Meet JBWS' Board of Directors:

Rita K

Chair, Rita Karachun

Merck & Co., Inc

Read more about Rita Karachun

Rita A. Karachun- Merck & Co., Inc. Senior Vice President Finance - Global Controller

As Global Controller, Rita is responsible for all accounting and reporting aspects for Merck. In this role, Rita has oversight responsibility for all accounting at Merck including developing accounting policies for Merck, the interpretation of those policies for specific transactions and the consolidation of Merck’s results. Rita also oversees Merck’s external reporting, the accounting for business development activity as well as managing the financial supply chain of intercompany sales transactions.

Rita joined Merck in 2007 as an Assistant Controller for Schering-Plough and continued as Assistant Controller for Merck after the merger between Schering-Plough and Merck in 2009. In these roles, Rita led the integration of Schering-Plough’s acquisition of OBS, a Netherlands-based company and also led the implementation of a global consolidation system.

Before joining Schering-Plough, Rita worked at AT&T Corp. and it’s leasing subsidiary, AT&T Capital, for 16 years. Her last position with AT&T was Assistant Controller and Chief Accountant. Rita held a variety of roles at AT&T of increasing responsibility, including investor relations manager and controller of corporate units. Prior to AT&T, Rita was a senior at Arthur Andersen & Co. Rita is a certified public accountant and earned a B.S. degree in accounting from Fairleigh Dickinson University, graduating Summa Cum Laude.

Valerie

Vice Chair, Valerie O. Murray

Beacon Trust Company

Read more about Valerie Murray

Valerie Murray is president of Beacon Trust and chief wealth management officer for Provident Bank. She is focused on the overall delivery of wealth management services to individuals and institutions. Prior to her current role, Ms. Murray held the position of chief operating officer of Beacon Trust where she was responsible for initiatives across the organization related to client services, technology, marketing, and operations.

Ms. Murray has worked in the financial services industry for over 25 years. Prior to joining Beacon Trust in 2011, she was senior vice president and senior trust officer at U.S. Trust in New York City. Ms. Murray is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), a global leadership community. She received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Bucknell University, and she is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™.

Kerry Howe

Secretary, Kerry Howe

Spotify

Read more about Kerry Howe

Kerry Howe is the VP Global Tax at Spotify where she oversees the global tax function responsible for corporate tax, indirect tax, transfer pricing and tax aspects of M&A.

Kerry began her career at pwc where she provided tax consulting services to clients in various industries and, prior to joining Spotify, Kerry was the VP Tax and a member of the finance leadership team at Tiffany & Co., the vertically integrated luxury jeweler. While at Tiffany, given her focus on the importance of strong teams and mentorship, Kerry was asked to lead the development of the inaugural NY Metro Women & Allies ERG where she partnered with colleagues to establish the group and bring valuable experiences and content to members.

Outside of work, Kerry and her husband Sean are raising their two teenagers in New Jersey.

Pete Hernandez

Treasurer, Peter Hernandez

Sandra

Sandra Addo

Merck & Co., Inc.

Read more about Sandra Addo

Sandra Addo, Vice President, Corporate Audit and Assurance Services, at Merck is a risk and controls professional with over 19 years of experience in audit and risk management including Financial, Regulatory and IT risk. Her enterprise leadership covers a wide range of functional areas including Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, information technology, cybersecurity, regulatory frameworks and systems implementation. She also serves as an advisor on controls, enterprise risk management and digital transformation. Sandra is passionate about talent development and is committed to attracting, coaching and developing diverse talent to ensure each team member is able to achieve their fullest potential.

Prior to joining Merck, Sandra was at PricewaterhouseCoopers, advising clients across Fortune 100 companies in the Pharmaceutical and Technology industries. During this time, Sandra leveraged her information science education from the University of Pittsburgh and honed her technical skills in the areas of IT audit, business process transformation and the application of assurance and attest standards.

Sandra has participated in award winning leadership development programs by the Harvard Business School. Sandra is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and holds a B.S. In Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Outside of Merck, Sandra is a proud mother of two and an active member of her community.

