Nonprofit Conference (E1712010)

Alex is an audit partner in the Not-for-Profit and Health Care practices of PKF O’Connor Davies, LLP. He has eighteen years of experience in public accounting. His areas of specialty include audits of not-for-profit entities, health care entities and special needs clients, cost reporting as applicable to health care and not-for-profit entities, and single audits conducted in accordance with the Uniform Grant Guidance. Alex is also an adjunct professor of accounting at the City University of New York. He serves on a number of professional and academic affiliations and is a board member of the New York State Education Department State Board for Public Accountancy. He has authored articles on accounting, audit, tax and education and he has presented on both a professional and academic level.

Heather Campisi is a Senior Marketing Communications Manager at WithumSmith+Brown, PC. With over 8 years of experience in marketing and business development, she is responsible for the Firm’s content strategy, brand management and public relations. She manages the Firm's Pursuit Strategy Team which specializes in not-for-profit and government RFPs. Heather also leads the go-to-market niche strategy development for the Firm's Not-for-Profit and Education, Business Advisory and Transaction Advisory Services Groups. As a member of the Association for Accounting Marketing and past recipient of Withum’s Community Strength Award, Heather speaks to not-for-profit fundraising and generational giving as well as content and brand management strategies.

Brad has been with Withum for over a decade, during which time he made partner and is a licensed certified public accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner in New Jersey and New York. Brad is a Team Leader for the Firm’s Not-for-Profit and Education Services Group and is integral in rolling out firm audit technology. Brad also co-hosts Withum's Civic Warriors podcast that features leaders in the nonprofit industry who are making an impact despite whatever adversity they encounter.

Brad is very active in his community and is the board chair of Coming Home of Middlesex County, which is an organization whose mission is to end homelessness. In addition, he serves as a volunteer firefighter in his home town.

Striving to provide world-class client service to all of his clients, Brad serves to be a trusted advisor to bring about mutual success.

Brad resides in Somerset County, New Jersey, with his wife, Ashley, and three children: Chase, Molly and Duke (Golden Retriever).

Rick is a partner with FORVIS (which is the result of a merger between BKD and DHG) with more than 25 years of experience serving not-for-profit organizations. He is based in the firm’s New York office and is a member of FORVIS’ Higher Education Center of Excellence, which is an internal committee focused on addressing issues important to the higher education industry. Rick focuses on audits and advisory services for not-for-profit and higher education organizations.

Prior to this role, he worked at the FASB, where he served as a supervising project manager for almost six years. In that role, he was the project manager on Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-14, Presentation of Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit Entities; ASU 2018-08, Clarifying the Scope and Accounting Guidance for Contributions Received and Contributions Made; and ASU 2019-03, Updating the Definition of Collections. He also was coordinator for FASB’s NFP Advisory Committee and Private Company Council. Before joining the FASB, Rick was vice president and controller at a large national museum in New York for seven years and a senior manager with a large international accounting firm where he worked for 14 years and specialized in audits of higher education institutions and other not-for-profit organizations.

Rick is a member of the AICPA Not-for-Profit Expert Panel. He is a lecturer at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies in their Non-Profit Management program. He also has been a frequent speaker with NACUBO, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), and various state CPA societies.

He is a CPA in New York and New Jersey and is a member of the AICPA and New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. Rick is a graduate of Montclair State University, New Jersey, with a B.S. degree and an M.B.A. degree.

John D'Amico, CPA, is a Partner within the Professional Standards Group at Marks Paneth LLP, which is responsible for monitoring quality control in the firm as mandated by professional standards. He specializes in pre-issuance reviews and inspections of nonprofit organizations, governments and Single Audits. Mr. D’Amico also provides consultation on accounting and attestation matters and tests and monitors the firm's quality review policies and procedures. He teaches continuing education classes for the firm and on behalf of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) nationally.

As a sought-out thought leader in his areas of expertise, Mr. D'Amico has authored numerous articles pertaining to nonprofit accounting/auditing, governmental auditing standards and Uniform Guidance. He frequently leads training seminars for his clients and is an instructor for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He has presented at the annual Nonprofit Conferences of the New York State Society of CPAs; the New Jersey Society of CPAs; and the Connecticut Society of CPAs; as well as the annual Governmental Conferences of the Connecticut Society of CPAs and the Michigan Society of CPAs.

In addition to his professional activities, Mr. D’Amico is a dedicated volunteer who regularly donates his time to charitable organizations. He currently serves on several nonprofit boards of directors in a variety of capacities.

