Two Maryland CPAs are making history and I got to be with both of them last week in Chicago. Kimberly Ellison Taylor and John W. Hill, Jr. (pictured l to r) were both prominently featured at the Oracle Modern Finance Event on April 6th and 7th at the Renaissance Hotel.
Kimberly was recognized at Oracle’s Women in Finance Luncheon along with several ‘leading ladies’ incuding Oracle CEO, Safra Catz and other finance and accounting executives at American Express, Cognizant, and Uber. Kimberly is next in line to become the next Chair of the American Institute of CPAs in October, 2016. She will be the first black Chairman of the prestigious AICPA and the first Chair ever to come from the state of Maryland. Kimberly was also the Chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs in 2010, serving as our third Chairman, along with Tami Bensky and Byron Patrick, from our New Young Professional’s Network to lead MACPA. Worth noting is that she is the youngest Chair of the AICPA and a member of the linchpin generation, Gen-X. Here is a brief interview, when Kimberly was featured at the AICPA Fall Council meeting as the incoming Chair of the AICPA. Join us in Orlando, Florida (Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes) on October 25th as Kimberly takes the reigns of the AICPA at her inaugaration breakfast. But wait there is more.
Imagine the thrill of running into another accounting history maker at the same meeting? I was eager to hear about how the CFO of Detroit, John Hill was approaching the turnaround of one of America’s greatest cities. He did not disappoint. John told an amazing tale of the turnaround of Detroit City and how he is working with Mayor Mike Duggan and the City Council to get control of the finances and establish a framework for the future. After heairng his inspirational story, Kimberly, Bill Sheridan and I had to get our pictures with John. When he found out we were from Maryland, he told us his story. He is a graduate of University of Maryland, recieved his CPA from Maryland in 1977 and one of the first black CPAs in Maryland. When I got home, I opened up our MACPA History book to review the chapter on African-American CPAs in Maryland and sure enough there is a complete write-up about John on page 153 in Chapter 14 – serendipity strikes again! In addition to making Maryland history, John is making history again as he works tirelessley and passionately to tunraround the City of Detroit and has already made amazing progress.
Congratulations to both Kimberly and John, you make Maryland and MACPA proud!
Keep on changing the world!