Speakers

Managing Director and Senior Client Advisor

Morgan Stanley

Carla Harris is a Vice Chairman, Managing Director and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley. She is responsible for increasing client connectivity and penetration to enhance revenue generation across the firm. She formerly headed the Emerging Manager Platform, the equity capital markets effort for the consumer and retail industries and was responsible for Equity Private Placements. In her 30 year career, Ms. Harris has had extensive industry experiences in the technology, media, retail, telecommunications, transportation, industrial, and healthcare sectors. In August 2013, Carla Harris was appointed by President Barack Obama to chair the National Women’s Business Council. For more than a decade, Ms. Harris was a senior member of the equity syndicate desk and executed such transactions as initial public offerings for UPS, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Ariba, Redback, the General Motors sub-IPO of Delphi Automotive, and the $3.2 Billion common stock transaction for Immunex Corporation, one of the largest biotechnology common stock transactions in U.S. history. Ms. Harris was named to Fortune Magazine’s list of “The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America”, Fortune’s Most Influential List, U. S. Bankers Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance (2009, 2010, 2011), Black Enterprise’s Top 75 Most Powerful Women in Business (2017), and “Top 75 African Americans on Wall Street”, and to Essence Magazine’s list of “The 50 Women Who are Shaping the World”, Ebony’s list of the Power 100 and “15 Corporate Women at the Top” and was named “Woman of the Year 2004” by the Harvard Black Men’s Forum and in 2011 by the Yale Black Men’s Forum. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Carla received an MBA, _Second Year Honors _from Harvard Business School and an AB in economics from Harvard University, _Magna Cum Laude_. Carla has also received Honorary Doctorates of Laws, Humanities and Business from Marymount Manhattan College, Bloomfield College, Jacksonville University, Simmons College, the College of New Rochelle, St. Thomas Aquinas College and Fisk University, Wake Forest University and Felician University respectively. Carla Harris is actively involved in her community and heartily believes that “we are blessed so that we can be a blessing to someone else.” She is the past Chair of the Board of the Morgan Stanley Foundation and of The Executive Leadership Council, and sits on the boards of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), A Better Chance, Inc, and St. Vincent’s Hospitals, and is an active member of the St. Charles Gospelites of the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church and the Mark Howell Singers. She is a member of the board of overseers of Harvard University and of the board of directors of the Walmart Corporation. Ms. Harris was co-chair of the National Social Action Commission of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She has been named to the New Jersey Hall of Fame (2015) and has received the Bert King Award from the Harvard Business School African American Alumni Association, the 2005 Women’s Professional Achievement Award from Harvard University, the Pierre Toussaint Medallion from the Office of Black Ministry of the Archdiocese of New York, the Women of Power Award given by the National Urban League, the Women of Influence Award from The Links, Incorporated and many other awards. In her other life, Carla is a singer who has sold out concerts at the Apollo Theatre, and released her third gospel CD “Unceasing Praise” (2011) , her second CD, a gospel album titled, “Joy Is Waiting”, was featured on BET Nightly News while her first CD entitled, “Carla’s First Christmas”, was a bestseller on Amazon.com in New York and in record stores, and was featured on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather in his “American Dream” segment. She has performed 5 sold out concerts at Carnegie Hall. Carla is also the author of the books, _Strategize to Win_ (2014) and of _Expect to Win_ (2009) (Hudson Press).

Former Head Men's Basketball Coach

Duke University

Passionate, dynamic, inspiring and coach of Duke University men's basketball team who led Team USA to the gold medal at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio, Mike Krzyzewski (known by fans as Coach K) is a master motivator-not only of teams, but of individuals and organizations, spurring them on to succeed beyond even their own expectations. Coach K is also the executive-in-residence, Co-Founder at Fuqua / Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics at Duke University. A member of the National Basketball Hall of Fame, Coach K shows audiences how they, too, can compile winning numbers in both their professional and personal lives. The NCAA Division 1 men’s all-time leader for wins as the first Division 1 men’s basketball coach to reach 1,200 wins, Coach K has complied an incredible record of success with an additional 35 NCAA tournament appearances, 12 Final Fours and five National Championships over 46 seasons as a head coach. In 2008 and in 2012, Coach K led the U.S. men’s basketball team to Olympic gold medals, becoming the first coach since Henry Iba (1964 & 1968) to accomplish that feat. In the 11 years of coaching the USA Team, he led them to 3 Olympic Gold Medals plus 2 World Championship Gold Medals in 2010 and 2014. Coach K maps out a clear game plan for achieving success—motivating, leading and providing powerful strategies for building confidence, trust, communication and teamwork. Like any good coach, he scouts your organization to discover how to best inspire and renew your people. He is the author of two New York Times best-sellers including Beyond Basketball: Coach K’s Keywords for Success. His most recent book is The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team. A 12-time National Coach of the Year, in 2011 Sports Illustrated named Krzyzewski its Sportsman of the Year. Krzyzewski has been honored by USA Basketball as the recipient or co-recipient of the USA Basketball National Coach of the Year Award.

