Nominee Biographies 2025

KEVIN MATZ, Senior Partner, ArentFox Schiff, LLP, New York, N.Y. Member of the Society since 1993; member of the Manhattan/Bronx Chapter. STATEWIDE: Current President-elect on the Board of Directors. Past Vice President on the Board of Directors. Past Secretary/Treasurer and Director-at-Large on the Board of Directors. Past Vice President of the Executive Committee. Past member of the Executive Committee. Past President, President-elect, Secretary/Treasurer and member of the Foundation for Accounting Education Board of Trustees. Past Secretary/Treasurer of the Moynihan Scholarship Fund Board of Trustees. Current Chair of the FAE Curriculum Committee. Current member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Professional Liability Insurance committees. Current member of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports; Estate Planning; Family Office; International Taxation; New York, Multistate and Local Taxation; Private Equity and Venture Capital; Taxation of Individuals; Tax Division Oversight; and Trust and Estate Administration communities. Past Chair of the Trust and Estate Administration Community. Past Vice Chair of the Professional Liability Insurance Committee. Past member of the Finance and Nominating committees. Past member of the FAE Governance, Industry Oversight and Investment Management, Tax Division Oversight and Trust and Estate Administration communities. Past member of the Moynihan Scholarship Fund Fundraising Community. Past Chair and Vice Chair of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports and Estate Planning communities. Past member of the Rapid Response Subcommittee (TDOC). Past member of the Chapter and Legislative task forces.

MICHAEL R. DURANT, Founder, Aequitas Tax, New York, N.Y. Member of the Society since 2011; member of the Manhattan/Bronx Chapter. STATEWIDE: Current member of The Moynihan Scholarship Fund Board of Trustees. Current member of the Executive Committee. Past member of the Selections Subcommittee. Current member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and NextGen committees. Current member of the Trust and Estate Administration Community. Current member of the Legislative Task Force. Past Chair and Co-Chair of the NextGen Committee. Past member of the Finance Committee. Past member of the Small Firms Practice Management, and Taxation of Mergers, Acquisitions, Dispositions and Other Business Transactions communities. Past member of the Strategic Planning Task Force. Past member of the Leadership Institute. CHAPTER: Past Co-Chair of the Manhattan/Bronx Chapter NextGen Committee. Past member of the Manhattan/Bronx Chapter NextGen Committee.

JAMIE L. ATKINSON, Director, Davidson Fox & Company, LLP, Binghamton, N.Y. Member of the Society since 2012; member of the Southern Tier Chapter. STATEWIDE: Current member of the Professional Liability Insurance Committee. Past member of the NextGen Committee. CHAPTER: Past Southern Tier Chapter President, President-elect, Vice President, and Secretary/Treasurer. Past Southern Tier Chapter Executive Board member. Past Co-Chair of the Southern Tier Chapter NextGen Committee.

CLARA M. COHEN, Director, Stratify BCG, Mount Kisco, N.Y. Member of the Society since 2019; member of the Westchester Chapter. STATEWIDE: Current Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Past Vice Chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Current member of the Business Valuation and Litigation Services Community. CHAPTER: Current Director of the Westchester Chapter Executive Board. Past Co-Chair of the Westchester Chapter Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Past member of the Westchester Chapter Executive Board.

DAVID EVANGELISTA, Sole Practitioner, David Evangelista, CPA, Stony Point, N.Y. Member of the Society since 1988; member of the Rockland Chapter. STATEWIDE: Current President of The New York State Society CPA PAC. Past Vice President of the Society Board of Directors. Past President of the Foundation for Accounting Education Board of Trustees. Past member of the Executive Committee. Past Chair of the Governance Subcommittee. Past member of the Nominating Committee. Past Chair of the FAE Curriculum and Governance communities. Past member of the Finance Committee. Past member of the Awards, FAE Performance and Public Schools communities. CHAPTER: Current member of the Rockland Chapter Executive Board. Past President of the Rockland Chapter. Past Chair of the Rockland Board of Directors. Past Co-Chair of the Rockland Chapter Golf Outing and Nominating committees. Past Secretary, Treasurer and Trustee of the Mid-Hudson Chapter Executive Board. Past Chair of the Mid-Hudson Chapter Not-For-Profit/Government Committee. 

ZACHARY GORDON, Founder, Red Five, New York, N.Y. Member of the Society since 2009; member of the Manhattan/Bronx Chapter. STATEWIDE: Past Director-at-Large on the Board of Directors. Current member of the Cannabis Industry, and Digital Assets communities. Past Chair and Vice Chair of the Digital Assets Community. Past Chair of the Cannabis Industry Community. Past member of the Proactive Transformation Panel. Past member of the Banking, Leadership Institute and Technology Assurance communities.

