The Annual Chapter Election was held via proxy and in person at the March 13th meeting, to vote on the Officers & Board of Governors candidates presented in 2007.  The following candidates were elected by the majority of the membership voting; they will assume the office on June 1, 2007.

Officers:

President 2007-2008

Kathy Strond-Cordova

Kathy received a BS in Accounting & Economics from The City University of New York (Brooklyn College) and an MS in Management Information Systems from New York University.   Kathy been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors since 1984. 

She served as President of the New York City Chapter in 1990.

Kathy currently serves as a member of the Board of Governors for the Denver Chapter since 2006. Kathy is currently on the planning committee for the Rocky Mountain Area Conference for Finance and Accounting Professionals– serving as Vice President of Publicity.  Kathy is also a member of the Denver Chapter of Financial Executives International (FEI).  She served on the SEC Committee addressing the process and expense encountered by small public companies complying with Sarbanes-Oxley.

Kathy has more than 16 years of internal audit experience and 2 years of Public Accounting experience as an MIS Consultant for Touche Ross.   Currently, she is the President of her own consulting business, KSC Consulting,  that provides Audit, Compliance, and Risk Advisory Services.  Prior to establishing her own organization, Kathy was the General Auditor for StarTek, Inc., where she attained Sarbanes-Oxley compliance in 6 weeks, The Chief Audit Executive for American Express Company from 1989-1994, and an Internal Auditor for Mobil Oil Corporation.  In addition to being an MIS Consultant for Touche Ross, Kathy established the IT Audit function for Avon Products and Combustion Engineering in the 1980’s.

 

President Elect 2008-2009

Olga Feldman, CPA, CIA

Olga received a BA in Business Administration from Boston University.  She is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).  Olga has been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors since 1998.

For the past two years, Olga has served on the planning committee for the Rocky Mountain Area Conference for Finance and Accounting Professionals.

Olga has over 8 years of internal audit experience and is currently an Internal Audit Manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.  As a Manager in the Internal Audit practice, Olga's focus has been to provide client management with an independent assessment of business risk, internal controls, and the efficiency/adequacy of business processes.  Olga has very strong project management skills and has worked on several long term complicated projects.

 

Secretary 2007-2008

Tammy O’Keefe

Tammy graduated from the University of Wyoming with a BS in Accounting, in May 1979.  She obtained an MBA through Regis University in May 1986.  She is a Certified Internal Auditor and has been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors for over 15 years.

Tammy has been a volunteer for the Denver Chapter of the IIA since 1999 and has served as the Secretary for the Chapter since 2001.

Tammy has worked in a number of industries, concentrating in Oil & Gas over the past 20 years, in a number of capacities, with over 10 years in Internal Auditing experience.

 

Treasurer 2007-2008

Zac Brgoch

Mr. Brgoch has 7 years of auditing and accounting experience, including 2 years external and 2 years internal audit.  During this time, he has performed financial and operational audits, and worked closely with external auditors during testing procedures related to Sarbanes Oxley.

Currently, he is the Internal Audit Manager for Archstone-Smith Trust.  Archstone-Smith is engaged in the operation, development, redevelopment, acquisition, and long-term ownership of apartment communities throughout the U.S.

Prior to joining the internal audit group at Archstone-Smith, Mr. Brgoch was the Senior of Joint Venture Accounting at Archstone-Smith.  He also worked for two years as an external auditor for Deloitte & Touche, LLP.

Zachry received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting at The University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, CO.

He is a member of The Institute of Internal Auditors, Denver Chapter and is currently serving as the Treasurer for the 2006-2007 chapter year.

 

Treasurer Elect 2008-2009

Theavy Sok

Theavy received a BA in Business Management from The Metropolitan State College of Denver, Master Science in Information Technology Data Warehousing Business Intelligence and Master of Science in Accountancy from Daniels College of Business of Denver University.  She is working on getting a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and Certified Public Accountant (CPA).   Theavy has been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors since 2005.

Theavy is currently a staff auditor at Echostar Satellite L.L.C.

 

Vice President of Education 2007-2008

Jamie Kilcoyne

Jamie is the Principal of K Financial, a CPA firm specializing in audit and business advisory services.  Jamie is in charge of the firm’s external and internal audit practices and also provides technical accounting services to many of K Financial’s clients.  Prior to founding K Financial in 2003, Jamie was a Senior Audit Manager at KPMG.  He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP).  He currently serves as the President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Insurance Accounting and Systems Association and the Vice President of Education of the Denver Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors.  Jamie is also the Chairman of the Board of the K Financial Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides meals, clothing and consultation to the homeless in Denver, Colorado and serves on the finance committee of St. Louis Catholic Church. Jamie holds a bachelor of science from Ohio University, where he majored in accounting and business law.