CEO, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants

President & CEO, American Institute of CPAs

Barry C. Melancon is the CEO of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the most influential body of professional accountants in the world with more than 650,000 members and students, living in 179 countries and territories. Formed in 2017, the Association combines the strengths of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), which Melancon also leads as President & CEO.

During his 41-year career, Melancon has served as an advocate for the accounting profession. He has built extensive relationships with governments around the world, extending the reach of the public and management accounting profession to new regions and opportunities.

Melancon joined the AICPA in 1995. He is now the longest serving CEO in the organisation's 133-year history. Under his tenure, the AICPA has grown to become the largest membership body of CPAs in the world and has directed numerous initiatives to benefit not only the profession, but also investors, business owners, lenders and the general public. These include audit quality centers, private company reporting standards, the computerized CPA exam and two consumer financial literacy education programs.

Under Melancon's leadership in 2011, the AICPA formed a joint venture with CIMA to elevate management accounting globally. Together, the organisations created the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation for those professionals who meet the highest benchmark of rigor and quality. Today, approximately 150,000 professionals hold the CGMA designation worldwide. Then, in 2016, Melancon led a process for members of the AICPA and CIMA to combine and form the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. The effort was supported by more than 85% of the members voting. The combined entity has 33 offices in 23 countries, all under Melancon's direction.

Melancon has led the Association in the release of two integrated reports that share a holistic view of how the AICPA, CIMA and Association come together to create value in the short- and long-term. This complements his service as chair of the Board of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), a global coalition of stakeholders that promotes integrated reporting as the next step in the evolution of corporate reporting.

Additionally, Melancon serves as chairman of the board of CPA.com, a for-profit subsidiary of the AICPA which was his brainchild in 1998. In a unique approach, he raised more than $70 million to fund an organisation controlled by the AICPA but with minority owners. CPA.com today provides leading-edge technology services to tens of thousands of small CPA firms in the United States. Further, under his direction, the AICPA has been awarded the .cpa domain, which will help CPAs promote themselves online through a clear connection with the CPA profession. The new domain will only be available to the CPA community.

Melancon is also chairman of eXtensible Business Reporting Language-US (XBRL), a founding member and current board chairman of the Global Accounting Alliance (GAA), and a founding and current board member of the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ). He serves on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness and is a member of the delegation to the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). During 2007-2008, Melancon served on the U.S. Department of the Treasury Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession. He has also testified for the profession before Congress numerous times.

His extensive experience also includes spearheading the development of a new cybersecurity assurance service in 2017, the professionalisation of a cloud-based client accounting service in 2007, the next generation of leadership academies, the computerisation of the US-CPA exam, the global CGMA exam, uniform licensure for CPAs throughout the country, and has helped elevate CPA and CGMA skills globally for technology and business service. He is also leading a renewed commitment to diversity in the profession and countless legislative and regulatory approaches to benefit businesses and the profession. On the international stage, he has spoken on business, technology and change management issues to professional accountants and business leaders throughout the world, and met with government leaders, regulators, and stock exchanges focusing on the future of business and business information.

Prior to joining the AICPA, Melancon served for eight years as executive director of the Society of Louisiana CPAs. He began his accounting career in 1979 at a small CPA firm in Louisiana. In 1984, he was elected a firm partner. Melancon graduated in 1978 from Nicholls State University in Louisiana, majoring in accounting with a minor in government. He also earned an MBA in 1983 from Nicholls State University and subsequently served as an adjunct professor of accounting at his alma mater for four years. Melancon was awarded his alma mater's first and only Honorary Doctorate of Commerce in 2008.

He has been honored with many awards, including the 2011 National Association Executive of the Year award. He presents to profession and business leaders more than 100 times per year.

