Keynote Speaker

Asante, Franklin

 Franklin Asante has been teaching at Westchester Community College since 2017 and is currently the Accounting Curriculum Chair.  He holds MS degree in Taxation from Long Island University, Brooklyn campus as well as A BBA degree in Accounting from Baruch College - CUNY.  He is active CPA licensed to practice public accounting in the state of New York.  He is passionate about teaching and helping student succeed in the field of accounting.  Franklin is involved in many campus activities including serving as the Faculty Advisor to the WCC Accounting Club, and currently serving as co-chair of the Westchester Community College COAP program.  Prior to joining Westchester Community College, he worked at KPMG as assurance Associate and held various staff and senior auditor positions in small and midsize accounting firms.  He was also adjunct lecturer at the Borough of Manhattan Community College for several years and a semester at John Jay College-CUNY. 

Liz Barentzen is the Vice President, Operations and Talent Initiatives at the Center for Audit Quality, where she oversees day-to-day and long-term strategic operations, as well as leads and advances strategic profession-wide initiatives to attract and retain talent.

Previously, Barentzen was the Chief Culture Officer at Sol Systems LLC, a national solar finance, investment and development firm. In that role she worked to drive organizational effectiveness and helped manage change through a rapid period of growth, while overseeing all recruitment, learning, and retention initiatives. Prior to Sol Systems, Barentzen was the Director of Workforce Relations at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, where she served as strategic and legal counsel to management and oversaw training and development, HRIS, benefits, total rewards, HR administration, performance management, and internal investigations.

Barentzen has 20 years of experience in Human Capital and is an Associate Certified Coach through the Georgetown Leadership Coaching program. A member of the New York Bar, she holds a JD from Brooklyn Law School and a BA in psychology from New York University.

Blount, Kelli

Jennifer M. Cainas, DBA, MAcc, CPA, is a clinical professor at the Lynn Pippenger School of Accountancy at the University of South Florida. Dr. Cainas primarily teaches introductory financial and managerial accounting, but has also taught Intermediate Financial Accounting, Cost Accounting, and Accounting Information Systems.  She is a member of the American Accounting Association, the Institute of Management Accountants, and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants.  During her teaching career, she has taught and mentored over 15,000 business students and has won numerous teaching awards at the college, university, state, and national level. 

Jennifer has also been very active within the American Accounting Association, most recently serving on the CTLA Steering Committee (2019-2021) and the MAS Section Teaching Symposium Committee, organizing speakers for the January 2022 meeting in Portland.  She is passionate about student success and engagement, as well as helping other faculty members develop effective teaching methods.

Carolyn Christesen has been teaching accounting at Westchester Community College since 1998 and currently serves as department chair. She completed a Master’s degree in Educational Technology from Eastern Connecticut State University as well as BBA and MBA degrees in Public Accounting from Pace University.  She is a Certified Public Accountant in New York and is a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching as well as the WCC Foundation Teaching Excellence award. Out of the classroom, she was the advisor of the Accounting Club for ten years and has co-chaired the advisory committee for COAP, a summer program for high school minority students, from 2002 to 2019. Prior to her appointment at Westchester, she taught accounting at Pace University and worked at KPMG and a small accounting firm doing auditing and accounting work. She raised three beautiful daughters and lives with her amazing husband in Connecticut. They love to read and cook and spend time with friends and family.

Anna E. Howard, CPA, CMA is the Senior Manager of Academic Initiatives at the AICPA. Before joining the AICPA, Anna served as a director of the Master of Science in Accounting program at Nichols College and taught accounting and audit courses at Merrimack College, Great Bay Community College, and the University of New Hampshire. She started her career as an audit associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers and moved to the private industry where she gained expertise in corporate finance, IPO process, SEC reporting, and SOX compliance. Anna received her BBA in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and an MBA from Clark University. Anna is also a proud alumna of the Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Matthew Lowenkron teaches QuickBooks Online, Financial and Managerial Accounting, Statistics, Business Communication, and Income Tax Preparation at Glendale Community College. Matthew is the coauthor on Computer Accounting with QuickBooks Online 4e, and QuickBooks Desktop 2021 10e. Previous to teaching, Matthew worked as a tax accountant and is an Enrolled Agent. Matthew earned his BSBA degree in Management at Northern Arizona University, and completed his post-baccalaureate in Accounting at Arizona State University.