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Farah N. Ansari

Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP

Read more about Farah N. Ansari

Farah N. Ansari is a partner with Schenck Price, where she is Co-Chair of the Nonprofit Practice Group and a member of the Tax Planning Practice Group. Farah acts as outside counsel to nonprofits and possesses significant experience counseling nonprofit organizations including charities, foundations, educational organizations, arts organizations, religious organizations, hospitals and other tax-exempt organizations in both New York and New Jersey. Farah's practice includes counseling on issues relating to the formation of public charities and private foundations, including those with foreign operations. Farah also assists organizations with their transactions, contract negotiation and tax exemption compliance.

Farah routinely provides guidance on many nonprofit/tax-exempt related topics, including the following: supporting organization issues; the unrelated business income tax (including audits); private foundation excise taxes, including self-dealing and expenditure responsibility; issues relating to private operating foundations; corporate sponsorships; conflicts of interest; excess benefit transactions; cause-related marketing; making grants; excess executive compensation; nonprofit governance; the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act; fundraising; and real property tax exemption.

Farah is also well-versed in Federal and State tax laws, providing tax-related guidance to both businesses and individuals. She is experienced in handling federal and state tax controversies in relation to income, withholding, and sales and use tax issues. Farah represents clients before the taxing authorities, in audits and in negotiating settlements, and in New Jersey Tax Court.

A Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and the American Bar Foundation, Farah is a past Chair of the Taxation Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association and is currently Chair of the Tax-Exempt Organizations Committee of the Taxation Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. She is a member of the Legal, Wealth & Tax Advisory Committee of the Community Foundation of New Jersey. Farah is also a member of the Government Relations Council of Nonprofit New York and the New York City Bar, Non-Profit Organizations Committee. Farah is a Board Member of Women@NJPAC and the JBWS (Jersey Battered Women's Service). She is also a member of the TEGE Exempt Organizations Council. Farah lectures frequently on tax and nonprofit-related topics. Farah was ranked Band 2 in Tax Law in Chambers USA 2024.

Jeff Bagley

Jeff Bagley

Fiduciary Trust Internation

Kelly Benoit

Kelly Benoit

GAF

Read more about Kelly Benoit

Kelly Benoit has spent more than ten years living and working in the New York City area. Currently, she is the Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Engagement at GAF, North America's largest roofing manufacturer. Prior, Kelly established her career in corporate social responsibility, including working at the JPMorgan Chase Institute, Gerson Lehrman Group, and Hikma Pharmaceuticals. Outside of work, Kelly maintains her love of writing after publishing her debut novel, …with a splash of Kay, in June 2023. She lives in Hoboken with her husband and rescue dog and loves spending her free time staying active, reading, and traveling.

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Melissa Bird

Johnson & Johnson

Read more about Melissa Bird

Melissa Bird is the Vice President of Global Technical Accounting Advisory Services and Policy at Johnson & Johnson. In her role, Melissa is responsible for leading Johnson & Johnson’s accounting policy development and implementation, providing training and advising the global finance teams on technical accounting and reporting matters according to US GAAP. She also ensures worldwide accounting compliance of business transactions that Johnson & Johnson enters in the areas of R&D collaborations, business combinations and similar types of investments. Given the recent regulatory focus on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting, she also plays a key leadership role in shaping and preparing future ESG reporting for the company to ensure compliance with upcoming regulatory requirements. Melissa also serves as a leader within Johnson & Johnson’s Finance Women’s Leadership & Inclusion Council.

Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson in 2020, Melissa spent over eighteen years in public accounting working for Ernst & Young LLP, where she started her career in the Houston, Texas office. She then had the opportunity to do a three-year rotation with Ernst & Young’s National office in New York City, and following the rotation, she decided to stay in the Northeast.

Melissa is a CPA and graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Accounting. Melissa also serves on the Advisory Committee of the American Theatre Wing and is a Broadway Tony Award voter.

