Speakers

Aaron Anderson

Aaron Anderson serves as the Chief Accounting Officer at Meta Platforms, Inc., where he leads a global team responsible for Accounting, Sourcing, Finance Operations, Payroll, and Transformation. With extensive experience in financial leadership, Aaron plays a critical role in overseeing and transforming Meta’s complex financial operations worldwide.

Before joining Meta, Aaron held key leadership roles at PayPal, including Senior Vice President and Treasurer from 2020 to 2022 and Chief Accounting Officer from 2015 to 2020. His career includes tenures at MasterCard, IBM, and Deloitte, where he developed deep expertise in accounting and finance. In addition to his executive roles, Aaron is a Board Member and Audit Committee Chair at ZeroHash LLC and a member of the Corporate Advisory Board of NABA.

Aaron holds a Master’s degree in Accounting and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in Nebraska and Connecticut and is an active member of Financial Executives International (FEI).

Doug Anderson

Doug has over 25 years of consulting and industry experience across various sectors including industrial manufacturing, aerospace and defense, and electronic equipment industries with a focus on sourcing and procurement driven margin improvement, operational cost reduction, and supply chain efficiency. Doug joined the firm in 2011 through PwC’s acquisition of PRTM, a global management consulting firm with focused capabilities in operational strategy, strategic sourcing, procurement, and supply chain.

Andrew Antos

Andrew is the co-founder and CEO of Klarity. Klarity is an AI Analyst for Always-On Transformation. DoorDash, JLL, CrowdStrike, OpenAI or Cloudflare use Klarity to drive continuous transformation across business operations—FinOps, SalesOps, ProcureOps, anything. Prior to founding Klarity (Y Combinator S18), Andrew was an M&A lawyer and a graduate of Harvard Law School.

Saqib Baig

Saqib is a senior finance executive with nearly three decades of global experience leading diverse areas of finance function, including controllership, FP&A, strategic finance, technical accounting advisory, external reporting, finance IT operations, corporate treasury, enterprise risk management, corporate finance, M&A, business risk advisory, and regulatory compliance. He has built his career across multibillion-dollar global enterprises such as GE, Colgate, Meta, and Peloton, gaining deep expertise in managing the complexities of large-scale organizations with diverse revenue streams spanning multiple industries. Earlier in his career, he spent 15 years with Big Four accounting firms in international markets, advising a broad spectrum of clients. In his current role as Chief Accounting Officer of Peloton and Chief Financial Officer of its Commercial Division, Saqib serves as a strategic partner to the CEO, CFO, and executive leadership team. He plays a key role in driving business performance, guiding capital allocation, optimizing finance operations, and ensuring disciplined financial reporting and compliance across the enterprise. Saqib Baig holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Western Governors University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Karachi. He is also a Chartered Accountant (CA), a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Katie Bays

Katie Bays is a policy and research strategist at Crux. She has over a decade of experience in clean and conventional energy policy, finance, and economics. Throughout her career, Katie has worked extensively with large institutional asset managers including mutual funds, pension funds, hedge funds, and private equity funds advising on policy and political risk to energy companies and projects. Previously, Katie was Senior Vice President at the DC-based investment bank Height Capital Markets, Managing Director of the financial advisory firm Sandhill Strategy, and a Senior Managing Consultant at Berkeley Research Group.

Joe Bohnert

Joe Bohnert is a Finance Innovation Manager at Meta Platforms, Inc., where he leads a team responsible for driving business-led automation initiatives and AI governance across Finance.  With extensive experience in building and scaling automation programs, Joe plays a critical role shaping how process automation and AI are being deployed across Finance in Meta’s engineering-led culture.   Before joining Meta, his career includes tenures at project44, Stanley Black & Decker, and Protiviti, where he developed expertise in driving finance transformation initiatives across people, process, and technology roadmaps.  Joe holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University - Bloomington, and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in Indiana.

Patrick Bryden

Patrick Bryden, CFA, serves as Global Head of Thematic & Sustainability Investment Research and previously ranked first nine times in the annual Brendan Wood International and Greenwich Associates institutional surveys as an energy analyst. Mr. Bryden also ranked number one in Brendan Wood International’s rankings for Environmental, Social, and Governance in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and Scotiabank was awarded Best Specialist ESG Research at the ESG Investing Awards in 2023, and Runner-Up for Best ESG Research: Bank in 2024. Mr. Bryden served on the Natural Gas Expert Group for the Alberta Royalty Review, advised the Province of Alberta on the calibration of its Modernized Royalty Framework, and further served on the ESG Working Group of the Government of Alberta. Mr. Bryden serves on the Research Advisory Council of the Institute for Sustainable Finance, housed at Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business, and the ESG Data Working Group, the Natural Capital Working Group, and the Sustainable Finance Virtual Network for the Canadian Fixed-Income Forum of the Bank of Canada. Mr. Bryden has raised more than $145,000 for the Movember Foundation and Ovarian Cancer Canada in his time at Scotiabank GBM. Mr. Bryden has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the University of Calgary and is a CFA charterholder.

