Pros On the Move – June 2022

Jada Desmarais joins the firm as senior manager in the healthcare practice while Erica Napolitano has been hired as senior advisor. Both will work out of BNN’s Portsmouth office while serving clients across New England. Additionally, the firm announced Dr. Myhanh Nguyen will work as a consultant in the role of medical director, bringing more than 14 years of clinical experience to the advisory group.

Desmarais is a strategic thinker skilled at navigating complex situations and identifying opportunities to improve operational processes. She has a proven track record of increasing revenue growth and profitability and supporting successful go-to market strategies for new services. She received her MBA from the University of New Hampshire.

Napolitano has over 20 years of experience in healthcare operations and management. She is a creative thinker, with an unmatched ability to develop strategic solutions around process improvement with root cause analysis. In her career, Napolitano has developed and implemented financial clearance and navigation programs, created new service lines, and managed multiple accreditations to completion.

A former regional medical director overseeing three service lines at both Portsmouth Regional Hospital and Parkland Medical Center, Dr. Nguyen provides expertise in executive-level leadership, patient experience and communication, budgeting and strategic planning. She has additional experience as chief medical information officer at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital and as a hospitalist at multiple hospitals throughout New Hampshire’s Seacoast region including York Hospital, where she still practices. She holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from University of Kansas and an MBA from Auburn University.

BNN’s healthcare advisory group is comprised of a team of 13 seasoned professionals with backgrounds in healthcare finance and strategy, workflow redesign and optimization, Medicare, Medicaid and third party reimbursement, revenue management and clinical documentation and compliance.

Mazars in the U.S. Appoints Karine Philippon as Office Managing Partner in Los Angeles

Mazars, a leading audit, tax and advisory firm in the US, recently announced that Karine Philippon has been appointed the new Office Managing Partner in Los Angeles, succeeding Jessica Cluzeau, who returns to Mazars France. With more than a decade of experience in public accounting, Karine will continue to drive the growth of the Mazars practice in California, in addition to leading the technology, media and telecom sectors.

Karine began her career as an Audit Staff with Mazars Group in 2004 and transferred to a US affiliate of the Group in 2008. She rejoined Mazars as a Partner in Los Angeles in 2017. She has extensive expertise working with technology, media, manufacturing and distribution companies, providing accounting, tax, audit and consulting services to a wide range of companies, from start-ups and emerging growth businesses to international groups. 

Before joining Mazars, Karine received her master’s degree in audit and financial advisory from the Universite Paris Dauphine. Her specialties are financial reporting, mergers & acquisitions, audits, spin-offs, technical accounting and advisory, under US GAAP and IFRS. She also is a Certified Public Accountant in California and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Grant Thornton names Free Mom Hugs as its new Purple Paladin

Grant Thornton LLP, one of America’s largest accounting, tax and advisory firms, recently named Free Mom Hugs to its Purple Paladin program, which helps emerging nonprofit organizations move from “start-up to unstoppable.” As part of the program, Grant Thornton provides funding, business advice and volunteer support, while also helping nonprofits raise awareness of their work and mission.

With chapters in all 50 states and initiatives across the globe, Free Mom Hugs is on a mission to create allies who support the LGBTQIA+ community through visibility, education and conversation.

In addition to a library of resources, the organization provides opportunities to demonstrate allyship by participating in local events around the country such as pride parades, holiday gatherings and advocacy activities.

Further, Grant Thornton is currently helping Free Mom Hugs develop an ‘allyship hub’ on its website, providing resources so people can become better allies to the LGBTQIA+ community ― at home, work and school.

Grant Thornton named Free Mom Hugs to its Purple Paladin program in consultation with summer interns at the firm, who researched and proposed worthwhile organizations to support.

Grant Thornton accepts nominations of nonprofits for its Purple Paladin program at www.grantthornton/purplepaladins.com.

Free Mom Hugs joins 11 other nonprofits that Grant Thornton previously selected as Purple Paladins:

• WeaveTales is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps refugees of all kinds share their stories via books, exhibits, films and other channels. To learn more, visit www.weavetales.org. 
• Warrior Reunion Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that reconnects combat veterans and their families via life-changing reunion experiences. All events are provided at no cost to those who attend. To learn more, visit www.warriorreunionfoundation.org.
• Go Team Therapy Dogs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that produces well-trained therapy dogs and places them at disaster sites, hospitals, and other places where they can offer comfort and care. To learn more, visit www.goteamdogs.org.
• Find Your Anchor is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on suicide prevention. To help people who are struggling to find hope, the organization creates and distributes boxes of curated items known as “anchors.” To learn more, visit www.findyouranchor.us.
• Foster Nation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps former foster youth overcome the challenges associated with ‘aging out’ of the foster-care system. To learn more, visit www.fosternation.org.
• Hope in a Box is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides educators with literature, detailed curriculums and coaching to improve classroom environments for LGBTQIA+ students. To learn more, visit www.hopeinabox.org.
• Weird Enough Productions is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that develops free, interactive online content designed to combat media misrepresentations of minority communities. The organization is best known for its hallmark comic book series, “The UnCommons.” To learn more, visit www.weirdenough.com.
• Invisible Hands Deliver is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that taps more than 12,000 volunteers to deliver groceries, prescriptions, and other necessities to people vulnerable to COVID-19 and facing hunger insecurity. To learn more, visit www.invisiblehandsdeliver.org.
• Pal Experiences is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps people with non-visible disabilities — such as autism — have more inclusive experiences at museums, entertainment venues and sporting events. To learn more, visit www.palexperiences.org.
• Sneakers for Soldiers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides properly-fitted athletic shoes to deployed combat troops in all branches of the military. To learn more, visit www.sneakersforsoldiers.org.
• Coming Up Rosies is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides “smile kits” to hospitals so children — particularly those suffering from hair loss — can engage in therapeutic art activities to create custom head scarves, neck scarves and superhero capes based on their own unique designs. To learn more, visit www.cominguprosies.com.

Grant Thornton’s Purple Paladins program derives its name from the word paladin, a champion of a cause. To learn more about the program or to nominate a nonprofit for potential support, visit Grant Thornton’s website: www.grantthornton.com/PurplePaladins.