PROFESSIONAL NEWS

Annual Meeting Unveils New Awards

The highlight of the Annual Meeting, held in April at the Providence Marriott Hotel, was when RISCPA revealed two surprises in the form of new awards that the Board had kept close to the vest before the big day. The Society unveiled the Mission Award and the President’s Award.

“Except for when we celebrated our centennial five years ago, we don’t really recognize our own members’ accomplishments,” said RISCPA President Jacquelyn Tracy. “Therefore we have instituted two new awards.”

The recipient of the President’s Award can be any member of RISCPA who has been a member for five or more years. It is awarded based on achievement or development of a new or revitalized program that has contributed to the Society’s success.

This year’s President’s Award was given to Barbara Perino, who chairs the Technology Committee.

“[That committee] has been reviewing both the Society’s current technology systems, but also our workflow and processes to see how they could be blended for efficiency,” Tracy said at the ceremony. “As a result, we have all new and updated systems within the Society’s offices and will be rolling out a new membership and CPE management system this summer.”

The Mission Award is reserved for a member who has shown outstanding leadership within the Society, accounting profession or greater community.

That award this year went to Michael A. DeCataldo, of Sansiveri, Kimball & Co., LLP. A former Society President, DeCataldo was recognized for his work to help plan the Society’s Centennial celebration five years ago and create a timeline for future presidents to use as a guide for their terms of service. Tracy pointed out that DeCataldo’s job required an extra push when the Society’s Executive Director at the time became ill and needed to spend time recovering away from the office.

“All [his] work was done with good humor, patience and class,” Tracy said in presenting the award. “No complaints, just getting it done quietly and effectively.”

DeCataldo and Perino were not expecting the honors, nor did anybody in the audience know about them, except for a few board members.

The awards will now be annual, but only going to recipients each year if there is somebody who qualifies.

Another highlight of the Annual Meeting included the keynote speaker, Detroit-based Leadership Academy graduate Noel Abdur-Rahim.

“She talked about some of the differences between generations, pointing out some differences about working together,” Tracy said. “The landscape is changing, and no one generation gets to say, ‘This is how it should be.’”

As in past years, the meeting involved handing out some scholarships and the traditional awards. The Gold and Silver Nicholas Picchione Awards went to the test-takers with the two highest average scores on the CPA exam. The Carl W. Christiansen scholarship went to six students who hope to join the public accounting profession. It is intended to help defray the cost of a college education. And the Cheryl A. Ruggiero scholarship went to two female students who hope to join the public accounting profession.

The new board members were introduced as well, ushering RISCPA into a new year with ambitious goals but respect for the past.

“I think we’re in good hands,” Tracy said. “We’ve been working together to transition and make sure we’re all going in the same direction so that it’s not a new flavor of the year every year.”