Liz Crowe

As the Professional Accounting Fellow at FEI, Liz provides oversight for the accounting policy activities of FEI, including overseeing advocacy and thought leadership in support of FEI's network of senior-level financial executive members. She serves as the liaison for FEI's Committee on Corporate Reporting (CCR) and supports the technical activities and efforts of the Chief Accounting Officers and Controllers that comprise that committee.

Jackson Day

Jackson M. Day was appointed technical director of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on July 1, 2024. In this role, he is responsible for managing the FASB’s standard-setting activities and research and technical staff. Prior to joining the FASB, Mr. Day was with Ernst & Young LLP (EY), the global accounting and professional services firm, where he was previously its chief accountant.

Mr. Day has spent most of his 38-year accounting career at EY, which he initially joined in 1986 on the audit staff in St. Louis, Missouri. Rising through the ranks of the EY network, his career path later took him to London, New York, and Munich serving in a variety of leadership roles in the United States and abroad including as global director for capital markets.

Mr. Day also served as the deputy chief accountant and, later, acting chief accountant, in the Office of the Chief Accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC, from 2000 to 2003. He was an FASB practice fellow from 1997 to 1999 and has been a member of the Emerging Issues Task Force. He also is a former member of numerous leadership and advisory groups in the accounting profession. Mr. Day earned his undergraduate degree in business administration at Kansas State University.

Michelle Daly

Michelle Daly serves as Senior Vice President, Controller and Principal Accounting Officer. With more than 20 years of experience in a range of senior accounting, corporate treasury, and financial reporting leadership roles, Michelle leads a global team of accounting professionals and is responsible for all areas of the company’s accounting, analysis, disclosure, and financial reporting. In addition, Michelle oversees Nasdaq’s financial advisory office and global accounting operations teams.

Prior to joining Nasdaq, Michelle was Managing Director and Deputy Controller at BlackRock, which followed a decade-long tenure at Goldman Sachs, where she served as a Managing Director and head of SEC reporting, and also spent time within the firm’s corporate treasury department. Michelle began her career in the audit practice at Ernst & Young LLP and holds a BS in Accounting from Villanova University and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Jennifer Damico

Jennifer Damico is Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller of Pfizer, with more than 30 years of experience. In her role, she is responsible for overseeing accounting guidance, policies and training, external and internal financial reporting, consolidations and internal controls over financial reporting. Jennifer also contributes to business development activities and transformational corporate initiatives.

Previously, Jennifer led Pfizer’s Corporate Audit organization for six years providing independent, regulatory audit and oversight of processes and systems spanning the company's global operating model including: discovery, development, manufacturing, commercial sales & marketing activities, finance and information technology. In this role, Jennifer reported to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors and the Chief Financial Officer and was a member of the Executive Compliance Committee.

Her previous experience included leadership roles in Finance Portfolio Management & Optimization where she was responsible for leading transformational finance programs and integration and divestiture activities; Strategy, Governance & Operations; Internal Audit; and Finance and Controller for Corporate Information Technology.

Prior to joining Pfizer in 1992, Jennifer worked at Arthur Andersen in their Audit practice. Jennifer earned her MBA from Pace University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Pascal Desroches

Pascal serves as AT&T’s Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, where he and his team oversee the financial strategy for AT&T’s $122 billion connectivity business. He is responsible for leading the company’s financial planning, accounting, tax, auditing, treasury, investor relations and corporate real estate functions.

Since joining AT&T in 2021, Pascal has spearheaded the company’s significant cost transformation efforts, simplified and strengthened its balance sheet and overseen historic levels of 5G and fiber investment. This investment-led approach has made AT&T one of the top annual investors in the United States, positioned it as the leader in converged connectivity and helped the Company deliver on its long-term growth strategy.

Prior to joining AT&T, Pascal was EVP and CFO of WarnerMedia and the Administrative Officer of Turner Broadcasting System Inc., and previously Turner’s CFO and Global Controller of Time Warner. Before joining the WarnerMedia family, Pascal was a partner at KPMG and served as a professional accounting fellow with the Office of the Chief Accountant at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Pascal serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Board of Directors, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas Board of Directors, and the Board of Trustees of Prep for Prep. He previously was a Trustee of St. John’s University and served on the Board of Directors of Davita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) where he Chaired the Audit Committee. Pascal graduated with honors from St. John’s University and received his MBA from Columbia University. He and his wife, Yvette, live in Dallas and have two adult children, Erika and Justin.

