Decision Makers Conference

Donita R. Rudy, CTP, MBA

Donita R. Rudy, CTP, has over twenty-five years of consulting, financial services, and executive management expertise assisting clients from a variety of industries and business sizes with financial, strategic, and turnaround management services.

A Principal with Compass Advisory Partners, Ms. Rudy’s experience includes serving as Receiver in several Court appointments, Committee Chair in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings and Financial Advisor for creditors or businesses entities in turnaround or liquidation situations. She is a Certified Lean Practitioner holding interim and permanent CEO manufacturing positions.

Prior to her consulting role, Ms. Rudy served as the President & CEO of Omega Financial Corporation, a $2 Billion, NASDAQ listed financial services holding company where she interfaced with stock analysts, investment bankers and shareholders. During her financial career, she completed the acquisition of a $1 billion organization with multiple business lines, created joint venture business partnerships, and negotiated sales of operating units. Previous experience also includes performing the duties of Chief Credit Officer with responsibility for credit analysis, loan structuring and approvals, and the workout of troubled debts and negotiated repayments with clients or through the court systems.

She is a Certified Turnaround Professional and a member of the Turnaround Management Association Pittsburgh Chapter. Ms. Rudy serves on Boards for both profit and not-for profit organizations and is an adjunct faculty member in business curriculum for Saint Francis University. Donita has been named to U.S. Banker’s national list of 25 Women to Watch in Banking, recognized by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development as one of Pennsylvania’s Best 50 Women in Business, and by Pennsylvania Business Central as one of the Top 100 People in Business. In 2007, she received the ATHENA Award for community and business achievement from the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce.

John H. Higgins, CPA.CITP
Chief Partnership Officer
Strategic Advisor
CPA Crossings LLC

John serves as a strategic technology advisor to CPAs in the planning and deployment of effective technology solutions and workflow automation. As a co-founder of CPA Crossings, John specializes in facilitating the development of strategic technology plans, paperless workflows, client portal solutions and a comprehensive digital practice model. John recently co-authored "Ten Steps to a Digital Practice in the Cloud", published by the AICPA. This book provides CPAs with a strategic roadmap for taking their firms online by leveraging cloud computing. John also developed an innovative model for delivering live CPE courses that utilize the Apple iPad to provide electronic course materials and an interactive classroom environment. John’s primary qualification is his passion for helping CPAs achieve success by leveraging technology. He has extensive knowledge and experience working with CPAs throughout the country.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Actively involved in working with local, regional and national CPA firms over the past 25 years in the implementation of technology to automate business processes.
  
• Awarded for being one of the Top 25 Thought Leaders in the accounting profession by The CPA Practice Advisor (www.cpapracticeadvisor.com) in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
  
• Co-author of "10 Steps to a Digital Practice in the Cloud," published by the American Institute of CPAs.
  
• Facilitated hundreds of planning sessions and retreats to develop strategic plans, technology plans, workflow design, innovative client services and more.
  
• Nationally recognized speaker and author on technology issues affecting the CPA profession, with an emphasis on transforming to a digital practice model.
  
• Author of the annual Document Management Software Review for the CPA Practice Advisor magazine.
  
• Former national consulting partner with a top 10 CPA firm.
  
• Member of the AICPA Business & Industry Hall of Fame.
  
• Past Chair of the Michigan Association of CPAs.
  
• Past member of the AICPA Council and CPE Advisory Committee.
  
• MACPA Innovative User of Technology award recipient.

John McLaughlin, CPA, CRMA

John McLaughlin is a partner in Marcum's Philadelphia office and a member of the Firm's Assurance Services division. He came to Marcum in 2015 via the Firm's merger with Smart Devine, a leading full-service accounting firm in Philadelphia.

Mr. McLaughlin has more than 25 years of public accounting and private industry experience and has served a broad range of clients primarily in the consumer products, financial services, distribution, life sciences, technology, retail, energy, and healthcare industries.

He joined Smart Devine in 2014, having previously worked at a national accounting firm providing assurance, advisory and consulting services to both publicly traded and privately held companies. There, he was responsible for risk, governance and control engagements assisting clients with risk management, IT and financial auditing, enterprise risk management (ERM) program development, SOC 1 & SOC 2 examinations, internal audit strategy, developing and monitoring programs to measure compliance with laws and regulations, and evaluating and improving operational efficiency and effectiveness.