 

Vice President of Education Elect 2008-2009

Evelyn Law

Evelyn Law graduated with honors, earning a BA and BS from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas.  She holds CPA certificates from Colorado, California, and Kansas.  She has been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors since 1995.  For the past two years, she served on the Programs and Seminars Committee.  She is also a long-time member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Colorado Society of CPAs.

Evelyn has 15 years experience in internal auditing.  She worked at the Denver Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank’s Tenth District for nine years as the quality assurance reviewer, a trainer, and a supervisor with staff in both the Kansas City and Denver offices.

Prior to the Fed, Evelyn worked for the Auditor/Controller’s Office of Orange County, California, for 11 years.  She was an accounting supervisor for five years and an internal audit manager for six years.

Currently, Evelyn is a partner in the public accounting firm of Bondi & Co. LLC in Englewood, Colorado.  She joined the firm in March 2005.  Her previous experience also includes working for local public accounting firms in Kansas and California for five years.

 

Vice President of Member Services 2007-2008

Michael Schmitz

Michael received a BS in Business Administration & Finance from Southwest Minnesota State University.  Michael has been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors since 2001.

Michael has more than 6 years of internal audit experience.   Currently, he is the Manager of Risk Management Services (i.e. Internal Audit) at Ehrhardt, Keefe, Steiner, & Hottman, PC (EKS&H). EKS&H is the largest Colorado-based accounting and business advisory firm.  EKS&H provides typical accounting services as well as business advisory, internal audit, and Sarbanes Oxley documentation and testing services.  Prior to joining EKS&H in 2005, Michael was a Project Manger of Internal Audit for Sprint-Nextel.

 

Vice President of Member Services Elect 2008-2009

Don Herhold, CIA, CPA

Don Herhold has over 23 years of internal auditing experience in the banking, cable television, higher education, and healthcare industries.  He is currently the Senior Manager of Internal Audit at Exempla Healthcare.

Don has undergraduate degrees in Accounting and Finance from the University of Colorado in Boulder and an MBA in Finance from the University of Denver.  He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Internal Auditor.  Don has been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors since 1990. 

 

Vice President of Communications 2007-2008

Irene B. Wong, CISA

In 2006, Irene joined Baxa Corporation as the Internal Audit Director of this privately held medical device manufacturing company based in Englewood, Colorado. With her primary responsibility of developing an internal audit function and driving the strategic direction of Baxa’s risk management program, her current efforts are focused on implementing a company wide Sarbanes Oxley compliance program.

Prior to joining Baxa, Irene served as an Internal Audit Manager at TeleTech Holdings, a global $1B+ provider of customer management and business process outsourcing solutions. Irene has also served in Motorola’s internal audit organization during the Company’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) transformation where she was responsible for identifying and assessing risk and exposure across Motorola businesses and technical environments.

Irene holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Accounting with a specialty in Information Systems from the University of Denver.  She is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and was Six Sigma trained during her tenure at Motorola.

 

Vice President of Academic Relations 2007-2008

Robert J. Nieschwietz, PhD

Robert J. Nieschwietz, an Assistant Professor of Accounting at the University of Colorado at Denver, received his Ph.D. in Accountancy from Arizona State University in 2001.  Robert has also received a BA and MS in Accounting from Texas A&M University in 1991 and 1996, respectively.

Research interests include auditor independence, fraud, and the impact of technology on decision making and auditing.  His research has been published in various journals including the Journal of Accounting Literature, the International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, the International Journal of Auditing, and the Journal of Accounting Education.

Prior to entering academia, Robert was employed by KPMG.  He is currently a member of the American Accounting Association and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.  He has been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors since 2006, at which time he began his involvement in with academic relations.  Robert also serves as the faculty advisor for the University of Colorado at Denver’s chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma, a National Honor Society for Business Students.

 

Board of Governors

Bradley J. Walcher, Sr.