Ibaadat Dhaliwal

Ibaadat is currently serving as a General Manager in Corporate Accounting where she leads key areas of controllership and accounting for acquisitions and divestitures, as well as the fiscal close process and financial data governance, along with financial compliance. With nearly a decade at Microsoft and 14 years of prior public accounting experience at EY Seattle, Ibaadat brings a strategic and forward-thinking approach to financial leadership, operational excellence, and cross-functional collaboration.

A passionate advocate for management excellence, Ibaadat is dedicated to building high-performance teams and mentoring the next generation of finance and accounting professionals. Ibaadat holds a Washington State CPA and is recognized for driving quality and fostering a culture of continuous improvement within the organization.

Meg Dholabhai

With over 22 years of global finance and audit leadership, Meg Dholabhai is a results-driven Finance Transformation, Risk Management and Internal Audit Executive known for driving enterprise-wide performance through operational excellence, governance, and innovation. Adept at leading large-scale transformation programs, she has successfully delivered measurable value across Fortune 500 companies and high-growth organizations by aligning finance, risk, and control functions to business strategy. Meg Dholabhai brings a rare combination of deep finance acumen and audit rigor, overseeing finance transformations that embed governance, optimize controls, and modernize processes through automation, analytics, and emerging technologies. As a former Head of Internal Audit and Chief Risk Officer, she has reshaped global risk management frameworks, strengthened Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance, and introduced data-driven auditing practices to anticipate risk and elevate assurance. Known for establishing internal audit as a value creator rather than a compliance function, Meg Dholabhai bridges the gap between control and innovation. Currently serving as the Global Finance Strategic Capabilities Leader for HP Inc, Meg Dholabhai is spearheading high-impact initiatives across the enterprise to help reinvent, reboot and reimagine finance processes and teams in this dynamic digital era. A trusted advisor to executive leadership and boards, Meg Dholabhai champions cultures of accountability, ethical leadership, and continuous improvement. She holds the FCCA, CPA and CIA designations and is an industry advocate on the topics of finance innovation, governance, and the future of risk in a digital enterprise.

Lauren Elting

Lauren Elting is currently a VP, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer at McDonald's. Lauren Elting brings experience from previous roles at Federal Signal Corporation and EY. Lauren Elting holds a 1999 - 2003 Masters of Accountancy in Accounting at Miami University.

Roselyn Feinsod

Roselyn is a principal in the People Advisory Services practice at EY and the Work Reimagined solution leader. She has nearly 30 years of experience with EY, Aon, Towers Perrin and PwC serving clients in a range of industries including healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, pharma/ biotech, technology, and utilities.

Roselyn specializes in workforce planning, organization, and total rewards strategy, transformation, wellbeing, mergers and acquisitions and all aspects of culture, change management and communications work.

Roselyn has led a range of thought leadership studies on human capital and rewards issues Her most recent study is the 2024 Work Reimagined study of 17k employees and 1500+ employers and is the 5th in its series and the 6th version will be released in Q4.

In addition to hear client work, Roselyn is a frequent speaker at conferences and webcasts on the future of work, workforce analytics, total rewards, financial wellbeing, and aging workforce at leadership events including AICPA, Conference Board, World at Work, EY webcasts and industry events. Roselyn has a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science from College of Insurance St. John’s University (1993), is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (2000).

Danielle Fontaine

Danielle Fontaine is the Vice President, Assistant Controller at ServiceNow, Inc. and a former FASB fellow who participated in standard-setting projects related to segment reporting, income tax accounting, and various other disclosure topics.  Prior to joining ServiceNow, Danielle spent nearly five years at Google in Technical Accounting and Corporate Accounting and nine years rotating through controllership roles at Gap, Inc. in San Francisco. She started her career in public accounting at Ernst & Young in the Bay Area. Danielle serves on the National Board of Directors of Financial Executives International (FEI) and participates in FEI’s Committee on Corporate Reporting in addition to being an active member and former vice chair of the Financial Reporting Committee of the Institute of Management Accountants. Danielle also volunteers her time as a Board member and Chair of the Audit Committee of LifeMoves, a Bay Area nonprofit.  Danielle is an active CPA in California and a two-time graduate of Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce degree and a Master of Business Administration.

Michael Fried

Michael specializes in management and technology consulting in both the private and public sectors across various industries, helping organizations develop strategy, improve process efficiency, manage risk, implement technologies, and maintain compliance. Michael leads our Life Sciences Industry Group and the Organizational Resilience Service Line. His range of project experiences includes helping organizations manage transformational projects, improve processes, develop and implement IT strategy, integrate organizations, and implement compliance programs. He has led large-scale strategic IT initiatives that include developing IT strategies, transforming IT operations to cloud services, improving IT infrastructure services, and building new data centers. Focused on business continuity and disaster recovery, Michael has defined, designed, and developed global, national, and local organizational resilience programs from start to finish. In the life sciences industry, he has built, implemented, and managed IT quality management teams to ensure regulatory compliance. Michael has also led large-scale project management offices, including one of the largest aviation procurements outside of the military. Prior to joining Forvis Mazars, Michael was a partner at a consulting firm for professional and technical staffing, where he led all private sector industry teams. Previously, he worked at a business advisory consulting company; before that, he specialized in systems development and implementation.

