2011 Speakers

Kym Anderson, CPA

Kym has 30 years experience in public accounting firms as an employee, partner and owner. As a CPA, she has been honored locally and statewide by her peers with awards including El Paso CPA of the Year for 1990-1991, 1994-1995 and 2000-2001.  She has served on the National Boards of The American Society of Women Accountants and the Educational Foundation for Women in Accounting.  She is the current past chairman of the Texas Society of CPA, a 29,000-member professional organization.  She was the first recipient of the ASWA National President’s Balance Award in 2003 in recognition of her work with life/balance issues in the accounting workplace.

She is part of the Ambassador program promulgated by the AICPA.  She has taught at the University of Texas at El Paso as both a lecturer in the Department of Accounting and as an instructor for continuing education.  As a speaker, she has provided continuing professional education through state societies and the AICPA. She has published articles in the Edge, the national publication for the ASWA, as well as local newspapers.  She is active in her community, serving on several not for profit boards.

On top of that, she has been married to the same man for over thirty years and still likes him!

Colleen Cunningham, CPA

Colleen Cunningham is an internationally recognized expert on corporate financial reporting and accounting, as well as former advisor to the FASB and the IASB. She currently leads Resources’ Accounting and Finance practice, which provides financial reporting expertise to Fortune 1000 companies around the world.

Before joining Resources, Colleen served as CEO of Financial Executives International (FEI) for nearly four years, during which time she had significant influence in legislative and regulatory matters including Sarbanes-Oxley, pension reform and financial accounting standards. She was the SVP and CFO, North America, of Havas Advertising (which was, at the time, the fifth largest advertising holding company in the world) and before that, Colleen was the chief accountant of AT&T. She began her career in public accounting with Touche Ross and Coopers & Lybrand.

Colleen speaks and writes frequently on a variety of finance and accounting issues both in the U.S. and internationally. She has been honored as one of the top 100 influential people in finance by Treasury & Risk Management and Business Finance, as well as in accounting by Accounting Today. Colleen earned a B.A. in Economics from Rutgers University and an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business where she was a Stern Scholar in the Executive Management Program.

Randall Dean, MBA

Randall Dean, author of the recent Amazon.com #1 E-mail Bestseller, Taming the E-mail Beast has more than 19 years of experience using and teaching an advanced time management/personal organization system, including systems for effective e-mail management, office clutter reduction, optimizing your Outlook usage, and getting the most from affiliated PDA devices, including BlackBerries. He has taught different versions of his time & e-mail management systems for many prominent organizations including Procter & Gamble, Michigan State University, University of Chicago, Westinghouse Electric Company, The Fetzer Institute, the Graduate Management Admissions Council, Cal Berkeley, Delphi Automotive, The University of Pittsburgh, Ohio State University, the National Association for Legal Career Professionals, the Institute of Management Accountants National Conference, the Michigan Association for Continuing Education & Training, and The Michigan Society of Association Executives for groups as small as one and as large as 250.

His effective use of a sophisticated time management system has allowed him to be very successful in several important professional positions, including Director of MBA Admissions for the Full-Time Broad MBA Program at Michigan State University, Market Research Supervisor for the Rx-to-OTC switch of Prilosec® at Procter & Gamble, Subscriber Services Coordinator of ADVANCES: The Journal of Mind-Body Health at The Fetzer Institute, and Marketing & Media Strategist for Pace & Partners, where, among other accomplishments, he was awarded a Crystal Award by the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America for his research work on a newspaper media audit conducted for People and Land/WK Kellogg Foundation, and was the top graduate of the Broad MBA Program at Michigan State University in 1997. 

He has previously been interviewed by the Washington Times, Detroit News, Business Week Online, and numerous other media outlets, including radio, television, newspaper, and blog sites. He is an active member of the National Speakers Association (NSA), American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), and Michigan Society of Association Executives.

Sharon Ellis

Sharon Ellis joined Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children as Vice President and Chief Fnancial Officer in 2009. Sharon was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She earned her bachelor’s in Business Administration from Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Sharon received her master’s in Business Administration from the American Graduate School of International Management – the renowned Thunderbird School in Phoenix, Arizona. She is on the board of directors of the Dallas Chapter of Financial Executives International and is a member of the Junior League of Dallas. Sharon also serves on the board of directors of the Baylor Health Care System Foundation, where she previously served as chairman and as a member of the executive committee for Baylor Health Care System’s Caduceus Society. She has also served on the board of directors of the North Texas Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation; Women in the Home Industry Today; and Furniture Fellowship. She is a guest lecturer at MBA programs at The University of Texas at Dallas and University of Houston on corporate finance, capital markets, corporate governance and investments. Sharon was an active member of the Associate Board Executive Mentor Program for Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business.

