Podcast appearances and mentions of kimberly ellison taylor

"True inclusion isn't about lowering standards; it's about removing barriers so talent can rise."MOVE Like ThisWith Bonnie Buol RuszcykFor CPA TrendlinesIn an era where diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have become increasingly politicized, the accounting profession faces a defining moment. With a growing talent shortage and increasing client demands, firms cannot afford to lose qualified professionals. Yet, some are scaling back DEI efforts, failing to recognize that inclusion is not just a social initiative – it's a business necessity.More MOVEIn a recent episode of Move Like This, host Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk spoke with Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CEO of KET Solutions and former chair of the AICPA Board of Directors, about the state of DEI in the accounting profession. Ellison-Taylor, a long-time advocate for inclusion, emphasized that people are the industry's greatest asset. No matter where she has worked – NASA, KPMG, or Oracle – she has seen firsthand how creating inclusive cultures fosters innovation and drives success.

“We have to tell a better story, but we also have to have a better story to tell.”Gear Up for GrowthWith Jean CaragherFor CPA TrendlinesA powerhouse in the accounting profession, Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA, CGMA, CITP, CISA, the CEO of KET Solutions, shares her deep insights on talent recruitment and retention, inclusive leadership, and the evolving role of CPAs in a rapidly changing world.Gear Up for Growth spotlights the best strategies for smart and efficient growth in today's competitive landscape. More Gear Up for Growth every Friday here | More Capstone Conversations with Jean Caragher every Monday | More Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | More CPA Trendlines videos and podcasts hereEllison-Taylor's journey into the accounting profession began earlier than most. She recalls a pivotal career day in third grade when she learned that "accountants manage the money." This revelation not only sparked her initial interest but also set her on a path to becoming one of the most recognized leaders in the profession, including serving as chairman of both the Maryland Association of CPAs and the AICPA. Her story is a testament to the power of early inspiration and leadership support.Ellison-Taylor emphasizes the critical need for the accounting profession to craft and share better narratives. “We have to tell a better story, but we also have to have a better story to tell,” she says, quoting Jen Wilson of the National Pipeline Advisory Group. She highlights that leadership—and the support it provides—is at the heart of these stories. Her own career was shaped by leaders who encouraged her to seize opportunities, provided constructive feedback, and championed her growth.

Last week in San Diego, a group of 165 finance leaders convened for the fourth Future of Finance Summit. This JofA podcast episode is a compilation of takeaways from the event and a look at key areas of focus for leaders in 2025. It is the first of several Future of Finance recordings. The speakers for this episode are: n  Tom Hood, CPA/CITP, CGMA, AICPA & CIMA's executive vice president–Business Growth & Engagement n  Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA, CGMA, the CEO of KET Solutions and former AICPA chair n  Becca Shane, CPA, CGMA, the CFO of Blue Marlin Ventures n  Okorie Ramsey, CPA, CGMA, vice president–Sarbanes Oxley at Kaiser Permanente and former AICPA and Association of International Certified Professional Accountants chair What you'll learn from this episode: ·         More about Tom Hood's summation that the event "leveled up." ·         The top priorities of finance leaders, based on polling last week at the Future of Finance Summit. ·         Why Kimberly Ellison-Taylor says she's looking forward to “clarity” in 2025. ·         Why the phrase “feed forward” and an emphasis on positivity resonated with CFO Becca Shane. ·         Okorie Ramsey's focus on the talent pipeline and relevance. ·         His explanation of the profession's need to “tell a better story.”

Jennifer Wilson is passionate about the accounting pipeline and the work being done by the National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG). Wilson, the CEO of Convergence Coaching and independent facilitator for NPAG, joined the JofA podcast this week to update listeners on progress in addressing talent concerns. Wilson details the timeline for delivering a draft report to AICPA Council, themes that are emerging in discussions so far, and how entities but also individuals can play a vital role in attracting talent to the profession. Resources The main NPAG page, AccountingPipeline.org March 2023 JofA podcast episode with Avani Desai, CPA August 2023 JofA podcast episode with NPAG chair Lexy Kessler, CPA, CGMA Last week's episode with Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA, CGMA What you'll learn from this episode: ·         An explanation of the National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG) and Wilson's work with the group. ·         Some key factors that contribute to “pipeline leaks.” ·         The core value proposition of the profession, in Wilson's words. ·         The role of individual responsibility in helping to address accounting talent concerns. ·         A timeline for some of NPAG's key initiatives. ·         The small changes that can lead to big ripples in the pipeline, according to Wilson.

Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA, CGMA, the founder and CEO of KET Solutions and a former AICPA board chair, is energized by people she met and words she heard at recent events. Ellison-Taylor recaps some of the highlights in this episode of the JofA podcast, focusing on a session at the Future of Finance Summit in December on how finance professionals, and women in particular, can turn dreams of serving on a corporate board into reality. Also, get caught up on recent articles in the JofA, including a recap of a session on generative AI at Digital CPA, the start of tax season according to the IRS, how auditors can handle questionable employee retention credit claims, and when some accountants are completing work. What you'll learn from this episode: ·         A roundup of several JofA articles in a busy news week. ·         Ellison-Taylor's key takeaways from the Women's Global Leadership Summit and Digital CPA events. ·         The networking opportunities provided by those events and the Future of Finance Summit. ·         Her thoughts on technology being “unleashed” and future talent being “unlocked.” ·         What Ellison-Taylor means when saying “Together, we're unstoppable.” ·         Why she says that budding leaders should spend time in an office instead of being fully remote.

We are excited to launch the 2nd season of our newly rebranded Amplify podcast - powered by AAM! In this episode, host Angie Grissom, Owner and Chief Relationship Officer of The Rainmaker Companies sits down with Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CEO of KET Consulting to discuss the importance of making DEI a strategic priority for accounting firms. Tune in as Angie and Kimberly dive into DEI and it's importance in accounting firms' strategic planning. About Our Guest Kimberly Ellison-Taylor is a Global Technology and Finance leader with over 30 years of career achievements. She is the Chief Executive Officer of KET Solutions, LLC, a consulting firm focused on business growth, innovation, strategy, transformation and inclusive leadership. Ellison-Taylor is a sought after keynote speaker and has received many awards and recognitions for her expertise and leadership including Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting and CPA Practice Advisor's 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting. For almost 17 years, Ellison-Taylor served in global leadership roles for Oracle Corporation. Kimberly advised C-Suite Executives on cloud solutions that innovate and transform business. Ellison-Taylor is also an adjunct professor for Carnegie Mellon University's Chief Information Officer Certificate program teaching Emerging Technologies & Innovation. She is also an independent board director. Kimberly has volunteered in the profession for over 20 years including leadership positions as Chairman of the American Institute of CPAs, Chairman of the Association of Certified Professional Accountants, and Chairman of the Maryland Association of CPAs. Kimberly is also the Chair for the AICPA's National Commission on Diversity and Inclusion and is also the incoming President-elect for Beta Alpha Psi. Ellison-Taylor is also the Chairman of the Maryland Association of CPAs Education Foundation. Kimberly is a member of the board of advisors for several business schools.  About Your Host Angie Grissom is Owner and Chief Relationship Officer of The Rainmaker Companies. Angie leads the firm in building major strategic alliances and national networks to advance professional services. Her role involves high-level strategy, thought leadership, consulting, and program and curriculum development. She transforms clients' lives through innovation, goal setting, coaching, training, and accountability development. Angie is a frequent speaker, writer, and contributor to the profession and is consistently recognized as one of the most influential people in the accounting industry.  

On behalf of the Accounting Influencers Podcast Network, this is the "Success in Accounting" show, going live every Monday to 150 countries and 30,000 accounting practitioners, fintech specialists and influencers in the accountancy, CPA and bookkeeping space.This panel series includes prominent and influential female leaders and voices in the accounting and fintech world. We have invited female leaders of large accounting firms, global networks, associations and alliances, plus senior figures in accounting fintech companies.Accounting and fintech has traditionally been a male dominated profession but times are changing. There are now more women than men in accounting generally but they are under-represented in leadership roles. Diversity and the DEI agenda has also risen to prominence as a hot topic. The two objective of these panels areTo inspire women in the accounting/fintech profession with career insights, mistakes and lessons learned, mental resilience tips and thoughts on work balance/meaning and leadership.To move diversity, inclusivity and culture further up the agenda for all leaders with real life stories and examples of best practice.In today's episode, "Inspirational Women Leaders in Accounting Panel 12" features Arianna Campbell, Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, Michelle Arnold and Tommye Barie.You can also watch this on youtube here: https://youtu.be/Y4aB7FTuCbMHear what makes DIVERSITY, inclusion and DEI important in the accounting and fintech world, the legacy of a male dominated profession and the career obstacles and opportunities for women and under represented groups. We discuss the importance of role models and support networks, leadership styles and inclusive cultures, and share career or life tips for all accounting and fintech professionals who want to become leaders, get promoted, reach the very top or even just to be more recognised/accepted?Watch out for further panels featuring strong female voices with fascinating stories and incredible insights into leadership, diversity and culture.◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:We'd love to get to know you!Main show website. For access to every single show with full shownotes: https://accountinginfluencers.com/podcastFor announcements of published shows, tagging guest so you can build your network and offer feedback on the show: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencersFor videos of all podcast interviews and bonus video content: https://bit.ly/AI-youtubehttps://www.instagram.com/accinfluencershttps://twitter.com/accinfluencershttps://www.facebook.com/accountinginfluencersMentioned in this episode:YouTube CTA

