Notable Women in Accounting – August 2021
Honoring a woman involved in tax preparation, financial statements, financial planning, forensic accounting, internal auditing, and income tax, helping their clients and employers thrive.
The leaders profiled in the following pages were nominated by their peers at work and in the community and showcase the diversity of talent in our market. The leadership shown by the individuals profiled here is setting an example to shape a better future for our region.
Brandy Alger
PG Arnold Construction
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Controller
Years in industry: 20
College, university: Kettering University, Walsh College
“Brandy [Alger] is a soft-spoken leader who carries a big stick. She has quietly organized PG Arnold Construction’s financial policies and procedures to be one of the most efficient construction accounting departments in the industry,” said Paul Arnold, president of the company.
“Over the past year, she has implemented systems that have reduced our time to pay subcontractors by nearly 50%. Paying the subcontractors faster not only helps our cash flow positions but it helps theirs, too. When subcontractors know they can count on us for timely payment, they are more responsive to requests to go above and beyond for our clients,” Arnold said.
Alger is an active member of the Construction Financial Management Association and is a Boy Scout troop leader for her two sons, John and Matthew. Her oldest son, John, has just achieved his Eagle Scout, which required several community service projects around Boulder and Broomfield counties.
“Alger is a bright spot in anyone’s day who interacts with her. Her cheerful presence always raises the mood in the office. But don’t break her rules — you’ll get in big trouble,” Arnold said.
Wendy Banks
Community Foundation of Northern Colorado
Chief financial officer
Years in industry: 19
College, university: University of Colorado Denver
Wendy Banks serves in the role of chief financial officer at the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado. In her role, she ensures that accounting and investment activities are carried out according to policies, procedures, and objectives set by the Board of Trustees. She oversees projections and forecasting to secure the organization’s long-term financial health.
“During Wendy’s tenure the foundation has significantly grown from managing $100 million in assets to more than $180 million in assets,” said her nominator, co-worker Ella Fahrlander. “She has 15 years’ experience of CFO services to regional nonprofit organizations and businesses.”
In addition to her expertise in accounting and finance Banks oversees human resources for the foundation and sets the tone for the organization’s culture.
“She is a driven leader whose style is exemplified by openness, kindness, and enthusiasm. She brings a positive attitude to her work, to her team, and to her community. Wendy is a dedicated community volunteer and is passionate about youth and supporting individuals experiencing homelessness,” Fahrlander said. “She serves as the current president of the board of directors at CASA of Larimer County, sits on the finance committee for Homeward Alliance, and delivers meals for the Feeding Our Community, a program of the Bohemian Foundation.
Cara Barker
Sage Hospitality
Assistant director of finance
Years in industry: 15
College, university: University of Phoenix
“Cara Barker was our accounting manager during one of the most difficult events that have faced the hospitality industry. Our accounting department went from a team of five to a team of two, then a team of one, which was Cara,” said Sage Hospitality general manager Joseph Steiskal.
“Cara dealt with the ever-changing landscape with a positive attitude and kept the incredible attention to detail we so needed. She ensured that our payables were completed in a timely manner and that our financial statements each month were accurate and nothing was missed. Her ability to review multiple department expenses and not miss a monthly planned expense or a random one-time expense was truly remarkable as she was tasked with taking the transaction from inputting and coding the invoice, updating the department checkbook, ensuring the expense was recorded in our statements correctly, and completing all the journal entries if things were incorrect or missed,” he said. “Normally [this was] a task for a team but she did this on her own for multiple months.”
“Cara was instrumental in building back our business and providing the foundation for our team to understand the financial metrics we had to achieve from what we could purchase to where it needed to be spent.”
Steiskal said Barker was also a leader in the organization’s charitable giving campaign for Camp Southern Ground. “She was a driver to push our team to be able to send three kids to camp, all expenses paid, through our fundraising efforts here on the property, which was a record for our hotel. Cara embodies the passion and servant spirit that make hospitality professionals stand out from the rest. She creates the culture that has made our hotel a top service provider and takes a personal stake in everyone’s development in understanding the accounting department and the importance of accuracy of our financial statements.”
Dorothea Boettcher
Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County
Finance manager
Years in industry: 13
College, university: University of Northern Colorado
Dorothea Boettcher is the finance manager for Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County and has been with the organization for more than 13 years. She oversees accounting data entry, payroll and grant fiscal management.
