News About You
The Network - June 2013
Dave Amdor, and his wife Marnie Amdor welcomed a baby boy, Drew Patrick Amdor, on January 28, 2013.
Steve Bancroft and his wife Mary are pleased to announce the wedding of their son Bryce to Alice Phillips. The wedding takes place in Charleston, SC on June 15.
Robert S. Barnett, has been appointed as President and Executive Director of the Educational Foundation of the Nassau Suffolk Chapter of the National Conference of CPA Practitioners, a not for profit organization. He was also appointed as Assistant Dean of the Nassau Academy of Law of the Bar Association of Nassau County.
Jerry Byrd left Deloitte about 30 years ago, and has appreciated the alumni newsletters and occasional functions since then. He is a CPA and an attorney and after leaving Deloitte became an attorney. After fifteen years of practice, he merged his law firm into Dean & Fulkerson, P.C., which is a midsized business law firm. Jerry has been a “partner”, shareholder, officer and director of the firm for more than twelve years. The practice involves significant merger and acquisition activity, and sophisticated estate and trust matters. He has handled many transactions, some of which were in excess of $100,000,000, and works with a number of substantial family business, estate and trust matters. His cases have been reported in the Wall Street Journal, and on the national news networks, and in the local media.
Pam, his wife of 37 years and retired CPA, decided to go back to work on a part-time basis for a developer, since their four adult children have grown. The oldest two children are gainfully employed, and the younger two are applying to medical schools. Jerry and Pam have several grandchildren, and one more on the way. They enjoy skiing, golfing, hiking and traveling.
Al Carlson The National Association of Health Underwriters has recently accredited Al Carlson, a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist with Bremer Bank, as a Certified PPACA Professional. In his role as VP of Employee Benefits for Bremer Insurance, and in strategic partnership with Digital Insurance, he engages teams throughout MN and ND to assist employer customers with all aspects of their employee benefits package, including compliance with and preparedness for health care reform. Carlson worked in Deloitte’s audit practice from 1989 to 1991. He and his soon-to-be-empty-nest family live in Alexandria, MN, from where he has served Bremer group customers of all sizes for the past 18 years.
Lorelei Cheung welcomed her first child this past year AND received her Master's degree and Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) designation! She continues to work within the Federal Government.
Matt Christensen, formerly a consultant, and his wife Katherine just had their third child, a boy - Vigo. He joins his sisters Kaia (5) and Neva (3). The happy family continues to live in Paris. On the work front, Matt is leading a project for AXA Investment Managers, where the parent company, AXA Insurance, has provided his team with 150 million EURO to develop the world's largest impact investment fund of fund. Impact investing is a growing field that seeks investments that yield 'profit with purpose'. So, an impact investment will have to concretely measure social return along with financial return. All of the investments will seek market returns and also social returns.
Joshua Cohen is marrying Jaclyn Fromer on June 9, 2013. The couple has been together for two and a half years and will be marrying at Temple Judea in Tarzana.
Edward "Ed" Coil is now Finance Department Leader with Edward Jones in St. Louis, MO. Since leaving Deloitte in 1997, Ed had been with Emerson Electric in various management positions and for the past four years was the Vice President of Finance for Emerson in Canada.
Sean Fox is a Director with McGladrey LLP and is living in Falls Church, VA. He married four years ago to Allison Farris, another former Big Four consultant, and they welcomed their daughter Lauren Eleanor on March 5!
Kim Matis Friedlander (fka Horwitz), is actively involved with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. It was the loss of a dear family friend from Leukemia that caused her to seek out the organization. In June 2010, when her youngest son was just nine months old, Kim committed to crossing a half marathon off her bucket list and began training toward that 13.1 mile goal. After crossing the finish line at Disney’s Wine and Dine Half Marathon that November, she vowed she would never do it again.
Fast forward four marathon seasons later, Kim was tapped to co-captain the South Florida Cancer Crushers, a friends and family team within the larger local Team in Training team. The Cancer Crushers, a team composed of 21 women, was named by a teammate whose nine year-old son is currently undergoing chemo treatments for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Under Kim’s leadership the team trained hard and relentlessly fund raised over $108,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which was donated April 28, 2013 at the Inaugural Nike Women’s Half Marathon in Washington, DC. The Cancer Crushers were recognized at the event as one of the top non-corporate fundraising. This great achievement will fund the South Florida Cancer Crusher’s Research Grant, which will hopefully bring the world closer to a cure for all cancers.
