Not-for-Profit Conference

Eve Borenstein, JD.

Law Practice: From 1989 through April 2019, Eve operated her own law firm, a national tax and compliance practice dedicated to the nonprofit sector, BAM Law Office LLC. In May 2019 she joined she Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg, LLP's exempt organizations group as Of Counsel (Harmon Curran is a Washington, DC firm, who, as with Eve's preceding firm, represents nonprofits throughout the nation). For the entirety of the past 32+ years, Eve has practiced exclusively with nonprofit organizations and their advisors, assisting them with tax-exemption qualification; overall exempt organization (EO) tax planning needs; statutory compliance outside of the IRS (state law mandates, federal grant reporting obligations, addressing/correcting improper insider transactions, etc.); and best management practices. At the turn of the millennium, Eve had represented more than 1,100 EOs from throughout the country before the IRS on everything from audit examinations to status issues, and from ruling requests (including PLRs and TAMs) to exemption qualification challenges including appeals. 

Teaching: In 1990, when the Form 990 was expanded to five pages (with one additional Schedule required of 501(c)(3) organizations), Eve's 990 teaching career began. Through what became a separate teaching/educational consultancy, Eve Rose Borenstein, LLC, Eve works with advisors and nonprofits to educate them on EO mandates overall. She is nationally recognized for both her Form 990 expertise and 990 preparation courses (her flagship and companion full-day Form 990 courses were licensed to the AICPA in 2013-2019; as of 2020, Eve revamped that material into 14 webinars, which in total provide 33 CPE hours (the webinars are available through CPACrossings and its partners, which include many State CPA societies). 

Professional Committee Involvement and Commitment to Sector Compliance: Eve's familiarity with federal EO tax precepts and other arenas of nonprofit compliance has been further informed by her wide-ranging professional committee involvement and intersection with IRS officials. For decades Eve has been an active participant in the American Bar Association's Tax Section EO Committee and in the last decade she has been the ABA-EO Committee's liaison to the AICPA's EO Tax Resource Panel, as well as Co-Chair of the TEGE Exempt Organizations Council's TIC-TAQ Committee which brings EO tax advisors into colloquy with the IRS EO Director and Chief Counsel (EEE) officials three times a year. In these roles, Eve continually champions "compliance without complexity," tirelessly working to bring feedback to the IRS on exempt organization forms, procedural issues, and the need for improved guidance and information. Her professional goal has always been to ensure that "NPOs (have the tools to) do it right the first time!"

Honors: Eve testified in July 2012 before the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight on the IRS' oversight and use of the Form 990 (she was there introduced by the Chair as the "Queen of the 990", a moniker which has stuck!) She was honored to be the recipient of the ABA Business Law Section's 2018 Outstanding Nonprofit Lawyer Award (Outside Counsel).  

Personal: Eve is a NJ ex-pat (which is evident from how fast she talks), and has resided in Minneapolis, Minnesota since her law school years. Close by are her two adult children, their partners, and one grandchild, along with Eve's wonderful (and now-legal spouse), who is a true Minnesotan and great source of balance for her!

(1/18/22)

Rene' brings over 25 years of experience as an accomplished finance and accounting senior manager focused on working with non-profit organizations, small for-profit businesses, and real estate organizations. Rene' has worked in the non-profit field for over 15 years ensuring the integrity of the organizations books and financial stability. Currently, Rene' works at the Portland Art Museum as the Controller. Rene has been instrumental in implementing significant projects at organizations he has worked at, such as simple to complex software implementations, creating new and innovative processes, automating accounting processes, and financial analysis of various mergers and acquisitions.     

Rene' is a licensed CPA in Oregon and holds a Bachelor in Business Administration in Accounting from Texas Tech University and an MBA in Management & Strategy from Western Governors University. He also holds the CGMA designation and is a member of the AICPA and the Oregon Society of CPA's.

(12/8/21)

Ahava Goldman, CPA, is an Associate Director with the Audit and Attest Standards team at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (Association). Ahava is the staff liaison for the AICPA Auditing Standards Board and supports their standard-setting activities. Previously, Ms. Goldman was a senior manager on the AICPA Examinations Team where she was responsible for the content and development of all sections of the Uniform CPA Examination. Before joining the AICPA, she worked in public accounting at both local and national firms. She graduated magna cum laude from Stern College of Yeshiva University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.

(11/19/20)

Todd Kimball is a Partner with CFO Selections, serving as the Practice Manager for the Oregon & Southwest Washington non-profit sector.

