Northeast Finance & Accounting Convention: Where Finance, Technology & Leadership Converge

Dawn Brolin

Dawn W. Brolin, CPA, CFE is the founder of Team Brolin an organization dedicated to helping accounting professionals and small businesses optimize their operations and reduce their fraud risks. She is also the owner of Connecticut-based CPA firm, Powerful Accounting Inc., and author of The Designated Motivator. Dawn’s extensive accounting expertise and personal entrepreneurial experiences fuel her passion for helping other business owners succeed through the application of smart technology solutions, effective financial management, and comprehensive business continuity and fraud mitigation strategies. Dawn’s in-depth knowledge and down-to-earth, entertaining approach make her an in-demand trainer, speaker, and thought leader. She has worked with prestigious partners including Fundera, Intuit, TSheets by QuickBooks, AbacusNext, ADP, MineralTree and many more. In addition, Dawn’s contributions to the accounting profession are continually recognized with many top awards. She was named “2020 Top Niche Practice ProAdvisor: Forensics” as well as one of the “2018, 2019 & 2020Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting” ~ by Accounting Today, “2012-2017 Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting” ~ by CPA Practice Advisor, “2017 MP Elite Accounting Firm Leaders” ~ by Accounting Today, and “Top 40 Under 40 Class of 2009” ~ by CPA Technology Magazine. Dawn has also been published on many blogs and in books such as “The World’s Most Inspiring Accountants.” Dawn has also appeared on the MSNBC show Your Business and has spoken at national conferences including CPA Academy, Cleveland Ohio Society of CPA’s, Intuit QuickBooks Connect Conference, Live Your Legacy, Scaling New Heights, AbacusMaximus, Spark & Hustle, TD Bank, and many others.

Paul Young

Paul Young is the Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Liberty Bank of Middletown, Connecticut, the oldest and largest independent mutual bank in the U.S. In this role, Paul is responsible for Accounting, Treasury, Financial Planning & Analysis, Enterprise Project Management, Procurement, Digital Banking, Business Transformation and Strategic Planning.

Paul has over 25 years of diversified financial services experience and before joining Liberty Bank, was the CFO for Citizens Bank’s Consumer Deposits, Business Banking and Citizens Access lines of business. Prior to Citizens Bank, Paul was the Head of U.S. Strategy and Corporate Development for TD Bank and also served as the CFO for TD Bank’s U.S. Lines of Business including Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Specialty Banking, Product Management, Wealth and TD Auto Finance.

Prior to joining TD Bank in 2009, Paul held various financial leadership positions including CFO for CIT Corporate Finance and Senior Vice President & Controller for Siemens Financial Services, North America. Paul also held financial positions of increasing responsibility at Prudential Financial, First Fidelity Bank, HSBC and Spicer & Oppenheim.

Paul received a B.S. in Accounting from Bloomfield College, completed the Duke University – Fuqua School of Business Advanced Management Program, and earned his MBA from Temple University – Fox School of Business. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Global Management Accountant and has served as a member of the Business & Industry Executive Committee (BIEC) and the Americas Regional Advisory Panel (AMRAP) of the AICPA. Paul is a member of the Future of Finance Leadership Advisory Group (FFLAG) and is a Member of the AICPA Council.

Paul served as a member of the Bloomfield College President’s Council and was an Accounting Advisory Board Member for Rowan University. He is passionate about education and was previously an Adjunct Accounting & Finance Professor at Caldwell University.

Tom Hood

Tom recently stepped onto the global stage of the largest association of certified professional accountants in the world, representing over 690,000 CPAs, CGMAs, and students. In 2021 he was named the?second most influential person in accounting?by Accounting Today Magazine for the tenth year.

Tom is known for his work on the CPA Vision Project, the CPA Horizons 2025 Project, and most recently the Future of Finance 2030. In 1999, he co-founded the Business Learning Institute (BLI) with a purpose of “Empowering human capital in a global VUCA world, so that our organizations and communities thrive”, based on the findings of the CPA Vision and CPA Horizons 2025 research. This led to the T-shaped Professional and a focus on ‘success skills’ for CPAs, CGMAs, and finance and accounting professionals.

