56th Annual Virginia Accounting & Auditing Conference

Bryant Harrison

Bryant Harrison is the founder and CEO of Seventh Wall, a cybersecurity and managed IT firm that helps professional services firms protect sensitive client data, maintain compliance, and avoid costly security failures. 

Over the past two decades, Bryant has worked on both sides of cybersecurity - preventing attacks and responding to them. 

He has firsthand experience helping businesses recover from ransomware incidents, data breaches, and operational failures, giving him a clear understanding of what actually goes wrong and how to stop it before it happens. 

Bryant is especially focused on the unique risks faced by CPAs and accountants. Where confidentiality, integrity, and due care are not just best practices, they are professional obligations. His team works closely with firms to implement practical safeguards that reduce liability, protect client trust, and support regulatory requirements without adding unnecessary complexity. 

His path into technology began in 2004 while finishing a degree in Cognitive Science at the University of Virginia. With no formal IT background, Bryant built his early business by explaining technology in plain language and making sure clients could call and talk to a real, caring person and get help promptly.  This is something that remains a core part of Seventh Wall’s culture today. 

Seventh Wall now serves clients nationwide, with a strong presence in Central Virginia, and is known for delivering responsive, thoughtful support to organizations that cannot afford downtime, data loss, or security failures. 

Michael Brand

Michael L. Brand is currently a member/partner in the firm of BMSS, LLC working out of their Huntsville, AL office with an emphasis in auditing and accounting services, peer review, litigation support, and quality management. He has been in the practice of public accounting for over 34 years. He also teaches continuing education classes across the country, for which he has received the AICPA and ASCPA Outstanding Discussion Leader Award multiple times; and has spoken at several conferences nationwide and overseas.  

Mike is a newly appointed member of the AICPAs Audit Standards Board and was formerly a member of the AICPA’s PCPS Technical Issues Committee, is a past chair of the Alabama Society of CPAs Board of Directors; current co-chair of the AICPA’s ENGAGE conference; and past chair and current member of the steering committee for National Advanced Accounting and Auditing Technical Symposium at ENGAGE. He serves as a committee member of the Partners in Peer Review of the ASCPA, the AICPAs Attestation Standards Task Force and PEECs Engagements Subject to the SSAEs Task Force .  He also serves on the Accounting Advisory Council for the University of North Alabama. Previously, he was chair of the Accounting and Review Services Committee, on the Professional Ethics Executive Committee, Peer Review Board, Joint Trial Board, and Quality Control Standards Task Force of the AICPA. 

Mike received his B.S. in accounting from the University of North Alabama and currently resides in Athens, AL with his wife and has two adult sons.  In his free time, he enjoys most outdoor sports including running and pickle ball and also loves to cook, travel and eat.

King Tower

King Tower assists employers with employment law litigation, labor-management relations, and
also offers counsel to businesses on employment-related matters. King’s experience includes
defending claims under the FLSA, the FMLA, the ADEA, the ADA, and Title VII. He has extensive experience providing strategic guidance to clients on conducting internal audits of corporate compliance, employment policies, and other critical decisions. King also assists federal contractors in preparing affirmative action programs and represents them during government audits. King has served as lead negotiator in collective bargaining and has represented employers in grievance and arbitration proceedings.

Alice Kassens

Alice Louise Kassens, Ph.D., is the dean of the School of Business, Economics and Analytics, the John S. Shannon professor of economics, and the director of the Center for Economic Freedom at Roanoke College. She is also a community development research fellow with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, a senior analyst with the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research, an associate editor for Journal of Economics Teaching, and a former member of the Governor’s Joint Advisory Board of Economists. 

She has been published in several journals and edited volumes. Her recent work focuses on the disparate health outcomes and the impact of social determinates of health. Her book, Intemperate Spirits: Economic Adaptation During Prohibition, was published in August 2019.

At Roanoke College, a small liberal arts college in Virginia, Alice teaches numerous courses, including labor economics, health economics, econometrics and data visualization. At the College, Alice is active with student organizations, including advising the Women in Economics Club, and was awarded the 2023 Dean’s Exemplary Professional Life Award.

Alice earned her B.A. in economics and history from the College of William and Mary and her Ph.D. in economics from North Carolina State University. Her areas of specialty are labor and health economics.

Dale Mullen

With over two decades of experience, Mr. Mullen advises clients on a broad spectrum of regulatory compliance, corporate governance, securities, and government investigations. His practice spans federal, state, and local matters, drawing on significant experience in both private practice and public service.  He represents clients—including Fortune 500 companies—across industries such as energy, environment, healthcare, finance, railroads, aviation, real estate development, and land use.

Jeffrey Lewis

Jeffrey Lewis, MBA, RR, CTP, CCM, is a frequent lecturer on economics, finance, international development, digital and financial technologies, sustainability and artificial intelligence from a transformational and business context.