Pranav Ghai

Pranav Ghai is the co-founder and CEO of Calcbench, a data platform built to help analysts, investors, and researchers dig deeper into financial disclosures. Under his leadership, Calcbench has become known for bringing transparency, structure, and usability to the world of corporate filings—turning footnotes and fine print into something that’s actually usable. Before starting Calcbench, Pranav worked in equity research and quantitative analysis, at firms as diverse as Morgan Stanley, ITG and TIAA-CREF, where he saw first-hand how much time was lost wrangling data that should have been easier to access. That frustration became the seed for a company that now serves everyone from major asset managers to academic researchers. He’s passionate about the intersection of accounting, data, and technology—especially how structured data standards like XBRL are reshaping financial reporting and analysis. Pranav often speaks about how better data doesn’t just make life easier for analysts; it helps markets function more fairly and efficiently. Pranav serves on the boards of XBRL-US, Bates College and is a member of the CFA Institute's Corporate Disclosure Policy Council. Outside of his day job, Pranav enjoys connecting dots between disciplines—whether that’s helping students understand corporate disclosures or working with organizations to promote data transparency. He serves on several advisory and volunteer boards and continues to be a strong advocate for open, machine-readable data that benefits all stakeholders.

Amanda Gomez

Amanda has 15 years of experience at the intersection of technology, controls, and financial compliance. She has led global teams in designing risk-mitigating controls across complex system landscapes. Amanda started her career at PwC, where she advised clients on SOX IT audits and ERP control design, helping organizations embed governance into new technologies and major system implementations. In her current role as Director of IT Financial Compliance & Operations at Cisco, Amanda applies this deep foundation in risk and regulatory compliance to the evolving challenges of artificial intelligence. She partners with both business and IT stakeholders to evaluate AI risk, ensure external audit expectations are met, and balance the organization’s drive for innovation with the need for sound governance and control.

David Gonzales

David is a member of Moody’s Accounting Specialist Group where he is dedicated to simplifying complex accounting/financial reporting issues and incorporating them into the ratings process within the global Corporate Finance Group (non-financial companies). He is also active with the Financial Standards Accounting Board (FASB) as a member of the Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) and the Taxonomy Advisory Group (TAG). Previously, David worked for Ernst & Young and was part of the Technical Accounting Advisory Group as a subject matter specialist overseeing various technical subjects. Prior to his work with EY FAAS David worked 8 years as part of the audit practice in Southern California and three years in Netherlands where he covered audits in IFRS and local GAAP.

Chris Hatto

Christopher T. Hatto is vice president, Global Business Solutions and Chief Accounting Officer for General Motors. He is responsible for global leadership and oversight for external reporting, technical accounting matters, development of new accounting policies and internal controls. He is also responsible for reporting financial results to the company’s senior leadership and the Board of Directors’ Audit Committee. In addition, he manages a global team charged with optimizing GM business processes to improve service quality and customer experience, while reducing complexity and costs.

Chris serves on the Executive Committee and is a Chair of the SEC Subcommittee for the Financial Executives international Committee on Corporate Reporting. In addition, he is a member of the SEC Regulations Committee for the Center for Audit Quality. Since joining GM in 2007 he has served in various roles including Assistant Controller for Securities and Exchange Commission reporting; various regional Controllership positions; Chief Financial Officer of Customer Care and Aftersales, and Chief Financial Officer of U.S. Sales Operations for Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC.

Before joining GM, Hatto held various roles including, Vice President at Goldman Sachs, as well as Corporate Controller & Chief Accounting Officer at Tower Automotive. Earlier in his career he held financial leadership roles at both Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen. He graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts in accounting and is a certified public accountant.

Kanika Havelia

Kanika is the Senior Director of Finance at PayPal, where she leads finance process modernization, internal controls enhancement, and AI transformation initiatives. She brings over 17 years of experience, including 16+ years at KPMG Consulting advising CFOs and finance executives on IPO readiness, M&A strategy, financial reporting, and large-scale finance transformation. She has led complex public company integrations and helped organizations scale finance functions through automation, policy redesign, and operating model change. Kanika is an active thought leader, authoring white papers on finance, technology, and risk; guest lecturing at leading universities; and delivering keynote addresses, including a TED talk on human-centric AI. She is the recipient of KPMG’s Award of Distinction (2023) for innovation and impact and The Outstanding Mother Award (2024) from the National Mother’s Day Council. She serves on the Board of the American Lung Association, co-chairs AI initiatives for the Technology Association of Oregon, and advises startups and CFOs on responsible innovation in finance.