Todd is also a senior not-for-profit consultant with CFO Selections, providing financial and accounting expertise to local nonprofit companies.  He began his career with the Oregon Audits Division, auditing Oregon's government agencies. Todd then transitioned to Moss Adams primarily performing audits for not-for-profit and governmental clients.  Most recently, he was the Assistant Controller at Mercy Corps, where he helped revamp the accounting department top to bottom, streamlining processes, improving the internal control environment, and helped develop a global accounting system.  With CFO Selections, Todd's been helping nonprofits in social services, associations, environmental impact, and several other niches.

Todd is an Oregon state CPA and holds a BA in Accounting and Finance from George Fox University. He enjoys traveling to faraway places, skiing on snow and water, and grilling in the backyard.

(12/27/21)

Andrew Prather, CPA is an audit shareholder at Clark Nuber P.S. He is a leader in the firm's Not-for-Profit Services Group and provides a wide range of not-for-profit organizations with audit and consulting services.  

Andrew is a current member of the AICPA's Auditing Standards Board. He recently served as chair of the planning committee for the AICPA's Not-for-Profit Industry Conference. He previously was a member of the FASB's Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee, the AICPA's Not-for-Profit Expert Panel and also served on the AICPA's Not-for-Profit Entities Audit & Accounting Guide Revision Task Force. Andrew has served as the chair of the Washington Society of CPA's (WSCPA) Not-for-Profit Committee and co-chair of the WSCPA Not-for-Profit Conference. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, seminars, and webcasts for the AICPA, state CPA societies, and industry groups.  

Andrew also serves as his firm's Quality Control Director overseeing the firm's audit quality assurance program and serving as a technical resource to the firm's professional staff.

(11/19/21)

David Quisenberry manages information security at Castlight Health, a publicly traded healthcare navigation platform dedicated to make it as easy as humanly possible for individuals to navigate the healthcare system. David's teams are responsible for a wide range of security activities including cloud security, application security, server security, and security incident response. He is an (ISC) Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional, a Portland Business Journal 40-under-40, and the winner of DEF CON 29's Next Top Threat Model competition. He serves as the Portland Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) chapter president responsible for monthly application security learning sessions, annual training days, and is one of the co-founders of AppSec Pacific Northwest, a collaborative event with the OWASP Chapters of the US and Canadian Pacific Northwest.

(12/1/21)

Amy Robinson represents public and private employers throughout Washington, Oregon, and Alaska in a broad range of workplace-related issues. She provides experienced counsel on compliance challenges and disputes covering the entire employment life cycle from hiring to separation, including employee classification, wage and hour issues, employee leaves and protected activities, disability and accommodation, and discrimination, retaliation, and harassment prevention. Amy is also adept at guiding employers through policy and handbook development, as well as drafting, negotiating, and enforcing employment-related contracts, such as noncompete, nonsolicitation, and nondisclosure agreements.

Amy's clients range from small businesses with a single location to large employers with multiple locations in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, and she particularly enjoys the strategic and proactive approach that a new or growing organization requires. Amy's clients include construction companies and specialty contractors; health care organizations and public hospital districts; accounting firms, law firms, and medical and other professional practices; manufacturing businesses; mining companies; charitable organizations and nonprofits; restaurants and hospitality-related businesses; and family-owned businesses and start-ups. With a range of business cultures and industries to work with, Amy also knows how to tailor her approach and communication style in order to collaborate effectively with business owners, managers, and human resource professionals, as well as decision-making bodies such as executive teams, nonprofit boards, and commissions.

Amy serves as the firm's Alaska representative for Employment Law Alliance, a national and international alliance of employment and labor attorneys.

In addition to direct representation, Amy regularly performs outside and third-party investigations into a wide range of workplace-related complaints and concerns. She is also a frequent speaker and presenter to human resources professionals, managers and employees, clients, and trade and industry groups.

Before her legal career, Amy worked as a human resources professional and believes this foundation has provided her with a unique and keen awareness of the competing pressures, workplace dynamics, and practical challenges that her clients face every day. Unrelated to her practice of law, she holds a Senior Certified Professional (SHRM – SCP) credential from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), as well as a Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR) from the HR Certifications Institute.

(1/20/22)

Valerie Sasaki is a partner with Samuels Yoelin Kantor LLP where she chairs the Taxation Practice. She focuses her practice on resolving complex tax matters for clients with state and federal revenue agencies. She regularly speaks and writes on tax topics of interest to her. Ms. Sasaki is a member of the Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Utah State Bars.  She regularly appears on behalf of clients in US Tax Court and the Oregon Tax Court.

