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Virginia Society of CPAs names 'Outstanding Member of the Year,' 'Top 5 Under 35'

The Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants (VSCPA) announced on Tuesday the winners of its Outstanding Member of the Year and Top 5 Under 35 awards at a new ceremony prior to the Society's annual business meeting, held May 25 in Williamsburg.

James Shepherd, of Richmond, was named the VSCPA's Outstanding Member of the Year. The award looks to recognize a Society member who has provided notable service to the profession via participation in VSCPA and charitable activities that promote accounting and the CPA profession.

Shepherd currently serves as chair of Verus Financial Partners in Richmond and is past chair of the VSCPA Board of Directors. He also previously served on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for the VSCPA, as well as vice chair of Educational Foundation and past-president for the Richmond chapter of the VSCPA.

Shepherd received his bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and a post-baccalaureate certificate in accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University, additionally earning a master’s of science degree in financial planning from the College for Financial Planning.

The Top 5 Under 35 Award recognizes young CPAs that have made notable achievements for the VSCPA on the state or chapter level, charitable acts, and/or dedication to the CPA profession.

The 2016 recipients are:

  • Melisa Galasso - Audit senior manager for Cherry Bekaert in Charlotte, N.C. Galasso serves on the VSCPA’s Online Programs Planning Task Force and was past president of the North Carolina Association of CPAs’ (NCACPA) Charlotte Chapter. She is a graduate of Georgetown University.\
  • Bo Garner - Manager and co-leader of the Not-for-Profit Services Team at PBMares in Newport News. Garner is the VSCPA’s firm ambassador to PBMares, serves on the VSCPA’s Young Professional Advisory Council and worked on the task force that helped launch the VSCPA’s MentorMatch program last year. He received his bachelor’s degree from Randolph-Macon College and earned his master’s in business administration at the College of William & Mary.
  • Keith Gray - Tax consultant with Arlington Family Offices in Birmingham, Ala. Gray serves on the VSCPA Disclosures magazine Editorial Task Force and is past VP of the VSCPA’s Roanoke Chapter. He earned his bachelor’s from Birmingham-Southern College.
  • Carolanne Petrusiak - Tax manager at PBMares in Fairfax and president of the VSCPA’s Northern Chapter. She earned her bachelor’s from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg and has earned the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
  • Aditya Yerramilli - Forensic program manager for Google in Mountain View, Calif., where he manages global transaction monitoring and forensics focused on mitigating Google’s regulatory risk worldwide. He is a member of the VSCPA’s LEAD Initiative task force where he assesses the VSCPA’s current leadership opportunities and determines how to package them and identify resource gaps. Yerramilli earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland.

 For more on the VSCPA, head to the Society's site here.

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