LinkedIn recruited Tom as one of their Top 100 Influencers in 2012 and he now has a following of over 730,000. He is a member of Forbes Finance Council and was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame.

Tom is the former CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs and former CFO of a highway construction company. He has a Master’s in Finance from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Loyola University of Maryland.

Hank Teskey

Hank Teskey is a CPA and attorney with over 35 years of experience in accounting, tax, and corporate finance. Most recently, he served as controller of General Dynamics Electric Boat, following 27 years with the company in various roles, including Director of Taxes. Prior to joining General Dynamics, Hank spent 10 years at Deloitte, where he held the position of senior manager.

Kate Hearns

Kate Hearns is the Senior Director, Portfolio Management at PPL Corporation. In this capacity, she plays a pivotal role in aligning technology strategies with business objectives to enhance operational efficiency and achieve measurable outcomes. Adept at creating robust financial management and governance capability for market leading, profit, non-profit, and regulated international organizations, I empower teams to create solutions that balance financial stability with sustainable growth. Known for fostering collaboration and innovation, my commitment to thoughtful leadership and data-driven strategies ensures impactful and inclusive outcomes across organizations.

Kate is passionate about delivering results through building inclusive and highly engaged cross-functional teams aligned with shared goals. She also prioritizes the professional development of her team by encouraging mentorship and coaching and actively supporting their involvement in the broader community.

Before assuming her current position, Kate served as Director of Financial Planning and Analysis at RI Energy, a PPL Company. She has also held increasingly responsible roles in finance, strategy, and performance management at National Grid. Kate earned a BSc in Accounting from Cardiff University, UK, and is a Fellow Chartered Management Accountant (FCMA).

Kate currently serves as Treasurer on the Executive Board for the Gas Guild of Managers, where she oversees financial activities and supports fundraising initiatives. She has also completed two terms as a Regional Board Member and as Northeast Chapter Chair for the MA American Red Cross and was Treasurer on the Executive Board of RI Public Expenditure Council for 3 years.

Ash Noah

Ash Noah - CPA, FCMA, CGMA, is VP and Managing Director of Management Accounting, at AICPA & CIMA. In this position, Ash leads the Research, Examinations and Learning product development for the Management Accounting Unit.

Ash works closely with CFOs and Business Finance Leaders globally, identifying the trends such as sustainability and AI that are impacting practitioners, businesses and the profession in order to ensure that the Association’s Finance Competency Framework, Curriculum, Examinations and Learning solutions remain effective and are producing the competencies to operate and remain relevant in the practice of Business Finance with a view to long-term value creation.

Ash was formerly the CFO of the International Unit of TNT, A global express logistics provider and has led finance transformation in teams across 45 countries. He is a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA), licensed US CPA and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

Ash has a passion for flying and is an avid aviator.

Konrad Martin

Konrad Martin is a man on a mission. His aim is to help organizations understand, recognize and manage the extraordinary risks posed by cybersecurity threats, and to create the structural resiliency necessary to minimize the danger, mitigate the damage, and recover quickly when a cyber intrusion occurs.

Konrad is a nationally recognized authority on cybersecurity and IT issues. He is the co-author of Cyber Storm, an Amazon #1 best seller, and the author of Hacked: How to Protect Your Business from the Fines, Lawsuits, Customer Loss & PR Nightmare Resulting from Data Breach and Cybercrime. He was a guest expert on the recently-released Amazon Prime documentary “Cyber Crime 2: The Dark Web and Cyber Crime.”

His firm, Tech Advisors, Inc., provides technology consulting and management services to a wide range of professional services organizations across the country, and is ranked among the Top 250 Managed Security Services Providers by MSSP Alert.

Since founding Tech Advisors with his twin brother Kevin more than 20 year ago, Konrad has overseen steady growth and expansion of the firm, which expanding services such as cloud computing and cybersecurity, as well as reaching a broader range of industries served. His previous experience as a CPA gives Konrad an understanding and appreciation of the financial side of technology, and he enjoys helping Tech Advisors’ clients connect the value of a well-managed IT infrastructure with business efficiency and profitability.

