Janine Guillot, CEO of the Value Reporting Foundation and Special Advisor to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)

Plenary Speaker, Monday, August 1, 2022, 8:30 am—9:45 am
Toward A Global Baseline for Sustainability Disclosure: The Launch of the International Sustainability Standards Board

Janine Guillot is Chief Executive Officer of the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF), a global nonprofit that helps businesses and investors develop a shared understanding of the relationship between sustainability performance and enterprise value. The VRF’s resources — Integrated Thinking Principles, the Integrated Reporting Framework and SASB Standards — are used by businesses and investors in over 70 countries. Janine is also a Special Advisor to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), where she provides strategic advice and counsel to the ISSB Chair and IFRS Foundation Trustees, focusing on the consolidation of the VRF into the IFRS Foundation and the establishment of the ISSB.

Prior, Janine was CEO of the SASB Foundation (SASB). She led the establishment and widespread acceptance of SASB Standards as the leading industry-specific sustainability disclosure standards for the global capital markets. She also led the merger of SASB and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) to become the Value Reporting Foundation, a major step in simplifying the global sustainability disclosure landscape. As CEO of the Value Reporting Foundation, Janine works to advance progress towards a globally accepted corporate reporting system in which sustainability accounting develops the commensurate level of maturity, credibility and acceptance as financial accounting.

Janine has a distinguished career in financial services. Prior to joining SASB, she served as Chief Operating Investment Officer for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). Prior to CalPERS, she served as Chief Operating Officer for the European and Global Fixed Income businesses of Barclays Global Investors. At Bank of America, she served in Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer roles for retail and commercial business units.

A graduate of Southern Methodist University (SMU), Janine began her career as a technical accountant and auditor with Ernst & Young. In recognition for her leadership at the intersection of sustainability, accounting and finance, Janine was selected as a 2020 and 2021 NACD Directorship 100 Honoree and named to the 2020 Business Insider's 100 People Transforming Business list.

Janine serves on the Board of Directors of the Value Reporting Foundation, the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, and Equilibrium Capital; on the Senior Advisory Board at the Center for Responsible Business at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business; and on the Advisory Board of Blockchain Co-investors. She is a former member of the FDIC’s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee and California’s Climate-Related Risk Disclosure Advisory Group.

Giorgio Gotti, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

International Accounting Section Luncheon Speaker, Monday, August 1, 2022, 12:00 pm—1:45 pm

Giorgio Gotti is Professor of Accounting and the Director of the School of Accountancy at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). He is serving on the Board of Directors of the American Accounting Association (AAA) with a 3-year term (2020-2023) as Director – Focusing on International.  He has served as President of the International Accounting Section of the AAA and chaired various committees of the same association and member of the Scientific Program Committee for the Annual Meeting of the European Accounting Association. He is the co-author of the North American bestseller textbook International Accounting, published by McGraw Hill and his papers have been published in the International Journal of Accounting, Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, Journal of International Accounting Research, Journal of International Accounting, Auditing & Taxation, Management International Review, Journal of Business Ethics, among others.

Giorgio Gotti is an associate editor of the Journal of International Accounting, Auditing & Taxation and a member of the editorial board of The International Journal of Accounting, Journal of International Accounting Research, and Accounting in Europe. He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration and Master of Accountancy from the University of Tennessee, and a Laurea in Economics from Bocconi University, Italy.  He is a Chartered Accountant and Statutory Auditor in Milan, Italy.”

Patricia Dechow, University Of Southern California

Presidential Scholar, Tuesday, August 2, 2022, 8:30 am—9:45 am
Research Opportunities in Sustainability Reporting

Patricia Dechow is the Robert R. Dockson Professor of Business Administration and a professor of accounting at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. She was previously a member of the faculty at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, where she served as Chair of the Accounting Group from 2008 to 2013. She has also taught at the University of Michigan and the Wharton School. One of the leading and most highly cited accounting researchers in the nation, Dechow research focuses on accounting accruals, the quality of earnings, and the effect of analysts' forecasts on investors ’ perceptions of firm value. She has developed measures to determine whether a firm has manipulated its financial statements and her work has appeared in many journals that include The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, and Journal of Accounting and Economics. Dechow received the American Accounting Association’s Seminal Contribution to Accounting Literature Award in 2019 and received AAA Distinguished Contribution to Accounting Literature awards in 2010 and 2015 and the FARS Distinguished PhD Mentoring Award in 2020. She was inducted into the Australia Accounting Hall of Fame in 2022. Dechow earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Western Australia and a doctorate in accounting and finance from the W.E. Simon School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester. She is currently Managing Editor of Review of Accounting Studies.

