The Nominating Committee of the Nebraska Society of CPAs has recommended an outstanding slate of CPAs to serve in leadership positions for the 2021-2022 fiscal year during the Society Board of Directors meeting held at the NESCPA office in Lincoln and via Zoom on Aug. 26, 2021. The membership is provided the opportunity to vote on the nominees during the Annual Meeting, which will be held via webcast on Oct. 28, 2021, in conjunction with the Fall Conference.
Since the Nebraska Society of CPAs began in 1928, member volunteers have contributed to the Society and the profession.
“Volunteering for the Nebraska Society of CPAs has given me the opportunity to influence and guide the direction of both the Society and the profession,” said Past Chairman and Nominating Committee Chairman Shari Munro of Frankel Zacharia in Omaha. “I am grateful that I have been able to give back to a profession that has afforded me so many opportunities. Every member should consider volunteering a portion of their time and energy to help advance the interests and needs of the accounting profession as a whole,” she said.
“Serving as your chairman this past year has been an honor,” stated Society Chairman Ryan Burger of Gabriel, Burger & Else, CPA, PC in Seward. “I am very proud to be a CPA. I’m also proud of what the Society does for our profession, and of what our profession does for this state. But our Society couldn’t do what we do without the continued commitment and active participation of our members,” Burger said.
“Fortunately, we have an outstanding group of highly experienced leaders who will continue to guide and move our Society in a positive direction this coming year,” he stated. “Congratulations to the following slate of candidates for the 2021-2022 Society year.”
- CHAIRMAN: Erica R. Parks, BKD LLP, Omaha
- CHAIRMAN-ELECT: Lorraine A. Egger, CyncHealth, La Vista
- DIRECTOR: Jodi M. Eckhout, Woods & Durham, Holdrege
- DIRECTOR: Megan C. Holt, Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co., Omaha
- DIRECTOR: Dr. Thomas Purcell, Creighton University, Omaha
FOR CHAIRMAN
Erica R. Parks of Omaha is a managing director in the tax practice at BKD CPAs & Advisors. A native of the Baltimore area, Parks graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1994. Shortly thereafter, she began her career in tax accounting with the Washington, D.C., office of Arthur Andersen. She then worked in the tax practice at Ernst & Young as a senior tax manager out of the McLean, Va., office. Prior to joining BKD, Parks was a tax partner at Hancock & Dana in Omaha. She is also a member of the AICPA.
Since moving to Omaha in 2003, Parks has become actively involved in the local community. She has been on the Nebraska Society of CPAs’ Taxation Committee for more than a decade, serving as chairman of the committee for the past six years and vice chairman for three years prior to that. She has served on the Society Board of Directors for the past four years. Parks currently serves on the budget committee and chairs the audit committee for the Jewish Federation of Omaha.
She and her husband Michael Parks enjoy spending time with their four children: Camden Parks, Adrianna Parks, Jack Rubin, and Ethan Rubin.
FOR CHAIRMAN-ELECT
Lorraine A. “Lori” Egger of Gretna is the chief financial officer (CFO) of CyncHealth in La Vista. Prior to her appointment as CFO, she served as CyncHealth’s chief administrative officer (CAO). A graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Egger has more than 25 years of public accounting and tax experience, specializing in tax consulting and compliance for tax-exempt organizations, including hospitals, colleges, private foundations, and public charities, among other tax-exempt organizations. She began her career at Arthur Andersen, where she spent six and a half years, before embarking on a 17-year career with KPMG LLP. Egger was a tax managing director for KPMG and belonged to KPMG’s National Development and Exempt Organizations (DEO) Group. She operated out of KPMG’s Omaha office, where she managed the firm’s Midwest DEO practice. She is a frequent speaker at industry forums, conferences, and associated meetings on exempt organization tax matters. A Society member since 2001, Egger served on the board of the Foundation of the Nebraska Society of CPAs for six years and currently serves on the Society’s Not-For-Profit Committee, where she led the committee as vice chairman and chairman for five years. She served on the Society Board of Directors from 2008-2011 and was re-elected to the Society Board, serving as secretary, in 2019. She and her husband Chris have three children: Emma, Gavin, and Ava.