Happy New Year! This episode showcases the best of our 2022 podcast. Listen in to hear some great insights from four amazing guests: Kelly Wright is the Founder of Culture Driven Sales which helps companies create exceptional cultures. She is also the President and COO of Gong, a company that analyses customer facing interactions to deliver the insights needed to close more deals. Kelly helps us connect thought leadership and sales. We learn why companies want to work with thought leadership partners that will challenge them and create a better environment for sales. Kelly shares what sales can do to aid in that goal and the tools they'll need to succeed. Kimberly Ellison-Taylor is an experienced accountant and active member and CEO of KET Solutions, a consulting firm focused on business growth, innovation, strategy, transformation and inclusive leadership. Kimberly has served on a number of boards and shares how thought leadership can help you prepare for such a position.  Being a thought leader means having a broad perspective and an insightful, distinct view to share. Kimberly also shares how you can help the board identify gaps in their knowledge, patch them, and then use that knowledge to serve their market both internally and externally. Mark Smith is the Director, HR Thought Leadership at the Society of Human Resource Management (aka: SHRM).  Mark has a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and years of experience in Human Resources consulting. Mark holds the first thought leadership position at his company and was responsible for building the role from the ground up.  We learn the steps he had to take to make it a meaningful position within the organization and how he discovered ways to bridge the gap between the important research they were conducting and the audience they hoped to reach. Adam Zuckerman is the Product Leader, Employee Engagement Software at Willis Towers Watson, a company offering data-driven insight-led solutions in the areas of people, risk, and capital. In the last couple of years Adam has focused more on the visibility of thought leadership for the product. One of the ways he is accomplishing that is through social media, specifically LinkedIn, a platform he had previously ignored. Adam shares ways to use the platform as a powerful tool to build relationships, discover new ideas, and hone your content.  Three Key Takeaways: * Thought Leadership can help you punch above your weight if you can reach your audience in meaningful ways with actionable content. *  Effective thought leadership needs to be well researched, and place its insights into the hands of those that need it most. *  Social media can be a powerful tool for reaching your audience, and by listening to your audience you can sharpen your content.

With the pace of change accelerating on numerous fronts, finance leaders are aiming to stay ahead on trends such as hybrid work, lack of talent, and other issues. A group shared ideas and hopes for the future at the Future of Finance Summit last week in Austin, Texas, and this podcast episode summarizes the key thoughts that emerged from the event. The speakers in this episode are, in order: Shifra Kolsky, CPA, CGMA, the chief accounting officer and controller at Discover Financial Services; Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, the CEO of AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants; Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA/CITP, CGMA, the founder of KET Solutions and a former AICPA chair; and Tom Hood, CPA/CITP, CGMA, AICPA & CIMA's executive vice president–Business Engagement & Growth.

Season 2 Episode 14 | Recorded January 3, 2022 Shout out to our sponsors; Clockwork.ai and Botkeeper Alright, alright, alright ... This week, we're talking to the Matthew McConaughey of Accounting, it's Byron Patrick, CPA. Byron's career started with a cool-ass high-school accounting teacher shout out to HeimLantz CPA, F. Carter Heim and Thomas J. Lantz Byron has branded himself, literally, with a CPA tattoo You can't talk about the Maryland Association of CPAs without talking about Tom Hood, and the AICPA, and Kimberly Ellison-Taylor and Anoop N. Mehta, CPA, CGMA Shout out to all of our listeners in Washington, VA ... we love you. Hiring TIP – It's not the question; it's the person answering it! The benefits of hanging out in the hallway (or being an industry rat) Simplified Innovations was the Citrix partner of the year; as Byron puts it, a Great f&%king company, but bad biz partner decision Woulda, shoulda, coulda – the things Byron would do differently with a second chance... and The Botkeeper experience, Shout out to Jody Padar, and Enrico Palmerino! and all the rest of the apps and people shout outs; Scott Scharf, Spark Hire, CCH ProSystem, Lacerte, QuickBooks, Right Networks, Brannon Poe, Liz Mason, Xero, Relay, Pilot, Bill.com, Expensify, FloQast Studios, PBC, Twyla Verhelst, Ed Mendlowitz, Gusto, FieldGuide, Jin Chang, and Marc Montpas --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sonsofcpas/message

