Governmental Accounting and Auditing Conference

Melisa Galasso is the founder and CEO of Galasso Learning Solutions LLC. A CPA with nearly 20 years of experience in the accounting profession, Melisa designs and facilitates courses in advanced technical accounting and auditing topics, including not-for-profit and governmental accounting. She also supports essential professional development, audit level training, and train the trainer efforts.

Melisa is a Certified Speaking Professional, a Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD), and has earned the Association for Talent Development Master Trainer™ designation. Her passion for instructional design and adult learning techniques is one of the differentiators that set her apart from other CPE providers.

Within the industry, Melisa serves on the FASB's Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee (NAC), AICPA Council, and the VSCPA's Board of Directors. She previously served on the AICPA's Technical Issues Committee (TIC) and is a past-Chair of the NCACPA's A&A committee. Melisa also authors the AICPA's State and Local Government Guide and serves as a SME for the Center for Plain English Accounting.

Roberta is a Senior Project Manager with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (Norwalk, CT) 1999. Her current project assignments are the conceptual framework project on recognition and the financial reporting model reexamination. Her major technical projects have included capital asset, infrastructure, and note disclosures issues for various GASB Implementation Guides; note disclosures, impairment of capital assets, service concession arrangements, postemployment benefits, and the conceptual framework: definitions and measurement of elements of financial statements.

Prior to her position with the GASB, she served for four years as Chief Accountant for the State of Nevada Controller's Office with responsibility for preparation of the comprehensive annual financial report. Her previous experience includes seven years with the Reno, Nevada office of Deloitte performing financial and compliance audits of state and local governmental entities.

Roberta received a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of the Pacific and a Master of Public Administration degree from Columbia University. She is licensed as a certified public accountant in the state of Nevada.

Christy N. Tennant is Deputy Director with the Tennessee Comptroller's Division of Investigations. Christy is responsible for overseeing and directing investigations involving fraud, waste and abuse in local governments, state agencies, and other publicly funded entities. Christy has worked with the Comptroller's Office for over 23 years. She has directed investigations, resulting in the discovery of fraud, waste and abuse and the prosecution of public officials and employees. Christy has also worked closely with the TBI, the FBI, local District Attorneys General and local law enforcement groups. A graduate of Tennessee Technological University , Christy is also a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Financial Government Manager and a Certified Fraud Examiner. She provides training to professional groups related to internal controls and fraud.

John Troyer, CPA, MBA is the Administrator of Standards Research and Compliance with the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, Division of Local Government Audit. In his role as Administrator of Standards Research and Compliance, he assists the division in developing professional compliance procedures under changing accounting and auditing standards. He assists the division with training, navigating the peer review process and participating in the professional public comment process.

Previously, John has served in public financial leadership roles for cities and counties for more than 33 years. John is a member of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and has served as Tennessee’s GFOA President. He has served as the State Representative to the national GFOA for both the State of Tennessee and South Carolina GFOA. John was awarded the GFOA Hero award for professional response to a financial emergency in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. He is a member of the East Tennessee Chapter of the Association of Government Accountants (AGA).

John holds both a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

John lives in Knoxville with his wife Cindy and his Golden Retriever Savannah. John and Cindy have two children who are both grown and graduated from the University of Tennessee. John is an avid sports fan – especially UT. He even owns one share of the Green Bay Packers. You might see him kayaking on Lake Loudon early Saturday mornings.

Lisa Bellar is a Senior Contract Audit Review Specialist in the Tennessee Comptroller's division of Local Government Audit. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the division's contract audit review team. In her role she performs technical reviews of audited financial statements for Tennessee's local governments and certain not-for-profit agencies and assists in the review of audit working papers.

Lisa first joined the Comptroller's Office with the division of State Audit after graduating from Austin Peay State University where she majored in accounting and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration. After moving out-of-state, she held accounting positions at a university, equipment rental company, and tile manufacturing company. She returned to the Comptroller's Office in 2005 and has 18 years of service with the Comptroller's Office.

Jean is the contract audit review manager with the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, Division of Local Government Audit. She is responsible for the contract audit review process of more than 1,700 entities including municipalities, county-related entities, utility districts, public housing authorities, internal school funds, charter schools, quasi-governments and certain nonprofit and for-profit entities. Her daily responsibilities include providing technical assistance to CPA firms and local government officials regarding accounting and auditing issues, as well as related laws, regulations and other compliance requirements.

Jean graduated from Seoul National University with a B.S. degree in Horticulture and studied accounting at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the Tennessee Technological University. Jean is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM). She is a member of the Association of Government Accountants (AGA), and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). She is a graduate of Lead Tennessee and the Tennessee Government Management Institute. She likes to play the piano and make fresh flower arrangements in her free time.

