Meet the Nominees

for the 2023-2024 WSCPA Board of Directors!

Meet the Incoming Chair:

Andrew Brajcich, CPA, JD, LLM

Term: 2 years, becomes Immediate Past Chair 2024-2025 Board Service: since 2019

Andrew Brajcich, CPA, JD, LLM, is the Jud Regis Endowed Chair of Accounting, Graduate Accounting Director, and Professor of Accounting at Gonzaga University. His research is focused on international and S corporation taxation and his work has been published in various academic and practitioner outlets. Andrew has been recognized by students as the Graduate Accounting Outstanding Faculty of the Year four times. He has been named one of the 2015 Top 40 Under 40 - Professors Who Inspire by nerdscholar. com and the 2019 American Accounting Association Best Education Paper Award. He enjoys all varieties of skiing, swimming, Larry the cat, Jacques Pépin, Chelsea FC, the San Diego Padres, hand-tied bow ties, and any activity with his sons. He also puts peanut butter on his pancakes (don't knock it till you try it).

What advice would you give to a newly licensed CPA? You are about to embark on an amazing journey. It will be challenging at times. Rewarding at others. You get to help people and business. That’s a privilege. You have a skillset and knowledge base few others are able to obtain. You occupy a unique position of trust. Don’t violate it. Be kind and fair to all. Learn as much as you can. Enjoy the journey.

Do you think zombies should be slow or fast? Why? Either, so long as the ones looking for brains don’t walk right by me.

Vice Chair: Sarah Funk, CPA, CGMA

Term: 3 years, becomes Chair 2024-2025

Board Service: since 2020

Sarah Funk, CPA, CGMA, has more than 20 years of financial, operations, technology and telecommunication experience spanning accounting, budgeting and finance, compliance, audit, system implementations, transaction activities, money transfer services and public accounting. She is a CPA with broad experience including global compliance and internal audit of a publicly traded multi-national telecommunications company. Sarah is an active member of various civic and community revitalization efforts, including Benton City Council. In her free time, Sarah enjoys spending time with her family and being outdoors.

What advice would you give to a newly licensed CPA? Raise your hand, get involved and stay involved in your community and the profession. The opportunities you pursue early on in your career outside of work will accelerate building your leadership tool kit and pave the way to a bright future.

In your opinion, what is the best type of cheese? Havarti. It’s creamy and not overly complex. It’s good alone and also pairs well with other foods.

In accordance with Article VI of the bylaws, all nominees will be declared elected by the secretary at the annual meeting unless other nominations, supported by at least one percent of membership, are received by April 1, 2023. If a contest for one or more positions develops, an election for those positions will be held at the meeting.

The 2023 Annual Meeting is scheduled for June 13, 2023.

Returning Leaders

These leaders currently serve on the Board of Directors and will continue serving on the Board.

Treasurer: Ed Ramos, CPA

Term: 1 year | Board Service: since 2022

Ed Ramos, CPA, is a shareholder at DP&C, a local CPA firm in Tacoma, with more than 24 years of public accounting experience. He attended Wilson High School, Highline Community College, and transferred to Eastern Oregon University. His practice primarily focuses on auditing and accounting for various organizations in the not-forprofit, construction, electric co-op, and employee benefit plan industries. Ed co-founded and served as the past treasurer for the Seattle Chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA). He has served on various non-profit boards as a treasurer or finance committee member, including the WSCPA Foundation Board of Trustees and Grants Committee. Ed is an alumni of the 2011 AICPA Leadership Academy and previously served on the AICPA National Commission on Diversity and Inclusion. Ed is currently a board member at MultiCare Health Foundation. He enjoys traveling, running, and spending time with his family.

What is one organizational tool that you cannot live without? Outlook – I would not know what to do next without it!

How do you handle stress? I spend some time at least once a week to organize and prioritize my work as much as possible. I know it will not all get done, but visualizing that it’s possible helps.

Secretary: Writu Kakshapati, CPA, CGMA

Term: 1 year | Board Service: since 2021

Writu Kakshapati, CPA, is currently pursuing an MBA at the University of Washington, Foster School of Business with a focus on entrepreneurship. She is also a venture fellow with E8 ventures. Previously, she was an assurance manager at Frost & Co, PLLC. Writu served on the Olympia Chapter board for many years, including serving as the past board chair. She is an active committee member of the CPAPAC. Writu also serves on the board of the Tilth Alliance and is passionate about sustainable food systems. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her three young children, family and friends; reading; and learning new skills.

If you had an unlimited budget, what innovation would you create in the accounting world? Accounting focuses heavily on historical information reporting. We spend a lot of time obtaining, reviewing, verifying and analyzing past data and reporting. I would like to see innovation where accounting information is more real-time with accuracy and high reliability, with it being used to build robust and dynamic prediction models. I believe this would elevate accountants' role as an invaluable advisor in their clients' business decisions.