While thought leadership has been around for a long time, it's only recently started popping up as a topic of discussion in major boardrooms. Company executives and board members want to know the ROI and KPI of a thought leadership investment. So how do you quantify thought leadership's impact and worth? To help me add up the numbers, I've invited Kimberly Ellison-Taylor to join us in this episode of our podcast. Kimberly is a thought leadership practitioner, an experienced accountant, an active board member and the CEO of KET Solutions. She has the perfect balance of knowledge to assess the usefulness and impact of thought leadership at the highest levels. We discuss thought leadership's impact within the executive suite, and how it can help prepare someone for a board position. Find out what the executive team of any organization should be thinking about when they begin a thought leadership journey; from roll out to measuring impact on a wide scale. Kimberly shares the reasons that an organizational thought leadership role is critical to the client-value proposition, and how great thought leadership can set your organization apart and push it toward greater levels of success.  Kimberly understands the need to include diverse groups of people in your organization's thought leadership, to ask the questions that might otherwise be missed. She also celebrates the next generation of thought leaders, and talks about drawing attention to the time and focus that people put into attaining their professional goals.  This is an exciting conversation for board members, executives, and thought leaders, focused on truly understanding how the power of thought leadership goes beyond the spreadsheet and into the core values of an organization. Three Key Takeaways: ·         Don't assume executives have a lot of bandwidth for research. Be sure to discuss with them, rather than asking them to investigate on their own. ·         Thought leadership is about peering around the corner into the future. Investing in thought leadership ensures that your organization is at the forefront of change. ·       You need a network of leaders and executives you can rely on, to help answer questions, solve problems, and discuss current topics of thought leadership.

Tuesday, March 8, is International Women's Day. To celebrate the day, the guest on this podcast episode is Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA, CGMA, the founder and CEO of KET Solutions and a former AICPA board chair. Ellison-Taylor has seen gains for women in public accounting partnerships, and in business and industry, but she stresses that more work must be done. Ellison-Taylor also explains how women can be self-advocates, how organizations can provide opportunities for advancement, and why she disagrees with a colleague's notion that she is a “legend.”

A group of finance leaders took an inward focus at the recent Future of Finance Summit in Nashville, Tenn. They also explored their vision for the finance function out to 2030. The group focused on listening, self-awareness, and staff development, among other topics. This episode will be the first of several discussions from the summit, which brought together a range of corporate and not-for-profit executives. The guests in this episode, in order of appearance, are: Tom Hood, CPA/CITP, CGMA, executive vice president of business engagement and growth for the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants; Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA, CGMA, former AICPA board chair and the founder of KET Solutions; John Griffin, CPA, CGMA, senior vice president and controller for AARP; Calvin Harris, CPA, senior vice president of finance and CFO of the National Urban League.

Dr. Freeman Hrabowski is the president of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and he recently announced his retirement after three decades at the helm of UMBC. He will officially step down in June 2022. He's a leader in every sense of the word, particularly when it comes to educating and graduating an incredibly diverse and inclusive student body. Joining him is Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, accounting and finance's Wonder Woman. She's former chair of the AICPA, and the Maryland Association of CPAs, and chair of way too many organizations to mention. She's a graduate of UMBC, and she and Dr. Hrabowski have quite a history. Together, they have some interesting thoughts about the accounting profession that are going to make this a valuable conversation. To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit https://blionline.org/blog (blionline.org/blog). Resources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpOrbEH8IMo (Success is Never Final: A Message from UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-n-ellison-taylor-b1a13a2 (Kimberly N. Ellison-Taylor) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRSndP0o3I0 (Live. Learn. Lead. The Kimberly Ellison-Taylor Story | An MACPA short film) Read: https://www.adamgrant.net/book/think-again/ (Think Again) Future-Proof is a production of http://crate.media (Crate Media)

In this episode I spoke with the incredibly dynamic Kimberly Ellison-Taylor. Kimberly is the CEO of the consulting firm KET Solutions and the first black chairman of the AICPA. She's a sought-after keynote speaker and was named one of Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting and CPA Practice Advisor's 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting. We talked about the power of storytelling, the pressure finance professionals are under today and the connection between increasing diversity and technology. Special Guest: Kimberly Ellison-Taylor.