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Jamie Carpenter

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Campbell

Jodi Campbell

Zelis

Erica

Erica Vandell DeMarco

The Siegfried Group

Read more about Erica Vandell DeMarco

Erica Vandell DeMarco, CPA, Managing Director, National Market and Sales Team, New Jersey

As a Leadership Advisor, Erica ambitiously guides financial executives in and around the New York Metro area to excellence — in their businesses and in their lives. Erica studied accounting at Rutgers University, where she graduated summa cum laude and then moved into roles at PwC and The Conti Group. Before long, she found her way to Siegfried, a national leadership advisory firm with a higher purpose to help people transform themselves into better leaders to exponentially improve their lives.

Erica has spent a majority of her professional life in the life sciences industry – a space that excites and inspires her. She’s worked with many Fortune 1000 companies, helping them with mergers and acquisitions, new leasing standards, revenue recognition, and more. Currently, she leads Siegfried’s New Jersey office, which has a strong footprint in life sciences and works closely with many Fortune 5000 clients and financial leaders. Erica led the strategic expansion into New Jersey for Siegfried, and the client base she helped build brings in more than $30M annually in business.

With a head and heart for helping others succeed, Erica is passionate about inspiring those around her and is empowered by the strength of women, not only in her industry, but everywhere. As a champion for women in business, she considers it a great privilege to work so closely with so many strong, successful females – both as her clients and as her colleagues.

Erica sees no limits, believes that every challenge is an opportunity, and is passionate about encouraging others to work toward innovation and excellence. She finds joy in giving back to her alma mater, Rutgers, and participates in the TeamUP Mentor program there and loves to sponsor and attend alumni events. She also holds a board seat at JBWS, a non profit organization that provides support and shelter for domestic violence victims in Morris County.

She resides in Monmouth County, NJ with her husband, Phil, and her daughters, Maddison and Aliyah.

Latoya Edwards

Latoya Edwards

VISA-Global Tax

Read more about Latoya Edwards

Latoya Edwards earned her impeccable reputation as a transformational taxation strategist by increasing companies' profitability and improving their tax posture. Her leadership instincts and clarity of vision have helped companies save over $200 million over 10 years.

As a leader, Latoya adopts an education-first mindset, seeking to uncover every team member’s unique talent and then provide them with as much—or as little—coaching and direction as they need to succeed. A consummate learner, Latoya continuously deepens and expands her expertise while keeping a finger on the pulse of the industry. She keeps abreast of tax law and regulatory changes and communicates potential impact to executive teams and boards of directors.

Latoya’s early career involved taxation roles with Big 4 accounting firms, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Latoya has been a key player in multiple merger & acquisition transactions, spearheading due diligence and the financial integration of new portfolio companies.

In prior roles, Latoya has built state tax functions from the ground up after IPOs. She embraces new technologies and helps companies usher in a new era of automation—slashing timelines and improving team productivity by eliminating time-consuming manual processes.

Latoya has served on several boards of directors and holds a Master of Taxation from Seton Hall University. She is a Certified Public Accountant. Latoya’s action bias and dedication to relationship building along with her strong leadership record positions her for success on executive teams and board of director roles.

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Beth Elenwune

KPMG

Lindsay Friedman

Lindsay Friedman

Barclays

Dani

Dr. Danielle Graddick

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Patrick Higgins

Patrick Higgins

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Read more about Patrick Higgins

Patrick is PwC's Deputy Chief Accountant in the national office. Patrick also led a Fortune 200 client as the lead client service partner.

Clients and colleagues appreciate the global perspectives that Patrick brings to his work. Patrick led public company audits in five offices around the globe, including Pittsburgh, PA, Dusseldorf, Germany, Montreal, Canada and Florham Park, NJ. He also served in PwC’s London, England office where he focused on capital markets, US GAAP, and IFRS advisory activities for large international companies.

Patrick regularly presents at client and industry events on topics related to accounting and regulatory developments impacting clients. He authored numerous thought leadership publications focused on regulatory and industry matters.

