<< Currently selecting applicants for Scaling New Heights. Application closing on March 20th, 2024. >>

Welcome to Accounting Cornerstone Foundation

Support the life-changing experience for accounting and bookkeeping professionals

What we Do

Born from a ‘what if’ sticky note at Appy Camp, the Accounting Cornerstone Foundation has become a reality with only one goal in mind: to share the opportunity to attend continuing education conferences and support the growth of accounting and bookkeeping professionals around the globe.  We are a nonprofit that sends accounting and bookkeeping professionals to local in-person continuing education conferences, providing conference tickets, airfare, and hotel accommodations.

Applications are now open for the 2024 conference season

“There is nothing else like these in-person learning opportunities, like conferences. The creation of lifelong personal bonds is amazing.  Being able to learn about people on a personal level, not just professionally, and the connections we've made with one another and the technology vendors is absolutely priceless. My life has transformed as a result of the connections I've made from attending conferences, and I want others to experience how truly impactful attending in-person learning is.”

What your Donation Supports

When you donate to the Accounting Cornerstone Foundation you play a direct role in changing the lives of accounting professionals across the globe. Providing the opportunity to attend in-person learning at some of the best conferences, can provide life changing support and inspiration for new, aspiring and dedicated accounting professionals. Your donation will directly be put towards the conference tickets, travel and accommodation to the chosen accounting professionals.

About Us

Meet the team of dedicated professionals behind the Accounting Cornerstone Foundation

Dawn Brolin President - Fundraising Committee

CPA, CFE,CEO, The Designated Motivator, Inc., and Powerful Accounting Inc.

Dawn Brolin is The Designated Motivator for Accounting Professionals and the CEO of
Powerful Accounting, Inc.

For more than two decades, Dawn has been a well-known and respected educator and
motivator for her clients, other accounting professionals, and technology solution
providers. She is known for innovative collaborations within the accounting profession
including with her technology ecosystem partners which are included in her Team Brolin
Starting Lineup.

Dawn is a member of the Intuit Tax Council, the ADP Advisory Board, the Avalara
QuickBooks Advisory Board, and the President of the Accounting Cornerstone
Foundation. She has also received many designations and recognitions throughout her
career including the most recent “The 2023 Top Presenters Awards“ by
CPAacademy.org as well as Insightful Accountant’s 2020 Top Niche Practice
ProAdvisor: Forensics” and one of Accounting Today’s “2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and
2023 Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting.”


As an in-demand thought leader, speaker, and the author of The Designated Motivator
and The Designated Motivator for Accounting Professionals, Dawn believes that
motivation and strategic planning is not a one-time event, it is a critical part of being
able to achieve the success you want for yourself and your team.

Heather Satterley Vice President - Marketing Committee

Accountant, Writer, and Director in Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Heather Satterley is the Director of Education of Media at Woodard.

She has over 25 years of experience in the accounting profession, starting as a helper in her CPA mother’s office, ticking and tying Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets, and battling with carbon paper.

After a brief stint as an actress and aspiring rock star, Heather discovered
her own accounting superpowers and went on to move up through the
professional ranks, starting as a bookkeeper and eventually earning her CPA certificate at age 50 once she attained her master’s degree in Innovation from Northeastern University.

Heather’s passion for helping others and her love for technology have shaped her career in public accounting.

Her affinity for facilitating change within an organization is paramount to her
work helping businesses design and automate their business processes using
cutting-edge technologies. Heather wholeheartedly believes in the power of community and the magic that is created when people work together toward the same purpose.

In addition to her work with Woodard, Heather is the co-host of The Appy Hour with Liz and Heather, a webinar series devoted to demystifying the world of technology and apps in the accounting profession. She is also the co-creator and producer of Appy Hour Camp, a collaborative retreat experience created to connect and nurture the relationship between accounting professional educators and software developers.

Heather was named a categorical top 10 ProAdvisor in 2017 and 2019 and was listed as one of the top influential people in accounting by Accounting Today in 2019.

Vanessa Vasquez Treasurer - Finance Committee

Business Strategist and Educator

Vanessa’s superpower is to inspire Entrepreneurs to create a living legacy with their businesses by combining strategic plans, bulletproof processes, and strong finances with their passion and material talent. Destroying the kryptonite of small business, lack of knowledge, Vanessa presents the correct tools and methods for businesses to grow and expand.

Her main focus has always been helping business owners streamline their financial management processes through education and the application of technology.