Kimberly Ellison-Taylor and Genna Garver are champions for diversity and inclusion. They talk with Chris & Kurt about actionable steps to promote diversity and inclusion in the accounting and legal professions.

As we near the end of Women’s History Month, and with Black History Month still firmly in our memory, it’s essential to take a look at diversity and inclusion in the CPA profession — both how far we’ve come and how much further we have to go. Kimberly Ellison-Taylor is a former Maryland Association of CPAs chair, a former AICPA Chair, and the executive director of finance thought leadership for Oracle. She is also the incoming chair of the AICPA’s https://www.aicpa.org/career/diversityinitiatives/aicpanationalcommissionondiversity.html (National Commission on Diversity and Inclusion), and the incoming president of Beta Alpha Psi, the international honor society for accounting and finance students and professionals. She has her pulse on the profession’s D&I initiatives. She talks about what the AICPA’s National Commission is focusing on these days, how generational issues factor into the diversity-and-inclusion conversation, and how we can start moving this conversation away from groups of individuals and toward more inclusiveness across the board. To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit https://blionline.org/blog (blionline.org/blog). Resources: https://www.aicpa.org/career/diversityinitiatives/aicpanationalcommissionondiversity.html (AICPA National Commission on Diversity & Inclusion) https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace# (McKinsey Women in the Workplace 2020) Watch: https://youtu.be/aRABMsvVq1A (International Women's Day: Women strengthen the accounting profession, during and beyond COVID-19) Future-Proof is a production of http://crate.media (Crate Media)

How do you feel about the idea of robots playing a bigger role in our financial lives? What does that even mean? I recently teamed up cloud computing firm Oracle to ask over 9,000 consumers and business leaders around the globe about their thoughts on the relationship between money and tech — specifically AI (artificial intelligence) and robots. What we discovered is that two in three people (67%) say they trust robots more than humans with their money. And 8 in 10 consumers think automated tools will replace personal financial advisors in the coming years.  Joining me today to discuss all of this for this special bonus podcast brought to us by Oracle, is Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, who has a diverse background in finance and technology; she is currently an executive director at Oracle and previous to Oracle she held positions at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Motorola. She and I discuss the benefits of leveraging technology in our financial lives and what this trend means for advisors. Kimberly also shares personal stories of her upbringing and what drove her to the field of tech and science. To learn more about the survey visit www.oracle.com/moneyandmachines More about Kimberly: She is a global technology and finance leader with over 29 years of career achievements. She is a sought-after keynote speaker and has received many awards and recognitions for her expertise and leadership, including Accounting Today's “Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting” and CPA Practice Advisor's “25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting.” For the last 16 years, Ellison-Taylor has served in global leadership roles for Oracle Corporation and also currently advises C-Suite executives on cloud solutions that innovate and transform business. She is also an adjunct professor for Carnegie Mellon University’s Chief Information Officer Certificate program, teaching courses in Emerging Technologies & Innovation.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, we interview Mrs. Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, a NABA member, certified public accountant, chartered global management accountant, and certified information systems auditor. From 2016 to 2018, Ellison-Taylor served as the 104th chairman of the American Institute of CPAs, where she received numerous awards and recognition. Notably, she was the youngest person, fifth woman, and first person of color to serve as chairman in the AICPA's 130-year history. Join us for an interview discussing her advice on navigating careers, her affiliation with NABA, and her passion for diversity & inclusion. You absolutely won't want to miss out.

Accounting and finance professionals don't like ambiguity. But these days, very little is certain. Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, Executive Director of Finance Thought Leadership at Oracle, says organizations will have to become less risk-averse if they want to innovate and get ahead of the competition.

Kimberly Ellison-Taylor joins the podcast and discusses: -Movie nights with her family. -Lessons learned from working in the dynamic and entrepreneurial minded environment of Oracle. -What an Oracle conference call looks like. -How Kimberly gives back to the community and much more!  

Kimberly Ellison-Taylor is an advocate for inclusive leadership, and what it means to create an equitable workplace environment. It’s not as simple as giving everyone the same opportunity — you need to meet people where they’re at. We are, unfortunately, not all created equal.  The first Black woman and the youngest person to act as chairperson of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, on top of a career including roles at NASA, KPMG, and Motorola, Kimberly Ellison-Taylor is a pioneer.  On #BlackLivesMatter, Ellison-Taylor doesn’t care if your business is buying into it for commercial purposes: Net net, if you are creating opportunities for people of color who would not have them otherwise, it’s a move in the right direction, she explains. Listen as Ellison-Taylor talks about diversity in the workplace, being a woman in a man’s world, structuring your business so diversity is not only doable but also scalable, and having to work twice as hard to get half the credit on this episode of SheVentures. 

