Not-For-Profit Conference 2025

Emina Cresswell, Moss Adams LLP (Spokane)

Emina has practiced public accounting since 2007. She’s the tax leader of the Washington region’s Not-for-Profit Practice. Emina focuses on tax compliance and consulting services for a wide range of not-for-profit clients, including public charities, private foundations, colleges and universities, credit unions, health care services, telecommunication and utility cooperatives. She also has extensive experience advising not-for-profit organizations on formation and ongoing retention of tax-exempt status, Forms 990 and 990-T, state reporting issues, payroll reporting, information reporting, tax reform implications, unrelated business income, related organizations, and taxable subsidiaries.

Jacob Ferrari, Apex Law Group LLP

Jacob Ferrari is inspired by nonprofit organizations, their impact, their leadership, and their passion. Like Jacob, Apex believes in nonprofits and, together, they work to care for their clients as much as their clients care for the community around them.

Jacob’s primary practice works with nonprofits at every growth stage which includes formation, application for tax exemption, board governance, and corporate exit plans. He prides himself on listening to his clients, counseling them through difficulties, and being a trustworthy voice in all of his clients’ endeavors.

Jeffrey Mechanick, FASB Senior Project Advisor, Financial Accounting Standards Board

Jeff Mechanick is Senior Project Advisor for Not-for-Profit Organizations at the FASB. In that role, he provides organization-wide technical and strategic advice on standard-setting activities affecting the not-for-profit sector, guides and facilitates stakeholder outreach with the sector, chairs the FASB’s Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee, and participates in some of the FASB’s broader educational activities. He is also a member of the Technical Advisory Group of the International Financial Reporting for Nonprofit Organizations initiative (#IFR4NPO).

Prior to joining the FASB staff in 2006, Jeff spent 20 years working in and with the not-for-profit sector, as the CFO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., and before that, as a Senior Manager with KPMG, LLP, in the firm’s New York office. From 1992 to 1994, he served as the National Technical Senior Manager for the firm’s Higher Education, Research, and Other Not-for-Profit Organizations (HERON) practice. He is also a past member of the AICPA’s NFP Expert Panel. Jeff received his MBA from Rutgers University and his AB from the University of Chicago, and he is a member of the AICPA and the New York State Society of CPAs. He is also an adjunct instructor in Columbia University’s MS degree program in Nonprofit Management.

Jennifer Keller, Senior Manager, Clark Nuber PS

Jen Keller, CPA is a principal in Clark Nuber’s Accounting and Consulting Services group. She has her M.A. in International Human Rights from the University of Denver and has experience working with governmental entities and international and domestic not-for-profit organizations. She has over 17 years of experience working with not-for-profits and public sector clients providing grants management, program development, budget preparation, indirect cost rate services, cost allocation plan development, internal control assessments, policy and procedure development, and systems integrations. Jen also serves as the Chair of the National Grants Management Association’s Pacific Northwest Chapter and was previously the Co-chair of the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants’ NFP conference planning committee for 2023 & 2024.

Kelly Rancourt, Audit Principal, Clark Nuber PS

Winner of a 2023-2024 WSCPA Outstanding Volunteer Leader Award. Kelly Rancourt, CPA is a Principal in Clark Nuber’s Audit and Assurance Services Group. Kelly has over 15 years of experience performing audits for not-for-profit and healthcare organizations. She also performs federal compliance audits. She is a co-author of the annual Knowledge Based Audits of Health Care Entities published by CCH, a Wolters Kluwer Company. She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), and the WSCPA. She is also a member of the AICPA Not-for-Profit Audit Risk Alert Subcommittee. She speaks locally and nationally on Not-for-Profit and Healthcare accounting topics, as wells as federal grant compliance.

Kim Eldred, Owner, Kim Eldred PLLC

Kim Eldred is the owner of her own solo CPA firm and provides two unique services as a Certified Public Accountant. She is both a Financial Accountability Coach where she has many years of experience helping individuals manage money and build wealth and an interim/fractional Chief Financial Officer where she specializes in oversight and assisting businesses with building a solid accounting team while implementing accounting best practices.

Kim is an experienced, mission driven finance professional with over 35 years of experience in diverse industries including social service, healthcare, engineering, cable tv and import/export. She has comprehensive experience in financial analysis and reporting, budgeting, accounting processes and benefits analysis as well as management experience with both for profit and not-for-profit companies. She is a key player in the financial management of programs, process improvement and negotiation.