“She has seen a lot of organizational change and growth and has taken on increased projects over the years,” said Tammy Chandler, her supervisor. “She demonstrates leadership in her get-’er-done attitude. This was particularly true this last year. During the COVID pandemic, Boys & Girls Clubs have gone through dramatic growth and many changes including transitioning to a new accounting software. Dorothea has tackled these challenges with confidence. She has worked hard to keep up with the changes and get the job done. She has become our expert in the new software and has helped others learn as well.
“She is an integral part of our team and her expertise is commendable. We would not have been able to grow so quickly without her. She is worthy of this nomination,” Chandler said.
Jeanne Boltz
Bolz CPA LLC
Owner
Years in industry: 20
College, university: Colorado State University
Jeanne Boltz purchased John Angeli’s accounting firm in January 2020, just weeks before COVID-19 changed the workplace indefinitely. As she worked to onboard a new client list, she simultaneously managed to transition to an electronic delivery system, a client portal and electronic signatures.
“As a mother to two, she practices and encourages her team to practice work-life balance, while also guaranteeing clients top-level service,” said employee Ashley Rawls. “She prioritizes education and sets aside weekly time, even during the busy tax season, to keep her staff up to date on all IRS and state and local tax news. Her focus on details and education does not only extend to her staff as she volunteers as an instructor with the Larimer County Small Business Development Center providing CPA consultations and Quickbooks training to new and established businesses. Clients are often pleasantly surprised with the amount of advice Jeanne can offer them, and we have heard on multiple occasions how nice it is to have a CPA who offers more than just numbers on a tax form.”
Lisa Bring
ClearPath Advisors
Tax manager
Years in industry: 15
College, university: Colorado State University
“Lisa Bring has been with our firm for four years. She has been instrumental in navigating our firm from compliance to advisory,” said her employer, Ralph Shinn.
“Her vision, process refinement, implementation and follow up are outstanding. This has allowed our firm to move away from solely tax preparation to an advocate for our clients where our advisory services make significant impacts in our clients’ lives. She is a team player, constantly looking for ways to improve our processes, streamline our operations, improve our clients’ experience and maximize our realization,” Shinn said.
“During the pandemic, our firm nimbly navigated the remote-work environment since all of our software utilizes the cloud. Lisa was a leader in this area since she works remotely two days a week and has for the past three years. Being able to demonstrate efficiency in work while not being physically present in the office is a great example set for our other staff and partners.”
Ania Camplin
Richtr Financial Studio
Senior business strategist
Years in industry: 15
College, university: University of Lodz, Poland
Ania Camplin is a Colorado certified public accountant and partner who has been with Richtr Financial Studio for 15 years as a senior business strategist. She specializes in helping innovation-based companies reach their fullest potential by helping them navigate their finances through challenges and opportunities.
One of Camplin’s newest clients credited her and her firm with helping them achieve 155% growth in the first six months of working together, during the pandemic. She is passionate about helping companies use their finances to recognize worth and unleash their potential.
Camplin’s coordination and mentorship has played a big part in helping Richtr Financial Studio’s sustained growth. “She closely collaborates with the rest of the leadership team and mentors other team members as they support the growth of innovative companies in Colorado. Ania has provided fractional CFO services to hundreds of U.S. and international, innovation-based businesses. She has played an integral role in helping companies grow and scale their finances and operations for more than a decade,” said her nominator, Lauren Garrow of the MAPR agency.
As a fluent trilingual in English, Polish, and French, Camplin is involved in multiple language groups, which she meets with regularly. The groups help teach English as well as facilitate a sense of belonging for the foreign speakers, so they are welcomed into their new community in Boulder.
Melissa Clary
Key2 Accounting
Owner
Years in industry: 23
College, university: Colorado State University
Melissa Clary has been self employed since 2005 and is the former owner of Kruger and Clary, CPAs. She decided to branch out and form Key2 Accounting in 2013 so she could focus on helping businesses with their accounting, payroll and tax needs.
Clary graduated from Colorado State University in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and has been a CPA since 2000. She is certified in QuickBooks online. She specializes in QuickBooks, business consulting, accounting and income tax preparation and planning.
