Speakers
Harrison Bass
Head of Educational Partnerships for Forage
Plenary: Update on Accounting Pipeline Initiatives
Tuesday, June 4, 2024, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm ET
Harrison is the Head of Educational Partnerships for Forage, the free online library of employer-provided job simulations. In his role, he strives to offer guidance and support for educators, as they look to integrate Forage into their curriculum. Harrison has close to ten years of experience working in the workforce development and experiential learning space. Prior to joining Forage, he worked in both academic partnerships and a student advising role at The Knowledge House and Year Up in New York.
Joel Black
Chairman, Governmental Accounting Standards Boards
Plenary: A Conversation with Joel Black, Chair of the GASB: Projects, Research and Engagement Activities
Wednesday, June 5, 2024, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm ET
Joel Black was named chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, effective July 1, 2020. Joel came to the GASB after almost 16 years as a partner at Mauldin & Jenkins in Atlanta where he was the partner in charge of the firm's audit practice at the time of his departure. Prior to Mauldin & Jenkins, Joel worked for 12 years at KPMG, LLP. During his experience in public accounting, he exclusively served state and local government clients leading audits and financial statement preparation engagements.
Joel previously served on the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council, the AICPA's State and Local Government Expert Panel, and the executive committee of the AICPA's Government Audit Quality Center.
Joel graduated from Georgia State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Sean Crevier
Owner/Founder, Crev Ed Design
Plenary: Update on Accounting Pipeline Initiatives
Tuesday, June 4, 2024, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm ET
Sean began 23 years of teaching business in 1999, after leaving the technology consulting world. Sean currently serves on the ACTE National Board as VP of the Business Division and is the owner / founder at Crev Ed Design, creating growth and learning experiences with partners such as Wealthvox & Color Accounting, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), National Academy of Finance (NAF), and others.
Sean authored “GetUp Living”, co-authored “Let’s Talk Accounting”, and has given several educational keynotes, workshops, & a TED talk; He is the co-founder of #BusEdu chat on twitter & loves learning with others.
A Midwest native, Sean is an outdoor enthusiast, worse golfer & slower triathlete than preferred, Purdue Boilermaker, and die-hard Packer fan living on the IL / WI border with his wife & 2 kids.
Eshe Dotson
Director of Talent Selection, Development & Inclusion, Plante Moran
Plenary: Update on Accounting Pipeline Initiatives
Tuesday, June 4, 2024, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm ET
Eshe Dotson (pronounced E-shuh) is a human resources director at Plante Moran, where she leads the strategy and execution for recruiting, people development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). She’s been working in human resources her entire career.
Known around Plante Moran for her larger-than-life personality, Eshe is a true people-person. She takes a behavioral approach to help people find their "career best" role — having optimal convergence between their skills, level of passion, and organizational alignment. Once onboarded, Eshe and her team strive to help people develop the skills needed to successfully grow and advance within the firm. Her most noted, firmwide accomplishments include launching staff resource groups; serving as talent acquisition lead for the Healthcare Consulting practice during its largest hiring period; creating a new, practice-staff promotable event; formalizing a behavioral skill development program as a core learning requirement; revising the firm’s core competency development model; and being a recipient of Plante Moran’s Morrison “spirit” Award.
Rebecca Shortridge
Gary W. Rollins Endowed Chair and Department Head of Accounting in the Rollins College of Business at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Plenary: Update on Accounting Pipeline Initiatives
Tuesday, June 4, 2024, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm ET
Rebecca Shortridge, Ph.D., CPA (inactive), has almost 25 years of higher education experience including nearly 12 years as a department administrator.
Dr. Shortridge is active with the accounting academic community. She is the president-elect of the Leadership Section (previously APLG) of the American Accounting Association and previously served as the vice president for Programming and Organizational Value. In addition, Dr. Shortridge served as the president of the Federation of Schools of Accountancy and worked to promote quality education in AACSB accredited programs.
Dr. Shortridge was recognized in 2021 as a Woman to Watch by the Illinois CPA Society because of her leadership in the accounting profession. She also received the Federation of Schools of Accountancy/Joseph A. Silvoso Faculty Merit Award in 2019 for her support of graduate accounting programs. While at NIU, Dr. Shortridge received two Mark Chain/Federation of Schools of Accountancy Innovation in Graduate Teaching Awards for her unique approach in a capstone business valuation course.
Abigail Zhang
Assistant Professor of Accounting, University of Texas at San Antonio
Plenary: Current Developments in Artificial Intelligence and Its Relevance to Accounting
Monday, June 3, 2024
Abigail serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Accounting at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) since July 2023. Prior to joining UTSA, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She earned her Ph.D. in Accounting from Rutgers Business School in May 2022.
Specializing in the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and accounting, Abigail’s research focuses on the transformative impact of AI on accounting and auditing practices. Her work has garnered the attention of key accounting regulators such as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), as well as industry practitioners.