The Emerging Leader must also be a strong advocate of CPAFMA’s mission to lead CPA firm practice management by empowering all CPA firms to thrive by expanding knowledge, sharing experiences, achieving through collaboration, influencing leadership and envisioning possibilities.
Nominees must meet the following criteria for consideration for the CPAFMA Emerging Leader of the Year Award:
- Currently working for a CPAFMA member firm in good standing.
- Meets the definition of an emerging leader: an individual with up to five years of leadership experience in a CPA firm management role.
- Demonstrates strong leadership and teamwork skills and has made a major impact with his/her firm’s success.
- Demonstrates a strong sense of integrity.
- Demonstrates interaction with the firm’s partners and staff.
- Demonstrates a commitment to CPAFMA’s mission.
Previous Recipients of the ELAward
2025
Arcie Rojas, MBA
Grimbleby Coleman CPA's, Inc.
2024
Kathy Cochran
Mauldin & Jenkins LLC
2022
Carly Valentine
Nietzke & Faupel, PC
2019
Lisa Cloyd, PAFM
Crosslin PLLC
Nashville, Tennessee
2018
Kristin Holthus, CPA, CGMA, PAFM
Anton Collins Mitchell LLP
Denver, Colorado
2017
Julie Giacobbe
MWA CPAs + Business Advisors
Plano, Texas
Upcoming Events
2026 Firm Management Series
Join CPAFMA for a 3-part webinar series that follows your firm's talent through every stage of the career cycle – from the early career professionals you need to keep, to the future rainmakers you need to develop, to the leaders preparing to hand off their life's work. Each session gives CPA firm leaders and administrators practical strategies to bridge generational differences, build business development skills earlier, and plan ...
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CPAFMA Connections 2027
Save the Date! CONNECTIONS 2027 will take place in Louisville, Kentucky, June 15-18! 2027 Connections Conference—our national stand-alone conference bringing together firm management professionals from across the country for education, inspiration, and connection. The conference includes sessions that range from high-level practice management sessions to the smaller breakout sessions led by firm managers and geared to specific ...
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The Firm Administrator's Playbook for a Frictionless Tax Season
This session is designed for firm administrators, COOs, practice managers, and partners who own tax season operations but may not touch tax software directly. Every tax season, the same bottlenecks resurface: staff chasing clients for missing documents, status buried across email and spreadsheets, and delivery steps that eat hours per return. We'll walk through what an end-to-end tax workflow actually looks like — from client intake ...
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