Speakers
Natalie T. Churyk, Northern Illinois University
Plenary: Editor’s Panel
Saturday, October 25, 2025, 9:00 am – 10:30 am
Follow Up Session
Saturday, October 25, 2025, 10:45 am – 12:15 pm
Natalie T. Churyk, Ph.D., CPA is the PwC Professor of Accountancy at Northern Illinois University (NIU) and Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Accounting Education. Prior AAA leadership positions include TLC Section President, GIWB Section President, Midwest Region Co-President; Council; and Outstanding Accounting Educator Award Committee Chair.
Natalie has been awarded multiple research, teaching and service awards from her university, AAA sections/regions, and professional organizations. She has made over 150 presentations including keynotes and panels in the international arena. Her work appears in academic and professional journals such as Journal of Business Research, Issues in Accounting Education, Journal of Accounting Education, Advances in Accounting Education, Journal of Forensic Accounting Research, Strategic Finance, The CPA Journal, and Journal of Accountancy. Natalie also co-authored three John Wiley & Sons’ published textbooks: Accounting and Auditing Research: Tools and Strategies, Mastering the FASB’s Codification and eIFRS: A Case Approach, and Accounting & Auditing Research and Databases: Practitioner’s Desk Reference.
Kirsten Cook, Texas Tech University
Plenary: Editor’s Panel
Saturday, October 25, 2025, 9:00 am – 10:30 am
Follow Up Session
Saturday, October 25, 2025, 10:45 am – 12:15 pm
Kirsten Cook is the Frank M. Burke Chair in Taxation, the director of the Lyons School of Accounting, and a professor of accounting in the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University. After graduating with an Associate in Arts from McLennan Community College and a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Accountancy from Baylor University, he worked in the tax division at Jaynes, Reitmeier, Boyd & Therrell, PC before earning a PhD from Texas A&M University.
Cook taught for five years at the University of Arizona before joining the faculty at Texas Tech in 2013. He teaches undergraduate income tax accounting, graduate tax research and planning and a doctoral colloquium in tax accounting research. Cook has served on the dissertation advisory committees of more than a dozen doctoral students, chairing three. He also holds leadership positions in the American Taxation Association and the American Accounting Association Engagement, Access, and Community Section where he served as president in 2021-2022. He is an editor for Issues in Accounting Education and has served on the editorial review board of Journal of the American Taxation Association.
At Texas Tech, Cook has served on the Faculty Senate and as a Teaching Academy member and participated in the Texas Academic Leadership Academy. He has received the 2017 Excellence in Teaching Award, the 2021 Excellence in Faculty Service Award and the 2021 Jerry S. Rawls Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award from the Rawls College.
Cook's scholarship addresses taxation, earnings management, corporate social responsibility and diversity. He has published his work in Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting Horizons, Decision Sciences, Human Resource Management, Issues in Accounting Education, Journal of the American Taxation Association, Journal of Business Finance & Accounting and Journal of Management Accounting Research.
Simmone Kilgore, The Aurora Healing Center
Plenary Speaker
Saturday, October 25, 2025, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Simmone Kilgore, MS, LPC is a distinguished trauma therapist, educator, and community advocate whose work seamlessly integrates higher education, public health, violence prevention, and grassroots community wellness. Currently, she serves as the Manager of and is a former Associate Professor in the Masters in Community Psychology program at Alverno College, where she prepared future clinicians to lead with cultural responsiveness, compassion, and equity-minded practices.
Her core message is clear: by prioritizing self-care, we expand our capacity to care for others, lead authentically, and ensure that education remains a force for equity, connection, and human flourishing. As a licensed professional counselor and trauma therapy center manager, Simmone focuses on helping professionals sustain themselves amidst heavy workloads, the competing demands of research, teaching, and service, and the personal costs of serving communities in transition. She encourages her audience to root themselves in purpose, nurture their own wellness, and model resilience as a path toward both personal fulfillment and institutional transformation.