Ryan Hawk

Ryan is a Partner with PwC's Operations practice, based in Chicago, bringing over 31 years of professional experience to his role. He serves as the global and US leader for PwC's Industrials and Services industry, where he has successfully supported some of the firm’s largest multinational clients in critical areas such as cost reduction, manufacturing and operations improvement, and deals. Recognized as a prominent figure within PwC, Ryan is particularly known for his leadership in business model reinvention. His work encompasses the Mobility ecosystem, the convergence of industries, and other innovative concepts that are reshaping the business landscape. Recently, Ryan co-authored the article *Value in Motion: Reinventing the World's Industrial System*, which provides insights into transforming industrial systems worldwide. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Isaac Heller

Isaac is the co-founder and CEO of Trullion, an AI-powered SaaS platform that automates financial workflows for CFOs, accountants, and auditors. Trullion unifies the unstructured and structured worlds of accounting by reading PDFs and Excel and translating them into financial workflows, such as Lease Accounting and Revenue Recognition. Isaac has an extensive background in finance & software, including a 2014 IPO with Sabre Holdings.

His experience with accounting regulatory changes has helped drive successful partnerships with financial leaders, from CFOs to modern accounting firms. Originally hailing from Texas, Isaac holds a BA from the University of Texas @ Austin and an MBA from the University of Texas @ Dallas. He lives between New York and Israel and enjoys spending time with his wife and kids.

Christina Ho

Christina Ho was appointed as Board Member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board by the Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2021 and sworn in on November 9, 2021. Her current term expires on October 24, 2025. Prior to joining the PCAOB, Board Member Ho served as Vice President of Government Analytics and Innovation at Elder Research. Previously, she served for two years as the Controller and Interim Chief Financial Officer for the University of Maryland College Park, an institution with a budget of over 2 billion with a diverse research portfolio for over 1 billion in grants and contracts. From 2009 through 2017, Board Member Ho held a number of senior roles at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. She was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Accounting Policy and Financial Transparency from 2014 to 2017. In this capacity, she led the implementation of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 with the goal to track over 4 trillion in annual spending and link data from over 100 federal agencies into one common data structure. She also oversaw the consolidation and publication of the Financial Report of the U.S. Government, represented the Treasury Department on the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, and led critical operations at Treasury, including the auction operations of Treasury marketable securities and a government-wide accounting program reflecting a daily cash flow in excess of 50 billion. Prior to joining the U.S. Treasury, Board Member Ho was a senior manager at Deloitte & Touche LLP. She is a certified public accountant and a certified information system auditor. She also earned a B.S. from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Board Member Ho is passionate about serving her community, especially with regard to advancing equality and equity. She previously served on the Board of the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, dedicated to advancing the civil and legal rights of Asian Americans. She was a founding member for the Greater Washington Chapter of Ascend, the largest nonprofit pan-Asian organization for business professionals in North America.

Amy Johnson

Amy Johnson is the Corporate Vice President and Controller and principal accounting officer at RTX Corporation, where she is responsible for global accounting and internal controls, including establishing and monitoring accounting and financial reporting policies and procedures, overseeing the maintenance of accounts and records, and driving world-class financial reporting, processes and internal controls.

Amy has more than 25 years of accounting, audit and financial management experience. Prior to her current role, Amy was vice president of finance for Commercial Engines at Pratt & Whitney. Prior to that, she served as vice president and controller of Pratt & Whitney in addition to other accounting and financial reporting roles of increasing responsibility. Before joining RTX, Amy held roles at Lydall, Inc. and PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP.

Amy participates on the Committee of Corporate Reporting of Financial Executives International (FEI), serves on the steering committee of the E&Y Corporate Controllership Leadership Network and is the chair of the Aerospace Industry Association (AIA) Controller’s group. Amy holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Connecticut and is a Certified Public Accountant in Connecticut.

Rich Jones

Richard R. Jones began his term as the eighth chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on July 1, 2020. In this role, Mr. Jones heads up the seven-member board that establishes generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for public companies, private companies and nongovernmental not-for-profit organizations in the United States. His term concludes on June 30, 2027.

Mr. Jones brings to his position with the FASB deep technical accounting experience obtained over more than three decades with Ernst & Young (EY). An experienced leader, he has a proven track record for driving consensus in the complex world of accounting standards and financial reporting.

Prior to his appointment to the FASB, Mr. Jones was a Partner at EY and served as the firm’s chief accountant, leading a large and diverse team of professional colleagues in the firm’s national office. In that role, he directed efforts to help the firm’s clients and engagement teams understand accounting requirements and developed the firm’s views on proposed accounting standards. Mr. Jones also oversaw EY’s accounting publication efforts across all sectors: public companies, private companies, not-for-profit organizations, employee benefit plans, and government entities. He also authored numerous EY technical publications.

