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Management Team

  1. Susan Haling, Executive Inspector General
  2. Neil Olson, General Counsel
  3. Fallon Opperman, Deputy Inspector General and Chief of Chicago Division
  4. Erin Bonales, Director, Hiring and Employment Monitoring Division
  5. Christine Benavente, Deputy Inspector General – Executive Projects
  6. Angela Luning, Deputy Inspector General and Acting Chief of Springfield Division
  7. Ogo Akpan, Chief Fiscal Officer/Chicago Operations Manager
     

Susan Haling, Executive Inspector General

Susan Haling was appointed as Acting Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor on March 14, 2018, and confirmed by the Illinois Senate as Executive Inspector General on May 31, 2019. Ms. Haling joined the OEIG in December 2011 and previously served as First Assistant Inspector General.

She has more than nine years experience as an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago where she tried over 20 criminal trials. Ms. Haling also previously worked for the U.S. Justice Department, Criminal Division in Washington, D.C. Ms. Haling was a law clerk for the Honorable James F. Holderman, district judge for the Northern District of Illinois. Ms. Haling received her BA from the University of Notre Dame and obtained her law degree from DePaul Law School where she graduated Order of the Coif, served as editor for the Law Review, and was a member of Moot Court Trial Team.

Neil Olson, General Counsel

Mr. Olson returned to the OEIG in May 2018 and serves as General Counsel.  Mr. Olson previously worked at the OEIG as Deputy Inspector General and Chief of Springfield Division before leaving the OEIG in 2013 to serve as General Counsel in the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer. 

Prior to his return to the OEIG, Mr. Olson served as an Assistant Attorney General and then the Deputy Public Access Counselor in the Office of the Illinois Attorney General.  He also previously worked for the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct, as a litigator in private practice, and as the law clerk to the Honorable Kenneth Laurence of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.  Mr. Olson is a graduate of Grinnell College and Northeastern University School of Law, and is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and Illinois.

Fallon Opperman, Deputy Inspector General and Chief of Chicago Division

Ms. Opperman joined the OEIG as an assistant inspector general in June 2008, subsequently served as Chief of the Regional Transit Board Division, and now serves as Deputy Inspector General and Chief of Chicago Division. Ms. Opperman received a BA in political science from North Central College and obtained her law degree from the DePaul University College of Law.

Erin Bonales, Director, Hiring and Employment Monitoring Division

Ms. Bonales is responsible for directing the OEIG’s Hiring & Employment Monitoring (HEM) Division, which engages in compliance reviews and monitoring activities related to hiring and employment decisions, policies and practices.  Ms. Bonales previously worked for the OEIG for nearly eight years, including serving as Deputy Inspector General and Chief of the Chicago Division of Investigations.

Prior to joining the OEIG in May 2006, Ms. Bonales was an Assistant General Counsel for the Illinois Department of Human Services for approximately five years.  Ms. Bonales received a JD from the University of Illinois College of Law, and a BA in Political Science from Southern Illinois University.

Christine Benavente, Deputy Inspector General – Executive Projects

Ms. Benavente joined the OEIG as an Assistant Inspector General in August 2011 and later served as a Legislative Assistant Inspector General.  As Deputy Inspector General – Executive Projects, Ms. Benavente leads numerous executive projects, including overseeing the Division of External Compliance & Outreach and serving as the legislative attorney for all legislative matters pertaining to the OEIG.

Prior to working at the OEIG, she was an Associate at Jenner & Block, LLP.  Ms. Benavente obtained her law degree from DePaul University College of Law where she graduated Order of the Coif and magna cum laude.  During law school she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Women's Law Caucus Digest and Moot Court Representative for the Hispanic National Bar Association.  She obtained a BA from the University of Iowa.

Angela Luning, Deputy Inspector General and Acting Chief of Springfield Division

Ms. Luning joined the OEIG as an Assistant Inspector General in 2012, became a Deputy Inspector General for Investigations in 2015, and currently serves as Acting Chief of the Springfield Division. Ms. Luning previously served as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, an Assistant Attorney General, and an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago;

she also was a law clerk to the Hon. George W. Lindberg in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Ms. Luning has a BA from Yale University, and received her law degree from Loyola University Chicago, where she served as the Executive Editor for Lead Articles on the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal.

Ogo Akpan, Chief Fiscal Officer/Chicago Operations Manager

Ogo Akpan joined the OEIG as Chief Fiscal Officer/Chicago Operations Manager in December 2021. She provides leadership and management of all financial operations of the agency and is also responsible for administrative operations of the Chicago office. Prior to the OEIG, she worked as a Certified Public Accountant for the Illinois Office of the Comptroller.

She previously held finance leadership roles in the private sector responsible for accounting, finance, and data analytics functions. Ms. Akpan received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Nigeria, obtained her MBA from Schulich School of Business, York University Toronto Canada, and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Illinois.