarch 28, 2015 at 12:45 AM

    No sure if a rejection of accomodation for disability suit will be coming her way

    ReplyDelete

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