Patrick is a CPA in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He holds a degree with distinction in Accounting from Penn State and is a member of the AICPA, PICPA and NJCPA societies.

Outside of work, Patrick’s most significant role is as a dad and coach to three amazing daughters. Patrick has served on the board of JBWS since 2022, as the finance chair at St Lawrence Parish in Chester, NJ since 2015, and previously served on the board of the NJCPA’s scholarship committee.

Clients and colleagues describe Patrick as someone who brings energy to the room and builds relationships that inspire trust.

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Steven Kohutic

Ernst & Young LLP

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Donna Lyden

Read more about Donna Lyden

Donna Lyden is a strategic leader who elevates Communications Function influence across the global enterprise and with external parties. Donna achieved measurable results in PR, brand messaging, employee communications, C-suite communication, and risk mitigation. She has been at the heart of Verizon’s transformation agenda.

She has two decades working directly with the CEOs and c-suite executives at Verizon, where she has collaborated with a wide range of management teams to develop innovative strategies and build businesses. Major accomplishments of note include:

Developed a strategy to initiate, evolve, and update “Up to Speed” (live news broadcast to all employees) to meet the needs of a much broader audience.
Managed and created COVID communications to keep employees informed of the company’s response, including initiating a daily, live broadcast and communication of the retail stores strategy when stores were forced to close. Assisted in retraining of all store staff to new roles while not laying anyone off.
Led Verizon Consumer Group-wide operating model transformation communications; efforts included communications plans, 35+ organizational announcements, leader talking points, etc.
Launched Verizon’s Corporate Intranet site and App, groundbreaking initiatives that revolutionized Verizon's online presence and enhanced communication with employees and stakeholders.
Generated demand, with trackable metrics, including reached 42% increase year-over-year in original articles and a 13% increase in clicks to the sales pages with the iPhone 14 and One Unlimited for iPhone.
Cultivated relationships with media outlets, securing high-impact media coverage and ensuring positive brand positioning.

Ronita Mathias

Ronita Mathias

Verizon

Read more about Ronita Mathias

Ronita Mathias

SVP - Corporate Finance

Verizon

Basking Ridge, NJ

With over 25 years of experience in the Communications industry, Ronita is a strong Finance Leader skilled in business operations, performance management, decision support, strategic planning, cost transformation, P&L management and leading and developing diverse teams. Ronita is a proven leader in driving business results, problem solving and a trusted partner engaged with the business to deliver improved shareholder value and customer service. She has built her career anchored in core values of integrity, respect, trust and operational excellence.

In her current role, SVP Corporate and Global Services Finance her scope of responsibilities include:

Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis (CFP&A), supporting ~$130B in Verizon revenue and ~$48B in margin, cash flow management, long and short term planning as well as CFO executive & governance financial presentations
Spectrum, partnerships and rural wireless acquisitions
Corporate Capital portfolio management of $17-18B including ROIC decisioning and overall governance.
CFO for Verizon Global Services and Centrally Managed Services, providing end-to-end FP&A support to C-Suite, including CFO, CLO, CHRO, & CSO

Previously Ronita was the VP - Commercial Finance & Bus Dev for Verizon Consumer Group, covering 94M mobility and ~ 8M Home customers, and over 45k employees across the US. In this role, she is responsible for all financial assessment of strategic initiatives, Marketing value proposition across Mobile and Home, and Wholesale to enable critical decision support for commercial and operational investments, as well as delivering data driven insights around customer profitability and customer investment analysis to drive optimal ROI for the business. She was previously VP-Strategic Planning & Finance Operations responsible for reporting/analysis, short term and long term planning, Business intelligence and data analytics for VCG.

Ronita also spent several years on the Wireline side of the business and held various positions of increasing responsibility within Finance, such as Executive Director of Finance for Verizon’s Wireline Network Operations, lead for Verizon’s Consumer & Mass Business Revenue, Wireline Expense and Capital, National Operations, and Field Operation units. She started her career at GTE as an intern, then progressed through various Finance and Business Operations leadership roles.