In 2009, Clary was on the list of Women of Distinction and Forty under 40, in the Northern Colorado Business Report, the predecessor of BizWest. In 2011 she won firm of the year with the accountants group PASBA. The Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce awarded her the young professional of the year award in 2012.
“Melissa has a genuine heart for people and always puts her client’s best interests first. She is a trusted adviser for many business owners locally and in Hawaii, and her customers have remained faithful to her throughout the years. Melissa brings an unmatched vigor and great knowledge to the industry,” said nominator Danielle Sands of Clary & Associates.
Deb Croarkin
Boulder Valley CPAs
Tax manager
Years in industry: 20
College, university: University of Pennsylvania, University of Denver
“Deb [Croarkin] is an exceptional example of a woman who ‘does it all.’ She’s a mother of three, a tri-athlete, and a kickass CPA on top of it all,” said co-worker Zoe Svedlow. “At the age of 50 Deb trained for and completed her first IronMan, all while balancing work and the school/extracurricular activities of three children. A typical day of work for Deb is a 50+ mile bike ride in the morning, a quick shower then straight to work (for as long as it takes to get the work done).”
Croarkin works closely with small business owners in the community and helps guide them in making financial and tax decisions. She sets an example for her co workers and her children alike.
“She’s the most motivated, hard working individual I’ve ever come across, and it would be lovely to see her achievements be recognized in the community she calls home.”
Anne Duran
Duran Excavating, Inc.
Head of accounting, office manager
Years in industry: 42
“Anne [Duran] has dedicated herself for more than 42 years to Duran Excavating Inc., from the startup of the business in 1978 to today. She is head of accounting and oversees all accounting departments for the company including accounts payable, payroll, accounts receivable, financial statement preparation and audits,” said her nominator Ellie Duran.
“Her attention to detail and accuracy, as well as leadership of her team, has greatly assisted to the success and growth of Duran Excavating. She completes every task with accuracy and the utmost integrity.”
Ellie Duran said that over the past 12-18 months, she established a remote working environment for the office team to work through the pandemic and keep all employees safe. She worked with the safety team establishing safety plans and COVID-19 protocols for field workers to keep all employees safe and healthy and keep the business running efficiently and productively throughout the pandemic.
“She is a very dedicated employee and always has Duran Excavating’s best interest at heart. She is thoughtful and deeply cares about all the staff and the company. As human resources manager she works with all employees to work through problems and issues and assists them personally whenever possible.”
Anne Duran supports the Greeley Boys and Girls Club and the American Cancer Society. She is a mother of three children and seven grandchildren.
Becky Ezzell
Smart Book Business Solutions
Owner
Years in industry: 15
“I met Becky [Ezzell] through Loveland Habitat for Humanity in her capacity as finance director. The heart she puts into the Habitat mission is second to none,” said client Jane Brewer. “As a small business owner, I also learned that Becky had her own small accounting business — Smart Book Business Solutions. It is not your run-of-the-mill bookkeeper. Rather, it works with clients to empower an understanding of their financials, provides tools to help their businesses grow, and uses their businesses as a platform to support organizations across Northern Colorado (including Loveland Habitat for Humanity).”
“I know I am not alone in saying this, but Becky and her team helped my business to not only survive the tumultuous year during COVID, but helped me and all the rest of her clients navigate things like PPP, EIDL, etc., to go on to thrive. Becky is also in the process of applying for non-profit status for an organization she has started with her daughter following multiple suicides of children and teens in their close circle.”
Cindi Hammond, executive director of Loveland Habitat for Humanity, noted Ezzell’s perseverance, determination and professionalism.
“She has served as the contract finance director for my organization for the past five years. She supervises and leads our bookkeeper and prepares financials and presents to our board of directors. It is through her leadership and expertise that she was instrumental in helping our board analyze and understand its strength before I came to the organization.”
Brewer said that Ezzell has overcome adversity on a personal level. The Cameron Peak fire damaged land that she and her husband had purchased. “Rather than admit defeat or sulk, Becky brought the community together working with two groups — Women Who Conquer and the Front Range Community College Forestry, Wildlife, and Natural Resources program — to cut dead brush, replant more than 500 trees, and mitigate erosion.”
