This summer, Internal Audit welcomed a promising young talent, Samantha Elk. As part of the Southern Ute Education Department’s Youth Employment Program, referred to as YEP, participants were able to meet with different departments before final selection. Wanting a challenge, Samantha ended up selecting Internal Audit.
As a sophomore at Bayfield High School, Samantha is already considering different universities and majors, including neuroscience. Internal Audit was the right choice for her, so she could exercise skills such as research, writing, critical thinking, and attention to detail.
A few of the primary objectives of the Summer Youth Employment Program is to ensure that participants gain practical knowledge, real-work skills, learn about the services within the Tribe, and obtain a better understanding of possible future careers with the Tribe.
With Internal Audit, the youth worker gains experience in the auditing field and learns more about how the Southern Ute Indian Tribe operates. In addition, the youth worker is assigned a research project, focusing on a topic of importance to the Tribe.
“Samantha has shown exceptional skill in both research and writing” said Brian Bex, Director of Internal Audit. “She is incredibly smart and has shown excellent work ethic.”
Samantha is working closely with several internal auditors, including Carolyne Eagle, Adam Red, and Jamie Rivera.
For her project, Samantha reviewed the tribal constitution, looked at practices from the federal government related to tribes, and performed several interviews.
“I could tell from the very first interview that the Internal Audit Department would be a perfect fit for our youth worker” Adam Red said. “Samantha is a high achiever.”
From her research, Samantha collected and documented her observations. “The amount of writing we do as we conduct our work is immense, so having great writing skills as an Internal Auditor is essential,” Jamie Rivera said.
“Behind every project we do, there are numerous work papers that the auditor writes to detail the work performed. One of our department’s core values is that ‘we will communicate effectively’ and we strive to do that in our writing to create work products that are clear and logical to our readers,” Jamie Rivera explained.
As a capstone, Samantha will be developing her observations and presenting her research to the Tribal Council.
This is the second year Internal Audit has participated in YEP. Youth workers that select Internal Audit are subject to high expectations and must perform to the standards of the department, including an understanding of objectivity and integrity.
For more information on the Summer Youth Employment Program, contact Dustin Weaver, Youth Employment Program Coordinator at 970-563-2786.