During his career, Mr. Jones served on the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC) from 2016 to 2018. He was also a member of the Accounting Standards Executive Committee of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) from 2003–2008. Mr. Jones graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the State University of New York, Binghamton, in 1987. He is a certified public accountant in the state of New York.

Richard Knight

Richard is a Principal in KPMG’s Audit and Assurance practice with more than 26 years of experience in risk and controls engagements, including SOX Compliance, IT Risk Management, Controls Assessment, Internal Audit Co-sourcing and Out-sourcing, IPO/public company readiness, Financial Statement Auditing, and Bespoke IT Control assignments - including the development and implementation of control frameworks, Data Governance, system and process assurance, risk assessment, IT governance reviews and Third Party Assurance. Richard currently serves as the US national solution leader for Technology Internal Audit and leads a significant number of control workstreams for capital market ready engagements as client prepare for SOX 404a compliance. 

Jim Kroeker

James L. Kroeker was a member and vice chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) September 2013 to June 2024. In the latter role, he assisted the FASB chairman in representing the Board to external stakeholders and in conducting its internal operations, in addition to serving as a voting member of the Board. Mr. Kroeker joined the FASB from Deloitte, where he served as the Deputy Managing Partner for Professional Practice. Prior to joining Deloitte in January 2013, he served as the Chief Accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission from January 2009 until his departure in 2012. In this capacity, Jim served as the senior accounting professional for the Commission and the principal advisor to the Commission on all accounting and auditing matters. In his capacity at the SEC, he was responsible for resolution of a wide range of globally significant accounting and auditing issues.

Since joining the Commission in February 2007, Jim played a key role in efforts to improve the transparency and reduce the complexity of financial disclosure. He served as staff director of the SEC's Congressionally-mandated study of fair value accounting standards, and he has led the efforts of the Office of the Chief Accountant to address the economic crisis, including steps to improve off-balance sheet accounting guidelines. Jim also served as the Designated Federal Officer responsible for the staff oversight of the SEC's Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting. He also was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the office, including resolution of accounting and auditing practice issues, rulemaking, and oversight of the FASB and PCAOB. Prior to joining the SEC, Jim was a partner at Deloitte in the firm's Professional Practice Network.

Denise Lucas

Denise Lucas is Vice President & Assistant Controller, Responsible Business and Technology at IBM, where she oversees the Responsible Business controllership as well as AI governance for IBM Finance & Operations. Her team manages mandatory environmental, social, and governance reporting, partners with key stakeholders, and drives a strong management system for IBM’s responsible business activities and non-financial reporting. She also leads efforts to operationalize AI governance requirements and embed responsible technology principles into IBM’s culture and daily execution. With almost 20 years of finance and accounting experience, Denise previously served as ESG Assistant Controller and Director of Accounting Policy & External Reporting, where she managed global accounting policies and SEC filings. She also worked within Investor Relations, led IBM Accounting’s role in the $34B acquisition of Red Hat, and assisted in the implementation of various accounting standards, including ASC 606 and ASC 842 standards. Earlier in her career, Denise spent nine years at Deloitte. Beginning her career in the assurance practice, followed by two years in Deloitte's National Office Accounting Services group focusing on revenue, leases, and leading the business combinations team.

Phil Mackintosh

Phil Mackintosh is the Chief Economist and a Senior Vice President at Nasdaq. He manages Nasdaq’s microeconomic research to encourage capital formation and increase investor returns through better market structure. His weekly newsletter, Market Makers, is read by more than 55,000 subscribers and covers topics ranging from IPO markets, ETF trading, retail investor activity, why Nasdaq has the best markets, and more.

Phil’s ability to simplify the complicated and explain what the economic data really means is highly regarded. He is frequently a featured speaker at conferences and often speaks with the media on macroeconomic themes and outlooks.

Phil joined Nasdaq in 2018, bringing over 30 years of financial, operational and trading experience. He has held senior trading and research roles at KCG/Virtu Financial, Credit Suisse and County Investment Management. He started his career at KPMG and is also a Chartered Accountant.

Takis Makridis

Takis Makridis is the President and CEO of Equity Methods, and a member of the founding team over 20 years ago. Leveraging extensive consulting experience, Takis is relentlessly committed to delivering practical, plain-English, high-impact solutions to clients while remaining active in the firm’s research efforts. The 150-plus professionals at Equity Methods assist clients in the valuation, design, board reporting, and financial/proxy reporting of stock-based compensation programs. Equity Methods has served over 2,000 companies, with a particular focus on large organizations with complex compensation programs (having served 51 Fortune 100 companies). Takis also is a contributor to various technical publications and is cited in media such as the New York Times, Corporate Board, Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg BNA, CFO.com, Agenda Week, and Treasury and Risk. Takis is a member of the WP Carey School of Business Dean’s Council. He holds a BS in economics and finance from Arizona State University, an MBA from Oxford University, and is a Certified Equity Professional (CEP).