For over 15 years, Simmone has provided individual and group therapy, crisis counseling, and community-based interventions for survivors of trauma, domestic violence, and sexual assault. She has designed and led numerous professional training courses across Advocate Aurora Healthcare, the City of Milwaukee Health Department, Milwaukee Public Schools, and various local organizations, advancing staff development, career wellness, and culturally competent care. Her expertise is sought by universities, healthcare systems, nonprofit organizations, and national conferences, where she speaks on topics of justice, mental wellness, purpose, and the art of staying true to oneself while navigating demanding professions. Simmone’s voice is vital. Her work underscores that wellness and belonging are inseparable from academic success, and that cultivating culturally responsive spaces for mental health and collective care is essential to the mission of higher education.
Lisa O’Donnell, KPMG LLP
AI as a Power Tool in Accounting Education
Saturday, October 25, 2025, 12:15 pm – 1:30 pm
Lisa O’Donnell is a Senior Director of AI & Learning Innovation at KPMG LLP, where she leads transformative learning strategies that integrate AI into workforce development. With over a decade of experience in instructional design and organizational learning, Lisa is a trusted advisor to business and learning leaders, known for her ability to align adult learning theory and emerging technologies with strategic business goals. Lisa spearheaded the creation of KPMG’s AI Learning Academy and developed a firmwide GenAI upskilling strategy.
Lisa holds a Master’s degree in Instructional Systems Design and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Florida State University. She is certified in Azure AI 900, Human Performance Technology, Online Instructional Development, Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, Six Sigma (Green Belt), and Design Thinking.
A compassionate people leader, Lisa is passionate about situational leadership and advocating for learning solutions that meet both business and learner aspirations.
Craig Sisneros, Oklahoma State University
Plenary: Editor’s Panel
Saturday, October 25, 2025, 9:00 am – 10:30 am
Follow Up Session
Saturday, October 25, 2025, 10:45 am – 12:15 pm
Dr. Sisneros serves as an assistant professor in the School of Accounting for the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University after holding visiting and/or assistant professor positions at University of Utah, Wichita State University, and University of Colorado Denver. His teaching experience includes financial and managerial accounting at the introductory and intermediate levels, financial statement analysis, and he looks forward to teaching in the Ph.D. program at OSU. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy (summa cum laude) from Metropolitan State College of Denver and a Ph.D. in Accountancy (Finance minor) from Arizona State University. His research projects include the market valuation of accounting earnings components, earnings manipulation, and the organizational choices of distressed companies with publications in The Accounting Review, Advances in Accounting, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, and Accounting and Financial Control. Dr. Sisneros previously worked as a controller for Central City Opera House Association and the CCOHA Endowment Fund. He serves as a planning committee member for the PhD Project, as faculty advisor for Beta Alpha Psi- Chi Chapter at Oklahoma State, and as a member of the School of Accounting Ph.D. Program Committee among other activities. Past service positions include Beta Alpha Psi- Theta Sigma Chapter where he was named Outstanding Faculty Advisor in 2017, co-chair of the Minority Affairs Committee at CU Denver, treasurer and chair of the Education Committee for the Wichita Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and executive director for the NABA Accounting Career Awareness Program at Wichita State. Dr. Sisneros and his wife, Greta, have two daughters, Sydnee and Danee. In addition to cheering on his daughters in sports and music, he enjoys golf, basketball, racquetball, camping, and other outdoor activities. In 2019, Dr. Sisneros was inducted into the PhD Project Hall of Fame, recognizing his 20 years of service to the organization.
Lindsey Yopp, AICPA
120 is the New 150? Now What?
Friday, October 24, 2025, 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Lindsey Yopp is Lead Manager – Experience, Learn, and Earn Program, CPA Pipeline at the AICPA & CIMA, where she is responsible on the day-to-day administration, management, and growth of the Experience, Learn, and Earn (ELE) program. Prior to leading the ELE program, Lindsey managed a number of international initiatives, including working alongside NASBA on Mutual Recognition Agreements with international accounting bodies. Lindsey also has a background in international education and learning and development.