Carey P. Hendrickson

Carey P. Hendrickson is an 18-year veteran of Belo's financial organization, serving as senior vice president/Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Company's Management Committee since March 2010.  Previously, he was Belo's senior vice president/Chief Accounting Officer from November 2007 until March 2010.  Before that, he served as vice president/Human Resources, a position he assumed in May 2007.  He also served as vice president/Investor Relations and Corporate Communications from November 2004 until May 2007.  Hendrickson was vice president/Investor Relations from January 2000 through October 2004.  He began his career with Belo in 1992 as manager of financial planning, and then served as assistant controller from 1995 until 1997, when he was named vice president of strategic and financial planning.

Hendrickson is an honors graduate of both Baylor University and the University of Texas at Arlington.  He received a Bachelor of Arts in accounting from Baylor in 1985 and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in finance from UTA in 1995.  Hendrickson began his career with KPMG and was the director of financial planning for Republic Financial Services before joining Belo.

He is a member of Financial Executives International ("FEI") and the Media Financial Managers Association ("MFM").  He has served on the MFM national board of directors and the board of the Dallas chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute ("NIRI").  He currently serves on the Scholarship Committee of the Spina Bifida Association of North Texas.

Hendrickson and his wife, Stacie, have two children.

Renée Hornbaker, CPA 

Renée Hornbaker has served as chief financial officer of Shared Technologies Inc. since 2006 and has more than 25 years of experience in financial management. From 2004 to 2006, Renée was a principal with RH Partners, a consulting firm she founded, focused on increasing shareholder value by enhancing acquisition and operational processes and improving business performance. From 1997 to 2004, she served as the chief financial officer of Flowserve Corporation, a Fortune 1000 international manufacturing and services firm, where she managed its growth to $2.5 billion from $500 million in revenues. Her responsibilities included all areas of finance and accounting as well as business development, planning and analysis and investor relations.  Prior to becoming its CFO, Ms. Hornbaker held positions of Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Business Development from 1996 to 1997. Previously, Ms. Hornbaker held senior financial executive positions with a number of firms including the Phelps Dodge Corporation and the Circle K Corporation. Renée also served as a Senior Manager in the Audit Practice of Deloitte & Touche.

Renée is a Certified Public Accountant and earned a Masters of Business Administration in Accounting and Bachelor of Arts in English from Indiana University.

Ms. Hornbaker also serves on the board of directors of Eastman Chemical Company, a Fortune 500 industrial business, and chairs its audit committee.  She also serves as President of the Dallas Chapter of Financial Executives International, Program Chair and Board member of the North Texas Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors and executive committee member of the North Texas chapter of Women Corporate Directors.  She is a member of the International Women’s Forum and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Dr. Constantine (Connie) Konstans, PhD, CPA, CMA, CIA, CFE 

Dr. Constantine (Connie) Konstans, Founding Executive Director – The Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance.

Constantine Konstans is a Professor of Accounting & Information Management and Executive Director, The Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance at The University of Texas at Dallas’ School of Management where he also served as Director of Accounting Programs. Prior to joining The University of Texas at Dallas he served as National Training Director for KPMG Peat Marwick and as Vice-Chair of the Firm’s International Training Directors Group. He was also a faculty member at the University of Memphis' Fogelman College of Business and Economics (Associate Dean for External Affairs, Director of the School of Accountancy and Professor of Accounting), Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business (Chair of the Accounting Department, Professor of Accounting and President of the Faculty), Georgia State University (Professor of Decision Sciences) and the University of Cincinnati (Professor of Accounting). He was the recipient of outstanding teacher awards from Southern Methodist University, Georgia State University and the University of Cincinnati. 

Dr. Konstans earned a Bachelor of Music Degree with Honors from Indiana University, a Master of Arts degree in Accounting from The Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. degree in Business Administration from Michigan State University. He was awarded a full four-year scholarship by Indiana University; designated a Graduate Teaching Assistant by The Ohio State University and appointed a Graduate Instructor by Michigan State University.

Dr. Konstans has professional audit experience with all Big Five Accounting firms; extensive consulting experience in industry ranging from Fortune 500 companies to closely-held hi-tech professional service organizations; and, numerous corporate directorships to include banks, thrifts and manufacturing companies. His experience in corporate executive development is extensive. He also holds professional designations as a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor and Certified Fraud Examiner. In addition, he had a distinguished career as a regular commissioned officer in the United States Army commanding a nuclear-capable surface-to-air guided missile battery ranked second among over 400 such units nationwide.

Dr. Konstans is a member of the Financial Executives Institute (currently serving as President and Director of the Dallas Chapter), the AICPA (having served a three-year term on the Continuing Professional Education Executive Committee), the American Accounting Association, the Institute of Management Accountants, the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the Texas Society of CPA's, Beta Gamma Sigma and Beta Alpha Psi. He was formerly a director of both the Federation of Schools of Accountancy and the American Accounting Association's Accounting Program Leaders.

