Rochester Welcomes Their New Officers to the Helm

Derek Duncan, Rochester President
Derek Duncan, president of the Rochester Chapter, is a senior accountant at Bonn Shortsleeve and Gray LLP. He currently serves on the Rochester Chapter Executive Board and in the past has served as chair of the Rochester Chapter Young CPAs Committee and on the COAP Brockport Advisory Board.

Vice President Cheryl Yawman
Cheryl Lynn Yawman has been active on the Board of the Rochester Chapter for the last 10 years, and currently serves as vice president.

She received her Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting from St. John Fisher College and joined Deloitte upon graduation. After Deloitte, Cheryl worked in industry for two years with May Department Stores, serving in Corporate Audit and Accounting Manager roles for the Sibley’s stores.

She has spent the last 15 years as an executive recruiter specializing in placing accounting and finance professionals. Cheryl will be joining Cochran, Cochran & Yale in September, after 14 years of experience in the recruiting industry with Robert Half International.

Cheryl is very active in the community as well, currently serving on the boards of the Institute of Management Accountants, St. John Fisher College Accounting and Finance Department, and Sojourner House, in addition to her work with the NYSSCPA.
Cheryl and her husband, Phil, live in Fairport, N.Y., with their two daughters.

President Elect Scott M. Adair
Scott M. Adair was appointed Controller of the County of Monroe in August 2004, after spending 16 years in public accounting.

A member of the Society since 2001, he currently serves as president-elect of the Rochester Chapter. Scott also serves as a member of the NYSSCPA committee on Government Accounting and Auditing. Additionally, he serves as assistant treasurer and a board member of the Baden Street Settlement House, as well as a member of the Rochester Convention Center Management Corporation, Rush-Henrietta Central School District’s Budget Advisory Council, New York State’s Government Finance Officers’ Association Western Council, Government Finance Officers’ Association Special Review Committee and the Association of School Business Officials Special Review Committee. Scott received his bachelor’s of science degree in accounting from the State University of New York at Geneseo.

Secretary Mark Forte
Mark Forte is currently working as a senior accountant with the CPA firm of Bernardi & Russo CPAs, LLP, where he prepares individual and corporate tax returns and does consulting related to computerized accounting systems. 

Mark graduated in 1991 from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration–Accounting. He began doing accounting in the private sector in June 1988, before being employed by a sole practitioner in January 1996. He received his CPA license in November 2003.  He is currently a member of the AICPA, the NYSSCPA and the RIT College of Business Alumni Association.  For the past two years, he has served as the secretary of the Rochester Chapter. He has also served as a chair/committee member of the Rochester Chapter’s Technology Committee for the past four years.
 
Treasurer Michelle Priestley
Michelle Priestley joined Bonn Shortsleeve and Gray LLP in 2001, after graduating from SUNY-Brockport.

As a senior accountant, Michelle is responsible for business and individual tax preparation as well as accounting and attest services.