Association OS Podcast

Rebekah Brown is the Director of Development for the Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA). She grew up in the association world. Her mother worked at MACPA, so Rebekah has immense exposure to MACPA’s mission and to the profession itself.

After becoming a CPA and working in a firm for a couple years, Rebekah returned to work at MACPA. She describes her career as a path of discovery, always getting her closer to what she wants to be doing in service to others. This is the same advice she gives members, especially students. Rebekah’s loyalty isn’t just to MACPA, it’s to the accounting profession she loves. This perspective is what drives her passion and compassion as she helps CPAs have thriving careers in a profession with growing diversity.

Skip Falatko is the Chief Financial Officer for the Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA). Like many CPAs, his career started in public accounting. After a handful of professional transitions, Skip has served as part of the leadership team at MACPA for over 20 years.

MACPA has a reputation for being on the cutting edge of the profession. In this episode, Skip reflects on what navigating complexity has looked like recently, after some huge changes. Recent complexities have included: navigating Covid-19, transitioning more CPE online, creating more focused content and event programming, selling an MACPA subsidiary business (The Business learning Institute), applying rapidly-changing tax laws and regulations, and maintaining high-level member experience in it all. Skip encourages us to do what he does: listen to members and trust the wisdom of the team. Teamwork will get us through it all as we seek the flourishing of our profession and membership base.

Reva Brennan is the Chief Operating Officer for the New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA). Her heart for serving members comes naturally from wanting others to become better in all aspects of their lives, including professionally. Central to this possibility is creating “brave spaces,” which are especially important in the work of diversifying the accounting profession.

With instincts of an educator and a deep joy in her work, Reva reflects on what member experience looks like today. “Non-traditional” career paths will only become more common, and Reva is helping to lead and prepare NYSSCPA to help members thrive through these changes. It starts with member-related data analysis, and proceeds with care.

Bill Sheridan is the Chief Communications Officer for the Maryland Association of CPAs. He started as a journalist. While he spent his career informing people, he is more recently focused on forming people, with an emphasis on teaching future-ready skills to MACPA members. Bill also participates as part of a network of thought leaders helping the entire profession to innovate.

Whereas accounting and finance by definition "look backwards," Bill Sheridan is someone who is looking forward as a "trend hunter," and he does this in service to members. He has the perspective that crafting member experience is more about ensuring professionals thrive than it is about making members like the MACPA brand. What's the best thing for members right now? To become future-ready.

Mary Medley is the CEO of the Colorado Society of CPAs. She started her career as the COCPA receptionist. After years of dedication and growth, Mary became CEO in 1992. She’s been leading through huge changes – culturally, technologically, and professionally – ever since. She credits her success, and the success of the organization, to the team she has built. Mary is a creative at heart, and is often most inspired by the arts and other cultural experiences. She moves with grace for herself and others that allows her to take risks and strive for innovation. All in service to members and the CPA profession.

Rebecca Campbell is the COO of the Colorado Society of CPAs. Her long tenure with COCPA has seen her rise through the ranks of the organization. Rebecca started as a temp employee. She later became the CPE director before recently becoming COO. Her journey has a thread of service — to members and to staff — and, as you'll hear, she just loves serving the profession by serving those in the profession. Caring about members has become a habit for her.

Victor Velazquez is the Executive Director of the Maryland State Bar Association. Since joining in 2017, he has led massive transformation at the State Bar, all in service to members. He has decades of experience leading associations, completing significant projects at AICPA and the D.C. Bar Association, before joining MSBA.

This episode explores Victor's life, leadership style, professional history, and his vision for what serving members looks like in the future.