In this episode of the Trusted Professional Podcast, Calvin Harris Jr., CPA, CEO of the New York State Society of CPAs, chats with Michael Durant, CPA, a member of the NYSSCPA board of directors, and a senior tax accountant with Prager Metis CPAs, LLC, New York.

On this episode of the Trusted Professional Podcast from the New York State Society of CPAs, NYSSCPA CEO Calvin Harris Jr.. chats with Kevin O'Leary, president of the NYSSCPA and managing partner at MMB + CO..

About the Guest

Kevin O’Leary became Managing Partner of MMB + CO’s Albany office in 2019. On June 1, 2024, Kevin was elected President of the NYSSCPA. Previously, he had been President, President-elect, Secretary and Treasurer of the Northeast Chapter. Because of his role with the NYSSCPA, he is also now a council member of the AICPA.

Kevin graduated from Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, where he played four years of college football and received his BS in Accounting. During his downtime, he enjoys coaching basketball and flag football at St. Gregory’s School, as well as playing golf with the kids. His wife, Tara, is also a CPA, and they are the proud parents of two awesome boys (and future CPAs—they just don’t know it yet), Mason and Nick.

On this inaugural episode of the Trusted Professional Podcast from the New York State Society of CPAs, NYSSCPA CEO Calvin Harris Jr.. chats with Rumbi Petrozzello, a past president of the Society and Head of Strategy, Consulting at Seramount.

About the Guest

Previously Rumbi was the principal of Rock Consulting and with Aon’s Cyber Solutions. At Aon, she directed the career-development arm of the company’s Women in Cyber program, also serving as a leader in the organization’s Asian and Pacific Islander employee resource group. Leveraging training on building racial equity, through Race Forward, Rumbi led Courageous Conversations on antiracism and racial equity and, as a certified facilitator, led sessions on activating allyship and leading inclusively. Rumbi is certified in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion though Cornell University.

A Past President of the New York State Society of CPAs, in 2021, Rumbi became the first woman of color elected to serve in that role in the organization’s 125-year history. In 2024, Rumbi joined the board of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association), thus also joining the board of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). The Association is the world’s leading professional accounting associations, serving over 600,000 members.

Rumbi has been recognized and honored for her DEI work and has been on countless panels. She has also been interviewed by numerous news outlets such as The New York Times, New York Post, CBS, and The Rachel Maddow Show.

A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, in Massachusetts, Rumbi received a BA in economics, and then went on to the University of South Africa, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting science. She is a certified public accountant, is certified in financial forensics, and is a certified fraud examiner. Rumbi and her husband live in Arverne, New York, where he surfs and she runs. She also loves reading, podcasts, all manner of sport, and traveling. Rumbi dreams of becoming a Double Dutch skipper one day.