As a Latina Entrepreneur for more than 18 years in business and a Wonder Mom, Vanessa recognizes the importance of providing learning opportunities and financial solutions for the rapidly growing Spanish-speaking business community. She was named the Top ProAdvisor of the Year and is the creator and producer of Conferencia F.I.T., a conference on Finance, Innovation, and Technology for the Hispanic Community. Content Creator for the Firm of The Future, CPA Academy, Insightful Accountant, and Intuit Trainer Writer Network member. Named Top App-Ologist for the Top 100 ProAdvisors. Advanced Certified ProAdvisor on QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop.

 

Vanessa creates Living Legacies

Mariette Martinez Secretary - Selection Committee

Founder of MasterYourBooks

Mariette Martinez is the founder and lead educator at MasterYourBooks Learning Center. After two decades serving as a small business accountant and tax advisor, Mariette is on a mission alongside her education partners to deliver action-based learning so that no business is left behind due to the lack of community support and the business and financial literacy to empower their dreams and goals.

Mariette has also focused on building strategic partnerships to educate and support the rapid-growing LatinoSBO and solo-preneur business community. She is on a mission to share
knowledge, tools, and resources to help hard-working entrepreneurs win big financially in both their business and personal lives! She has provided professional training in the areas of QuickBooks, accounting, taxation, productivity, entrepreneurial empowerment, accounting thought leadership, and business and bookkeeping best practices.

Megan Tarnow Governance & Financial Committee

Megan Genest Tarnow is on v2 of her entrepreneurial adventure, having grown the bookkkeeping side of The Mobius Group from a solo bookkeeping practice to a small firm over 21 years, and being acquired by High Rock Accounting. Megan is a Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional, an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and a member of both the elite Intuit Trainer Writer Network and Accounting Salon. She was a Top 100 ProAdvisor in 2020, 2021, and 2022, and the Top Niche ProAdvisor in 2023 for her work with nonprofits. 

Her passion as a well-respected community leader led the the launch of her Facebook group – QuickBooks for Nonprofits – in 2018. It had grown to a membership of over 10,000 accounting and nonprofit professionals by early 2024 and has been described as “the most helpful group on Facebook.” 

In her latest incarnation as the principal behind DaisyBee Consulting, she works with accountants and nonprofit leaders to bring increased accuracy and transparency to their financial reporting.  

Randy Crabtree Scholarship Committee

CPA, co-founder and partner of Tri-Merit Specialty Tax Professionals

Randy Crabtree is a widely followed author, lecturer, and podcast host for the accounting profession.  

Since 2019, he has hosted the weekly “The Unique CPA,” podcast, which ranks among the world’s 5% most popular programs (Source: Listen Score).  The Unique CPA also produces monthly webinars and an annual conference for the accounting profession.

You can find articles from Randy in Accounting Today’s Voices column, the AICPA Tax Adviser, CPA Trendlines, Intuit Accountants TaxPro Center and he is a regular presenter at conferences and virtual training events hosted by national accounting associations, state CPA societies, and other industry associations. 

In 2021 Randy was listed as someone to watch on Accounting Today’s 100 most influential people in accounting list.

Randy also serves on the Intuit Tax Council.  

Prior to starting Tri-Merit, Randy was managing partner of a CPA firm in the greater Chicago area. He has more than 35 years of public accounting and tax consulting experience in a wide variety of industries and has worked closely with top executives to help them optimize their tax planning strategies.

Kate Josephine Johnson Scholarship Committee

Kate Josephine Johnson owns Heritage Business Services, LLC, a virtual bookkeeping firm
serving small business clients all over the United States. She can also be found helping other accounting professionals build a virtual accounting career they love inside her Bookkeeping Side Hustle Community.

She is a very proud Texan, Baylor Bear, and Navy wife. Her hair fits her personality. She is a morning person. Big time. She gets more done before 7:00 am (when her kids are allowed out of their room) than some people get done all day long!

As far as credentials go, she holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA in Economics from Baylor University. In 2020 she was recognized as a Top 50 Women In Accounting. She worked in corporate finance before opting to become a stay-at-home mom for several years after her first child was born.

Nayo Carter-Gray Selection Commitee

EA, MBA

“Making Accounting a Little Less Taxing”® is Nayo Carter-Gray’s goal as owner and founder of 1st Step Accounting LLC. A self-proclaimed techie Nayo decided a virtual accounting practice was the best way to travel and still help small business owners all across the US manage their financial systems. Nayo is an Enrolled Agent, a QuickBooks Online Advanced Certified Pro-Advisor, a Gusto Ambassador, one of Hubdoc’s Top 50 Cloud Accountants (2017 & 2018), former Intuit Accounting Council member (2018-2019), named of the Top 50 Women in Accounting and one of Forbes Top 100 Tax Twitter accounts to follow two years in a row.