A nationally ranked swimmer while in college, Konrad continues to focus on fitness through hiking, competing in triathlons, golfing and tackling challenging Peloton rides. He and his wife Jeannie, a noted interior designer, divide their time between Massachusetts and Florida. They have a daughter, Rebecca, and two sons, Adam and Fritz.

Richard Gabriel

Richard Gabriele is an assistant project manager with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). In that capacity, he analyzes technical accounting issues and is responsible for developing potential solutions that contemplate both the needs of financial statement users and related implementation outcomes. Richard primarily focuses on Revenue Recognition (Topic 606) and Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) Richard began his career as an internal auditor at the Mohegan Tribe where he built strong foundation in financial reporting, risk management, and internal controls. Early in his career, he also taught a variety of accounting courses at Nichols College. Prior to joining the FASB, he served as global technical accounting manager at Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment where he led major implementations of accounting standards, including revenue recognition (Topic 606) and lease accounting (Topic 842). Richard holds several professional designations, including Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the state of Connecticut, Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and many others. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Eastern Connecticut State University and his Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Connecticut.

Michael Cheng

Mike Cheng joined Frazier & Deeter in 2019 as the Partner who oversees the firm’s professional practices related to accounting and audit. As part of this role, he specializes in assisting clients with complex accounting and financial reporting issues.

Prior to joining the firm, Mike was a Senior Project Manager at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). At the FASB, he served as the Private Company Council (PCC) coordinator, where he was responsible for all PCC related matters. In addition, Mike led projects to simplify the accounting for non-employee share-based payments, help shape the future of the FASB technical agenda and improve consolidations guidance (VIE guidance). Most recently, he worked on the FASB’s implementation team on revenue recognition (ASC Topic 606) and lease accounting (ASC Topic 842).

Prior to joining the FASB, Mike held various management positions with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He was an Audit Senior Manager, Private Company Services, in the firm’s Stamford, CT office. From 2003-2011, he also held roles of increasing responsibility in PwC’s Core Assurance divisions in Buffalo and Rochester, NY.

Kristopher Peterson

Kristopher Peterson has over 20 years of experience in information technology and cybersecurity and is a frequent speaker at industry events.

Kris is passionate about helping businesses understand gaps in their security posture and mitigate cybersecurity risks. His broad experience includes incident response – including ransomware and business email compromise (BEC), conducting cybersecurity assessments and testing, and helping organizations understand their compliance requirements, especially those around NIST and CMMC.

Kris Peterson holds GSEC, CMMC-AB, and CISSP certifications.

Matthew Keane

Matthew Keane | Manager, Cybersecurity Services | ADNET Technologies

Matthew Keane, ADNET’s Manager of Cybersecurity Services, joined ADNET in 2021. Matt works closely with clients to lead cybersecurity incident response, implement security services, and create comprehensive cybersecurity strategies for organizations of all sizes. He has over twenty years of experience in IT, having held various roles including that of a HIPAA Security Officer. His prior experience as an IT Manager and Operations Manager gives him a unique perspective to offer clients, having been both a client and solutions provider.

Matt graduated from Salve Regina University with a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems Science. He holds cybersecurity certifications including Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), and numerous Microsoft and CompTIA certifications.

Swami Venkat

Swami Venkat leads CohnReznick’s CxO and CFO Advisory practices. He has more than 20 years of diverse professional experience across technical accounting, public company reporting, risk and compliance, and internal audit. This experience includes providing SEC and GAAP advisory services, helping companies prepare for registration/financial statements filings with the SEC, and writing accounting opinions/reviewing 10-Q/10-K data for consistency and completeness with SEC Regulation S-X and S-K requirements.

Rachel Tressy

Rachel Tressy is executive vice president and chief auditor for Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), a leading health, wealth and investment company.

In this role, Tressy oversees the Internal Audit and Financial Control Risk (SOX) teams, providing independent, objective assurance and advisory services designed to add value, improve operations and support the Audit Committee in fulfilling its oversight role as defined by the Audit Committee Charter. She also serves on Voya’s Executive Committee.