Teresa Fitch
Eger CPA
Tax manager
Years in industry: 14
College, university: Devry University, Keller Graduate School of Management
Teresa Fitch has been in the accounting industry since August 2007 and has exemplified perseverance in her career as well as in her life, according to her nominator and co-worker, Nate Grossnickle.
“She first began working as an accountant back in August of 2007 and worked her way up to earn her CPA in 2013 after many years of dedication and raising her two children. Teresa is a tireless worker who is always eager to serve her tax clients and has formed a long lasting relationship with many of them beyond being their tax accountant,” Grossnickle said. “She has worked with many small businesses over the years and helped them to not only survive the coronavirus pandemic but also thrive.”
Her co-workers and managers use “patient, caring, sincere and dedicated” to describe her. “It has been a joy to work alongside her over the years and listening to her phone conversations and in-person meetings with our clients. She always strives to improve efficiency in our office and is easy to work with. I would like to nominate Teresa for this award with no reservations.”
Jaime Heveron
Jaime Heveron, CPA, LLC
Owner
Years in industry: 18
College, university: University of Northern Colorado
As a veteran in the accounting industry, Jaime Heveron is an exceptional leader with even more attributes as a role model and mentor, according to her nominator and friend, Tim Littlejohn.
“It’s clear after the first encounter with Jamie that she has a strong desire to help others develop themselves and their careers. Outside of her incredible knowledge in the accounting industry, it’s not uncommon for Jamie to host a small business networking event in efforts to bring the countless professionals she is associated with together,” Littlejohn said.
“She is always working to connect people and offer opportunities to help them build their businesses. Her attitude of opportunity reciprocation has placed her high in my business network. I would recommend her to anyone looking for CFO services, formation services, estate planning and trust services, or any of the multitude of corporate and personal tax preparation types her team offers,” he said.
Heveron is a Fort Collins Rotary Club member and serves as the Fort Collins Peach Festival treasurer and formerly as the club secretary for three years.
Geneve Huxley
Huxley CPA Consulting
Owner
Years in industry: 20
College, university: University of California Santa Barbara
“It is an honor to nominate Geneve Huxley as a 2021 Notable Woman in Accounting. Geneve has a penchant for identifying gaps and illuminating solutions. This was critical in her efforts to serve and lead within the foundations of the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, and the University of Northern Colorado,” said her nominator Kara Pappas from the Larimer County Humane Society, where Huxley serves on the board.
“Today Geneve operates her own consultancy, helping businesses with a variety of financial solutions, and, further, identifying long-term efficiencies. As a board member for Larimer Humane Society, Geneve brings tremendous value to conversations involving the organization’s strategic and financial constructs. She takes her duties seriously to gather the needed information by asking informed questions, respectful of all involved,” Pappas said.
“Geneve’s nature is to offer thoughtful, practical solutions, weighing risk with reward to ensure sound business practices. Geneve’s signature is her inquisitive nature — consistently seeking opportunities for clients and the organizations she serves to work smarter, leveraging resources as meaningfully as possible.”
Kara Jones
Eide Bailly LLP
Partner
Years in industry: 23
College, university: University of San Diego
Kara Jones is a partner and currently in charge of Eide Bailly’s Fort Collins office. In March of 2020 Jones led the Work From Home Initiative for the firm. She continues to work with staff on flexible work arrangements as they begin to move back into the office. Her work led to lower turnover, less burn out, and contributed to a positive work culture. “Employees have provided positive feedback on their continued ability to find flexibility with their work,” said fellow partner Brian Callahan.
Jones impacts the community in several ways. She serves on the board for Habitat for Humanity and is a member of its finance committee. She will take over as treasurer in July. She also serves as a committee member for Liberty Common School and Fort Collins Country Club. She is a past board member of Project Self Sufficiency and continues to support its efforts.
“Kara believes in leading by example; she was the first person to work from home and she works with staff to make flexible work situations successful. She is a hands-on leader; she is devoted to maintaining 1:1 communication, small group meetings, and whole office meetings. Good communication is the key to Kara’s successful leadership. She knows that making sure staff know they are appreciated and providing them with guidance is crucial to their success. There is no doubt that Kara Jones is an exceptional leader and notable woman in the accounting field,” Callahan said.