President & CEO

CPA.com

Erik Asgeirsson has been President and CEO of CPA.com for the past fifteen years and was part of the original founding team. Under Erik’s leadership, CPA.com has established itself as a leader on emerging technologies and as a key solution provider to accounting firms in the United States, with a growing global focus. CPA.com is a subsidiary of the AICPA, the world’s largest accounting association.

Erik is viewed as a leading change agent for technology adoption across the accounting profession. He has been on Accounting Today’s list of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the Accounting Profession for the past decade and is a member of numerous advisory boards. He is a frequent speaker at professional conferences and is regularly quoted in the accounting and business trade press.

For the past decade, Erik has driven CPA.com’s focus on cloud computing solutions and more recently on artificial intelligence. During Erik’s tenure CPA.com has led the development of the cloud-based client accounting services category which has become one of the highest growth firm practice areas. Over the past few years, Erik has broadened CPA.com’s focus to include the audit practice as the co-sponsor of the Dynamic Audit Solution initiative, which is looking to leverage artificial intelligence and other technologies to transform the future audit practice. Erik also led the creation of RIVIO, a private company financial information clearinghouse, and is overseeing the launch of .CPA, a new top level domain for the profession.

Before joining CPA.com, Erik held a variety of positions over a ten-year period at AT&T in business development, operations, and product management. Erik holds an MBA in Finance from The New York University Stern School of Business and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from George Washington University, where he was elected to the Eta Kappa Nu engineering honor society. Early in his career, Erik served for two years as a United States Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania.

Erik lives in Rye, N.Y., with his wife, Claudia, and their four daughters. He is also an avid sailor and skier.

Chief Executive Officer - Public Accounting

Association of International Certified Professional Accountants

Susan S. Coffey, CPA, CGMA is Chief Executive Officer of Public Accounting at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.

Sue leads the Association’s strategy to advance public accounting domestically and globally as well as strengthen the pipeline and competencies of U.S. licensed CPAs.

Sue sets strategy for the Association’s assurance, advisory, tax and practice management initiatives in the U.S. and abroad. Her most recent focus is on securing a robust and highly skilled U.S. CPA pipeline; promoting the value and relevancy of U.S. CPAs and CPA firms, including evolving the profession’s core services, leveraging emerging technology and advancing practice quality; and creating opportunities for practice growth around the use of new technologies and in emerging service areas, including environmental/social/governance.

Sue’s responsibilities span a number of diverse communities and stakeholders, both domestic and international, giving her a unique, global perspective. Building on a wide range of experience, she brings a broad view to strategic planning, risk management and problem-solving, which guide the Association as it executes on its public interest activities, develops opportunities for CPA firms, and works with firms and other key stakeholders.

Sue is a licensed CPA in the States of New York and New Jersey, as well as a CGMA. She has been honored over the years by being recognized as one of the Most Powerful Women in Accounting by the CPA Practice Advisor and by inclusion on Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting list.

Prior to joining the Association, Sue was with PricewaterhouseCoopers' accounting and auditing practice. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Fairfield University.

President

Science Systems and Applications, Inc.

Mr. Anoop N. Mehta, CPA, CGMA, is the Vice Chair of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).

Over his 40-year career, Mehta has served in several volunteer roles: the AICPA Board of Directors, the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (Association) Board of Directors, the AICPA Business and Industry Executive Committee, the AICPA Political Action Committee and AICPA Council.

Currently he is the Chief Strategist for Analytical Mechanical Associates, Inc. (AMA). AMA has worked with government and commercial organizations solving the toughest engineering, science and business problems. Mehta, with over 40 years of experience provides expertise in key areas of business development, strategic planning, and operational improvements across AMA.

Former President, Science Systems and Applications, Inc. Lanham, MD

Mehta stepped down as the president of Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI) in June 2021. In his role, he led the executive management team and oversaw the overall performance of the company. He had the day-to-day responsibility for managing, planning, and implementing strategic goals of the company. With more than 40 years of experience in government contracting, he actively supported NASA and NOAA programs in an executive management capacity for SSAI.

Mehta joined SSAI in 1980 and has helped the company to grow from a two-person company to more than 1,000. The company has also achieved profitability above target levels for the past 40 years. The company has also received numerous “Best Places to Work” recognitions in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan and Hampton Roads, Va. areas.

Mehta was the Chair (2012-2013) of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA). He serves on the Government Contractors Committee for the MACPA and chaired the committee for two years (2001-2003).

Mehta is a former board member and past president of the Maryland Space Business Roundtable. He is also a seventh-degree Master Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and has been teaching martial arts and operating a karate school for the past 35 years.

Mehta has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park.