Tressy’s career includes significant contributions across business, risk management and audit functions. Tressy joined Voya in 2016. Before joining Voya, she spent over 15 years at the Cigna Group in audit and business roles. Tressy started her career at Ernst & Young.

Tressy serves on the board of directors for Wheeler Health as the vice chair, also serving on the Executive and Quality Committees and as chair of the Audit Committee. She also serves on the boards of Grace Academy and the Connecticut Society of CPAs and is an executive sponsor of Voya’s Women’s Council.

Tressy earned her Master of Business Administration in accounting at the University of Connecticut, and her bachelor’s degree in political science from Holy Cross College. She holds CPA, CIA, CRMA and NACD.DC designations.

A leading health, wealth and investment company that provides products, solutions and technologies for approximately 15.7 million individual customers, workplace participants and institutions in the U.S., Voya had approximately $977 billion in total assets under management and administration as of March 31, 2025.

Brian Berry

Brian has more than 20 years of experience with technology, software design, and advisory services. He is responsible for a broad range of data management solutions including business intelligence, data warehousing, reporting, master data management, big data, and advanced analytics. Brian has been responsible for the delivery of Enterprise Data Governance and Master Data Management programs for middle-market manufacturing, global life sciences, and public-sector clients.

After transitioning from a career in the performing arts, Brian worked at Innovative Solutions, Inc., a boutique technology firm focused on database solutions for small businesses. From there, he led the custom web development team at Trinity College, designing and delivering services for students, faculty, and alumni.

Tom Wahl

Bio coming soon!

Stephen LaRosa

Stephen J. LaRosa is the senior director who oversees U.S. domestic state and local taxes and global indirect taxes at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in New Haven, Connecticut. He has over twenty-five years of tax experience, including tax management positions in both public accounting and private industry. Prior to joining Alexion, Steve was a managing director at a Big Four accounting firm where he was the leader of the Hartford office SALT practice and national Connecticut tax specialist.

Steve is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants (“CTCPA”). He served as the chairperson of the CTCPA State Tax Committee, chaired various sub-committees and previously received the CTCPA Jack Brooks Leadership Award and the Committee Member of the Year Award. Steve is also a member of the National Multistate Tax Symposium Advisory Board.

Steve serves on the tax committees of various business organizations. He has served on task forces established by the Connecticut General Assembly and the Department of Revenue Services addressing tax and policy matters. Steve is currently a member of the External Advisory Group established by the Department of Revenue Services. His past appointments include the Business Tax Credit and Tax Policy Review Committee, the Financial Services Industry Task Force and the Department of Revenue Services Business Users Group.

Allison Henry

Allison, who has been with the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) since 2003, works to elevate CPA practice quality through advocacy, outreach, and education. She currently administers PICPA’s Joint Ethics Enforcement Program with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), oversees the administration of the AICPA’s Peer Review Program for Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, and U.S. Virgin Island firms, monitors emerging global trends in the accounting profession, and serves as the PICPA technical liaison for several statewide committees and working groups that reach out to regulatory agencies in Pennsylvania on behalf of the profession. She frequently shares her expertise by speaking at PICPA events, hosting webinars on key topics, teaching ethics training, writing for the CPA Now blog, writing articles for the Pennsylvania CPA Journal, and fielding technical inquiries.

Before joining the PICPA, Allison spent several years as a senior manager with a regional accounting firm and nine years at Deloitte & Touche LLP, where she worked in the assurance and advisory services group. Allison’s diverse client service experience has included many not-for-profit, health care, and world relief organizations, as well as small and large manufacturing, distribution, and service-oriented entities. She has also served as the designated employee benefits specialist.

Allison is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., and holds an accounting equivalency from the University of Arkansas in Little Rock. She spent four years in internal accounting positions, including the Department of Defense, while her husband served on active duty with the U.S. Army.

Allison recently obtained AICPA’s Blockchain Fundamentals for Accounting and Finance Professionals Certificate.

Allison is a member of the PICPA and AICPA. She volunteers for various local ministries and is a member of River of Live Church. She is a native of St. Louis, Mo. and is an avid runner.