As for Kim, despite being a mom to three boys (ages three, seven and 12), wife to her best friend, Howard, and a full-time CPA with Patriot National Insurance, in Fort Lauderdale, FL., she keeps going. She has completed well over a dozen half-marathons since that first one in 2010, and she has no plans to stop running.
Erik Gerard, formerly with the HITS practice is coordinating a benefit called the "Rock of Angels;" a benefit for the Cleveland Clinic 4th Angel program. This program was originated by Olympic gold-medal winner and sports commentator, Scott Hamilton. When Scott was fighting cancer, he determined his first "angel" was his doctor, his second was his nurse and his third was his family and friends. What he felt he was missing was a 4th angel; someone who had a similar cancer and treatment who could help him understand what he was about to go through. Today the 4th Angel program cancer counseling program has gone nationwide and has over 500 "angels" in the Cleveland area.
Erik will be playing drums with his bands Seeking Asylum and the Lords of Russell. There will also be some special guests which may include Scott Hamilton and a number of musical guests. The event takes place at 7 pm on Saturday, August 17, 2013 at the Boneyard in Mayfield Heights, OH.
Erik hopes you'll join him for some good music and to support a great cause!
www.Rock-of-Angels.org
www.4thAngel.org
Russell G. Golden was named the chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, taking up the debate over the convergence of global rules. Mr. Golden, a former partner at Deloitte & Touche, had been a member of the seven-person board since 2010 and before that was chief of staff. He will serve until 2017, and could have his term extended until 2020.
Jeff Goldfarb is VP-Controller and M&A with Jacobs Engineering. Earlier this year, he transferred from the St. Louis office to their headquarters in Pasadena, California to assume some additional corporate responsibilities.
Greg Goldston worked with Deloitte for 13 years in the IT department, leaving in 2006 as a project manager. Since then, he has been busy as a published author writing under the pen name Gregory G. Allen. His three novels written for adults have won numerous awards, but it has been his children's book about autism awareness that has changed his career the most. Chicken Boy: The Amazing Adventures of a Super Hero with Autism was the 2012 People's Choice Grand Prize winner and published by MeeGenius. Since then he has taken his advocacy directly to students as a guest speaker at schools in several states sharing the story of diversity and not to fear another child simply because they are 'different'. Learn more about his writing at http://gregory-g-allen.com.
Randy Halper On April 17, 2013, Randy Halper was the first recipient of the Bonnie Averbach Distinguished Alumni Award for Excellence in Actuarial Science from Temple University's Fox School of Business. He was awarded at the 25th Annual Awards for Excellence Dinner. This year was also the 90th anniversary of the Insurance and Risk program at Temple University. For more information on the award, click here:
http://foxschoolofbusiness.newsweaver.co.uk/18v1ofsl7rzod8twc907hm?a=5&p=34808285&t=17611524
Brian Hasson joined Idea5, Inc. as Chief Financial Officer. Idea5 is a newly formed company, based in Omaha, Nebraska that is developing technologies to create actionable intelligence from Big Data. Brian continues to reside in Tampa.
Mark Hoose moved to Houston to take a position as Managing Tax Counsel at Phillips 66. He just closed on a house today and his family is moving here soon.
Jessica Elaine Hyde-Cadogan: “After 3.5 years with GE Capital in Danbury, CT, I have transitioned back to Public Accounting, joining Ernst & Young on April 8, 2013. I am working with a high-profile client in CT on-site, and enjoying a mere ten-minute commute for the first time in over 13 years!”
Monte S. Johnson Roseville resident, Monte S. Johnson received the University of Wisconsin –Eau Claire Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award on Saturday May 18, 2013 at the university’s commencement ceremonies. The award recognizes distinguished service to the community, state or nation in a manner that brings credit upon the recipient and the university.
Myron Karasik, former senior consultant, has been living in Israel for over the last two years as part of his career's retirement phase. He has maintained a part-time CFO position with a CA based health care firm. Recently was alerted that his presentation on 'Cultural Collisions' at a University of Michigan-Hoover Institute Symposium in 2006 was to be included as a chapter in an upcoming book "Predicting the Future in Science, Economics and Politics" to be published in early 2014 by Edward Elgar Publishing Company, London UK.
