Governmental Accounting and Auditing Conference (IN-PERSON)

Elizabeth Gousse Ballotte

Elizabeth Gousse Ballotte has more than 15 years of operational and organizational consulting and management experience. Liz specializes in development of DEI/ESG assessments and impact program office implementations across all industries and advises clients on environmental, social and governance matters, risk management, and compliance issues. Liz works with organizations on ESG framework development, policies and procedures, internal controls, and Board level ESG oversight.

Liz has conducted over 500 compliance and due diligence reviews for organizations across the U.S. She has experience working on federal grants/programs including ARPA, FEMA, Hurricane Sandy, Irene, and Lee. In addition, Liz has served as a Whistleblower Administrator for higher education clients. Her engagements have required her to perform internal control reviews, operational assessments, Board of Director workshops and grant compliance monitoring on a national scale.

She is an active member of the consulting industry, combining the areas of private foundation compliance reviews and management consulting. She assists clients in developing compliance programs that meet the demands of federal, state, and local regulations and prevent theft and other forms of corruption.

Liz has had articles published in The NonProfit Times and the NonProfit PRO. She also has participated in leadership roles on executive forums, workshops and symposiums.

Justin Long

Justin Long is a Technical Manager of the AICPA Peer Review Program. He is responsible for technical reviews for the National Peer Review Committee and assists representatives from enrolled firms in addressing their peer review related questions. He also works on other projects for the National Peer Review Committee, such as the drafting of the clarified peer review standards.

Prior to joining the AICPA, Justin was an audit senior manager with FORVIS in Raleigh, NC. Justin holds both a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Masters in the Science of Accountancy from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He is currently licensed as a CPA in the state of North Carolina.

Jennifer Kappler

In addition to leading her team and contributing to the strategic direction of the AICPA Ethics Division, Jennifer assists the Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) with ethics standard setting, member enrichment activities, and enforcement of professional standards. One of Jennifer’s passions is developing tools and practice aids to assist practitioners in applying ethics guidance.

Before joining the AICPA, Jennifer spent 10+ years working for regional, national, and international public accounting firms as well as state and local government. Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Louisville and anticipates receiving her Masters in Governmental Accountancy from Rutgers University in 2023. Jennifer is a licensed certified public accountant in Kentucky.

Kara Deiana

Kara Deiana is an assistant project manager with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) in Norwalk, Connecticut. She is currently working on GASB projects related to the classification of nonfinancial assets, and the post-implementation review of Statement 87, Leases.

Before joining the GASB in June of 2022, Kara spent ten years working at the Office of the New York State Comptroller. She spent three and a half years working for the Bureau of Financial Reporting and was responsible for the preparation of the state’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and the implementation of Statement 87, Leases. She also spent over six years working for the Division of Local Government and School Accountability where she provided accounting and financial reporting guidance to local municipalities and worked with municipal auditors to ensure audits were conducted audits in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS).

Kara is a graduate of The State University of New York at Albany and is a New York State Certified Public Accountant.

Jeffrey Ziplow

Jeff is a principal in the firm’s Business Risk Advisory service group. He has significant experience working with organizations to assess their IT security controls as they relate to business operations and helps to develop recommendations to mitigate risk. In this role, Jeff works with public and private organizations, municipalities and not-for-profits clients on cyber security risk assessments and provides insight and guidance on developing better operational and security practices. He also works with Attorney Generals from several states to provide guidance/support on cyber security matters.

Kyle Connors

Kyle Connors is an assurance director in the Providence, Rhode Island, office. He has more than 10 years of experience in public accounting, with significant expertise in municipal auditing and financial reporting matters. In addition, Mr. Connors leads assurance engagements for not-for-profit organizations, utility districts, public housing authorities, schools, and redevelopment authorities.

Mr. Connors has extensive Uniform Guidance experience, testing for compliance in the administration of federal education grants, HUD grants, and federally funded capital loan programs. He also has extensive experience performing program specific audits for both public and for-profit companies. Throughout his tenure in municipal accounting, Mr. Connors has worked closely with the State of Rhode Island, implementing Uniform Chart of Accounts guidance as well as the new Annual Supplemental Transparency Portal reporting.

Mr. Connors works within the firms quality control group ensuring that newly enacted GASB and FASB standards are properly implemented. He also serves as a team member on peer review engagements, assisting in performing peer reviews and both pre and post issuance reviews for firms across New England.

Erica Olobri

Erica M. Olobri is a partner in the Firm’s Providence office. She has more than 18 years of experience in managing, conducting, reviewing and analyzing financial data within various companies and organizations. She spends a significant amount of time on audits of state agencies, governments, healthcare organizations, not-for-profit organizations, real estate entities and small businesses.

Ms. Olobri enjoys working directly with her clients on providing guidance on the implementation of new accounting pronouncements, evaluating internal controls and also providing consulting services throughout the year.

Ms. Olobri is an active peer reviewer under the AICPA Peer Review program, and has conducted a number of reviews for variety of CPA firms.