Pickering receives National Auditor Award for Leadership

Mississippi Veterans Affairs Executive Director Stacey Pickering was awarded the William Snodgrass Distinguished Leadership Award by the National State Auditors Association (NSAA) at their annual June meeting in Cherokee, North Carolina, for his leadership as the state auditor of Mississippi. 

The purpose of the award is to recognize individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and notable contributions to state government auditing, and to encourage interest, growth, development, and distinctive leadership in the field of state government auditing.  

During his three terms as state auditor, Pickering was NSAA’s president in 2017-2018, a member of the U.S. Comptroller General’s Domestic working group, and was recognized as a champion for improving state government accountability and transparency.  

The Mississippi Office of the State Auditor received the NSAA Excellence in Accountability Award in 2012 for their work on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). 

Pickering accepted the award by video, as he is currently deployed to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, supporting U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa.  

Pickering was chosen by a committee of his peers to receive the award. 

“It is an honor to receive the Snodgrass award from the NSAA because it comes from my friends and colleagues in the national audit community,” Pickering said.  “It is not something I receive individually because I could not have served as state auditor or been the president of NSAA last year without the great staff of the Mississippi State Auditor’s office.” 

Current Mississippi State Auditor Shad White said he was the beneficiary of more than a decade of groundwork that Pickering laid. 

“I inherited a strong office when Governor Bryant appointed me to succeed Stacey Pickering, and this award is a testament to Stacey’s outstanding leadership and the team he built in the auditor’s office,” White said. 

 “It’s an honor to come to work every day to build on the foundation that he laid,” White said.  

Pickering served 10 years as State Auditor of Mississippi.  He resigned in July 2018, when he became the executive director of Mississippi Veterans Affairs.