Jeff’s practice areas include strategy development and implementation; corporate and global finance and treasury; financial institutions and markets; risk management and re-engineering; technology deployment and sustainability. He has worked worldwide for a variety of multinational companies.

Lisa Germano

Lisa Germano, CPA, J.D., has spent her career at the intersection of business strategy, financial planning and employee empowerment — helping companies design retirement plans that do more than just check a compliance box. With a unique blend of legal and financial expertise, Lisa has guided organizations in using smart plan design as a tool to drive real behavioral change and long-term financial wellness for their employees. 

Now, with the wisdom that comes from decades of experience, Lisa reflects on the critical conversations that were often missing — the deeper discussions that truly engage plan participants and inspire them to envision and prepare for their future. Her mission today is clear — to help individuals and companies build a culture of planning that supports what she calls "simply the best time of your life" — a retirement that’s not just financially secure, but personally fulfilling.

George Strudgeon

George D. Strudgeon, CPA, MBA, CISA, CGFM, is an Audit Director at the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts where he leads the Single Audit of the Commonwealth.  Additionally, George serves on the AICPA's Government Audit Quality Center Executive Committee and is the vice chair for the National State Auditors Association Single Audit Committee.  He represents these entities twice a year at the Single Audit Roundtable and receives regular updates from OMB and other federal agencies impacting Single Audits.  George shares his insight and knowledge by presenting at national conferences and other events.

Evan Ross

Evan is a Director with Brown Edwards' tax practice in Roanoke, Virginia. With over 10 years of experience, he specializes on tax compliance, consulting, and planning concerning federal and state operations for businesses, individuals, and tax-exempt organizations in various industries.

Industry Expertise

Financial Institutions

Manufacturing

Not-For-Profit

State & Local Government

Taxation

SALT

Justin Seymore

JJ is a Tax Manager at Brown Edwards & Company LLP, working closely with clients to navigate complex tax matters. He primarily serves high net-worth individuals and a broad range of businesses, with an emphasis on tax planning, compliance, and strategic decision-making. JJ takes a proactive, practical approach to help clients implement actionable strategies so they can make informed choices that protect and grow their wealth.

Deborah Moeller

Debbie is a Director in the Roanoke office with over 30 years of experience in public accounting. She leads the client accounting and advisory services department for the Roanoke, Lynchburg and NRV offices.

Industry Expertise:
Construction
Taxation

Focus Areas
Small business and construction accounting and taxation; corporate, pass-through and individual taxation; small business consulting; and client accounting and advisory services.

Education, Certifications & Memberships

B.S. Accounting - Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)

Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants (VSCPA)

Melissa Sikes

Since beginning her career in 2000, Melissa has focused on providing audit and tax services to our not-for-profit clients in the Richmond area. Additionally, Melissa also serves as a partner in our employee benefit plan niche, and she works with many other business clients by providing assurance services. Melissa actively recruits talent to the firm and spear-headed a summer externship that focuses on drawing students to a career in public accounting. 

She is a member of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and ChamberRVA. 
Melissa holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting and Finance from Bridgewater College.

Since 2007 Melissa has volunteered in various positions with Shineforth (formerly United Methodist Family Services (UMFS)), a long-standing not-for-profit providing a comprehensive array of programs to support children and their families in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Currently, Melissa sits on the Board of Directors and chairs the Finance Committee.

Tommy Stephens Jr.

Tommy Stephens Jr., CPA.CITP, CGMA, is a shareholder in K2 Enterprises and a consultant to small businesses and CPA firms. Since 2003, he has been affiliated with K2 Enterprises and in 2007 he joined the firm as a partner. To date, he has lectured nationally on subjects such as internal controls for small businesses, practice management and marketing, computer hardware and software applications, tax strategies and compliance, and financial accounting standards and applications. Over the past 18 years, Tommy has presented in excess of 1,100 educational sessions to more than 28,000 participants nationwide. Prior to K2 Enterprises, he managed his own public accounting practice in the metropolitan Atlanta area. In his practice, he provided accounting, tax and consulting services to individuals and a wide variety of small and emerging businesses. As part of his practice, he developed a successful consulting practice providing installation and support services of small business accounting software. Tommy also spent several years at BellSouth Corporation in positions of increasing responsibility culminating as the manager of cost accounting.

King Tower

King Tower assists employers with employment law litigation, labor-management relations, and
also offers counsel to businesses on employment-related matters. King’s experience includes
defending claims under the FLSA, the FMLA, the ADEA, the ADA, and Title VII. He has extensive experience providing strategic guidance to clients on conducting internal audits of corporate compliance, employment policies, and other critical decisions. King also assists federal contractors in preparing affirmative action programs and represents them during government audits. King has served as lead negotiator in collective bargaining and has represented employers in grievance and arbitration proceedings.