Can you describe your perfect sandwich? Start with fresh baked apricot walnut sourdough bread, add lots of fresh baby greens and marinated pan-grilled tofu (or any other protein), drizzle of balsamic vinegar glaze, shredded beet and carrot, broccoli sprouts, cucumber, and avocado. Heavenly!

Director: Richard Burger Mackey, CPA, CIA

Term: 3 years

Richard Burger, CPA, CIA, has 19 years of financial, compliance and auditing experience and has demonstrated proficiencies in executing governance, risk, and control design reengineering across a diverse product/service portfolio involving a multitude of business functions. An experienced and trusted advisor, Richard can engage various stakeholders for managing risk governance. Prior to serving as a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft, Richard served as an Audit Manager and Compliance Manager; and previously served the Boeing Company as an Auditor and Senior Analyst. Richard graduated from Seattle University with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Accounting and completed internal audit graduate coursework at Seattle University. Richard is a CPA and an Institute of Internal Auditors Certified Internal Auditor (CIA).

Tell about a time when you felt like a hero at work. I remember the first time I prepared tax returns for someone outside my immediate family, and I was able to get her a significant tax refund. She had previously hired someone else to prepare her taxes and felt as if they didn’t really take the time to get to know her. I spent time listening to her story and saw her as a person, not just a client with a pile of papers that needed to be processed. Because I took the time to get to know her, I was able to advocate for her best interests. I took that early lesson into my career as an auditor and still remember the importance of storytelling and listening with empathy.

Do you think zombies should be slow or fast? Why? BOTH. Zombies are a great metaphor for the problems we face in life, some are fast moving and others are slow-moving. Zombies in storytelling can tell us a lot about how we face our challenges and make decisions.

Director: Kelly Nelson, CPA

Term: 3 years

Kelly Nelson, CPA, is a managing partner of the Seattle business unit of Baker Tilly. Growing up in a large MexicanAmerican family as Kelly did, with more than 50 first cousins alone, requires certain people and negotiation skills. Understanding what moves or motivates people. Navigating among distinct personalities and multiple generations. And managing sometimes-difficult family dynamics. Given Kelly's love of her family, and a natural empathy combined with a head for business, it's not surprising that she chose to focus her career in support of families. Affluent multi-generational families and family businesses. She demonstrates a rare ability to develop and maintain an overall plan for the family while preserving harmony among family members and across the generations.

Tell about a time when you felt like a hero at work. I felt like a hero when I was first brought onto the compensation committee of an organization and I had the ability to ask the difficult question around gender equity (or shall I say gender inequity) among team members. If professionals are promoted to the same positions within an organization and have substantially similar roles, responsibilities and job assignments, we have an obligation to ensure that they are compensated equally – even if that means that one person receives a higher relative percentage than another individual for that particular compensation cycle.

What trend do you hope makes a comeback? Putting down the phone and enjoying the moments in life. I see too many people setting up the perfect photo or video for social media and not embracing the true magical moment of the experience.

Director: Ursula Perkins, CPA

Term: 3 years

Ursula Perkins, CPA, is a Shareholder at Opsahl Dawson in Vancouver, Washington. She joined the firm in 2010. Ursula is the Trust Department Director and specializes in trust, estate, and individual tax returns. She also has prior experience with other CPA firms and in the banking industry. She is a member of the WSCPA Political Action Committee and serves on the Vancouver Public Schools Foundation Advisory Council. Ursula enjoys camping, quad riding, clamming, fishing, and spending time with her husband, adult children, two granddaughters and family and friends.

What advice would you give to a newly licensed CPA? Be sure that you are passionate about the type of work that you choose. Talk with CPA professionals to learn about their job experiences and day-to-day activities.

What household chore do you put off doing the most and why? Dusting–it seems as if new dust appears right away after you remove the old dust. There is a short window of self-gratification of being dust free!

Director: Elizabeth Redmond, CPA

Term: 3 years

Liz Redmond, CPA, is the Sr. Director of Accounting at Vulcan LLC. Liz graduated magna cum laude in 2009 from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and information systems. She started her career as an assurance associate with Ernst & Young and served public and private audit clients in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Liz joined Vulcan in 2011 and has led accounting and financial reporting functions supporting a range of divisions including commercial real estate, family office, and private foundations. In her down time, Liz enjoys spending time with her family and pandemic pup Junebug, planning summer hikes and camping trips, and coaxing out stubborn blooms in her shady Seattle yard.

How do you handle stress? This has been a real challenge for me all throughout my career. As someone with anxiety, being able to separate work stress from non-work life, self-advocating, building perspective, getting adequate sleep, and staying active is essential. Of course, this all went out the window during the pandemic, but I’m working on rebuilding these habits slowly but surely. Thank you to everyone working to de-stigmatize mental health and wellbeing in the workplace!

Returning Directors

These members currently serve on the Board of Directors and will continue serving on the Board.

What is your least favorite word, and why? Nosh. Don’t ask me why, but at some point I could no longer stand it in reference to food or eating. Whenever I see it on a menu, I can’t help but roll my eyes. Maybe it’s because “snacks” is one of my favorite words!