Accounting Education Conference

Paul R. Brazina, MBA, CPA, CMA, CGMA, CFF

Paul Brazina combines accounting theory and practical applications in his presentations and professional engagements. As former Dean of the School of Business and a tenured professor at La Salle University (Philadelphia), Paul teaches with specializations in financial reporting, managerial accounting, auditing, and fraud detection. He was Chief Financial Officer of New Resident Marketing Corporation (Wayne, PA), DirectAmerica (Los Angeles, CA), and National Media Corporation (NYSE). Mr. Brazina began his career working for Price Waterhouse & Co. and Coopers & Lybrand and is currently a shareholder in Rosenfelt, Siegel & Goldberg, CPA’s in Bala Cynwyd, PA. He has an MBA and BS from the Pennsylvania State University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Pennsylvania, Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF). Mr. Brazina was an officer in the U.S. Navy with tours of duty in the South China Sea and North Atlantic.

Steven G. Kerr
Vice President, Strategy and Business Development
Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs

Steve joined the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) team in 2006 and was promoted to vice president of strategy and business development in 2014. In this role he drives organizational leadership activities, manages daily office operations, and develops new initiatives that advance PICPA’s strategic objectives.

In addition to facilitating PICPA’s strategic planning, Steve manages several of the key initiatives and regularly provides updates on current strategic priorities to PICPA’s leadership, volunteers, and staff. He also oversees the organization’s human resources, customer service, and business development functions. These teams have launched a number of tools under Steve’s leadership that enable the PICPA to more efficiently, effectively, and conveniently engage both customers and staff, including an online chat tool in 2014 and a human resource/information system in 2016.

Steve is also passionate about the organization’s database work. He was instrumental in the implementation of the PICPA’s engagement scoring initiative, as well as business process analysis, quality assurance testing, and end-user training for past database conversions by the PICPA and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He remains actively involved in related projects, and is a past speaker at the national Aptify Users Conference and AICPA Peer Review Conference on effective use of databases.

Steve graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public policy from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., in 2005. Steve and his wife, Rachel, live outside Philadelphia with their two children.

Sarah Marie Cirelli
Marketing Manager, Interactive Marketing
Withum Smith + Brown, PC

Marketing Manager, internationally recognized social media strategist and interactive marketing guru (not to mention non-sleeper), Sarah Cirelli spends her time at WithumSmith+Brown coordinating and implementing various interactive and digital marketing strategies to the accounting profession.  Perhaps best known for Withum's famous viral video sensations, she spends her time creating and implementing all social media and online marketing strategies while battling boring accountant reputations everywhere.  It was because of this, that Accounting Today honored Sarah as “Top 100 Most Influential People” in the Accounting Profession.  Although initially hired to provide internal marketing support, WS+B’s diverse clients have requested she provide external marketing consulting on multiple occasions and she is always happy to do so. 

With 7 years of professional marketing experience and many national marketing awards under her belt, Sarah has conducted a multitude of trainings, presented to many organizations across the country and has had multiple published articles.  She currently sits on the Social Media Committee of the Monmouth Ocean Development Council, the New York Metro Chapter of the Association of Accounting Marketing and is the immediate past-President of the Jersey Shore Public Relations and Advertising Association.  Sarah’s knowledge of social media, out-of-the-box thinking and unmistakable passion helps keep her firm as an innovative industry leader.  Sarah graduated summa cum laude in three years from Johnson & Wales University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and balances the “desk life” by instructing multiple Zumba Fitness® classes weekly.