Inclusion remains a huge problem in our profession. As of 2016, just one percent of CPAs employed by public accounting firms were Black. And 0.3 percent of partners at those firms were black. Meanwhile, roughly 13 percent of our country’s population is Black. And the numbers for other people of color weren’t much better. We want our profession to look like the public it serves, but it isn’t close — and it isn’t making much progress, either. Our guests this week, Avonette Blanding and Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, offer some poignant insights that might help us take the first step. Avonette is chief financial officer at Maritime Applied Physics in Baltimore, which designs and builds advanced technology systems and vessels for the Defense Department. She is also the incoming chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs. And Kimberly is executive director of finance thought leadership at Oracle. She is a past chair of both the MACPA and the American Institute of CPAs, and just the second chairperson of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. She’s also a fixture on Accounting Today’s list of the most influential people in accounting. They are both Black women and true leaders in our profession, and they have insights, life experiences, and mindsets that the vast majority of people in our profession do not — but that we desperately need. To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit blionline.org/blog (https://blionline.org/blog) . Resources: Avonette’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/avonetteblandingcpa (https://www.linkedin.com/in/avonetteblandingcpa/) Avonette’s Twitter: twitter.com/avonetteb_cpa (https://twitter.com/avonetteb_cpa?lang=en) Oracle: oracle.com/corporate/executives/kimberly-ellison-taylor (https://www.oracle.com/corporate/executives/kimberly-ellison-taylor.html) Kimberly’s LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kimberly-n-ellison-taylor-b1a13a2 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-n-ellison-taylor-b1a13a2/) “Together, We Can Make A Difference: A 12-Step Plan To Address Racism And Unconscious Bias.” (https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2020/jun/kimberly-ellison-taylor-plan-to-address-racism-and-unconscious-bias.html) Future-Proof is a production of (http://crate.media)

We hear a lot of amazing stories of unlikely people rising to success through a combination of luck, the right mindset and hard work. Improbable does not equal impossible; no matter your background, rising up the ranks of any profession, even the most prestigious professions, is something you can achieve as long as you set your mind to it. Joining Amy Vetter is Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, Global Executive Director for Oracle and Former Chairman of the Board of the American Institute of CPAs. Kimberly shares her life’s journey from the inner city of Baltimore and the lessons she learned as a child that led to her success as a CPA in the accounting profession.

We hear a lot of amazing stories of unlikely people rising to success through a combination of luck, the right mindset and hard work. Improbable does not equal impossible; no matter your background, rising up the ranks of any profession, even the most prestigious professions, is something you can achieve as long as you set […]

VSCPA Leading Forward host Maureen Dingus, CAE, goes in-depth with the past Chair of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA of Oracle about her focus on global accounting.

According to Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, executive director, thought leadership, for Oracle, and immediate past president of the AICPA, the mind-set of “I’ve got my one” is definitely not how diversity and inclusion should work in the accounting profession. Rather, it should be approached as being essential for driving business success, and she thinks the next generation of business leadership is poised to help move this important initiative for the profession in a positive direction. Get more of her insights on this critical topic in our latest episode. To read the full transcript click here. 