FOR DIRECTOR
Jodi M. Eckhout of Miller is a CPA at Woods & Durham in Holdrege. A native of Lewiston, Eckhout earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a Masters of Accounting from Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont. She started her accounting career with Galusha, Higgins & Galusha PC and continued working for Wipfli LLP after the firms merged, spending more than seven years working in Helena, Mont. In 2015, she returned to Nebraska, where she worked for McDermott & Miller PC and KSO CPAs & Advisors in Kearney, before beginning her career with Woods & Durham. At Woods & Durham, she works in small business and individual taxation with a specialty in agricultural businesses. Eckhout graduated from the AICPA Leadership Academy in October 2020, served as treasurer for the Helena (Mont.) Area Habitat of Humanity for six years, and served on the Kearney Area Children’s Museum Board and Finance Committee from 2016 to 2019. Eckhout has been a member of the Nebraska Society of CPAs’ Taxation Committee for four years and is presently serving as vice chairman of the committee. She and her husband Evan have a daughter, Ember, and two sons, Barrett and Lane.
FOR DIRECTOR
Megan C. Holt of Omaha is the director of emerging and strategic risk management in Mutual of Omaha’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) operation. She began her career in KPMG’s audit practice and served clients in the banking, asset management, and insurance industries for six years before joining Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co. in 2016. Prior to her present role at Mutual of Omaha, she has held roles in technical accounting, internal controls, and financial risk management. She is also an active member of Mutual of Omaha’s Financial Development Program (FDP) Leadership Team, where she supports the coordination, management, and recruitment of interns and associates in a competitive finance and accounting talent development program and leadership of outreach efforts at universities. Holt received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in December 2009. She earned her CPA designation in 2010 and is actively involved in the Nebraska Society of CPAs as a member of the Accounting Careers Committee and facilitator of the accounting mentorship program. She was elected to fill a vacancy on the Society Board of Directors in January 2021 and has been nominated for a full three-year term. Holt also serves as a member of the board of directors for Live On Nebraska, an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to saving and healing lives through organ and tissue donation. She and her husband Conner have one child.
FOR DIRECTOR
Dr. Thomas “Tom” Purcell of Omaha is a professor of accounting in the Department of Accounting and Business Intelligence & Analytics at Creighton University Heider College of Business, where he teaches classes in both tax and accounting at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He twice served as chair of the department. Purcell received both a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) in accounting and a Juris Doctor from Creighton University. He received a Masters of Arts in accounting from the University of Missouri and a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has been an active Nebraska CPA since 1979. Purcell’s past leadership and volunteer experiences are extensive. On the national level, he has served as chairman of the AICPA Tax Executive Committee, the highest committee on taxation within the Institute; as chairman of the AICPA Tax Practice Responsibilities Committee; as a member of the AICPA Statements on Standards for Tax Services (SSTS) Revision Task Force; as chairman of the Model Tax Curriculum Task Force; and as a member of the AICPA Council, Strategic Planning Committee, Pre-certification Education Executive Committee, Tax Legislation and Policy Committee, Tax Accounting Committee, and Tax Policy Committee, among numerous other tax task forces. Purcell has twice before served on the Society Board of Directors; is a past chairman of the board; served on the Foundation of the Nebraska Society of CPAs Board of Trustees; and is a past chairman and member of several NESCPA committees. He is currently completing an eight-year term on the Nebraska Board of Public Accountancy, most recently serving as chairman. He also serves as chairman of the Nebraska Elementary and Secondary School Finance Authority. For more than 35 years, he served as treasurer and as a member of the Buford Foundation Board. He has also served on the New Cassel Retirement Center Board of Directors, the St. Augustine Indian Mission Board, and as president of the board of Catholic Charities in Omaha. He has facilitated strategic planning activities for numerous non-profit organizations. For more than 20 years, Purcell was the faculty advisor for Creighton’s Beta Alpha Psi chapter. He also served as the faculty advisor for Creighton’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity for more than 10 years and is a past regional director and member of the National Board of Directors of Beta Alpha Psi. In addition to academia, Purcell enjoys spending quality family time with Suzanne, his wife of 48 years, and their children and grandsons.
We also extend our sincere gratitude to Kristian H. “Kris” Rutford of Labenz & Associates in Lincoln, whose term on the Society Board of Directors is coming to an end. Rutford will continue his volunteer service on the Foundation of the Nebraska Society of CPAs Board of Trustees.
Without a doubt, leadership and involvement are the greatest contributions you can make to your Society and your profession.
Join your peers via webcast at the Annual Meeting and Fall Conference on Oct. 28-29, 2021. There is no charge to attend the Annual Meeting, which will be held on Oct. 28, 2021, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.—simply go to https://www.cpe.live/nescpa/am2021.html. This year’s Fall Conference is being offered at a discount and features numerous outstanding speakers and topics! View the details and register today at https://bit.ly/2021-Fall-Conference.
Joni Sundquist is president and executive director of the Nebraska Society of CPAs. You may contact her at (402) 476-8482 or joni@nescpa.org.
