AICPA Leadership Academy Inspires Emerging Leaders to Make a Difference

BY KELLI DAVIS

When 35 emerging leaders from within the profession –representing 27 states and a diverse mix of practice areas, organizations, and backgrounds – gathered for the 2022 AICPA Leadership Academy, COCPA members Caitlyn O'Neil, CPA, and Blaise Wabo, CPA, were among them.

The 14th season of the Academy, which strengthens and expands the leadership skills of promising young CPAs as they network with a peer group of talented and motivated professionals, took place last October in Durham, North Carolina.

NEW CONNECTIONS, BROADENED PERSPECTIVES

O’Neil, who is a senior tax manager with CBIZ MHM, LLC, Denver, serves on the COCPA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, Young Professionals Council, and Financial Literacy Committee, and is an Educational Foundation Trustee. She also serves on the Colorado Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Board of Directors and was named a 2021 COCPA Everyday Heroine.

She describes the four-day immersive experience as “life changing.” She and her fellow attendees, whom she describes as “rock stars,” participated in career-development workshops and sessions with prominent AICPA leaders such as Chair Anoop Natwar Mehta, CPA, CGMA; President and CEO

Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA; and Executive Vice President of Business Engagement and Growth Tom Hood, CPA/CITP, CGMA.

“It’s hard to describe, but the networking experience was phenomenal,” O’Neil says, adding that by the end of the Academy, “I felt that I made 35 new friends.”

O’Neil also found significant value in the pre-Academy work, including assessments and inventories – also completed by her colleagues, friends, and family members – that helped to identify her strengths, weaknesses, and values. “I took this information to my primary mentor, and we set goals and strategized on how to improve upon my weak points. In addition, I learned how to allocate energy into different areas,” she says, including setting boundaries. “Through this experience, I made tangible plans to create boundaries in my life so I do not become overwhelmed.”

Wabo, healthcare and financial services director with A-LIGN in Denver, learned that “leadership is more than just competence and character. Leadership is mostly about consciousness. Conscious leadership is, in part, the integration of character strengths into decision making and relationship building. It’s about embracing adversity and complexity and still finding your way,” he says.

He, too, found great value in the newfound connections that he made with his Academy colleagues. “The professional connections and friendships I made at the Leadership Academy will help take my career to new heights,” he says. I was reminded that leadership is a journey, and you cannot do it alone. You need to be intentional about investing in yourself, giving back to the community and the profession, and networking with likeminded professionals.”

Wabo adds that the experience widened his lens and underscored the importance of “serving, giving back, and elevating the next generation to evolve the profession. The Academy served as a good reminder that the accounting profession is bigger than my firm, industry, and the clients who I serve.”

Named one of the Denver Business Journal’s 2022 40 Under 40, Wabo serves as A-LIGN’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Network chair. He serves on the ISACA Denver Board as vice president of membership, where he is actively involved in mentoring college students. Through his involvement in Junior Achievement and Finance Park, Wabo teaches financial literacy and cybersecurity to middle and high school students.

A Tradition Of Excellence

Since its inception in 2009, more than 475 CPAs, ranging in age from 25 to 35, have graduated from the program. Attendees are recommended by their employers, state CPA societies, and volunteer organizations.

To date, 16 Colorado CPAs have graduated from the Academy.

GROW your leadership skills & network with other young professionals

LEADFIT 2023, AN INNOVATIVE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM sponsored by the Colorado Society of CPAs, is specifically designed to give you the knowledge, skills, and practice to achieve your personal and professional goals. Also built in are plenty of opportunities for networking, problem solving, and sharing experiences with your LeadFit colleagues.

Make this the year that you gain the leadership skills to take you to the next level!

The 2023 AICPA Leadership Academy will take place Dec. 11-14 in Durham, North Carolina, with applications accepted through June 30, 2023. To learn more, visit www.aicpa.org/resources/landing/aicpa-leadership-academy.

The program is limited to 16 participants who can commit to attending all four sessions. Visit cocpa.org or scan the QR code for more information.

Session Dates

JULY 21

8:30 am-5 pm

AUGUST 25 8:30 am-12:30 pm

OCTOBER 6 8:30 am-12:30 pm

NOVEMBER 2 8:30 am-5 pm