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, a powerhouse in the accounting profession whose drive, energy, and passion is unparallelled. Kimberly is currently a Global Strategy Leader at Oracle, and she has held positions at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Motorola, KPMG, as well as having a role in government in Prince George's County, Maryland. On top of that, from 2016 to 2018, Kimberly served as 104th Chairman of the American Institute of CPAs, where she received numerous awards and recognition. Notably, she was the youngest person, the fifth woman, and first person of color to serve as chairman in the AICPA's 130-year history. Kimberly was also the second Chairman for the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, an organization founded in 2017 that has 667,000 members in 184 countries. Kimberly has been able to walk the fine line between technology and accounting throughout her career, but she’s been able to leverage her accounting and finance acumen in every role she’s had. Even working at NASA Goddard, Motorola, and now Oracle, she’s always recognized that there were both technology and finance implications of every business decision (as well as people and process implications). “And I've been able to leverage both of those on top of the foundation that my parents set for me when they said very early, ‘don't be afraid, and you need to pay your dues, and work hard to get ahead.’” Kimberly also learned from her parents and the church that she needs to give back – and she really took it to heart! She’s held executive roles, chair roles, and leadership, and she’s a passionate advocate for state CPA societies. So why does she do it?  It all comes back to servant leadership, and recognizing that other people inspired and helped her when she was younger. Some people may just need a little bit of help. Other people may need role models. Other people may need to hear that you made it through some tough times to get where you are. It's about helping people who might just need a small helping hand or inspiration, especially other people from socioeconomic backgrounds that are less common in the accounting and technology fields.  “It's important to lift as we climb,” Kimberly says. “And I think it is important because the more of us that can give visibility to the options that are available, the more of us that will be attracted to the profession, that will stay in the profession, will be advanced and promoted to the highest levels of the profession. And I think that if not me, who? If not now when? And we all have individual accountability and responsibility to do our part and to pay forward.” Resources:Check out AICPA-CIMA.comConnect with Kimberly on LinkedIn-- Change Your Mindset is produced by Podcast Masters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lindsay Stevenson, a CPA, VP of Finance, and consulting firm owner in South Dakota, joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. Perseverance & Determination We open up the interview with the story of how Lindsay decided to choose accounting as her career path in the first place, and it's quite an eventful tale.  Lindsay was very open about how early in life she made some bad choices, the consequences of which almost caused her to not pursue a professional career so-to-speak.  However, it was the determination she had to provide a better life for her family that drove her to go back to school and eventually complete her accounting degree. Moving up… Her career developed as many do.  Once she had her degree she started working in public accounting.  She chose the tax side because it required far less travel than audit, and that was better for her family.  She moved up quickly though and did well in public accounting, even though it was a while before she passed the CPA exam.  She did eventually tackle the exam though and became certified.  Not long afterwards, she decided to change directions and go into industry.  She now serves as VP of Finance for a major bank in South Dakota. Changing the Landscape! Late in the program Lindsay shares that she has a brave goal of changing the landscape of the accounting profession for the better.  She has started her consulting practice, Origin Evolution, specifically with this goal in mind.  Her focus is to work with organizations on their culture and how that is lived out in the workplace.  Her firm is still in the early stages of its development, but you can tell she has a true passion for the larger vision that she is working towards. I think you will really, really enjoy this episode.  Lindsay was very open about her story, and it spans such a wide variety of career topics that there is something in there for all of us. Other shows you will enjoy include:  Kimberly Ellison-Taylor and Dena Jansen To listen in on this truly-inspiring episode, please click on the player below:

In this special IWD2019 episode, four experts share their thoughts on tech and the future of the accounting and finance professions. Hear from Oracles's Kimberly Ellison-Taylor and "Changemaker's Playbook" author Amy Radin. We also feature Jennifer Gardner and Clar Rosso of the AICPA & CIMA. There'll be more at our Women's Global Leadership Summit in late 2019 in California. In our first conversation, Kim Drumgo (Diversity and Inclusion Manager for AICPA & CIMA) talks to Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, a global strategy leader at Oracle, USA. Kimberly has been recognized by Accounting Today as one of the “Top People in Public Accounting—2018” and by CPA Practice Advisor as one of the “2018 Most Powerful Women in Accounting.” She was the youngest person, fifth woman, and first person of colour to serve as chairman in the AICPA’s 130-year history. They discuss the profession's changing roles, how technology is fuelling them, and the skills they'll require.  Next, Kim speaks to "Change Maker's Playbook" author Amy Radin. A C-Suite advisor, AICPA Board Member and global speaker, Amy shares her insights on facing change head-on, how to fuel growth, and becoming a changemaker for one's organisation. We also feature a conversation between AICPA & CIMA  Communications Manager Jennifer Gardner and Clar Rosso, the association's Executive Vice-President for Engagement, Learning and Innovation. They discuss the recent release of the World Economic Forum's "Future of Jobs" report, the opportunities that learning opens up for professionals, intentionality,  and the skills outlook for 2022.    QUOTES:  "Technology has really changed how we would have traditionally gone about our careers" - Kymberly Ellison-Taylor "The more diverse your team is, in terms of background, perspective, gender, where they grew up, all of those factors are going to feed a stronger chance of success because you're benefiting from diverse opinions and backgrounds"- Amy Radin.  "Learning doesn't always have to be formal so if you spend the time doing the learning and developing the skills that you need, there's a tremendous amount of opportunity "- Jennifer Gardner   "We have to be really intentional. Think about what am I doing today that's going to help me develop as an individual and draw value for my organisation...really think about where do I want to be and how do I get there?" - Clar Rosso   LINKS: Find out more about the WEF Future of Jobs report and the 2022 Skills Outlook. Read Jennifer Gardner's blog post here. Join us in in person or online at the AICPA & CIMA Women's Global Leadership Summit in November 2019.  Visiting the Chicago area this Spring? Network and learn with your peers at the AICPA & CIMA "CFO Conference" in Chicago this April 24-26th 2019. MORE ABOUT OUR PODCAST: DON'T MISS OUT. Get our shows every week, automatically and free. Share them easily with colleagues and friends by using the icons on your app or media player.  GLOBAL VOICES. Interviews with our international experts are recorded by different members of the AICPA & CIMA team from our offices around the world. While the sound quality may vary, the insights will always be consistently useful. TAKE IT FURTHER. Find related CPD/CPE resources at the AICPA Store and the CGMA Store. STAY CONNECTED.  #GoBeyondDisruption #AICPAWomenLead #IWD2019 @AICPANews @CIMA_News PERMISSIONS. ©2018 Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA & CIMA). All rights reserved.