His previous experience included serving as an IT and internal audit services director for a "Big 4" accounting & consulting firm, and as a corporate finance and internal audit director for a multi-billion dollar, multi-national services company. Mr. McLaughlin's responsibilities in these capacities included evaluating financial reporting compliance and compliance with laws and regulations, coordinating integrated business process reviews, and directing acquisition and divestiture due diligence activities. Earlier in his career, John was an assistant corporate controller for a national real estate developer and started his career with two "Big 8" accounting firms.

John is an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Mercy Health System Audit and Finance Committees. He also serves on the Institute of Internal Auditors International Committee of Research and Educations Advisors. He has written several articles in an industry group newsletter and has been quoted in a number of national publications on the topics of enterprise risk, internal auditing and Sarbanes-Oxley.

Ash Noah, CPA, FCMA, CGMA
Vice President - CGMA External Relations
American Institute of CPAs

Ashok Noah, CPA, FCMA, CGMA, is vice president of CGMA external relations at the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). In this role, he serves as a liaison to CFOs and CEOs to understand how finance teams are evolving and guides AICPA initiatives to help finance and accounting professionals create more value for their organizations. Noah is responsible for elevating awareness among employers and finance leaders of the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation, which develops confident and competent business leaders through a structured approach to skills development. He works closely with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in the U.K. in that effort.
 
Noah joined the AICPA in 2012. Prior to the AICPA, he served as CFO of the international unit of TNT Express, the global transport and logistics provider and led finance teams in 45 countries through significant transformation. He has been involved with mergers and acquisitions in Brazil, Chile, India and Spain. 
 
Noah is a licensed U.S. CPA and a Fellow of CIMA. He is based in Durham, North Carolina.

Jimmy Paulino is an attorney in the Rochester office of Goldberg Segalla, where he specializes in data management and security, cyber breach response, and business and commercial litigation. A graduate of Notre Dame Law School, the University of York (England), and University of Rochester, Jimmy has been recognized as the New York State Bar Association's Outstanding Young Lawyer for 2013, Rochester Business Journal 40 under 40, Monroe County Bar Association's Emerging Bar Leader, The Daily Record’s Up-and-Coming Attorney, and Super Lawyer Rising Star from 2014 - 2016. Jimmy recently published his first book, The America 2051 Project: A Non-Political Plan to Fix Our Political System.

Steven Wray
Executive Director
Greater Philadelphia Economy League

Steve Wray was named executive director of the Economy League in 2006 after 11 years as the organization's deputy director. He works with a board of more than 60 senior private sector leaders from the region's leading companies and institutions and a staff of eight. Steve is also managing director of the Pennsylvania Economy League, Inc., the corporate home of the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia. 

At the Economy League, Steve oversees the Economy League’s World Class Greater Philadelphia agenda, leading its research, strategy and civic convening activities. Under his leadership, the Economy League has won national, state and regional awards, and has been instrumental in developing groundbreaking initiatives and organizations like IssuesPA, Campus Philly, and Graduate! Philadelphia.
 
Prior to the Economy League, Steve served as policy director to Pennsylvania Lt. Governor Mark Singel, associate with Jones Lang Wootton USA in New York, and consultant to the Executive Director of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development in Pittsburgh.
 

Pauline Le, CPA, CGMA, CITP
Vice President - Finance
Birkman International, Inc.

Pauline is a CPA, CGMA, and CITP with over 10 years of practical private company and nonprofit CFO and Controllership experience.  She currently serves as the VP of Finance and Treasurer of Birkman International, a 65-year-old personality assessment company based in Houston, TX. In this role, she is responsible for the protection of business assets and the integrity of company’s financial information. As an early adapter of the Global Management Accounting Principles, Pauline has leveraged the CGMA Competency Framework to build and develop Birkman's finance team while overseeing compliance with legal regulations, managing shareholder and third-party relationships, driving business process improvements, and collaborating with management to recommend and implement growth strategies.

Prior to joining Birkman International, Pauline served as Director of Finance for the Independent Petroleum Association of America, a not-for-profit organization in Washington DC, and had worked in public, not-for-profit, and governmental accounting.  Pauline is a University of Maryland graduate, and an active member of the AICPA and currently serves on the AICPA Controllers Conference Steering Committee.