Illinois CPA Society Honors Members with 2013 Women Leadership Breakfast

Dawn Eber, CPA, is a Managing Director in PricewaterhouseCooper’s (PwC) Risk Assurance practice. She focuses on Internal Audit and Compliance within several industries. As head of the firm’s Chief Audit Executives Roundtable series she provides opportunities for collaboration on emerging and core issues to Chief Audit Executives. She continues to make significant contributions to her community with her involvement at Feed My Starving Children (FMSC), including her time as Chair of the Chicago Council and as a member of the Board of Directors since 2007. She was instrumental in spearheading efforts to open all three FMSC sites since 2006. Ms. Eber is also a member of ICPAS, AICPA and IIA.

Charlotte Montgomery, CPA, is the Director of Resource Allocation for the Illinois State Museum.  She is active in several organizations, including the Illinois CPA Society where she served on the Board of Directors and currently is the Vice President of the ICPAS Central Chapter; the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) where she served as a member of the AICPA’s Government Performance and Accountability Committee; Illinois Association of Museum where she serves on the Board of Directors; the American Alliance of Museums where she is the President elect to the Board of Directors of the Leadership and Management Network and a member of the National Program Committee. She also gives back to her community through her commitment as a Board member for many non-profit organizations.

Emerging Leader Category:

Melissa Bennis, CPA, is a Principal at Davis & Hosfield Consulting LLC She represents the first organic promotion inside the organization to this position. Ms. Bennis provides damages related expert testimony and consulting services to corporate clients and their counsel and previously served as the firm’s Director of Recruiting and helped develop its recruiting process. She has also been published in the American Bar Association’s The Woman Advocate newsletter, and is a member of the AICPA, ILCPAS, ABA and LES. Ms. Bennis was a long-serving member in the Junior League of Chicago—an organization for women promoting voluntarism through effective action and leadership. She also enjoys her roles as a Girl Scout co-leader and advisor and fundraiser for the Angel Baby Foundation.

Meredith Vogel, CPA, is a Managing Director at Grant Thornton LLP. Her role is new for the firm, as she was the first to reach this level in the Chicago practice. She performs various roles as Managing Director, aside from serving as the engagement lead on audit clients, her responsibilities include technical and quality control reviews on audit engagements and developing local and national training materials. Ms. Vogel received a part-time staff fellowship at the Financial Accounting Foundation and Financial Accounting Standards Board and worked as the lead staff member on the Blue Ribbon Panel related to private company accounting standards. She serves as a Board member and Treasurer for the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic and Board Treasurer of Treetown Cooperative School. She previously served on the Executive Leadership Council of the American Heart Association Heart Ball.

“These incredible women are a credit to the accounting profession and their communities,” said Todd Shapiro, President and CEO of the Illinois CPA Society. “Their hard work and generous spirit give us all something better to aspire to.”

The Women to Watch awards are a joint partnership between ICPAS’ Women’s Executive Committee and AICPA’s Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee to recognize and celebrate women who have promoted a work environment that provides opportunities for the successful integration of their personal and professional lives and the advancement of women to positions of leadership.