PATRICIA A. JOHNSON, Educator/Sole Practitioner, Patricia A. Johnson, CPA, Buffalo, N.Y. Member of the Society since 1977; member of the Buffalo Chapter. STATEWIDE: Current member of the Foundation for Accounting Education Board of Trustees and the FAE Curriculum Committee. Past President of the Foundation for Accounting Education Board of Trustees. Past Director as Chapter Representative on the Board of Directors. Past Chair of the CPA Careers, Higher Education and Public Sector Oversight communities. Past member of the Awards, FAE Curriculum and FAE Scholarship Awards communities. Past member of the Nominating Committee. Current member of the Anti–Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist, Accounting Careers and Education, Business Valuation and Litigation Services, Exempt Organizations, and Not-for-Profit Organizations communities. Past member of the Membership Task Force. Past Campus Liaison. CHAPTER: Current member of the Buffalo Chapter Executive Board. Current Chair of the Buffalo Chapter Education Committee. Past Buffalo Chapter President, President-elect, Treasurer and member of the Buffalo Chapter Executive Board. Past Chair of the Buffalo Chapter Not-for-Profit Committee. 

Secretary/Treasurer
WILLIAM H. DRESNACK, Associate Professor and MBA Director, Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N.Y. Member of the Society since 1987. STATEWIDE: Current Secretary/Treasurer on the Board of Directors. Past Director-at-Large on the Board of Directors. Past Vice President and Director as Chapter Representative on the Board of Directors. Past member of the Executive Committee. Past member of the Finance and Nominating committees. Past member of the Awards, CPA Careers, FAE Campus Ambassador, Financial Accounting Standards and Members in the Field of Education communities. Past member of the COAP Statewide Advisory Board. CHAPTER: Past Rochester Chapter President and Vice President. Current member of the Rochester Chapter World of Accounting Committee. Past Chair of the Rochester Chapter World of Accounting Committee. Past member of the Rochester Chapter Cooperation with Educational Institutions Committee. Past Chair of the COAP Brockport Advisory Board. Current member of the COAP Rochester Advisory Board. Past Chair of the COAP Rochester Advisory Board.

JOHN M. IACOBELLIS, Partner, BDO USA, LLP, New York, N.Y. Member of the Society since 2020; member of the Manhattan/Bronx Chapter. STATEWIDE: Current member of the Stock Brokerage Community. Past Chair of the Stock Brokerage Community.

MARC T. MALLARE, Audit Manager, Frazier & Deeter, Atlanta, G.A. Member of the Society since 2019; member of the Buffalo Chapter. STATEWIDE: Current Chair of the NextGen Committee. Past Vice Chair of the NextGen Committee. CHAPTER: Current Buffalo Chapter President-elect. Current Chair of the Buffalo Chapter Young CPAs / NextGen. Past member of the Buffalo Chapter Executive Board.

ZHOUDI TANG, Partner, L&T Tax Services, LLC, New York, N.Y. Member of the Society since 2015; member of the Manhattan/Bronx Chapter. STATEWIDE: Current Chair of the Tax Division Oversight Community. Current member of the New York, Multistate & Local Taxation Community. Past Chair and Vice Chair of the New York, Multistate & Local Taxation and Tax Division Oversight communities. Past member of the Nominating Committee. Past member of the Awards and Leadership Institute communities.

LENORE C. SANCHEZ, Director, PKF O’Connor Davies, LLP, Woodcliff Lake, N.J. Member of the Society since 2016; member of the Rockland Chapter. STATEWIDE: Current Director as Chapter Representative on the Board of Directors. Past member of the Executive Committee. Past member of the Governance Subcommittee. Past Chair and Vice Chair of the Accounting and Review Services Community. Past member of the Accounting and Auditing Oversight, Accounting and Review Services and Awards communities. CHAPTER: Current member of the Rockland Chapter Executive Board. Past Rockland Chapter President and President-elect. Past President of the Rockland Chapter Executive Board. Past Chair of the Rockland Chapter Government/Non-Profit and TP Liaison/Public Relations/Media committees.

STATEN ISLAND
NICK TSOUKARIS, Director, Ruiz Consulting Group, Ozone Park, N.Y. Member of the Society since 1998; member of the Staten Island Chapter. STATEWIDE: Current Chair of the Accounting and Review Services Community. Past Vice Chair of the Accounting and Review Services Community. CHAPTER: Current Staten Island Chapter President. Past Staten Island Chapter Treasurer. Past member of the Staten Island Chapter Executive Board.

WESTCHESTER
VACANT