The group, which began meeting in July, will make a progress report at the AICPA’s Fall Council meeting in October.

Chaired by Lexy Kessler, CPA, CGMA, mid-Atlantic regional leader for Aprio, it includes members representing a range of perspectives, experiences, and constituencies, including state CPA societies, different size accounting firms, state boards of accountancy, educators and business and industry.

Jennifer Wilson of ConvergenceCoaching, is a national leadership and management consulting firm, will be the group’s lead facilitator and will be supported by or members of her team. 

Other members of the advisory group are:  Jeannine Birmingham, CPA, CAE, CEO, Alabama Society of CPAs; Ken Bouyer, CIA, EY Americas DEI recruiting leader and member of the AICPA National Commission on Diversity and Inclusion; Susan Coffey, CPA, CGMA, CEO of public accounting, AICPA; Daniel J. Dustin, CPA, VP of state relations, National Association of State Boards of Accountancy; Joe Falbo, CPA, CGMA, partner at Szymkowiak & Associates CPAs, past president of the New York State Society of CPAs; Jonathan Hauser, CPA, partner at KPMG and chair of the Illinois CPA Society; Angela Ho, CPA, CGMA, chief compliance officer, OceanFirst Bank;  Kathy Johnson, CPA, CFF, CGMA, VP, JS Held, adjunct professor, California State University, San Bernadino and past chair, California Society of CPAs; Lori Kaiser, CPA, CGMA, Founder and CEO of Kaiser Consulting, LLC and past chair, Ohio Society of CPAs.

Also serving are Elizabeth (Betsy) Krisher, CPA, CEO/Chairman, Maher Duessel CPAs and president of the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs board; Allen Lloyd, CAE, executive director, Montana Society of CPAs; Tom Neill, CPA (retired), Uniform Accountancy Act committee chair; Michelle F. Randall, CPA, CGMA, accounting professor, Schoolcraft College and chair of the Michigan Association of CPAs; Jodi Ann Ray, CAE, president and CEO, Texas Society of CPAs; Marcus Rayner, managing director, U.S. Public Policy at PwC; Rick Reisig, CPA, principal, Pinion, and board chairman, NASBA; Kimberly Scott, CAE, president and CEO, Washington Society of CPAs; Lindsay Stevenson, CPA, CGMA, chief transformation officer, BPM and board member, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants; Mark Taylor, CPA, director, University of South Florida’s Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy and 2023-24 president, American Accounting Association; Emily Walker, CAE, VP Advocacy, Virginia Society of CPAs; and Shelly Weir, president and CEO, Florida Institute of CPAs.