Professionals on the Move – Oct. 2022

The 2022 winners are

• Sunwealth – Gamechanger of the Year 2022
• The AZEK Company
• Esusu
• Mercy Housing

Melissa Weidner from the University of Dayton is our NexGen student award winner.

The winning companies represent the Renewable Energy, Manufacturing & Distribution, Financial Services, and Affordable Housing industries and their areas of ESG focus range from mitigating the racial wealth gap to creating social access and green jobs in underserved areas to environmental sustainability through repurposing landfill-bound trash to making wellness more accessible to low-income households and more.

In addition to the winners, a few organizations stood out as “Gamechangers to Watch.” They are:

• Agios Pharmaceuticals
• Canyon Coffee
• Force Blue, Inc.
• North Sky Capital
• Volt Energy Utility LLC

Applications were reviewed and scored by an independent panel of 12 judges who were selected because they and their organizations have shown a strong commitment to ESG.

CohnReznick is hosting a virtual awards ceremony to honor the winners later this fall. Each winner’s story will also be shared in a video so that others can learn from these organizations’ strategies, challenges, and understanding of what drives value for their stakeholders.

The 2023 program is in the early planning stages. Inquiries may be directed to ESGgamechanger@cohnreznick.com.

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Mazars Names Seven New Partners in the US, Expanding the Firm’s Expertise Across Key Practice Segments

Mazars, a leading audit, tax, and advisory firm in the US, recently announced that effective September 1, 2022 Toby Akrab, Florie Bourrel-Heleine, Alanna Dible, Shabbir Hassanali, Ryan Layman, Shaun Maloney and Matthew Mittman have been admitted as Partners, expanding the firm’s expertise across key practice segments.

Toby Akrab has been at Mazars for nearly three years as a key member of the Mazars Quality & Risk Management Team and has over 16 years of experience providing audit and advisory services. Toby leads the design and implementation of the firm’s system of quality management.

Florie Bourrel-Heleine has been a part of the Mazars family for more than 15 years, first in Paris and then New York since 2015. She delivers accounting, audit, advisory and consulting services to clients in the insurance sector. Florie serves insurance, reinsurance, mutual companies, captives, managing general agents and third-party administrators.

Alanna Dible has 13 years of experience providing audit and accounting services in the US and Europe. She serves middle market and publicly traded multinational companies, with a focus on the manufacturing and distribution, technology, retail and consumer products industries.

Shabbir Hassanali has been with the firm for nearly five years and has over a decade of experience providing system and organization controls reporting, risk assurance, IT advisory, and compliance assessments such as HITRUST and SOX for organizations in various sectors.

Ryan Layman has been at Mazars for nearly three years, with14 years of experience providing audit and assurance services to a wide variety of industries including manufacturing and distribution, restaurants and retail, entertainment, energy, telecommunications and information technology.

Shaun Maloney has been at Mazars in the US for over a year and has over 13 years of experience specializing in valuing businesses, intangible assets and other complex financial instruments. Throughout his career, Shaun has covered valuations for financial reporting, tax reporting, mergers and acquisitions, shareholder buyouts, corporate planning, and various civil and commercial litigation matters for public and private corporations.

Matthew Mittman has been at the firm for nearly four years and leads the firm’s M&A Tax practice. He provides tax consulting and advisory services to clients in private equity, alternative investments, manufacturing and distribution, professional services and technology.

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Nathan Wechsler Welcomes New Senior

The regional accounting firm of Nathan Wechsler & Company, PA recently announced the addition of Kaitlin Morin to the firm.  

Morin joins the firm as a senior, bringing over three years of experience in the accounting profession. In her new role, she performs work on a variety of clients, including accounting, auditing, compliance, financial statement preparation, tax return preparation, and special projects. 

Morin graduated summa cum laude from Franklin Pierce University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, hiking, reading, and going to the beach.  

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Michael Rubenstein Joins Pennington Partners as Director of Estate and Wealth Planning

Pennington Partners, a multi-family office that specializes in working with entrepreneurs, family offices, and their families, has recently announced that Michael Rubenstein has joined the firm and will lead its Estate and Wealth Planning services. Along with the opening of our Houston office, new members joining the firm’s leadership and advisory board, and surpassing $1.7B in AUM, the hiring of Rubenstein represents Pennington’s continued growth as it develops an expanded offering tailored to the particular requirements of each family with whom it works.

Rubenstein joins Pennington after 38 years of practicing law, most recently at Schlanger Silver, a Houston-based law firm specializing in litigation, business, tax, and family law. As a partner and leader in the firm’s estate planning division, Rubenstein has advised high-net-worth families, business owners, entrepreneurs, public company executives, and real estate developers. He has built a strong reputation locally assisting clients with their various trust and estate needs, as well as serving in key leadership positions with the Jewish Federation, Houston Jewish Community Foundation, Vita Living, Anti-Defamation League, Holocaust Museum-Houston, and the Emery Weiner School. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and a Masters in Tax from New York University; additionally, H-Texas Magazine designated him a Top Lawyer In Houston.

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FORVIS Names Partner Fran Randall Market Leader in Richmond, Virginia

FORVIS recently announced that partner Fran Randall has been named market leader in Richmond, Virginia, effective Oct. 1. As the market leader, Randall will represent FORVIS in the Richmond area by being active in the business community and building relationships with local leaders and clients. She will continue to serve under the leadership of Tom Hazelwood, managing partner of FORVIS’ Virginia practice unit, which includes offices in Richmond and Norfolk. Randall has worked for FORVIS since 2019 and this latest promotion adds to her extensive list of national leadership roles within the organization. She leads the Core International Tax Services team of nearly 40 professionals across the firm, and has expertise in international and U.S. domestic taxation, as well as tax research and project management. She specializes in international tax advisory services to SEC and non-SEC U.S. multinational and foreign-owned clients. Randall is an executive sponsor of FORVIS’ Diversity and Inclusion Council and is a member of the AICPA and Virginia Society of CPAs. She is a member of the National Association of Black Accountants and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, and is a board member of Partnership for the Future. She holds a B.S. in accounting and a master of tax from Virginia Commonwealth University.