Bradley J. Walcher, Sr., CPA, CISA, CFE, CITP, and Accredited in Quality Assurance and Validation.  Brad received his BSBA from the University of Colorado in 1978.  He has been actively involved in the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and the IIA Denver Chapter as a past member of the Board of Governors for approximately 20 years, Chairman (Twice), President, Treasurer, Secretary and various sub-committees.  While servicing as an officer, the Chapter has received the Gold Chapter award.  Brad has been an IIA member for almost 25 years and CAE for approximately 20 years.  He created the Chapter QAR process for companies to shared review services within the Chapter, thus supporting the new professional standards. 

He is currently Senior Vice President for Audit/Consulting at GCO Education Loan Funding a multiple billion dollar student loan provider and servicer.  Brad was formerly Managing Director of Audit Servicing for 14 years at Nelnet, the second largest student loan servicer in the United States and Canada.  Prior to Nelnet, Brad spent 11 years in banking auditing and 3 years in public accounting.  His audit background includes student loans, regulatory compliance, mortgage loans, mortgage backed securities, hedging, health care, security, information systems, privacy, disaster recovery, records management, fraud, SOX 404, etc. 

Brad is actively involved now or in the past with guess speaking for the graduate level auditing classes at the University of Colorado, Junior Achievement, community, and church.

While continuing to promote the profession, Brad wants to continue servicing the Chapter to ensure continued Gold Chapter awards and try to reach the Platinum Chapter award in the near future.

 

G. Ron Lester

G. Ron Lester is the Director of Internal Audit for DCT Industrial Trust.  DCT Industrial Trust is a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) specializing in the ownership, acquisition, development and management of bulk distribution and light industrial properties located in 24 of the highest volume distribution markets in the U.S. as well as Mexico.

Prior to joining DCT, Ron held positions as VP of Internal Audit and Group Vice President of Human Resources for Archstone-Smith, a Denver based multi-family REIT. Prior to Archstone-Smith, Ron was a senior manager in the Enterprise Risk Services group of Deloitte & Touche in San Jose, California.  In this role, he was responsible for delivering a full range of internal audit services to a variety of clients in Silicon Valley.   Ron has over twenty years of experience in public accounting and internal auditing.

Ron is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) registered in Arkansas.  He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting with Cum Laude honors at Louisiana Tech University.  He has been active in several community organizations, both as a board member and performer in musical theater and choral groups.

He is a member of The Institute of Internal Auditors, Denver Chapter.  Ron was previously active in the El Paso Chapter, serving as Chapter President and on the Board of Governors. He has served as a volunteer instructor for The IIA for over 10 years and has taught numerous courses for both the publicly offered seminars and on-site programs. He is a Distinguished Faculty Member of The IIA.

 

Felix E. Braggs

Felix Braggs is the Vice President and General Auditor for DCP Midstream, a 50/50 venture between ConocoPhillips and Spectra Energy.  He has nearly 26 years of experience in accounting and finance within the energy industry.  Felix was appointed to his current position in November 2005 and was charged with the start-up of a new internal audit function at DCP Midstream.  He also has responsibility for ethics and trading operations compliance.

Felix’s professional career began in 1981 when he joined the former Conoco, Inc. in Ponca City, Oklahoma, after receiving his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Management from Langston University.  Prior to the DCP Midstream position, he had responsibility for ConocoPhillips’ global upstream internal audit activities and he managed the Company’s global compliance project for Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404.  Other experiences at ConocoPhillips included internal audit management for company operations in Asia, Africa, Australia, Middle East, and corporate staff organizations; Manager for Functional Excellence related to personnel processes for the Finance organization; Executive Assistant to the Chief Financial Officer; and Finance Manager for Downstream Operations in the Mid-Continent U. S.

Other experiences over the course of his career have included roles in accounting policy, corporate governance, SEC reporting, accounting systems, and general accounting.

Felix is “relatively new” to the Denver area and considers the Denver IIA Chapter Board of Governors a great opportunity to share his professional experiences in a way that fosters excellence within our profession.

 

Don Mapes, CIA, CISA

Don received a BSBA in Accounting from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and an MBA in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix.  He is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA).   Don has been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors since 1994 as well as being a member of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association.

Don currently serves as the Webmaster for the Chapter.  He has served in this capacity since 2004. He has served as chapter president for two years, also as vice president of education, hospitality committee and chairman of the programs and seminars committee.

Don has more than 13 years of internal audit experience.  Currently, he is the Internal Audit Director for Venoco, Inc., a Denver-based Oil and Gas Production firm.  Prior to joining Venoco, Inc. in 2006, Don was audit manager for Western Gas Resources, and an audit consultant for Xcel Energy.  He has also performed internal auditing at two large insurance companies.