Michael Brand

Michael L. Brand is currently a member/partner in the firm of BMSS, LLC working out of their Huntsville, AL office with an emphasis in auditing and accounting services, peer review, litigation support, and quality management. He has been in the practice of public accounting for over 34 years. He also teaches continuing education classes across the country, for which he has received the AICPA and ASCPA Outstanding Discussion Leader Award multiple times; and has spoken at several conferences nationwide and overseas.  

Mike is a newly appointed member of the AICPAs Audit Standards Board and was formerly a member of the AICPA’s PCPS Technical Issues Committee, is a past chair of the Alabama Society of CPAs Board of Directors; current co-chair of the AICPA’s ENGAGE conference; and past chair and current member of the steering committee for National Advanced Accounting and Auditing Technical Symposium at ENGAGE. He serves as a committee member of the Partners in Peer Review of the ASCPA, the AICPAs Attestation Standards Task Force and PEECs Engagements Subject to the SSAEs Task Force .  He also serves on the Accounting Advisory Council for the University of North Alabama. Previously, he was chair of the Accounting and Review Services Committee, on the Professional Ethics Executive Committee, Peer Review Board, Joint Trial Board, and Quality Control Standards Task Force of the AICPA. 

Mike received his B.S. in accounting from the University of North Alabama and currently resides in Athens, AL with his wife and has two adult sons.  In his free time, he enjoys most outdoor sports including running and pickle ball and also loves to cook, travel and eat.

Joseph Thornton

Joseph Thornton, CPA/ABV, CFF, PFS, CFP®, CVA, has over 30 years of experience in business valuation, public accounting, banking and financial consulting services. He is a former founder, director and commercial loan officer for Regency Bank in Richmond, and has many years of experience in all aspects of public accounting. Joe provides business valuation and related consulting services in the Richmond office of Brown Edwards & Company LLP. As a valuation expert, he has prepared valuation reports for a wide range of purposes including: business planning, business purchases and sales, gift and estate tax returns, planning for gifts, estates and trusts, and other valuation consulting services. He has been accepted as a qualified expert witness in various courts within Virginia in the area of business valuations and accounting. Joe has also been recognized as one of Virginia’s “Super CPAs” in the Business Valuation/Litigation category by the Virginia Business magazine and the Virginia Society of CPAs.

Jeffrey Lewis

Jeffrey Lewis, MBA, RR, CTP, CCM, is a frequent lecturer on economics, finance, international development, digital and financial technologies, sustainability and artificial intelligence from a transformational and business context.

Jeff’s practice areas include strategy development and implementation; corporate and global finance and treasury; financial institutions and markets; risk management and re-engineering; technology deployment and sustainability. He has worked worldwide for a variety of multinational companies.

Ann Genova

Ann is a Senior Manager based in the Roanoke office. She has over 10 years of experience in public accounting and municipal auditing. Her experience includes a variety of accounting, tax, bookkeeping, and payroll engagements. In addition, she has over 10 years of experience teaching humanities courses at universities and colleges prior to joining the Brown Edwards team.

Ann specializes in providing training sessions to local government accounting staff. She teaches them not only the concepts and rules of government accounting, but also applies them to their workpapers, trial balances, and financial reports. 

Ann holds a Master of Accounting and Information Systems from the Graduate School of Virginia Tech, a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Frostburg State University, and a Doctorate and Master in History from the University of Texas at Austin.

Ann is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She is in compliance with all recent continuing professional education requirements required by the Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States.

John Aldridge

John Aldridge, CPA is a partner based in the Roanoke office of Brown Edwards with over 25 years of experience in public accounting.  He also serves as the area coordinator for our Roanoke, Lynchburg, and New River Valley offices and Blue Ridge Region Coordinator for the Firm. 

John’s concentration is related to municipalities, healthcare, and HUD entities; he has extensive experience performing organizational reviews as they relate to internal controls and operations.  

John holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from James Madison University. John is a member of the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Virginia Government Finance Officers’ Association.  

He is actively committed to serving the community through current memberships on the following community committees or boards including:? 

• Treasurer for the Better Business Bureau of Western Virginia
• Rescue Mission of Roanoke – Chapel Services
• Deacon and adult Sunday School teacher at his church
• Finance committee member CHIP of Roanoke Valley

Tommy Stephens Jr.

