COMBAT Budget Coordinator Keron Hopkins Focuses On Accounting & Accountability

Keron Hopkins wasn't looking for "just any job." During a career spanning 20-plus years, she had worked for three major universities and had a fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution. She wanted her next position to be with an organization committed to making a difference in the community. 

She chose COMBAT. In her role as COMBAT's new Budget Coordinator, Keron serves as an accountant, financial analyst and contract administrator. COMBAT director Vince Ortega has tasked her with helping put more accountability in the program's accounting practices—in accordance with the recommendations included in The BKD Report.

"I describe COMBAT as being a puzzle," says Keron. "There are lots of pieces—prevention, treatment, anti-violence, law enforcement, social services—and when they all come together they can make a really big difference."

She stresses that there is much more to her job than being a mathmagician: “I don’t crunch numbers, I don’t count beans, and what I do isn’t magic.”
 
"I'm here to work with people," she says. "How can we help the agencies COMBAT funds succeed? How can we better serve the public?"

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