William (Bill) Kucharski is now a principal at Upton Hill LLC. Upton Hill is a business and information technology consulting firm focused on the health care industry. Upton Hill focuses on providing innovative health care consulting solutions to meet the needs of Health Care Payer, Provider and Services companies in the Twin Cities and across the country.
Alan Nawoj, former Deloitte Consulting alum (Manager, Technology) writes -
“As an avid marathon runner, I recently competed in the 2013 Antarctica Marathon down at the bottom of the Earth and came in first place overall. The race was incredibly challenging and I ended up getting hypothermia shortly after finishing, but it was certainly an experience of a lifetime. I crossed the finish line in Antarctica and broke the tape in 3:29. My goal is to run a marathon on all 7 continents, and so far I have completed 6 continents and 20 marathons overall. Africa is my last continent at this point. Here are a few recent press releases that give a brief overview of the marathon:
http://www.marathonguide.com/pressreleases/index.cfm?file=AntarcticaMarathon_130405
http://www.aimsworldrunning.org/results/2013_03.htm#antarctica
Mike Polesnak is completing his sixth year of skills-based pro bono volunteering in support of United Way of Central Carolinas. He reads United Way partner agencies annual audited financial statements and auditors’ letters on internal control and governance for compliance with not-for-profit GAAP/GAAS financial reporting requirements, and provides a report on such compliance and/or any exceptions and other key financial information.
During these six years, Mike has provided more than 700 hours of volunteer service and United Way partner agencies’ financial reporting compliance has improved to greater than 90%.
Mike was interviewed and recognized for his volunteer service in the April 2013 episode of “United Way & You” on Charlotte’s PBS station, WTVI (Channel 42).
Bill Poston, former Principal in Deloitte Consulting, is a founding and managing partner of Kalypso, a global services firm focused exclusively on helping organizations deliver on the promise of innovation. He helps leaders fully harness innovation to drive sustainable growth. His work with CEOs and product development executives in many different industries provides him with a unique perspective to share with audiences around the world. Bill is a recognized thought leader in innovation and enjoys sharing his knowledge through public speaking endeavors. Bill is currently working on his first book, The Chief Innovation Officer’s Playbook, which is scheduled to be published spring 2014.
While these tasks seem all consuming, Bill also has a passion for helping young, dynamic leaders reach their potential. Bill is the founder and president of Stelos Alliance, a non-profit organization with the mission of helping extraordinary young people through scholarship and principled leadership training. Stelos Alliance proudly leads the efforts to raise money for annual scholarships that benefit college-level student leaders. Stelos currently offers 21 scholarships with the goal of offering $100,000 annually by the year 2015. Bill is also working to expand Stelos’ educational programs to universities nationwide.
Bill Poston has redefined the term “Jack of All Trades.” He is a leader and trailblazer in innovation, while at the same time igniting a trail for young leaders to create their own path.
Kristy (Peek) Ramby and her husband Ross welcomed their first children, twin boys, on January 13! Trent James and Ward Vincent were born healthy at full-term weighing 7 lb 0.5 oz and 7 lb 2 oz as well as measuring 20 inches and 21 inches long, respectively.
John R. (Jack) Rueckel, Sr.: Worked for Touche Ross for several years. "Denis (Denny) Mulvahill was the partner in-charge of consulting. As a consultant, I developed an IT feasibility study for Banco Credito in Puerto Rico, created a system to processing criminal files for NY State, and built a computer system for DOD with a budget summary for Robert McNamara."
"Years later I aspired to senior management positions including VP/ CIO. Opportunities opened for me to work for IBM Global Services as Partner/Executive Consultant starting a work flow / business process improvement practice. I had the pleasure of working with Deloitte on several occasions including joint presentations to Verizon regarding business process improvement. Industry experience includes manufacturing, distribution, publishing & printing, retail, communications and finance."
"I moved to South Charlotte / Ballantyne area in 2001 with my wife Irene, now of 53 years. Since retiring from IBM in 2004, I have chaired my HOA, and run a ministry for my church that counsels people out of work in methods and techniques for seeking employment. Our five children, nine grandchildren and one great granddaughter live in several states including NJ, PA, WA and SC."
