PKF O’Connor Davies Announces 2023 Partner and Director Promotions
The organization elevates key team members to leadership positions
PKF O’Connor Davies, one of the nation’s largest accounting, tax and advisory practices, today announced the promotion of 20 employees to leadership positions within the organization. Evgenia Belyavskaya, Anthony Branco, Donald Butler, Derek DeCerbo, Megan C. Heegan, Matthew Jones, John P. Kavanaugh, Kevin J. Keane, Jr., Paul Kruger, Kathleen A. Mills, Jay T. Monaghan, Rekha Nambiar, Patrick R. O’Beirne, Katherine M. Patnaude, Kerry A. Serritella and Samantha Wolf have each been promoted to the role of Partner. Darren Bushey, Ravi Melwani, Nicholas Rochedieu and James J. Salerno have each been promoted to the role of Director. This year’s cohort of promoted team members represents one of the largest PKF O’Connor Davies has announced to date.
“This year’s group of newly promoted team members consists of standout leaders and top-notch professionals whose impact continues to be felt across the organization,” said Kevin J. Keane, Executive Chairman at PKF O’Connor Davies. “I congratulate each of them on this next step in their careers, and look forward to seeing the great work these individuals will accomplish.”
Evgenia Belyavskaya brings 15 years of experience to her work with multinational businesses and high-net-worth individuals. She provides tax compliance and advisory services on cross-border transactions, corporate international restructuring, U.S. entity formation and dissolution issues, global mobility issues and expatriate tax assistance. She has worked with numerous clients and PKF colleagues around the world on transfer pricing issues and U.S. nexus tax regulations. She spearheads PKF O’Connor Davies’ efforts to grow its client base in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Eastern European and Asian countries.
Anthony Branco has over 18 years of auditing experience and specializes in serving public sector entities, including public school systems, colleges, state authorities, municipalities and counties. Skilled in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and managerial practices and procedures, he plans and executes client engagements, including financial analysis and reporting, auditing and internal controls.
Donald Butler works in the Commercial Business Group and Employee Benefit Plan practice areas, where he brings over 11 years of experience in public accounting. He specializes in providing closely held businesses with financial statement assurance services, tax advisory services and a variety of consulting services. His experience includes complex revenue recognition, lease accounting, business acquisitions, stock-based compensation, internal controls and systems analysis, as well as the traditional audited and reviewed financial statements. As an Employee Benefit Plan service team leader, he assists clients with identifying and resolving areas of noncompliance, helping them strengthen the administration of their employee benefit plans.
Derek DeCerbo has more than 15 years of experience providing tax, accounting, auditing and business advisory services. His client base is comprised of high-net-worth individuals, not-for-profit entities and privately held companies operating in a wide variety of industries, including wholesale and retail distribution, manufacturing, construction, real estate holding and management and professional services.
Megan C. Heegan has more than 18 years of experience in public accounting specializing in providing tax advisory and compliance services to high-net-worth individuals and their families. She works closely with her clients and their advisors to provide comprehensive tax planning services that ensure their financial and tax goals are met. Actively involved in the organization’s recruiting and career advisor programs, she is a valued mentor to her colleagues. She is also an instructor in PKF O’Connor Davies’ continuing professional education program.
Matthew Jones has over 14 years of public accounting experience and currently serves as a member of the Real Estate practice area. He provides auditing, tax and financial reporting services to a diverse group of clients, from family-owned businesses to institutional entities, across all property types, including multi-use, hotel, commercial and retail. He also works within the Commercial Business practice area, where he provides audit, accounting and transaction advisory services to home healthcare companies, not-for-profit organizations and service companies. In addition, he is a member of the Employee Benefit Plan service team.
John P. Kavanaugh has more than 10 years of experience providing tax compliance and consulting services to clients in the financial services industry. His clients include hedge funds, private equity firms, family offices and high-net-worth individuals. His consulting services have included tax structuring, tax planning strategies, the review of operating agreements and waterfall allocations. He is actively involved in PKF O’Connor Davies’ Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency practice area, where he primarily works with cryptocurrency miners, venture capital funds and traders. He is also a frequent instructor in the organization’s continuing professional education program.
Kevin J. Keane, Jr. brings over 10 years of public accounting experience, including substantial experience with alternative investments, to his work with the Financial Services practice area. He serves a broad array of clients, including broker-dealers, introducing commodities brokers, asset managers, hedge funds, private equity funds, banks and management companies. His work also encompasses active roles in the Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency practice area and the Quality Control group of the Broker-Dealer practice. In addition to serving in PKF O’Connor Davies’ Career Advisee program, he actively participates in the organization’s training programs.
Paul Kruger has more than 14 years of public accounting experience. He specializes in accounting and auditing services for common-interest realty associations (CIRAs), which include cooperative housing corporations and condominium associations. He also serves clients in the general real estate and not-for-profit sectors. In addition, he is a frequent instructor for in-house continuing professional education programs and is a member of the Quality Control group.