Stephanie Kimak
Unify
Managing member
Years in industry: 23
College, university: Colorado State University
Stephanie Kimak spent the COVID-19 pandemic helping client businesses survive, according to her nominator, Melissa Clary, a colleague from Key2 Accounting.
“[Her] accomplishments [include] helping restaurants navigate COVID and government assistance. She went above and beyond to try and help their businesses survive. She kept her CPA business thriving while giving business owners a break on their fees while keeping all employees on staff,” Clary said.
Kimak, a business owner since 2004, gave staff members money to eat at client restaurants during the pandemic and encouraged them to post pictures on social media.
Kimak is a member of the Restaurant Association, Colorado Association of Small Business Association and is a contributor and leader in both organizations. She heads committees and speaks at events, “always contributing,” Clary said.
She recently joined the board of directors for the PASBA national organization that oversees CASBA.
Lorrie Lopez
Larimer County
Controller
Years in industry: 22
College, university: University of Northern Colorado
The assistant county manager for Larimer County, Lorenda Volker, calls Lorrie Lopez a skilled accounting professional and an outstanding project leader.
“While being responsible for her normal duties as controller — including preparation of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Larimer County, the overall accounting function, AP/AR, etc. — Lorrie also oversaw the replacement of a 20+ year old legacy financial system. Anyone who has replaced a system like this will understand the risks involved and how daunting this assignment can be. Laurie willingly raised her hand to act as lead on this project and approached it with optimism and excitement,” Volker said.
Lopez could envision process improvements and efficiencies that could be gained as a result of selecting a vendor that could help the organization reengineer how work is done. “Her sincere desire to meet the needs of the departments and elected offices across the organization led to an innovative approach of having non-finance department staff lead the changes in various modules of the new system — thus ensuring adoption. This resulted in a successful transition, the bulk of which was accomplished using remote work tools due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Volker said.
Her leadership and recognition of the need for change management resources were critical to the success of this system replacement, Volker said. “She was involved in understanding the historically decentralized processes and was solution oriented in her actions. Lorrie’s collaborative, respectful, professional, and forward-thinking approach are not unique to this project, but were extremely evident as the project proceeded over the past two years. She has the ability to translate complex accounting principles (that sometimes sound archaic to organizational leaders) into understandable and reasonable business terms that can be implemented. She is a true gem and Larimer County is fortunate to have Laurie in our Finance Department these past 19+ years.”
Kristin Masker
University of Colorado Athletics
Director of budget and finance
Years in industry: 8
College, university: University of Albany
Kristin Masker has been a member of the University of Colorado Athletic Department since 2013 when she was hired as a reporting and special projects accountant. “During her eight years at CU, she has demonstrated exceptional ability and commitment to the mission of the athletic department and our service to the 350+ student-athletes at the University of Colorado,” said the department’s chief financial officer Cory Hilliard.
“She has been recognized for her dedication and exceptional accounting skills over the years. After recently being promoted to the role of director of budget and finance, she leads our department in the complex financial landscape of intercollegiate athletics. The last fiscal year was undoubtedly the most challenging as the world was managing the impacts of the COVID pandemic. The financial constraints on the budget due to testing costs and the daily changes to the operational needs and travel plans for our 17 sports programs were unapparelled. Kristin’s strong communication skills and leadership style made the process almost seamless for the items she could control,” Hilliard said.
“As the NCAA landscape continues to evolve with recent legislation allowing student-athletes more autonomy over the use of their names, images and likenesses, and their ability to monetize that, we will rely on Kristin to help us navigate through the financial and operational impacts. Kristin is an active participant in our community outreach efforts through athletics including ‘Read with the Buffs.’”
Betsy Moszeter
Green Alpha Advisors, LLC
Chief operating officer
Years in industry: 22
College, university: University of Oregon, University of Virginia
“I am nominating Betsy Moszeter because she and her work are outstanding examples of what any executive (male or female) is capable of achieving on behalf of clients,” said Garvin Jabusch, chief investment officer of Green Alpha Advisors.
“As a result of her hard work and determination to overcome all obstacles, she became a C-Suite officer of a successful investment firm at the age of 27. Since that time, she has successfully built and grown several investment firms, including here at her current employer, the firm I co-founded, Green Alpha Advisors LLC.
