CaseStack’s Director of Finance Selected into ASCPA’s “LEAD” Inaugural Class
Blair Trotter has been practicing accounting for nine years. During this time, she has had many career successes, such as receiving the IMA Leadership Experience Young Professional award, becoming a Dean’s Alumni Advisory Council member, and now, being recruited and selected as part of ASCPA’s “LEAD” Inaugural Class.
The Arkansas Society of CPAs (ASCPA) is an active professional organization of CPAs working together to improve the profession and serve the public interest. The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has held a leadership academy for 10 years and based on its success, the ASCPA Board of Directors decided to launch their own leadership academy called LEAD: Leadership Exploration and Development. This biennial program is geared specifically toward the accounting profession and is set to launch in June. Accepted members are licensed CPAs and ASCPA members, ages 25 – 35 or working less than 10 years in the profession. LEAD is intended to provide a variety of services for CPAs to grow their engagement, including a member service for leadership development and training for emerging members. A two-day retreat will be held June 5 – 7, 2019 in Hot Springs, AR, followed by two half-day sessions later in the year, led by CPA Dan Griffiths, graduate of AICPA Leadership Academy.
Mike Carroll, ASCPA Board Chair, was given Blair’s name as an outstanding participant to the program, and he encouraged her to apply. Application to LEAD included two personal essays on the CPA profession and a recommendation letter from your current employer. Blair’s supervisor, David Isaksen, Chief Financial Officer for CaseStack writes, “Blair is a unique finance executive who has balanced the traditional controller and director functions with a focus towards analytics, people management, and technology solutions… What sets Blair apart is her ability to build consensus, and to deliver strategic, scalable solutions to business obstacles that benefit both internal and external stakeholders.”
CaseStack is proud to have Blair serving as our Director of Finance. Blair graduated from The University of Arkansas in May 2010 with a B.S.B.A. in Accounting and in May 2011 with a Masters in Accountancy. After graduation, Blair spent four years in public accounting with HoganTaylor, prior to starting with CaseStack as the Controller in 2015. Founder and CEO, Dan Sanker noted that Blair, “quickly demonstrated her ability to tackle tough projects and difficult situations. Her positive attitude and steady leadership are defining characteristics from which each of us have benefited”, which led to her promotion to Director of Finance in 2017.
Blair states, “I’m excited to participate in the inaugural LEAD class to help further develop my leadership skills, become more involved in the ASCPA, and help further advance the accounting profession.”
