AICPA Announces 2021 'Standing Ovation' Award Recipients

The American Institute of CPAs has honored nine young CPAs for contributions to their specialty area with the sixth annual Standing Ovation award. The recipients, all talented CPAs age 40 and under, were acknowledged during AICPA & CIMA ENGAGE 2021.

“A career in accounting offers so many different opportunities to work with individuals and businesses to help them reach their goals,” said Sue Coffey, CPA, CGMA, CEO – Public Accounting, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants representing AICPA & CIMA. “This year’s Standing Ovation Award winners are shining examples of the impact that CPAs can make in the fields of technology advisory services and personal financial planning relatively early in their careers.”

The AICPA’s Standing Ovation program recognizes young CPAs who exhibit exemplary professional achievement in personal financial planning, business valuation and forensic accounting, and information technology. Beyond making a notable contribution to the profession, nomination requirements include maintaining an active CPA license, being an AICPA member in good standing and holding either the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS), Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP), Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF), or Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) credential. Nominees must also be 40 years old or younger.

Personal Financial Planning Standing Ovation Honors

The two recipients of the Personal Financial Planning (PFP) Standing Ovation all hold the PFS credential. They are noted on the PFP Section website and acknowledged during the Advanced Personal Financial Planning track at AICPA & CIMA ENGAGE 2021. Examples of the contributions this group of CPAs has made to the profession include serving as a role model and trainer within the firm and helping shape the local high school accounting curriculum.

The 2021 PFP Standing Ovation recipients are listed below in alphabetical order:

Eric Blazekovic, CPA/PFS, Griffiths, Dreher & Evans, PS, CPAs, Spokane, WA
Blake Harrison, CPA/PFS, LBMC, Brentwood, TN

Technology Advisory Standing Ovation Honors

Seven CPAs who hold the Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) specialty credential have been recognized for their contributions in the area of information technology. They were announced at the Practitioners and TECH+ conference at AICPA & CIMA ENGAGE. They will also be recognized on the AICPA Technology Hub website. This year’s recipients were recognized for their work advancing the CITP credential in each of their home states, their efforts to support social justice and social welfare, for volunteering to mentor start-up companies, and growing their firm’s practices overseas, among other accomplishments.

The 2021 Technology Advisory Standing Ovation recipients are listed below in alphabetical order:

Timothy Davis, CPA/CITP, A-LIGN, Boca Raton, FL
Shabbir Hassanali, CPA/CITP, Mazars USA LLP, East Windsor, NJ
Ray Sang, CPA/CITP, Itron Inc., Liberty Lake, WA
Justin Thomsen, CPA/CITP, Slate Accounting, Reno, NV
Kristina Vieni, CPA/CITP, BDO USA, LLP, New York, NY
Alexandria Welsh, CPA/CITP, A-LIGN, Boca Raton, FL
Jason Yau, RSM International, Bayside, NY