In addition to her leadership experience in both wireline and Wireless businesses, her credentials include Certified Public Accountant license in NJ, Master’s in Business Economics from UM-St. Louis, as well as Master’s in Accounting from Seton Hall University. She has also participated in several leadership programs such as the Lead Ahead, Leadership Edge, Verizon LDP, Asian Development Leadership Initiative, and Building Executive Talent workshops and has served on various panels with SPICE, LEAP, etc.

A strong proponent of diversity and inclusion, Ronita is a founding member of the Verizon South-Asian Professionals Inspiring Corporate Excellence (SPICE) and currently serves on the Executive Advisory Board for SPICE.

Patricia

Patricia O'Rourke

Tiffany & Co.

Charles P

Charles Princiotto

SoundRidge Private Wealth

Samantha

Samantha Rocco

EinhornBarbarito, Attorneys at Law

Read more about Samantha Rocco

Samantha Rocco is an attorney in the Wills, Trusts & Estates and Tax practice groups at Einhorn, Barbarito, Frost & Botwinick, P.C., in Denville, New Jersey. At Einhorn, Sam’s focus lies in assisting individuals and families with complex estate planning as well as estate administration and estate litigation matters. Prior to joining Einhorn, Sam was an associate in the Tax practice group at Milbank, LLP, in New York. Sam is passionate about learning – she was ranked first in her law school class and is currently pursuing her Master of Laws in Taxation at Villanova University.

Sam is driven by her commitment to her community and making a difference in the lives of individuals impacted by domestic violence.

Silva

Michelle Silva

Deloitte & Touche LLP

April

April Wirtz

Accenture Strategy

Read more about April Wirtz

April Wirtz, Managing Director, Northeast Market Strategy Lead, Accenture Strategy

April works daily with clients to establish their transformation agenda, vision and then make that vision a reality by identifying and leveraging new capabilities and ways of working.

April joined Accenture Strategy after receiving her MBA from NYU Stern School of Business. She quickly honed her skills in the communications, media & technology industry as well as in enterprise-level transformations and operating model design.

She is currently the firm leader for the Northeast market Strategy practice across all industries. In this role, she is accountable for Accenture Strategy’s performance, go-to-market approach with Northeast clients and bringing the best of Accenture Strategy thinking and experts to the market and the clients.

In addition to a relentless focus on creating lasting client relationships and helping companies achieve their strategic goals, April creates an environment at Accenture focused on inclusiveness. This is also reflected in April’s ongoing pro-bono involvement with Girls Who Code, her membership and participation in Women’s CoLab, and her recent Board Member position on JBWS.

April grew up in Wyoming and credits her childhood for creating a lasting love for being active in the outdoors – skiing, scuba diving, hiking, wildlife watching. She lives in New Jersey with her husband Evan and they have a passion for traveling the world together for new experiences and memories.

Meet Our Leadership Team

The following staff can be reached through email or by calling 973.267.7520, followed by the extension.

diane_williams

Diane Williams

President and CEO

Ext. 120 | [email protected]

India Harris

India Harris

CFO and Vice President, Administration

Ext. 130 | [email protected]

Karen Johnson picture

Karen Johnson

Vice President, People and Culture

Ext. 139 | [email protected]

diana_kurlander

Diana Kurlander

Vice President, Client Services

Ext. 236 | [email protected]

helen_le_frois

Helen Le Frois

Vice President, Development

Ext. 123 | [email protected]

Leadership Advisory Council:

Britt Byers

Dawn Gabriel

James Gerace

Mirian Graddick-Weir

Helen Hallberg

Aru Kulkarni

Kelley Kurtzman

Patricia Lee

Jamie Molchan

Judy O’Hagan

Laurie Peter, MSW

Chris Reidy

Grace Shin

Jeffrey Simon

Anthony Slimowicz

James Sonneborn

Brooke Wiener

Gretchen Wilcox

Amy Wiwi

Jeff Wolfanger