Robert R. Lyons, CPA New York, NY Rob has 40 years of experience in the field of public accounting including experience with both regional and national Big 4 accounting firms. Rob’s emphasis has been in the not-for-profit tax and audit fields for the past thirty years. In addition to professional activities, he has taught and lectured in various advanced educational programs. Prior to Joining MP&S, Rob was the Director of Not-For-Profit Tax for KPMG’s New York office and had direct responsibility for tax operations for over 250 medium to large size not-for-profit clients including various pension trust activities. Rob’s specialization includes but is not limited to the areas of unrelated business income, use of for-profit subsidiaries, IRS intermediate sanctions, alternative investments and various other exempt organization reporting and compliance issues. In addition, he has consulted extensively with non-profits in the area of planned giving and development, expansion and growth potential. He has written numerous articles in the Journal of Taxation for Exempt Organizations and Tax Advisor Direct. Rob’s book credits include: Getting Started with Non-Profits, Non-Profits-Advanced Tax Issues, the 990 Workshop, CPA: Guide to Planned Giving, and Form 990: AICPA’s Answer to Unlocking the Tax Complexities. Rob is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the New York State Society of CPAs and is a CPA licensed to practice in New York State, Florida, the District of Columbia and Virginia.

Amy E. MacFadyen, CPA, director of EisnerAmper’s Not-for-Profit Services Group and Audit Department, has been a member of the NJCPA since 2011. She has served on numerous NJCPA interest groups and committees, such as the Nonprofit Interest Group, the Joint Chapter & Interest Group Leaders and the Chapter Operations Committee. As Eisner, she is responsible for the planning, supervision and execution of financial statements and other audit-related services. She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the Association for Corporate Growth of New Jersey. She earned her BS degree at the University of Rhode Island.

Frances E. McKenna, MBA, EA, came to Marks Paneth after twenty six years of service in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). At the IRS, Exempt Organizations (EO) were her main focus.

Ms. McKenna was responsible for a number of high profile national programs, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), International/Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Referral, Political Campaign Intervention (PCI), Employment Tax, National Research Programs (NRP), Fed/State, and Gaming.

As the manager of the IRS’s EO Compliance Strategy Critical Initiatives (CSCI) program group, Ms. McKenna supervised several high-profile projects, such as Medical Resident FICA, Affordable Care Act (ACA), 501(r), 45R and Post Determination Compliance Program. These included the administration of a large program segment of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TEGE) Division. She also served as a lead instructor for newly hired revenue agents in EO and was a certified lead instructor for their leadership management classes.

Ms. McKenna earned her BS in Accounting from St. John’s University and her MBA in Accounting from the University of Phoenix. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, reading, and attending outdoor events, concerts, and traveling with her family. She also donates her time as the head coach of several youth organizations such as the Firthtown Falcons cheerleading and Firthtown Falcons baseball.

She is based in Marks Paneth’s New York office and resides in Stewartsville, NJ.

Louis Mezzina is a Senior Advisor with the Not-for-Profit Services Practice at Prager Metis, a member of Prager Metis International Group. Lou brings over 40 years of experience serving a diverse array of not-for-profit clients.

Lou has worked closely with well over 100 colleges, universities, and other not-for-profit organizations, including AARP, American Heart Association, the Archdiocese of New York, Duke University, Fordham University, Johns Hopkins University, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the March of Dimes, Metropolitan Opera, the New York Community Trust, and Wildlife Conservation Society. Beyond accounting, auditing, and financial reporting, he has assisted organizations and the nonprofit sector with respect to operations, risk management, and governance.

Lou is a noted speaker and has presented often at industry conferences, including the AICPA Not-for-Profit Industry Conference, NACUBO’s Higher Education Accounting Forum, NJCPA Nonprofit Conference, and the GWSCPA Nonprofit Symposium. His many years of leadership and service have earned him the National Association of College and University Business Officers’ inaugural Business Partners Service Award and the NJCPA Service Medallion.

Ron has significant experience providing audit, tax and consulting services to both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. Over the past 30 years, he has concentrated on the not-for-profit sector, including public accounting work with the firm Goldstein Golub Kessler LLP where he ultimately became head of their Not-For-Profit Services Practice and more recently a partner with the firm MazarsUSA LLP.

In interim years, Ron spent five years as Chief Financial Officer at the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, a $200 Million social services agency. Ron brings this industry insider perspective to his roles in public accounting where he assisted clients with their operating, fiscal and management needs.

Earlier in his career, Ron assisted manufacturing and distribution companies with worldwide operations, and privately held businesses and professional practices. This experience included nine years as Chief Financial Officer at a publicly traded precious metals company.

Ron currently sits on several Boards of Not-For-Profit organizations, including as both Treasurer and Chair of their Audit Committees. He was previously the Chair of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants FEF Conference and is currently on the Steering Committee of the AICPA National Not-for-Profit Conference.

Ron lectures and writes frequently on operating and fiscal matters, primarily in the not-for-profit sector, and is a contributing editor for The CPA Journal, a professional publication.

Ron received his BBA degree from The City College of New York. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York, and an Accredited Chartered Global Management Accountant. Ron is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants where he sits on the Accounting for Non-Profit Organizations and the Tax Exempt Entities Committees.