Accounting Exploration:
Unveiling Pathways & Possibilities

Denise R. Harding CPA, CFF, CFE

Denise Harding is a Forensic Accountant for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) assigned to the Economic Crimes Field Office in Washington DC.  She is responsible for conducting financial analytical and investigative support for criminal investigations affecting U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps personnel and resources worldwide.  She has supported investigations involving espionage, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, corruption, procurement fraud, property crimes, and other domestic and international crimes.

Andrea Bianchi, CPA
Senior Manager, CohnReznick Advisory LLC

Andrea Bianchi is a Senior Manager at CohnReznick with more than 20 years of experience in real estate taxation and accounting. She specializes in partnership taxation, affordable housing, and real estate investment structures, advising developers, syndicators, investors, and fund managers on complex tax matters and compliance requirements. Andrea has extensive experience with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits (HTC), and New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), as well as multi-tiered partnership structures.

Outside of her professional role, Andrea is active in community leadership and mentorship and currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Hunter Mill Swim & Racquet Club and is also a member of the Women’s Affordable Housing Network.

www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-bianchi-3720a65

Vic Taylor, CPA, is a business professional, accountant, corporate trainer, and business coach with nearly three decades of experience across multiple industries. He is the Managing Partner of Taylor Accounting Group, PLLC, in Bridgewater, Virginia, where he works with small businesses providing accounting, consulting, and business support. Vic is also a certified corporate trainer specializing in leadership, sales, customer service, and change management, and serves part-time as a CFO for a mid-sized retail company.

Passionate about both business and people, Vic's greatest professional motivation is helping individuals and organizations reach their full potential. His practical, energetic approach to training and coaching helps people discover better ways to work, lead, and serve their customers. Outside of work, Vic enjoys serving and volunteering at his local church.

Colette Y. Wilson, CPA is a finance and accounting executive with more than 30 years of experience in public accounting, corporate finance, executive leadership, and entrepreneurship. She began her career in public accounting, advancing quickly to the election of Partner. She led audit and consulting engagements for major federal agencies and also directed the human resources department. After nearly two decades in the profession, she took an entrepreneurial leap by co-founding and operating a successful catering company for more than ten years. Colette managing every aspect of the business, from finance and operations to marketing and client relationships, before returning to the accounting profession as a Financial Controller.

Throughout her career, Colette has remained committed to serving the accounting profession through leadership and governance, including serving as past Chair of the VSCPA and currently on the Supervisory Audit Committee for the Pentagon Federal Credit Union’s Board. She has a passion for mentoring and coaching students and young professionals to discover the many career paths an accounting degree and CPA license can provide. Her career demonstrates that accounting is not just about numbers—it is a foundation for leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation, and making a meaningful impact across a wide range of industries.

Founder and senior member of the IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC's (ITK) consulting and management team, Donny offers diverse experience in:
• IT governance, strategy, planning, and budgeting;
• Technical and process project management;
• Business systems application development;
• Financial and systems auditing;
• Knowledge management, including change management and organizational design/alignment, and
• Business process redesign.

While working in a Big Four environment and with a variety of businesses since then, Donny gained a wide range of experience in several industries, such as retail, hospitality, state government, defense, nonprofits, and education. That experience has helped him to develop effective tools to help business owners to streamline their business systems and to learn effective organizational design.

Specialties:
• Trusted business advisor for executive-level technology planning;
• Business performance management;
• Systems risk management;
• Information management; and
• Enterprise governance services for small- and mid-sized organizations.

Cal Christian, PhD, CPA is Professor at East Carolina University (ECU) teaching Accounting Information Systems and Corporate Governance and Accounting Ethics. He is a registered CPA in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi and has over 10 years of experience in both the public accounting profession with the former international accounting firm of Ernst & Whinney in Houston, TX, and Jackson, MS, and in industry with LDDS (the predecessor to WorldCom) and the Mississippi law firm of Holcomb, Dunbar. Cal has his PhD from Florida State University and his BAccy from the University of Mississippi.

Cal is in his 25th year at ECU and has had many service responsibilities. In 2025, Cal received The James R. Talton Jr. Leadership Award, which is awarded by ECU annually to one member of the ECU community that embodies the characteristics of a servant leader. Cal has served as Chair of the Accounting Department, a faculty senator for over 10 years and currently serves as ECU’s NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative.  Cal has also been involved within the CPA profession as a North Carolina Association of CPAs (NCACPA) Board Member and within the Greenville, NC Community as President of the Eastern NC Ronald McDonald House.

Cal teaches continuing education classes for the NCACPA, AICPA, CPA firms, and publicly traded companies—and has been recognized as an NCACPA Outstanding Conference Speaker. Cal has been named an ECU College of Business Fellow and has been awarded the University of North Carolina Board of Governor’s Outstanding Teaching Award and The College of Business ECU Scholar/Teacher.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cal-christian-143ab213/

Tom White is the Assistant Controller for Prime Therapeutics and Audit Committee Member at the MACPA. Tom is Certified Public Accountant in Maryland with over two decades of accounting and audit experience in various industries. He has extensive knowledge of health care finance, internal audit, and compliance. Tom started his career in public accounting with large firms, focusing on international, public, and non-profit clients and then transitioned into industry at CareFirst. In addition, he is an active MACPA and AICPA volunteer, including involvement with the MACPA’s Past Board Chair, Board of Directors, mentor program and Scholarship Committee; as well as the AICPA’s Council, Future of Finance Leadership Advisory Group and Health Care Expert Panel.

Faith Leader | CPA | Speaker | Advocate | Author | Athlete

ZeNai is a CPA, author, faith and millennial leader with extensive business and civic experience. She believes that as we engage in community by giving back, empowering others and "Lifting As We Climb", everyone can make a difference. Throughout her career, ZeNai has combined her passion for community advocacy and her professional career as a CPA (specializing in audit, accounting and finance, compliance and not-for-profit work) striving to share her knowledge and experiences to advance the accounting profession, church and community! In 2022, ZeNai ran for statewide office, Indiana State Auditor, and has become influential in statewide politics.

ZeNai has been identified as a 40 under 40 Black CPA Award winner. She's also been awarded the INCPAS' Building Bridges to the Profession, NABA's Frank Ross Outstanding Member, NABA's Dynamic Leadership and Junior Achievement of Indy's Best and Brightest.

ZeNai is the author of FINISH! Leveraging Career, Sport, Faith and Failure, journaling her journey in obtaining her CPA license and equipping others with the tools and encouragement to accomplish their goals.

Follow her blog and more at www.ladyzspeaks.com.