January 2024 IN THIS ISSUE: ► Meet your CPAmerica Services Team
News from your accounting association
► Preferred Provider Spotlight - McGuire Sponsel ► Upcoming Events
Meet your CPAmerica Services Team Happy New Year from CPAmerica! As we kick off our 2024 events, we wanted to take an opportunity to reacquaint you to your services team. Jenn Walker has been with CPAmerica since 2018. Prior to her role as director of services, she started her career in television advertising after graduating from the University of Florida. Eventually Walker found herself in the world of meeting and event planning, earning her CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) designation in 2014. With 15+ years of planning successful meetings and events, Walker’s priority at CPAmerica is to ensure that we deliver superior services and programs Jenn Walker in a collaborative environment that helps firms grow. It may also surprise you to know that Walker hosted a local television show called Unique Discoveries that spotlighted local businesses in Gainesville. Tarena Stanley joined CPAmerica in 2016 and was recently promoted to her new role as director of engagement and partnerships. Prior to joining CPAmerica, she worked for her alma mater, the University of Florida Student Affairs Office for nine years. In her new role, Stanley is responsible for the development Tarena Stanley and management of strategies to achieve deeper member engagement, including the rollout of our new Center of Excellence. She also creates and
maintains mutually beneficial relationships with Preferred Providers and consultants. If you’ve seen Stanley at any CPAmerica events, you’ll know that she loves music and dancing anytime, anywhere. Sophy Mott joined the team in 2021 as one of our senior member services managers. Prior to CPAmerica, she worked for a national educational nonprofit 501(c)(3) association, based in Alexandria, Va., for 13 years, driving membership value and managing philanthropic programs. In her role at CPAmerica, Mott supports the A&A group as the staff liaison, as well as our New Partner Group (those in the role three years or less) and the Next Generation cohort. A fun fact about Sophy Mott Mott is that she used to work for the J. Peterman Company, of Seinfeld fame. Prior to joining CPAmerica in 2022, Linda Portner was the director of operations for one of the largest private country clubs in South Florida. In that role, Portner gained experience in strategic planning, employee mentoring, and executive coaching while leading member services, marketing, and communications Linda Portner teams. In her role as senior member services manager & director of CPAConnect, Portner is responsible for the Large Firm Group, Staff Essentials Trainings, the Human Resources group, and Firm Administrators group. She also
► Member News ► CPAmerica Insights – Grace Horvath
manages our CPAConnect alliance. Portner and her husband are extremely passionate about attending Florida Gators sporting events, hence their move to Gainesville in recent years. Haley Wilson joined CPAmerica in 2021 as a member services manager and the first fully remote employee. After earning her degree in public relations, Wilson was the academic advisor for Santa Fe College’s Zoo Animal Technology Program in Gainesville, Fla. At CPAmerica, Wilson is responsible for our Learning Management System (LMS) and all online Haley Wilson learning. In addition to CPE, she also manages CPAmerica’s survey services, including the Practice Management Survey, the annual Technology, HR, and Marketing Benchmarking surveys, and our individual firm survey offerings, such as the Client Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, and Upward Evaluations. Wilson is also a big Star Wars fan! Ryan Dunne joined the team in 2022 as a member services manager. Prior to his time with CPAmerica, Dunne worked as a manager for multiple locations at Enterprise RentA-Car, focusing on employee development and promotion, while delivering high-quality Ryan Dunne customer service. As member services manager, Dunne See Team, continued on page 2