We were very fortunate this week to be able to interview Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, the Immediate Past Chair of the American Institute of CPAs, for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast. A Fortunate Turn of Events Kimberly knew from an early age that she wanted to be a CPA.  As early as 3rd grade, she realized that becoming a CPA would be a career that was both stable and financially sound.  Due to a miscommunication though, she ended up attending a university that did not have a formal accounting major path available, so she instead majored in Information Systems Management.  However, this path ended up to work out much better in the long-run.  She still followed her dream and acquired the additional hours she needed to take the CPA exam, and now has enjoyed a career that mixes both her financial & accounting acumen with her strong background in information technology. Failed the CPA exam at first! We include this note as a motivator for anyone that has had difficulty with the exam.  Kimberly was recently the chairperson for the national CPA association – AICPA – but believe it or not she failed the exam the first time.  It doesn't matter if you fail it once, or a few times even.  Rather it's important that you learn from the experience and you try again.  If a goal is worthwhile, then it's worth investing in.  Kimberly very openly shares this ‘failure' experience in hopes of inspiring those other individuals that are striving to pass the exam and realize that it may take a little more effort than they originally anticipated. Soft Skills Are Important With Kimberly's technology background, you may find this interesting, but she stressed a few times how important skills like the ability to inspire and the ability to motivate will be moving forward.  As more and more of our routine accounting functions are taken care of by AI, we will be left with the more exciting and interesting parts of our jobs – the parts that require people skills and judgement.  Anything you can do to increase your abilities in these areas will be invaluable as you continue to grow your career in our ever-expanding tech-filled world. If you enjoy this episode, make sure you visit these as well:  Kurt Rathmann and Donny Shimamoto To listen to the full interview, please click on the player below:  

Taking the CPA exam, studying technology, and setting career goals that fit your personality should be top priorities for young female accountants, two winners of the Most Powerful Women in Accounting award told Bloomberg Tax. Abby Dupree, managing partner at Carroll and Company, CPAs in Tallahassee, Fla., and Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, global strategy leader for the financial services industry at Oracle America, Inc., joined Bloomberg Tax’s Courtney Rozen July 25 to talk about how the accounting profession can better appeal to women. In June, Dupree and Ellison-Taylor were named two of the most powerful women in accounting by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and CPA Practice Advisor.

My guest today is Kimberly Ellison-Taylor. Born in inner-city Baltimore, Kimberly discovered the profession at an early age and devoted herself to it. She has since risen to the very top of the profession, but there are two key things you need to know about Kimberly: First, she has never forgotten her roots. She is a Marylander through and through, and she is the biggest fan of state CPA societies the world will ever know. Second, she has seen it all, from this profession’s standpoint. She’s talked with thousands of folks in this profession throughout the world over the past couple of years and has developed a really unique perspective on where the profession is now and what’s waiting for us in the future. In This Conversation We Cover: What the American Institute of CPAs & the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants are (and how they’re different) How Kimberly’s perspective on the industry has changed after her board positions Who has impacted Kimberly over the past few years Why state societies are so relevant today The biggest challenges & opportunities facing the profession today How our industry can better appeal to women and people of color Resources: Learn more at (http://aicpa-cima.com/) Connect with Kimberly on LinkedIn Future-Proof is produced by Podcast Masters

Welcome to VSCPA Leading Forward, the VSCPA's podcast on leadership and innovation in the CPA profession! Our inaugural guest is a great one: Outgoing American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Chair Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA, global accounting strategy leader at Oracle.