The American Institute of CPAs announced the recipients of its sixth annual Standing Ovation award, given to CPAs age 40 and under. Award winners were recognized during the AICPA Engage 2021 conference in Las Vegas.
Nine CPAs in all received awards across the personal finance and information technology sectors.
“A career in accounting offers so many different opportunities to work with individuals and businesses to help them reach their goals,” said Sue Coffey, CEO, public accounting, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, in a statement. “This year’s Standing Ovation Award winners are shining examples of the impact that CPAs can make in the fields of technology advisory services and personal financial planning relatively early in their careers.”
The two recipients of the Personal Financial Planning Standing Ovation award all hold the PFS credential and were honored during the AICPA’s Advanced Personal Financial Planning track, held during Engage. Contributions by this group include serving as role models within their firms and helping shape their high school accounting curriculum.
The 2021 PFP Standing Ovation recipients, in alphabetical order, are:
- Eric Blazekovic — Griffiths, Dreher & Evans (Spokane, Washington)
- Blake Harrison — LBMC (Brentwood, Tennessee)
Seven CPAs who hold the Certified Information Technology Professional specialty credential were also recognized for their contributions to the information management and technology assurance sectors. They were honored during the Practitioners and Tech+ conference, held during Engage 2021.
This year’s recipients were recognized for advancing the CITP credential in each of their home states, supporting social justice and social welfare efforts, and volunteering to mentor startup companies, among other efforts.
The 2021 IMTA Standing Ovation recipients, in alphabetical order, are:
- Timothy Davis — A-LIGN (Boca Raton, Florida)
- Shabbir Hassanali — Mazars USA (East Windsor, New Jersey)
- Ray Sang — Itron Inc. (Liberty Lake, Washington)
- Justin Thomsen — Slate Accounting (Reno, Nevada)
- Kristina Vieni — BDO USA, (New York, New York)
- Alexandria Welsh — A-LIGN (Boca Raton, Florida)
- Jason Yau — RSM International (Bayside, New York)
For more information on the Standing Ovation awards, head to the AICPA's
