Regional

Lori Mikesell is the Executive Assistant to the Columbus Site Director of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS). As such she is responsible for day-to-day operational support and serves as the chief advisor to the Site Director and Deputy Director.

Prior to assuming her current duties, she served as the Deputy Director of the Site Support Office, managing a variety of functions to include budget development and execution, the Balanced Scorecard and metrics reporting. She provided direct support to the DFAS Transformation and Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) transition teams. Additionally her staffed managed the Leaders in Motion (LIM) developmental program.

Other notably positions held include: Serving as the agency's project officer for the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) implementation. In that capacity, she led a multi-interdisciplinary team in developing the implementation strategy for the agency, and was responsible for implementing NSPS at 24 Stateside DFAS locations. Working as a Staff Accountant in the Chief Financial Officers Act (CFOA) liaison office at Columbus, she was an integral player in DFAS receiving its first Unqualified Audit Opinion.

Prior to joining DFAS in 1993, Mikesell worked for the Department of the Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio and Gunter AFB, Alabama. She implemented and maintained accounting and entitlement systems to include General Accounting and Finance Systems (GAFS), Integrated Accounts Payable System (IAPS) and Base Accounting Receivable System (BARS).

She is a founding member and past President of the Greater Columbus chapter of the Association of Government Accountants and a member of the Association of Military Comptrollers' Buckeye Chapter. She currently is serving as the Regional Vice President for the Ohio-Michigan region of AGA. She holds a BS in Accounting from Wright State University and a MS in Human Resource Management from Troy State University.