“At Green Alpha Betsy wears multiple hats, including being a key member of the investment committee. On that committee she’s the lead analyst on a material number of the stocks in which we invest client assets. In addition, she continually recommends insights and rationale to add data points to our research processes, enhancing the quality of our proprietary investment research processes, and directly influences the end results.”
Jabusch said Moszeter is the portfolio construction lead on the company’s social inclusion portfolio strategy, which has a cumulative since inception return of 242.1% versus the MSCI All Country World IMI benchmark return of 99.7% for the same time period (21/31/05 to 4/30/21). “Betsy works on all of Green Alpha’s portfolios, and they all boast similarly robust outperformance results. Green Alpha has unique, rigorous research and stock picking processes — all done inhouse following proprietary methodologies. We couldn’t be delivering our high-quality portfolios without Betsy’s involvement.
“Because she wears both investment committee and operations hats, she ensures we’re democratizing access to institutional-quality portfolios for clients of all shapes and sizes via platform and portfolio delivery tools she has developed. Through her contributions, since she joined Green Alpha the firm has grown from $10 million in assets under management to $800 million, for an average annual growth rate of 90%.
Teresa Mueller
Mueller Pye & Associates CPA
Chief financial officer
Years in industry: 45
College, university: University of South Florida
After a 45-year accounting career, Teresa Mueller may be retiring, but her vision and accomplishments will leave a legacy.
Mueller was a founding member of Mueller Pye & Associates in 2008. “Her vision to position our firm as an expert and problem-solver for QuickBooks users continues to be a key element in the firm’s 600% growth over 12 years,” said her nominator and husband, Paul Mueller. “Her early embrace of the QuickBooks Online platform has resulted in 80% of our 200 business clients using the software, which enables us to collaborate with our clients in real time.”
“Teresa’s nonprofit leadership background has been an important resource for nonprofits in Northern Colorado due to her expertise in transparency, policy creation, board development and strategic planning. It was also her vision and example to encourage each team member at Mueller Pye to take an active role in the community by volunteering, joining a board or leading an initiative as a way of sharing expertise, building leadership skills and providing positive energy to strengthen the community. The ripple impacts of Teresa’s work and vision will help our business clients perform better and be more financially secure, inspire our team members to grow professionally and personally and make our communities stronger and resilient,” he said.
Dayna Roane
Perry & Roane
Partner
Years in industry: 30
College, university: University of Colorado Boulder – Leeds School of Business
“Dayna [Roane] has my back. I know she has other people’s trust. Her insights for accounting are more than just running the numbers but also consulting on growing a business,” according to Don Poe, CEO of People Productions, a client company.
“She has mentored others in her company and connected me to other important business contacts throughout the community. But what is most important is trust. I know she is looking to the big picture and solving issues in a creative manner — not just putting a Band-aid on things to tide things over. Instead, she builds foundations for my company to grow and expand. All the while, she keeps me focused on the tax and budgetary issues that we need to solve, together,” Poe said.
Poe also said that Roane finds ways to give back to the community.
“She has a smile under duress. And, she makes me feel confident.”
Mika Schneider
Soukup, Bush & Associates, CPAs, P.C.
Shareholder
Years in industry: 30
College, university: Angelo State University
With the COVID-19 pandemic and its related shutdowns hitting smack dab in the middle of the tax season, businesses faced challenges as they tried to continue operations.
“Mika has helped lead our team through considerable adversity over the last year. … With her leadership and guidance we were able to quickly shift our gears to not only assist clients with our tax preparation obligations, but to plan and proactively work with clients so they would understand how to take advantage of all of the governmental assistance that was available,” said an associate, Haleigh Gonzalez.
“Due in large part to Mika’s knowledge, research, and guidance, our client base (which heavily consists of local small- to mid-size businesses) was able to weather a lot of the adversity that the pandemic brought on. … Our firm never skipped a beat, and we were able to adjust to the new ‘normal’ in a quick and efficient manner,” she said.
Schneider has been with the firm for nearly 25 years. “I have been fortunate to have her as a leader and mentor during my eight years of working here, and am constantly in awe of how she is able to balance the work of this growing company and the stress of the tax world in addition to taking care of her husband and two children at home. She is active in the Northern Colorado community and when she’s not working, she’s out coaching her kid’s sports teams and volunteering at the schools,” Gonzalez said.