Derreck Kayongo, Former CEO of the Center for Civil and Human Rights, Social Entrepreneur, Global Soap Project Founder, and CNN Hero

Luncheon Speaker, Tuesday, August 2, 2022, 12:00 noon—1:45 pm
Harnessing Your Power to Create Change

With his trademark panache, Derreck Kayongo tells his courageous story of survival, social entrepreneurship, and humanitarianism, and the life lessons he learned along the way.

From Ugandan refugee to successful entrepreneur, CEO, and renowned human rights activist, Derreck’s journey inspires audiences to dream big. Through personable and articulate storytelling, he shares his visionary ideas for harnessing the power of observation and creative problem solving, applicable to any organization or community. It’s all about taking responsibility while looking for opportunities to improve.

Derreck is the founder of the Global Soap Project: a humanitarian aid organization that collects discarded and unused soap from thousands of hotels worldwide, reprocesses it, then distributes it to in-need populations around the world. The project was born from his simple observation about how much soap is available in hotels, and how much is thrown away when hotel rooms are turned. This observation turned into a simple yet innovative idea that is now battling global health issues in 90 countries. Hygiene-related diseases, and the resulting deaths, have dissipated in many at-risk communities, thanks in part to Derreck’s creative problem solving. 

The energy and enthusiasm levels are unmatched as Derreck brings his stories and principles to life. He identifies the key factors of his personal and professional success with the memorable acronym S.E.L.F.: Service, Education, Leadership and Faith. He calls upon his dynamic experiences to empower audiences, inspiring an entrepreneur spirit made possible only through creative problem solving. Derreck’s emotionally-packed presentations linger long after his speech, empowering audiences to invent their own self-made motto of success so they can create tangible change in the world.

In creating this global humanitarian initiative, Derreck demonstrates that a simple yet novel idea has the power to transform millions of lives. That “the little guy can do something big.” It is this creativity and innovation that led him to be named a 2011 CNN Top Ten Hero and a 2014 TED Talks speaker.

Derreck’s demonstrated passion for helping others and commitment to innovative thinking led him to the role of CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. During his time as CEO, he elevated the visibility of the Center on a global scale, showcasing stories of victims of civil rights abuse and the heroic actions that changed the course of history.

Derreck is an advisory board member for The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Derreck Kayongo is an internationally recognized visionary and humanitarian. The Global Soap Project demonstrates his creativity and innovation, making him a leader in both global health and environmental sustainability. His infectious optimism and powerful storytelling inspire audiences from all walks of life to see the bigger picture.

Mark C. Dawkins, University Of North Florida

Plenary Speaker, Wednesday, August 3, 2022, 8:30 am—9:45 am
Declining Enrollments – A Call to Action!

Mark C. Dawkins is Professor of Accounting and former Dean and Distinguished Professor for Excellence in the Coggin College of Business at the University of North Florida (UNF). He is incoming President of the American Accounting Association (AAA). Prior to his UNF appointments, he was an Associate Professor of Accounting in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia (UGA), served as the Associate Dean for Academic Programs from 2008-2014, served as Director of Diversity Relations from 2004-2008, and served on the accounting faculty from 1994-2015. He received his PhD in Accounting from Florida State University, MBA (finance) and MACC (auditing) degrees from the University of Florida, and a BS in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Professor Dawkins’ research interests include bankruptcy, market effects of information asymmetry, and market reactions to information disclosures. His recent research focuses on evaluating alternative earnings metrics, assessing faculty publications, and connecting academic research to business practice. He has published in The Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial & Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, the Journal of Business, Finance & Accounting, the Journal of Banking and Finance, Advances in Accounting, the Journal of Managerial Issues, The CPA Journal, and other journals.

Professor Dawkins was a co-recipient of the 2006 and 2003 Beta Alpha Psi Outstanding Teacher of the Year award at UGA, and he received the 2006 and 2003 Alpha Kappa Psi Accounting Teacher of the Year Award. He is a member of the American Accounting Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the National Association of Accountants, The PhD Project (www.phdproject.org), and the Accounting Doctoral Student Association.