Rose Karam, CFE

Karam could never be accused of taking the straight path to her goals. She became intrigued by fraud examination in college, but she then went on to work a dizzying array of jobs — from owning a skydiving jumpsuit business to big rig driver, with multiple stops in the nonprofit world. She later learned of an opening in the city of Cleveland’s internal audit department and applied. “When, during my interview, I asked the supervisor what she liked best about the job, she responded that every day was different. That sold me!” says Karam. “Although I may not have the power to change the world, I figured that I could at least start with my own local government.” 

While in college, I worked at the main post office and considered becoming a postal inspector. This is when my curiosity for investigative type work first arose.