Jeanine Snyder
Northwestern Mutual
Wealth management adviser
Years in industry: 16
College, university: University of Virginia, University of Colorado Boulder
Jeanine Snyder ranks as one of the top female advisers at Northwestern Mutual, according to her managing director, Brandon Strope. “She focuses on helping females and families with their financial planning and creating peace in a complex world,” he said.
“She has an MBA, CLU, and ChFC that help her guide clients. She is a leader in our organization with her clients and our new advisers, specifically in leading new female advisers as they launch their new careers in financial planning.”
Client Jill Tietjen said that Snyder is passionate about helping clients build their financial security. “Her target market is women, primarily professional women and widows — a market traditionally underserved by the financial services industry,” Tietjen said.
“From May 2020 to May 2021, her investment base grew 35%. This growth came from referrals and as clients left financial advisers they weren’t comfortable with who sought a connector and someone they could trust. Jeanine was a source of stability to clients who were dismayed and upset due to the volatility and uncertainty arising from the global pandemic.”
Another client, Art Rancis, said Snyder consistently demonstrates professional expertise in finance/accounting, market/industry trends, global monetary and taxation data, and client wealth management.
“After decades of working with private financial advisers as well as industry giants like Merrill Lynch, I kick myself for not meeting Jeanine sooner. Jeanine carefully examines a client’s financial situation, asks incredibly precise and revealing questions, and then crafts a clear roadmap for near term and long term monetary growth and safety,” Rancis said.
“Jeanine is the perfect example of the commonly used phrase ‘If you want something done, give it to someone who is busy.’ Jeanine ‘makes it happen.’”
Kristin Turner
Plante Moran
Senior manager
Years in industry: 13
College, university: Colorado State University
Kristin Turner is a senior manager at Plante Moran who specializes in large and complex real estate and investment company clients. She helps to lead the technical arena for real estate companies at the firm, and she is heavily involved with CREW Denver (Commercial Real Estate Women organization), including membership and networking committee leadership.
“Kristin has spent her entire career developing strong relationships with clients, utilizing a team mentality that is built on reliability, quality, and communication,” said co-worker Josh Billiard. “She is a well-respected industry practitioner surrounding real estate specific accounting and business matters, and she helps to develop internal processes at Plante Moran to improve our firm-wide performance (she helps to lead our practice optimization committee at the firm and helped develop our new audit platform, which was implemented this past year). Importantly, she serves as a mentor or coach for approximately 15 people.”
Billiard said that in the past year she has focused on assisting clients with outreach and support efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic (PPP, CARES Act, employee retention credit, etc.). “Reflective of her strong efforts related to her clients and the folks she works with, in late 2019 she was recognized with the Rocky Mountain region Servant Leadership Award for the firm. She was involved with Partners Mentoring Youth for years, including a formal mentor/mentee relationship through the organization. Kristin is one of the firm’s very best, as she cares and elevates others to be their best.
Brittany Walker
Freya Accounting
CEO
Years in industry: 10
College, university: Penn State University
“Brittany Walker has been an invaluable asset to many small business owners. She runs Freya Accounting and provides a personal touch to each and every business she supports,” said client Kristian Talalt.
Before opening her own accounting firm, she was CFO of a franchised property management company serving multiple states along the east coast. She was named CFO by the time she was 30 years old.
“She is absolutely incredible, and my business wouldn’t be where it is today without her incredible support. She provides not just tax preparation services but also full service payroll and bookkeeping for small businesses across Colorado and nationwide. Her efforts and care are unceasing, and she strives to do all that she can to support [customer] businesses as well as help keep them financially healthy and profitable. … We would be truly lost without her.”
Honoring a woman involved in tax preparation, financial statements, financial planning, forensic accounting, internal auditing, and income tax, helping their clients and employers thrive.
The leaders profiled in the following pages were nominated by their peers at work and in the community and showcase the diversity of talent in our market. The leadership shown by the individuals profiled here is setting an example to shape a better future for our region.
Brandy Alger
PG Arnold Construction
Controller
Years in industry: 20
College, university: Kettering University, Walsh College
“Brandy [Alger] is a soft-spoken leader who carries a big…