Kimberly N. Ellison-Taylor Elected to Serve as Chairman of AICPA Board of Directors

Oracle Leader Sees Great Opportunity in Technology for Profession

Kimberly Ellison-Taylor (Photo: Business Wire)

ORLANDO, Fla.--()--Kimberly N. Ellison-Taylor, global accounting strategy director for Oracle America, is the new chairman of the board of directors of the American Institute of CPAs, the world’s largest member organization representing the CPA profession.

In her acceptance speech, Ellison-Taylor talked about the importance of preparation, anticipation, accountability and “taking bold steps” to ensure a bright future for the profession.

“Being a CPA changed my life,” said Ellison-Taylor, CPA, CGMA, who recalled first being drawn to the profession as an 8-year-old student when careers were presented in her third grade class. “For many of you – particularly if you’re a first-generation CPA like me – it probably changed yours, as well.”

Ellison-Taylor, 46, was elected to the volunteer post by the AICPA governing Council, which concludes its annual fall meeting today. Eric Hansen, chief operating officer of the national CPA and advisory firm BKD, was voted in as vice chair.

Going forward, one key for the profession is pursuing “complementary and sometimes unexpected skills that drive new ways of thinking and doing,” Ellison-Taylor said. She named a number of emerging fields – Big Data, cybersecurity assurance and advisory services, for example –where this approach will pay dividends.

Ellison-Taylor’s own background in technology runs deep. At Oracle, she is responsible for driving innovation in support of the financial and professional services sectors. She also served as the company’s global practice team leader for health and human services, where she worked on cloud migration, fraud detection and prevention, customer experience and finance transformation initiatives. Prior to Oracle, Ellison-Taylor served in leadership roles at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Motorola, KPMG, and Prince George’s County, Md., Government.

Ellison-Taylor has a long history of service to the profession. She has served on the AICPA board for four years, most recently as vice chairman, was a member of the AICPA Business and Industry Executive Committee and has also worked with the AICPA Finance and Audit Committees, among other activities.

She is a past chair of the Maryland Association of CPAs, and has been recognized by Accounting Today as one of the Top 100 most influential people in the profession. She also serves as chapter president of Sigma Gamma Rho-Anne Arundel County, Md., a community service sorority.

In her speech, Ellison-Taylor emphasized the importance of CPAs giving back to the profession, particularly in coaching and challenging young talent.

“It’s our collective responsibility to open up the world of possibilities for the next generation - to recruit, retain, and advance our future leaders - our managing partners, CFOs, deans, agency leaders, and executives of the AICPA and state societies,” she said. “If you have an opportunity, please share your lessons learned, successes and also failures with our next leaders.”

Ellison-Taylor received her bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, accounting certificate from the Community College of Baltimore County, an MBA from Loyola University and a master's in information technology from Carnegie Mellon University.

She and her husband, Darius, live in Maryland. The couple have two sons, Darius II and Dominic.

About the AICPA

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is the world’s largest member association representing the accounting profession, with more than 418,000 members in 143 countries, and a history of serving the public interest since 1887. AICPA members represent many areas of practice, including business and industry, public practice, government, education and consulting.

The AICPA sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, nonprofit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination, and offers specialty credentials for CPAs who concentrate on personal financial planning; forensic accounting; business valuation; and information management and technology assurance. Through a joint venture with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), it has established the Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation which sets a new standard for global recognition of management accounting.

The AICPA maintains offices in New York, Washington, DC, Durham, NC, and Ewing, NJ.

Media representatives are invited to visit the AICPA Press Center at www.aicpa.org/press.

Contacts

American Institute of CPAs (AICPA)
Gil Nielsen, 212-596-6008
gnielsen@aicpa.org
or
Jay Hyde, 202-434-9266
jhyde@aicpa.org

Release Summary

Kimberly N. Ellison-Taylor is the new chairman of the American Institute of CPAs, the world's largest member organization representing the CPA profession.

Contacts

American Institute of CPAs (AICPA)
Gil Nielsen, 212-596-6008
gnielsen@aicpa.org
or
Jay Hyde, 202-434-9266
jhyde@aicpa.org