The American Institute of CPAs recognized 25 top female leaders in the accounting profession on Wednesday with the presentation of the 2019 Most Powerful Women in Accounting Awards at the AICPA Engage conference in Las Vegas.
The awards, now in their eighth year, were created by CPA Practice Advisor and are jointly administered by the AICPA. The awards highlight the success of female leaders and their contributions to the accounting profession. Winners are selected by a group of independent judges. Criteria for award recipients include:
- Demonstration of being a driving force in creating a culture of innovation or excellence within her organization or helped, as a vendor, to develop technologies that empower firms to be more productive and profitable;
- Reaching a level of management and ownership within her company, with demonstrable impact on its success; and
- Actively mentoring those following in her footsteps.
"We received substantially more nominations in 2019 than a year ago and it was a strong group of women," stated Jacquelyn Tracy, chair of the AICPA Women's Initiatives Committee. "Asking our judges to choose among a fabulous nominee pool is a good problem to have as we start to see more women leaders rising in our profession."
The 2019 Most Powerful Women in Accounting Awards recipients, in alphabetical order, are:
- Tommye Barie, senior consulting shareholder, Succession Institute
- Samantha Bowling, partner with Garbelman Winslow
- Danielle Supkis Cheek, director of entrepreneurial advisory services, PKF Texas
- Susan Coffey, executive vice president of public practice, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
- Lynne Doughtie, U.S. chairman and CEO, KPMG
- Sarah Elliott, principal and co-founder, Intend2Lead
- Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, global strategy leader for the cloud business group, Oracle
- Cathy Engelbert, retired CEO of Deloitte US and incoming commissioner of WNBA
- Tracey Golden, AICPA vice chair and an audit partner with Deloitte
- Kelly Grier, U.S. chairman and managing partner and Americas managing partner, EY
- Kacee Johnson, strategic advisor, CPA.com, and founder, Blue Ocean Principles
- Elizabeth Pittelkow Kittner, controller, Litera Microsystems
- Samantha Mansfield, director of professional development and community, CPA.com
- Gail Perry, editor-in-chief, CPA Practice Advisor
- Amy Pitter, president and CEO, Massachusetts Society of CPAs
- Natasha Schamberger, president and CEO, Kansas Society of CPAs
- Lindsay Stevenson, founder and CEO, Origin Evolution
- Joy Thomas, president and CEO, CPA Canada
- Michelle Loyd Thompson, CEO and firm managing partner, Cherry Bekaert
- Jacquelyn Tracy, partner, Mandel & Tracy
- Amy Vetter, creator, the B3 Method Institute
- Jennifer Warawa, executive vice president of partners, accountants and alliances, Sage
- Sandra Wiley, president, Boomer Consulting
- Jennifer Wilson, co-founder and partner, ConvergenceCoaching
- Candace Wright, director, accounting & assurance services group, Postlethwaite & Netterville