Laura McCracken

Laura is a partner and the Regulatory Leader for Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Audit & Assurance business. In this role, she interfaces with regulators, investors, and other stakeholders in addressing audit quality matters related to accounting, auditing, regulatory and public policy. She also serves as an audit partner for large, multinational clients in the financial services and commercial industries where she leads large global audit teams and interacts extensively with Audit Committees and senior leadership.

Previously, Laura was a consultation partner for Deloitte & Touche LLP’s National Office Accounting & Reporting Services. Additionally, she spent two years as a Professional Accounting Fellow with the SEC in the Office of the Chief Accountant, where she consulted with registrants and the Division of Corporation Finance on accounting and reporting matters.

Laura routinely works with clients on complex accounting, reporting, and auditing matters. She is a frequent speaker on current and emerging audit, assurance, accounting, and financial reporting topics.

Gagan Nanda

Gagan is a Manager in the People Consulting practice at Ernst and Young LLP, specializing in People Analytics and Workforce Advisory. He has over 18 years of experience in Analytics and Actuarial roles, consulting to large organizations on the evolution of their workforce, change management, and transformations, including in Finance/Accounting. Gagan is a leader for Organizational Network Analysis, enabling clients to utilize data-driven insights for success amidst change/culture transformations. His Pension Actuarial/Benefits background serves as an added asset for organizations, providing a comprehensive lens for the economics and cost-competitiveness of programs. Gagan has previously worked at Deloitte Consulting LLP, Mercer, and Watson Wyatt Worldwide, with a variety of roles in USA and India. Gagan has a B.A. in Applied Mathematics with Actuarial Science from University of California, Berkeley, and an M.A. in Mathematics with Actuarial Science from The University of Texas at Austin. He is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and also has a Foundations of Data Science Professional Certificate from University of California, Berkeley.

Johanna Nielsen

Johanna Nielsen is a senior financial executive with 27 years of global and international experience in leading strategic transformational initiatives, assisting multi-national companies in optimizing financial processes, systems and reporting, in addition to performing and overseeing audits of public and private companies and controllership activities.

Johanna is currently Nike’s Corporate Controller, Principal Accounting Officer. She has previously led Finance, Strategy and Operations and overseen multiple transformational initiatives such as the implementation of Nike’s new ERP (S4 HANA) in Greater China, the implementation of Central Finance Modules and Group Reporting and Finance Shared Delivery. Prior to Nike, Johanna worked in public accounting and consulting and held Audit Partner roles in both the US and in France.

She is an avid long-distance runner and passionate about sport and the Nike Brand!

Dan Priest

Dan Priest is the US Chief AI Officer, leader of the US AI team across Advisory, Tax, and Assurance.  Responsible for oversight of PwC’s $1Bn+ investment in AI technologies, training and growth strategies. He works with clients to develop innovative AI powered solutions that reduce costs, power growth and achieve sustainable advantage in the market. He has 25 years of experience includes roles such as PwC’s Cloud & Digital Business Leader, PwC Strategy& Leader, as well as VP and CIO of Toyota Financial Services. 

Sol Rashidi

As the world’s 1st Chief AI Officer for enterprise (2016), Sol has 10 patents and is the best-selling author of ‘Your AI Survival Guide’ (‘Top 50 AI’ books). A 3x TEDx speaker with 1M+ views, and FORBES “AI Maverick & Visionary of the 21st Century,” Sol is a former 4x C-Suite exec for Fortune 100 companies and a former Amazon tech exec. Sol is the inventor of The Human Amplification Index™ (a new way to measure if AI and Automation are strengthening your business and workforce or eroding it) and Intellectual Atrophy™ education in the age of AI so that we outsource our tasks and not critical thinking to AI.

Sol played a pivotal role in developing and launching IBM’s Watson in 2011 and now has over 200+ deployments under her belt. As both a practitioner and an executive, she has earned accolades like “50 Most Powerful Women in Tech,” “Top 100 AI Thought Leaders,” and “Top 100 Data & Analytics Leaders.”

Melissa Rocha

Melissa is a partner in KPMG’s Department of Professional Practice (DPP). She previously spent over 24 years at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) where she served as the Acting Chief Accountant and most recently held the role as the Deputy Chief Accountant in the SEC Office of the Chief Accountant (CFOCA) within the Division of Corporation Finance. In this role, Melissa oversaw the consultation process and engaged with registrants, investors, analysts, and trade groups on recommendations and rulemaking across a wide range of topics, including crypto assets, banking, and insurance. Prior to her position as Deputy Chief Accountant, Melissa held various leadership roles within the Division of Corporation Finance, where she developed and implemented the annual review program in various industry offices as well as contributed to the development and interpretation of accounting standards and policies. Her experience in both public and private sectors added to the depth of her understanding of financial reporting and regulatory compliance. Melissa earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Maryland and is a Certified Public Accountant in Maryland and Washington, D.C.