Dan's professional journey spans over 15 years in public accounting, where he currently serves as a Director of Assurance Services at Cherry Bekaert, a Top 25 National public accounting firm. His extensive experience focuses on audit, compliance and advisory services for not-for-profits and state and local governments. Within the firm's Government and Public Sector industry group, Dan plays a pivotal role, leveraging his expertise to guide organizations through financial and compliance audits, including adherence to Federal and state compliance requirements.

Dan's impact extends across the Southeast, where he has led audit engagements for some of the region's largest counties, municipalities, foundations, airports, and special purpose governments. His commitment to excellence is evident in overseeing audit engagement quality, providing strategic insights during financial reporting phases, and managing the execution of audit tests.

A proactive leader, Dan identifies and implements enhancements in internal controls and processes, staying ahead of industry changes through the adoption of new standards from the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") and the Governmental Accounting Standard Board ("GASB"). Recognized for his leadership, Dan has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences, including prestigious events hosted by the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants.

Beyond the boardroom, Dan is a trusted advisor, providing clients with comprehensive support in data analytics, best finance and accounting practices, grant opportunities, compliance adherence, and internal control assessments.

As a Director in Cherry Bekaert's Assurance Services practice, Lee Ann focuses on serving government and not-for-profit entities.

Prior to joining Cherry Bekaert, Lee Ann was an Assurance Principal at a large Southeast regional accounting firm. Additionally, she worked for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, serving in the Cabinet for Health Services, Auditor of Public Accounts, and Office of the Attorney General.

With more than 30 years of experience serving state and local government clients, she spent six years working in the affordable housing market. Lee Ann has served public housing agencies, multi-family housing projects and community action agencies, municipalities, counties, and special governments. She has extensive experience assisting governmental clients in implementing complex accounting standards. A well-versed expert in her field, Lee Ann is a frequent presenter on Uniform Guidance, as well as governmental accounting and auditing topics.

As a senior manager at Cherry Bekaert's Government and Public Sector practice, Jack has spent the past eight years specializing in providing audit and advisory services for various government entities, including municipalities, state agencies, counties, school districts, colleges, tribes, and special districts. He is experienced in audit preparation and fieldwork, policy and procedure creation, new standard implementations, GASB technical accounting assistance, internal control reviews, risk assessments, state compliance reviews, and Annual Comprehensive Financial Report preparation.

Jack also works with government and not-for-profit organizations that expend federal and state funding. Services to these clients include OMB Circular/Uniform Grant Guidance compliance, policy review, SEFA and Data Collection Form preparation, lost revenue calculation reviews, and Single Audit preparation.

Dr. Michaelia Black is an Assistant Professor of Accounting at Lee University’s School of Business in Cleveland, TN. She earned her Master of Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University and doctorate from Liberty University. She is a certified public accountant and member of the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Michaelia has spent over 18 years teaching accounting to students at various institutions. Her specialties are in cost accounting, analytics, and accounting information systems. In addition to higher education, she is experienced in non-profit accounting, risk management, internal audit, financial statement reporting, endowment funds, and grant accounting.

Dr. Beth Seymour is an Assistant Professor of Accounting at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. She teaches financial accounting for all levels, including Governmental and Not-For-Profit Accounting. Before moving into a faculty position, she managed the budget and NCAA financial compliance for Lee. In addition, she has worked in public accounting with a specialization in tax, corporate accounting, and the Not-For-Profit sector.

Beth received a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Alabama and a Doctor of Business Administration degree from Liberty University. She is licensed as a certified public accountant in the state of Tennessee. She is a member of TSCPA and AICPA.

Chris Golden is a Cybersecurity Specialist on the Incident Response team at Tennessee Valley Authority. The Incident Response team detects and responds to hundreds of threats to TVA's systems and resources every day. Chris has over 20 years of experience working in Information Technology and holds a master’s degree from Boston University in Cybersecurity.

Dr. Glenn L. Helms was the Arthur Young Fellow in IT Auditing at the University of Houston and has served as Director of Certification for the International Certified Information Systems Auditor program. He has served on numerous national and international academic and professional committees, including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountant's Auditing Standards Board's Computer Auditing Subcommittee and its Specialized Accreditation Board.

He has recent and numerous years' experience in public accounting and serves as a consultant to various organizations. He has provided consulting services to Fortune 100 firms, Big Four CPA firms, and financial institutions throughout North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. Some of his experience includes assisting a publicly held company in establishing an IT auditing department, performing audits of local governments, and designing accounting systems for a variety of types of entities

He has presented over 2,000 professional seminars and conferences. He has published over 50 articles in a wide range of practitioner and academic journals. He has served on the editorial advisory boards of several national and international journals. His over twenty-five books address security, fraud, and internal controls (for small and public entities) in a variety of systems, including Cloud based and E-commerce systems. His recent works include several books on forensic accounting.

Glenn is a multiple year recipient of the outstanding Discussion Leader Award from the AICPA. He has received similar awards from several state societies and universities.