Mike Sharkey recently started his own technology services firm. Blue Canary is a data & analytics company that helps clients unlock the value that exists in their data. Capabilities include data aggregation, predictive modeling, and interventions. Mike started Blue Canary after 11 years in the higher education industry focusing on data and analytics for the Apollo Group.
David Sidney has established Campus Road Partners in Irvine, CA. Campus Road Partners is a buyside mergers and acquisitions adviser providing proprietary acquisition search services for private equity groups, hedge funds, strategic buyers and family offices. The firm manages targeted and opportunistic searches across a wide spectrum of industries including manufacturing, technology, consumer products, business-to-business services and healthcare.
Pat Surdy recently led a cycling team that rides 330 miles across Ohio to raise money for the American Cancer Society. His efforts earned him a volunteer recognition award presented on May 2nd.
Bill Traer leveraged his accounting and tax background, particularly his work with Touche Ross, to complete the coursework to become a Certified Financial Planner and is now managing investments. “After working in accounting (or any profession) for many years, it is easy to get burned out. In my opinion, one of the cures for this (aside from winning the lottery and retiring to the Turks and Caicos!) is learning a new skill set and transitioning to a different job” says Bill.
Rene Valadez is the Director of Internal Audit of the Office of Texas Governor Rick Perry. Away from the office, Rene is encouraging assurance service professionals (as a speaker in professional conferences and other venues) to be compelling and influential not only in the administration, but in the governance of their organizations. To relax, he trains for and participates in marathons. Rene, and his wife, Lucy, recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in the Republic of Panama, and the birth of their first grandson, Nathan James (aka “Nater”).
Stan Weinstein Betty Weinstein: I am responding to this email on behalf of Stan Weinstein formerly a partner in the New York office. I, Betty, his wife for almost 33 years, have shared his pride in being part of Deloitte. He now struggles with Alzheimer’s, but enjoys recalling the Boards he served such as The Breast and Prostate Cancer research Foundation and The Interventional Cardiology Foundation. He was honored at charity luncheons on several occasions, and still can recall many of the wonderful people he worked with. "Thank you for the memories".
Edward Wright has been appointed to the board of directors of Newark Preschool Council, one of the largest providers of Head Start services in NJ. He has also qualified to represent the United States as a member of Team USA in the sports of decathlon and triathlon, in Ottawa and London, respectively, both at sprint distances.
Cheryl Lynn Yawman St. John Fisher College held its annual Accounting Awards Banquet on March 21, and announced that Cheryl Lynn Yawman ’86 was named the 2013 Outstanding Accounting Alumna of the Year. Yawman is the Practice Director of Accounting and Finance at Cochran, Cochran and Yale in Rochester.
The award recognizes an accounting alumnus or alumna for achievement in the following three categories: noteworthy career achievement, significant humanitarian effort, and outstanding contribution to the Fisher community.
Kate Yeskey will be attending the Kellogg School of Management through Deloitte's GSAP program in the fall to study general management and social entrepreneurship. She looks forward to returning to the Chicago Human Capital Organization Transformation practice in 2015.
Maria Acosta Zamora has taken her passion for oil painting to the next level. She was always interested in photography and oil painting but due to a demanding schedule personally and professionally, was never able to dedicate the time she wanted. She became very serious about oil painting since her move to New York. In just one year, she painted over fifteen significant oil paintings. As a result, one of her most recent paintings was hosted at the Greater Miami Chamber's Leadership Miami gala dinner's silent auction. Maria has also been invited to a solo exhibition for a Florida based corporation.
Maria is currently the CFO of 1199 SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds (the Funds). The Funds' investment assets total in excess of $10 billion primarily from three Pension Funds for the benefit of NY State's healthcare workers. In addition to the Pension Funds, Maria serves 1199 SEIU as CFO to another twenty benefit and training funds for the same industry sector. These 23 funds' revenues total over $3 billion annually.
She would love to connect with her former colleagues to catch up and brainstorm ideas on places to exhibit her art work. If interested in seeing her art, please contact her via AlumNet and she will provide a few examples of her works via email.