Marc Seigel

Marc Siegel is a seasoned expert in corporate reporting and sustainability disclosures with a distinguished career spanning leadership roles in standard-setting, equity research, and consulting. As a former member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), Marc played a key role in shaping wide-ranging, generational accounting standards such as revenue recognition, accounting for lease contracts and accounting for credit losses, among others. He also served as a member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), where he contributed to integrating sustainability into corporate disclosures, bridging the gap between financial performance and sustainability metrics. During this period, Marc also was a partner in the Big 4 accounting firms, focusing on thought leadership in corporate reporting. Currently, Marc is an Executive in Residence at Fordham Gabelli’s School of Business Responsible Business Center. In this role, he leads the efforts on Responsible Business Reporting. Marc also is an Executive Consultant at Metrix Advisory, a consulting firm he co-founded to help companies articulate and implement strategies for long-term value creation. Leveraging his deep expertise in accounting, sustainability reporting, and investor communications, Marc guides organizations in aligning stakeholder interests, navigating regulatory requirements, and enhancing their market credibility. Metrix Advisory’s tailored solutions empower companies to communicate clearly and effectively with investors, regulators, and the broader marketplace. Earlier in his career, Marc served as Director of Research at a boutique equity research firm, where through deep forensic financial statement analysis, he advised institutional investors on evaluating corporate performance and credibility. Marc’s unique ability to blend technical accounting knowledge with an investor’s perspective has made him a sought-after advisor to companies across industries, including those facing complex regulatory or reporting challenges. A CPA by training, Marc is a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops, where he shares insights on financial reporting, sustainability disclosures, and the evolving expectations of investors and regulators.

Matt Stanley

Outcome-oriented Partner in PwC’s Deals practice, focused on delivering end-to-end solutions to corporates undertaking transformative events such as acquisitions, divestitures, alliances, and complex accounting. Matt is an Aerospace and Defense industry specialist, particularly in revenue recognition, business combinations, and divestitures. He currently serves as PwC’s Accounting Advisory and Capital Markets A&D leader.​ ​ Prior to joining PwC’s Deals practice, Matt gained over 10 years of foundational experience in PwC’s Assurance practice, serving large, global audit clients. He focused on building teams that delivered quality audits while providing deep insights related to industry and transactional matters.

John White

John W. White is a partner in Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP’s Corporate Department and is Chair of its Corporate Governance and Board Advisory Practice. From 2006 through 2008, he served as Director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees disclosure and reporting by public companies in the United States. During his over 30 years as a partner at Cravath, Mr. White has focused his practice on representing public companies in a wide variety of areas, including public reporting responsibilities, corporate governance matters, public financings and restatements and other financial crises. Mr. White is a member of the PCAOB’s Standards and Emerging Issues Advisory Group (SEIAG) and has served as a member of FASB’s Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC). Mr. White also serves on the Board of Directors of Financial Executives International (FEI) and chairs the Advisory Council of USC’s SEC and Financial Reporting Institute.

Rachel Wilson

Rachel manages cybersecurity, fraud, data quality and privacy-related risks for the Wealth Management business. Her team is responsible for the security of client data and for preventing unauthorized access to or misuse of client funds.

As a senior subject matter expert, Rachel regularly advises Wealth Management leadership and clients on the cyber threat landscape and mitigation strategies. In her capacity as Chief Data Officer, she coordinates Wealth Management’s holistic approach to data governance across the areas of information security, data quality, data privacy and information management.

In 2019, Rachel was recognized by Morgan Stanley Wealth Management as part of the MAKERS Class, a program that honors women who serve as groundbreakers, innovators and advocates. She was also named one of the Top Women in WealthTech 2020 by ThinkAdvisor.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2017, Rachel spent 15 years at the National Security Agency (NSA), where she held several key senior executive-level leadership positions. Between 2008 and 2010, she ran NSA’s counterterrorism operations and led a global enterprise in detecting and disrupting terrorist plotting against the U.S. and its allies. Between 2010 and 2012, Rachel served as NSA’s Chief of Operations in the U.K., working out of the U.S. Embassy in London. In this role, she worked with U.K. intelligence services to counter terrorist and cyber threats to the 2012 Olympics. Returning to the U.S. in 2012, Rachel spent nearly five years leading NSA’s cyber exploitation operations as the Deputy and then Chief of the Remote Operations Center within NSA’s Tailored Access Operations. She led the planning and execution of thousands of cyber exploitation operations against a wide array of foreign intelligence, military and cyber targets, and served as the committing official for many of NSA’s highest risk and most important intelligence gathering activities.