Prior to going solo in her CPA firm, she most recently served as the Chief Financial Officer of a social service agency with a variety of community-based services in Washington state. In this position, she provided strategic financial leadership causing the growth of the company to double its revenue to $40M+. Her areas of oversight included all in-house accounting services such as payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, billing, financial analysis and reporting. She also provided contract review and negotiation as well as cost containment, cash management and benefits review and analysis.

Prior to holding this position, Kim served in accounting management positions in Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York at a large hospital clinical practice, a not-for-profit social service agency and an employee-owned engineering firm. She started her career as an accountant at a local CPA firm, a large cable tv company, a large nursing home operator and an import/export company. Early in her career, she was recognized as a capable leader who took pride in her work, understanding how great accounting services impact the company and those it serves. Through this, she quickly advanced to supervision of projects and people. This has allowed Kim to provide added value to each company for whom she has worked.

Kim holds a Master of Accounting from Old Dominion University and a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Cedarville University. In her spare time, Kim enjoys camping and playing the piano and enjoying time with her husband, their three sons, two daughters-in-law and four grandchildren.

Kimberly Lohr, Principal, Delap LLP

Kim specializes in providing state and local taxation advisory and compliance services to her clients. With more than 26 years of experience in state and local tax, she serves a diverse client base in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, financial institutions, transportation, and services to name a few. Kim focuses on multi-state income and franchise tax matters such as nexus, state tax base modifications, apportionment of income, business/non-business income, unitary taxation, gross receipt taxes, allocation of partnership items, state filing options, audit defense and voluntary disclosures. In addition to recommending strategies to minimize clients’ state and local tax liabilities, Kim consults on all aspects of state income tax, including participating in mergers and acquisition transactions, due diligence reviews, representation on state tax controversy matters, and assisting companies with state tax compliance and state tax accrual reviews. Prior to joining Delap, Kim was a managing director at BDO USA LLP’s state and local tax practice in Seattle. She has also worked for several multi-national companies, including several Fortune 500 companies, a small and mid-sized accounting firm, and a state tax authority. Outside the office, Kim enjoys spending time with her family and traveling, especially to the Disney parks.

Ryan Herzog, School of Bus. Admin., Program Coord., Gonzaga University

Professor Herzog is an Associate Professor of Economics at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. He was born in Tacoma, Washington and grew up in Gig Harbor, Washington. He attended Pacific Lutheran University and graduated with a B.A. in Economics with minors in Mathematics and Business. After a brief stint at Russell/Mellon (Russell Investment) he went on to graduate school at the University of Oregon. He completed his doctorate in 2009 with a focus in International Capital Mobility, Econometrics, and International Finance. Professor Herzog’s academic interest include international capital flows, monetary policy, and regional business cycles. At Gonzaga he has served on a number of committees including faculty compensation (chair), retirement benefits, and university assessment (chair). He is a member of the Audit Committee at Numerica Credit Union.

Sonjia Barker, Shareholder, State and Local Tax, Perkins & Co PC

Adept at simplifying daunting tax situations, Sonjia draws on her Big 4 accounting firm and Washington Department of Revenue experiences to deliver actionable solutions to clients. With her impressive dossier and huge heart for helping others, she’s a powerhouse on any tax team and the leader of our SALT practice.

A military kid, Sonjia grew up in Illinois and California but now calls the beautiful Kitsap Peninsula in Washington state her home. Poised between Seattle and the Olympic National Forest, the area is the perfect playground for Sonjia’s outdoorsy family. An avid camper, Sonjia is on a quest to visit all the country’s national parks, though none may top her favorite—the Badlands.

When she’s not sleeping under the stars, you might find Sonjia enjoying a metal concert with thousands of her best friends. She’s been a huge Metallica fan since she was 12 and is surprised as anybody that she hasn’t outgrown her punk rock phase.

Troy Rector, Shareholder, Clark Nuber PS

Troy Rector, CPA, CGMA is a shareholder in Clark Nuber’s Public Sector Group, where he has dedicated his career to serving tax exempt organizations. Troy works with governmental entities and not-for-profit organizations to understand their unique issues, enabling him to provide technical advice that is both specific to their organization and also clear and concise. He has spent his career providing audit advisory services to governmental organizations, including those administering Federal funds. Troy regularly speaks at conferences, including the National Grant Management Association’s Annual Grants Conference and the AICPA National Governmental Not-For Profit Program and AICPA National Not-For Profit Conference. Troy resides in Edmonds, Washington with his wife and identical twin, UW Husky daughters.