This year we had a clear vision to celebrate the accomplishments of our profession. As CPAs, we’re used to rewarding good work with more work. But our board was very clear that we wanted to think differently and celebrate good work with recognition. 

Each of my President’s Messages highlighted the efforts of our CPA community and as we roll into the holiday season, I can’t help but be thankful for everyone’s contributions. 

We first reflected on why we stay in the profession, why we stay as members of CalCPA and why we want to enrich our lives with more than just the work. 

Highlighting our Young Emerging Professionals (YEPs). These are the impact players to our organization who are constantly challenging the norms of what a nonprofit should be. Each of these YEP Committee chairs have contributed time and energy to create an inclusive environment that all can enjoy. 

It was extremely important to me and chapter board members that we appreciate our program managers. The success we have as an organization is based on the daily contribution from these impact players. They even sacrifice their weekends to ensure successful events! Our profession is surrounded by these supportive members of the community.

We celebrated our new licenses at our wonderful event at the W Hollywood. The time and energy spent successfully completing the CPA Exam is no easy feat and each of these new licensees deserved an evening of recognition. 

Diversity and inclusion have been at the forefront of our board. We expressed our support by doing something the LA Chapter had never done before: We created an event supporting our women’s soccer team, Angel City Football Club. Not only did we get to celebrate the team’s win, but we also got to celebrate on the field! 

Our CalCPA scholarship recipients put together a video to thank our scholarship donors. Those that contribute to our Scholarship Fund make a direct impact on our student member’s ability to enter the profession. Your contributions helped hundreds, if not thousands of students enter the CPA profession and our scholarship recipients wanted to thank all those donors. 

Lastly, we wanted to celebrate you, the CPA. Your contributions to our profession have led us to where we are today. We worked for more than 15 months with the Los Angeles Business Journal to create the inaugural event celebrating our CPA profession. The success of this event was in large part thanks to the contribution of the Los Angeles Business Journal, which saw our vision to celebrate our profession’s success.

As we approach 2023, I can’t help but thank the volunteering efforts of our members and the firms that support them. If you want to make a meaningful impact, consider joining us at CalCPA.

The Los Angeles Chapter honored 60 newly licensed CPAs in the #CoolestProfessionAround! It was a wonderful evening of networking and celebration at the W Hollywood!

Attendees had the honor of hearing current CalCPA Chair Tayiika M. Dennis, CPA speak. In addition, we thank LA Chapter President Keith Hamasaki, CPA for his leadership and LA Chapter Board Member, Peter Velez, CPA for emceeing the night. A special thank you to Michael Savoy, CPA, CGMA, President of the CBA for presenting the 2022-23 John F. Forbes award to the highest scorer of the 2021 Uniform CPA Exam. We also recognize our generous firm sponsors for highlighting their new licensees on our red carpet: CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen), PDM, LLP, and KROST CPAs & Consultants.

Cheers to all the honorees!

In partnership with the Los Angeles Business Journal, join the Los Angeles Chapter on Nov. 9 for our Top 100 Accountants event! This inaugural event will be held at the InterContinental Hotel Downtown. The evening will include dinner and an awards presentation where we will be recognizing the achievements of leading accountants and firms within the Los Angeles business community.

Use the code “Top100linkedin” for 20% off your ticket! Questions? Please reach out to Program Manager Tricia Galloway.

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Our LA YEP Committee along with students and our LA Chapter President, Keith Hamasaki, CPA, supported the women of LA Angel City soccer! It was an exciting game and a unique experience for attendees to go down on the field and take a CalCPA group photo after the game. We look forward to another fun experience at our next YEP event!

What impact do you want to make? If you’ve contributed to our CalCPA Scholarship Program, then you have had an impact that’s larger than you could have ever known. Your time, energy and donations help students like those in this video who we’ve helped find their path within the CPA profession. They come from all walks of life, all of which value the support that you provide them. These are the faces that you help when you donate your time or money.

The LA Chapter is pleased to have awarded 11 scholarships to deserving students of Los Angeles universities totally $15,000. Congratulations to all of the scholarship recipients!

• Sandra Abundio, Cerritos College
• Jasmine Ang, Pasadena City College
• Maryam Barazesh, California State University, Northridge
• Lucy Cruz, Cerritos College
• Catherine Epstein, California State University, Northridge
• Murielle Faye Dulfo, California State University, Los Angeles
• Thamir Kazwini, Cerritos College
• Andres Morales, Santa Monica College
• Fendy Suandi, California State University, Northridge
• Hong Quang, California State University, Los Angeles

The scholarship committee would also like to recognize the student to receive the Charles Gumbiner Lou Savett Memorial Scholarship to:

• Austin Chan, University of California, Los Angeles

“Thank you all for this event. I have heard a lot of perspectives from all the different firms. Accounting is definitely what I want to do.”—Summer Leadership Student

Special thanks to our generous sponsors: HCVT, KPMG US, EY, Baker Tilly US, Deloitte, KROST CPAs & Consultants, Armanino LLP, and Moss Adams.

The LA YEP Committee held their annual Summer Mixer night out on the town in partnership with NAIFA Los Angeles at Deja Brew on July 13!
Thanks to all attendees who came out to enjoy some great food and mingle with other young and emerging professionals from the CalCPA, LA Chapter, and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), LA Chapter. A special thank you to our generous event sponsor Paychex!