She is a "Big-4" accounting alumna who worked as a State and Local Tax Manager for KPMG LLP as well as with the Miller Nash LLP tax department.  Valerie has served as Chair of Portland Tax Forum, The Oregon State Bar Taxation Section, and the Oregon State Bar Business Law Section.  Valerie has served on the laws committee of the Oregon State Bar's Taxation Section since 2003. She is now involved in leading an Oregon Laws Commission Project to modernize and restate Oregon's Limited Liability Company Act.  

Valerie serves and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Taxation with: Portland State University's Masters in Tax Program; Northwestern School of Law, Lewis & Clark College;  Portland Community College; and the University of Oregon School of Law. She is a fellow of the American College of Taxation and has been recognized as an outstanding tax attorney by the SuperLawyers and Best Lawyers in America organizations. 

Valerie received her BA degree, magna cum laude, from Tulane University, earned her JD degree from University of Oregon School of Law and her LLM in Taxation from the University of Washington School of Law.

(7/13/21)

Marc Smiley is the Principal with Solid Ground Consulting and has been a consultant in Oregon for more 30 years. His consulting practice specializes in organizational development, strategic planning and fundraising. He has worked extensively with nonprofit and public organizations nationally, involved in a spectrum of issues including land and river conservation, energy conservation, affordable housing, historic preservation and human services.  Marc has held leadership roles with organizations such as Columbia Land Trust, Online Networking for the Environment Northwest (ONE/Northwest, now Groundwire), and REACH Community Development. He has served as the Executive Director for the Oregon Natural Resources Council (now Oregon Wild) and the Yakima Greenway Foundation. Marc is also an adjunct professor at the Institute for Nonprofit Management at Portland State University's Hatfield School of Government.

(11/19/21)

Brian Sniffen's practice focuses on intellectual property, privacy, and business transactions. He helps clients obtain and enforce valuable intellectual property rights, comply with privacy laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA), respond to data-security incidents, form and maintain corporate entities, and negotiate a wide variety of contracts. He is a regular speaker on intellectual property and privacy topics and provides private trainings and speaking engagements for many of his clients.

Brian's business-focused and pragmatic approach is informed by the years he spent as a litigator early in his career: he understands, for example, how seemingly minor changes to a contract can significantly impact a client's rights and leverage if a dispute arises.

Brian grew up in southern Oregon and attended the University of Washington and Gonzaga University School of Law, where he graduated first in his class. During law school, he clerked at global law firm K&L Gates before joining Miller Nash in Portland. Brian practiced at Miller Nash for nearly 10 years – and was named partner – before joining Wildwood.

Brian has been recognized by Oregon SuperLawyers as a Rising Star for the past six years and was a member of the Portland Business Alliance's Leadership Portland Class of 2015. In his free time, Brian loves being active and outdoors with family and friends — and then recovering with a cold microbrew. You can find him hiking and running on roads and trails around Oregon and Washington.

(11/22/21)

Vega Tom, MBA brings fourteen years of non-profit accounting, finance, and strategic leadership experience.  After starting her career as a construction bookkeeper and office manager, she quickly shifted gears to pursue non-profit work. Driven by a passion for social justice and equity, she transitioned to be the bookkeeper and human resource coordinator for the Hospice of Washington County.

Expanding her leadership skills and experiences with mission driven staff, Vega grew in her roles to become Director of Finance for a non-profit daycare center and on to Chief Operating Officer of a women's empowerment organization called World Pulse. She also worked with 211info as CFO and the Native American Youth and Family Center as Director of Finance. Additionally, she has experience providing consulting services to small businesses and non-profits on financial systems, budgeting, human resources, and strategic planning.

Vega holds a Political Science degree from Reed College, and an MBA from the University of Portland, with a focus on finance and sustainability. She enjoys running, drawing, dancing, and playing the saw.

(11/19/21)

Amanda Ward is the partner in charge of Plante Moran's single audit technical practice. In this role, she focuses on quality control, provides technical consultations to engagement teams, develops and issues firm guidance on emerging topics, and oversees training and development. Because of her single audit expertise, Amanda speaks on this topic at conferences sponsored by the AICPA, state CPA societies, and various industry groups. Amanda is a member of the AICPA's Governmental Audit Quality Center executive committee and serves on the planning committee for the AICPA Not For Profit Conference.

(12/1/20)