Tommy Stephens Jr., CPA.CITP, CGMA, is a shareholder in K2 Enterprises and a consultant to small businesses and CPA firms. Since 2003, he has been affiliated with K2 Enterprises and in 2007 he joined the firm as a partner. To date, he has lectured nationally on subjects such as internal controls for small businesses, practice management and marketing, computer hardware and software applications, tax strategies and compliance, and financial accounting standards and applications. Over the past 18 years, Tommy has presented in excess of 1,100 educational sessions to more than 28,000 participants nationwide. Prior to K2 Enterprises, he managed his own public accounting practice in the metropolitan Atlanta area. In his practice, he provided accounting, tax and consulting services to individuals and a wide variety of small and emerging businesses. As part of his practice, he developed a successful consulting practice providing installation and support services of small business accounting software. Tommy also spent several years at BellSouth Corporation in positions of increasing responsibility culminating as the manager of cost accounting.

Jason Daniel

Jason Daniel has over 20 years of experience specializing in IT and business strategy, working across government, commercial, nonprofit and education sectors. He is recognized for his ability to assess complex organizational challenges and develop strategic solutions that align technology with business objectives. Jason excels at identifying long-term IT needs and crafting practical, cost-effective strategies that account for constraints such as budget, technology and organizational capacity.

His expertise includes creating IT roadmaps, modernizing legacy systems, and optimizing processes to enhance efficiency and support future growth. Clients regularly seek his strategic advisory skills for both immediate and long-term planning. Jason’s ability to offer CIO-level insight ensures that the strategies he delivers are actionable, sustainable and tailored to each organization’s unique needs.

Tommy Stephens Jr.

Tommy Stephens Jr., CPA.CITP, CGMA, is a shareholder in K2 Enterprises and a consultant to small businesses and CPA firms. Since 2003, he has been affiliated with K2 Enterprises and in 2007 he joined the firm as a partner. To date, he has lectured nationally on subjects such as internal controls for small businesses, practice management and marketing, computer hardware and software applications, tax strategies and compliance, and financial accounting standards and applications. Over the past 18 years, Tommy has presented in excess of 1,100 educational sessions to more than 28,000 participants nationwide. Prior to K2 Enterprises, he managed his own public accounting practice in the metropolitan Atlanta area. In his practice, he provided accounting, tax and consulting services to individuals and a wide variety of small and emerging businesses. As part of his practice, he developed a successful consulting practice providing installation and support services of small business accounting software. Tommy also spent several years at BellSouth Corporation in positions of increasing responsibility culminating as the manager of cost accounting.

Mary Morris

Mary G. Morris is the Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Savers (formerly known as Virginia529), which provides the largest tax-advantaged education savings program in the country with the direct Invest529 and advisor CollegeAmerica programs; the tax-advantaged disability savings ABLEnow and ABLEAmerica programs; and RetirePath Virginia, a state-facilitated workplace private retirement program launched in June 2023. Commonwealth Savers also sponsors SOAR Virginia, which administers a variety of scholarship and access, affordability and attainment initiatives to foster inclusion in educational access and make postsecondary education more affordable and accessible to all.

Mary works with the executive team to develop the strategic vision and coordinates the operations, resources, outreach and investments of Commonwealth Savers. She is involved in state and federal legislative and governance issues relating to 529, ABLE and private retirement initiatives and policy. Mary is a private practice lawyer specialized in tax, public finance, securities and ESG matters. Earlier in her career in the public sector, she served as a Virginia Senior Assistant Attorney General for Tax and Finance and served a term as the Treasurer of Virginia.

Mary earned her Juris Doctor and Master of Law and Taxation from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, College of William and Mary. She is active in both national 529 organizations, serving as Chair of the College Savings Plans Network and is a former Chair of the College Savings Foundation. Mary is a member of the boards of the Virginia Council on Economic Education (VCEE) and the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE) and a former board member of Junior Achievement of Central Virginia (JACV).

Duncan Will

Duncan Will, CPA/ABV/CFF, CFE, leverages his more than 40 years of experience in accounting, including public accounting, forensic accounting, consulting and audit and tax compliance, to deliver to policyholders the high-touch, high-quality CAMICO experience. He works closely with the Loss Prevention Specialists to manage the department’s efforts to deliver policyholder service. Duncan’s specialties are accounting and auditing and business valuation-related risk management. He advises policyholders through the CAMICO Loss Prevention Hotline, speaks to CPA groups, and writes articles on a wide range of accounting risk management and ethics topics. Topics of particular interest include complying with the AICPA’s Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services, doubts about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern, cyber-security, and serving clients in the cannabis industry. 

Duncan began his accounting career in 1979 as a staff accountant in the Washington, D.C. area and spent most of his public accounting career in California and Florida. He earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the University of Maryland and is Accredited in Business Valuation and Certified in Financial Forensics. A Certified Fraud Examiner, Duncan is an active member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners; has supplemented his education with college courses at the University of Baltimore, Golden Gate University, and Florida Atlantic University; and welcomes opportunities to expand his knowledge over a broad spectrum of accounting-related curricula.