Eric T. Logan

As Eagle Golf's Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Logan is responsible for overseeing the financial operations of the company. Through the financial department, his team provides day-to-day financial and accounting support to the Operations team at Eagle. Mr. Logan's team is also responsible for the capital structure of the company. Prior to joining Eagle Golf, Mr. Logan served for nearly 6 years as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Adams Golf, a publicly traded (NASDAQ) golf equipment manufacturer based in Plano, Texas. Prior to joining Adams Golf, Mr. Logan was Chief Financial Officer of Daiseytek International, a $2 billion publicly traded distributor of printer cartridges and supplies. Mr. Logan spent the early part of his career in financial and supply chain positions at Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo. Mr. Logan earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Missouri and his MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Weston Smith

Weston Smith, of Birmingham, Alabama worked his way through college and graduated with honors from the School of Business at the University of North Alabama. Upon graduation, he started his professional career at Ernst & Young and earned a Certified Public Accountant license. He was then recruited by Healthsouth Corporation and eventually ascended to the rank of Chief Financial Officer.

Healthsouth, founded by a small group under the leadership of Richard Scrushy, quickly grew from one facility to over 2000 located in all 50 states. The company was a Wall Street darling, and in Birmingham, Alabama, Scrushy carefully nurtured his rock star status as a classic rags to riches story. In reality, the company’s success was a scam. Underneath the glimmering corporate office, the fleet of corporate jets, and Scrushy’s narcissistic antics, lay a $2.7 billion accounting fraud. Sick of the lies and demands to further the scheme, Weston Smith blew the whistle, exposing to the government and the public the real truth behind the company. He paid heavily for his own role in the fraud, including spending 14 months in a federal prison camp.

After the smoke cleared from the Healthsouth debacle, Weston was recruited by a Birmingham-based CPA firm to serve as an independent consultant and controller to key clients. Weston’s experience and skills were recognized by a Birmingham business where he served in sales and administration.

As a business ethics consultant, Weston shares his powerful personal story with corporations, small businesses, academia, civic groups, and religious groups. Despite the stigma of getting caught up in fraud, the loss of career and finances, and the stain of a record, Weston has no regrets about blowing the whistle. “Finally, I did the right thing, and I’m committed to making this a teachable experience for others.”

Jeffrey C. Thomson, CMA

Jeffrey C. Thomson is president and CEO of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA®), the world's leading association for management accountants focused on driving business performance in the areas of decision support, planning and control. Mr. Thomson was promoted to this position on April 19, 2008 and is responsible for leading and directing IMA's operations, programs, products, and services. He was previously IMA vice president, research and applications development.

Joining IMA in 2005, Mr. Thomson conceived and launched the IMA Research Center of Excellence, which has delivered global applications, tools, and guidance enabling management accountants to perform as strategic business partners. He is also responsible for guiding the association's global strategic planning process and serves as program chair for IMA's Global Conference and Annual Conference and Exposition.

Prior to joining IMA, Mr. Thomson worked at AT&T for more than two decades where he served in various financial, strategic, and operational roles. In his last position at AT&T he served as the CFO for business sales, an $18B revenue operation. He was responsible for many firsts while at AT&T: implementation of an Activity-Based Costing program (at a major business billing center); development and implementation of a performance dashboard (Balanced Scorecard); and, first to create and launch a competitive analysis group, which resulted in development of market-driven revenue growth targets and identification of new market opportunities for AT&T.

An author of numerous trade articles, Mr. Thomson has conducted research and has spoken globally on a variety of topics, including financial leadership, enterprise risk management, internal controls, business performance management, strategic costing methods, lean accounting, strategic planning, and competitive analysis. He has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Compliance Week, Global Risk Regulator, and other global media outlets.

Mr. Thomson is considered a global thought leader in the emerging area of GRC - governance, risk and compliance. He has provided testimony to U.S. Congress on internal controls and risk management as it relates to Sarbanes-Oxley implementation. Thomson has also appeared before the SEC and PCAOB on critical regulatory matters impacting U.S. global competitiveness. He is a member of the COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations) Board of Directors, which delivers global guidance on internal controls and enterprise risk management. In the two years since Thomson has been a COSO board member, COSO has brought more products to market than in the entirety of the previous decade.

Mr. Thomson holds an M.S. degree in Statistics from Montclair State University, received a certificate in Finance and Accounting from the Wharton School, and completed the Columbia University Senior Executive Leadership Program. In 2008, he also participated in the MIT Sloan School of Management Certificate Program in Innovation.