Kathy King Joins AICPA as Senior Director Public Affairs, Advocacy & Media

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has announced the hiring of Kathy King as senior director public affairs, advocacy and media.

In her new role with the AICPA, King will work with the advocacy team in the Washington, D.C. office promoting and defending the public and management accounting profession’s global public policy agenda.

“Kathy is a versatile media relations leader with deep experience with financial services media relations, public affairs and advocacy and the accounting profession,” said Janice Maiman, CAE, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, executive vice president communications, public relations and content. “Kathy’s knowledge of the issues that matter most to our profession, her industry relationships and her public relations skills will serve us well.”

King joins the AICPA from Folio Financial, Inc., in McLean V.A., where she led the fintech firm’s media relations activities. Before that, she served as senior vice president and partner for FleishmanHillard where she co-led its U.S. Financial Services Practice Group and led its Washington, DC Corporate Reputation team. While at FleishmanHillard she provided senior counsel to firms such as EY, State Street Global Advisors and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Prior to joining FleishmanHillard, King created innovative media relations and public affairs strategies for CFA Institute. She worked closely with CFA Institute’s Center for Financial Market Integrity on a variety of public policy, regulatory and legislative activities such as FASB and PCAOB standards, asset manager best practices, the JOBS Act and corporate governance issues including ESG, proxy access and the role of the auditor.

Earlier in her career, King worked as a legislative assistant in the Virginia House of Delegates.

King earned her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg, V.A. and she is currently working towards her M.B.A. from the University of Maryland – Robert H. Smith School of Business, in College Park, M.D.

About the American Institute of CPAs

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is the world’s largest member association representing the CPA profession, with more than 431,000 members in 137 countries and territories, and a history of serving the public interest since 1887. AICPA members represent many areas of practice, including business and industry, public practice, government, education and consulting. The AICPA sets ethical standards for its members and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, nonprofit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination, offers specialized credentials, builds the pipeline of future talent and drives professional competency development to advance the vitality, relevance and quality of the profession.