Guylaine Saint Juste serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of NABA, Inc. whose mission is Empowering. Black. Business. Leaders. At every point of the journey, NABA, Inc. represents more than 200,000 Black professionals in accounting, finance, and related business professions.

Saint Juste serves as a corporate officer on NABA’s Board of Directors, overseeing the organization and spearheading the execution of NABA’s multi-year strategic plan. She brings over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry to her role as NABA’s leader, including previously working as Senior Vice President, Virginia Market Executive at Capital One Bank.

A change maker, innovator and activist at heart, Saint Juste joined NABA in February 2021 to create a platform that will educate, empower and mobilize Black Business Leaders, advance equitable representation in the industry and foster meaningful career connections to close the opportunity gap long the talent continuum, from high school to the C suite and business ownership, offer strategic thought partnership to business and academia, and accelerate Black representation at all levels of executive leadership.

Prior to joining NABA, Saint Juste was Executive Director of the National Capital Region for Year Up, a national workforce development organization that works to ensure equitable access to economic opportunity, education, and justice for all young adults. During her five-year tenure, Saint Juste doubled the number of students Year Up served in the region, launched new curriculum and course tracks, and improved outcomes across all key performance indicators, growing revenue by over 40%.

Saint Juste is the Founder and Co-Chair of the George Mason Women in Business Initiative, previously served as President and Co-founder of the Women’s Alliance for Financial Education (WAFE), and was a board member for Goodwill of Greater Washington for nine years.

Saint Juste holds a B.A. in International Relations from George Mason University and earned her graduate degree in retail banking management from the University of Virginia.

Janice Stoudemire, founder and president of Palmetto Academic Consulting Services, Inc., is recognized as a leader and advocate for outcomes assessment. She is well-known for her workshops and conference presentations as well as the hands-on assistance she provides to faculty and institutions regarding student learning.After 25 years of teaching, Stoudemire retired from Midlands Technical College (MTC),  located in Columbia S.C. She actively served the college in various leadership roles including the co-director of MTC’s Assessment Institute, chair of the curriculum committee, director of the college’s SACS self-study, chair of the ACBSP self-study, and chair of faculty council. However, Janice is best known at MTC for her commitment to provide a quality educational experience for students and successfully prepare them for the workplace. Her dedication and contributions to education over the years resulted in the accumulation of more than twenty teaching and service awards at the local, state, and national level.  Stoudemire’s credentials include CPA, CGMA, ABA, ATA, professional work experience, and a master’s in accountancy.  Over the years, Janice has developed learning resources in accounting and taxation for publishers. Currently, she is a content development specialist for UWorld/ Roger CPA.   Janice is past president of Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), a global accrediting body for high-quality baccalaureate and associate degree business programs.  She chaired the associate degree commission and served on the association's Board of Directors and Accreditation Governance Board.  In addition, she has been a site evaluator for ACBSP and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and a member of the national committee responsible for designing the first Education Testing Center (ETS) Major Field Test for two-year business programs.

Mark currently serves in numerous volunteer leadership capacities at the New York State Society of CPAs, including President of the Queens/Brooklyn Chapter and Director on the statewide Board of Directors. He is also a member of its Future of Accounting Education committee and was named one of NYSSCPA’s “40 Under 40” winners in 2020.  Mark earned his bachelors degree in accounting from St. John’s University in 2006, and his MBA with a concentration in public accounting from St. John’s University in 2007. He received his CPA license in 2008. Mark’s professional experience includes time spent as a senior auditor at KPMG and as a budget director at a large private university.

Prior to entering academia, she was a senior manager at Deloitte where she led engagement teams in the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications practice. Immediately prior to starting her doctoral studies, she was an Associate Director at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) where she created and led the Inspections Training Office that served over 400 inspection personnel.

During a 40-year teaching career, Carol Yacht taught accounting, computerized accounting, and accounting information systems at California State University-Los Angeles, West Los Angeles College, Yavapai College, and Beverly Hills High School. McGraw-Hill Education publishes Carol's Computer Accounting with QuickBooks Online 4/e, QuickBooks Desktop 10/e, and Sage 21e textbooks.  In 2021, Carol received the American Accounting Association’s Teaching, Learning and Curriculum section’s Lifetime Service Award.  In 2005, she received AAA’s Two-Year College section’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Carol earned an MA degree from California State University-Los Angeles, BS degree from the University of New Mexico, and AS degree from Temple University.