Kathleen A. Mills has more than 13 years of experience in public accounting. She specializes in accounting and auditing services for publicly traded, privately held and not-for-profit clients across a range of industries, including real estate, hospitality and employee benefit plans. She participates as an instructor in the continuing professional education program and is involved in PKF O’Connor Davies’ recruiting and career advisor programs. She is also an adjunct professor in the accounting and business law department of St. Francis College, where she currently teaches intermediate accounting courses. In 2021, she was recognized by the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA) as an Emerging Leader in its annual “40 Under 40” awards.
Jay T. Monaghan has 15 years of professional accounting and audit experience specializing in alternative investments and financial services. He currently serves a broad slate of clients, including traditional hedge funds, fund of funds, private equity and debt funds, offshore funds, introducing commodities brokers, broker-dealers, investment management companies, master-feeder structures, registered investment advisors and large endowment funds. His work includes fund administration, tax preparation, family office and valuation services. In addition, he is actively involved in the continuing professional education program and assists with determining the curriculum and lectures on industry related topics.
Rekha Nambiar has over 30 years of public accounting experience and serves as a leader in the Quality Control group. She focuses on clients operating in the not-for-profit, healthcare, affordable housing, higher education, employee benefit plan and government sectors. In addition to performing quality reviews for assurance engagements, she oversees many of PKF O’Connor Davies’ assurance quality initiatives and serves as a critical technical resource relating to accounting and auditing matters. She has been involved in audit quality and learning and development initiatives for over 25 years and is a frequent speaker on technical accounting and auditing, internal control and governance topics.
Patrick R. O’Beirne brings over 15 years of public accounting experience to his work with closely held businesses ranging from small, family-owned organizations to large, institutional entities. He specializes in providing assurance and tax services across a number of industries, including a particularly a diverse group of real estate properties that include commercial, multi-family, retail and mortgage loans. He also lends his expertise to the Commercial Business practice by providing financial reporting, tax and accounting services to distributors, service companies, technology businesses, financial institutions and consulting firms. He was named by the New England Real Estate Journal as a member of the “2020 Ones to Watch.”
Katherine M. Patnaude has over 12 years of experience in governmental auditing and accounting. She is responsible for providing audit, review, agreed-upon procedures and consulting services for a wide variety of municipal entities, including cities, towns, boroughs and districts. She received national attention when she was one of 38 rising stars in the accounting profession to be selected to participate in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Leadership Academy for Young Professionals. She contributes to PKF O’Connor Davies’ Thought Leadership series, including articles on grant management and governmental auditing standards. In addition, her writing has been published by the AICPA.
Kerry A. Serritella has more than 20 years of experience in both private and public accounting. Her blended experience specializing in real estate and medical practices enables her to guide clients through complex business and consultative transactions. She provides clients with a wide array of services, including succession planning, quality of earnings, mergers, acquisitions, the sale of a business, maximizing retirement investment and estate and family planning. She also supports the Center for Private Business Owners in developing customized strategic advisory plans for clients and prospects. As a career advisor, Kerry is committed to training and mentoring team members. She also maintains an active role in a number of professional and community organizations.
Samantha Wolf has over 13 years of experience providing accounting and auditing services to both privately held and publicly traded companies. She serves clients across a range of industries, including hospitality, real estate, cooperative housing, manufacturing and software services. She is actively involved with on-campus recruiting efforts and participates in the career advisor program to support new staff in developing essential competencies and discovering career advancement opportunities. She also contributes to the Thought Leadership series, where she shares her perspectives on emerging trends in accounting and auditing practices.
Darren Bushey has over a decade of experience serving clients that have ranged from small organizations to some of the largest asset managers in the world. His primary focus is real estate investment, and he has provided both compliance and consulting services to various Fortune 100 companies. He also works with high-net-worth individuals by providing tax planning and compliance services.
Ravi Melwani has more than 15 years of experience in all aspects of financial reporting and compliance. He has worked with a wide range of clients, including those operating in the real estate, construction and not-for-profit sectors. He also has hands-on experience in supervising and performing assurance engagements for clients with up to $5 billion in assets. His broad technical background also includes agreed upon procedures, such as fraud audits, internal controls consulting and management advisory assignments.
Nicholas Rochedieu has over 18 years of experience in public accounting and specializes in state and local taxation. He collaborates with clients on state income tax, sales and use tax, payroll tax and various transactional taxes. He works extensively on nexus studies, voluntary disclosure agreements, audit defense and state credit studies. In addition, he contributes articles to the Thought Leadership series.
James J. Salerno brings over 30 years of experience to his work in the Accounting & Business Advisory Services practice. He works with businesses and their owners in the construction, real estate and retail industries. He specializes in advising clients on corporate and individual tax matters, as well as providing them with financial reporting.
PKF O’Connor Davies continues to expand through organic growth and acquisitions on the East Coast and beyond. It has supported this growth with a strategic combination of promoting from within coupled with an ongoing focus on top-tier external hires.