Meet our leadership team

Our leaders are among the best finance, accounting, and technology problem solvers in the world from the best companies in public accounting, industry, and technology.

Executive Team

Jeff Pickett

Founder and Chair

Jeff Pickett

Founder and Chair

Jeff is CEO of Connor Group and the founder of the firm. Under Jeff's leadership and vision, Connor Group has grown into a premier global provider of high-quality technical accounting, financial operations and IPO services with clients in North America, Europe, Asia and South America.

Jeff has served as a lead or senior advisory partner for many of our clients, including public and private companies and private equity firms. In these roles, he has managed initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, IPO filings, and complex revenue recognition. He serves as an expert advisor to company executives and Board members on accounting and business operational matters.

Jeff is an industry leader and a subject matter expert in revenue recognition. He is a frequent presenter at nationwide seminars and expert panels, a contributor to published accounting articles and a guest lecturer at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

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Brandon Moreno

President, Managing Partner, Operations

Brandon Moreno

President, Managing Partner, Operations

Brandon is Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel at Connor Group. He is responsible for leadership and oversight of all legal and business operations of the firm. Brandon is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Brandon graduated with a J.D. from Stanford Law School and has a B.S. in Economics from the University of Utah.

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Jason Pikoos

Managing Partner, Client Experience

Jason Pikoos

Managing Partner, Client Experience

Jason is a Partner at Connor Group and leads the Financial Operations practice.

Jason brings 20 years of accounting and operational experience, working with high-growth and technology companies. As the Financial Operations Leader at Connor Group, he has helped and guided over 40 companies in preparing for being public, planning and managing their IPO plan, and/or improving operations and controls shortly after the IPO. Jason is an expert in helping clients drive business transformation through improved processes, systems, controls, and organizational changes. Jason focuses on high-growth and technology companies, where he works across all finance, accounting, and technology functions, helping clients define their business strategy/goals and aligning resources and stakeholders to achieve desired business objectives.

Jason was formerly a Director in the Project Management Office at McAfee and a Director at KPMG in its advisory practice. Jason also served as an auditor with Andersen, KPMG, and PwC. During his career, Jason has served clients such as SeatGeek, Google, Polycom, VMware, Sony Picture Entertainment, Sun Microsystems, Hyperion, and Johnson & Johnson.

Jason graduated from the University of Cape Town with Honors in Finance and Accounting.

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Laurie Marchand

Managing Partner, People Experience

Laurie Marchand

Managing Partner, People Experience

Laurie is a Partner in Connor Group's Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice managing client engagements such as the implementation of the new revenue recognition guidance, strategic corporate transactions, IPO readiness and the S-1 filing process. Laurie typically serves as both a technical accounting advisor and project leader. She is an industry expert in revenue recognition, complex equity accounting and derivative and hedging accounting.

Laurie has served numerous clients including Intel, Apple, Infinera, Infoblox, Mirion Technologies, Business Objects, Cisco, Portal Software and Veritas. Laurie is a former audit senior manager at Ernst & Young where she spent 14 years leading IPO engagements, advising on revenue recognition and hedge accounting, completing carve-outs and performing audits over financial statements and internal controls.

Laurie is a Certified Public Accountant (CA Inactive) and graduated from University of Santa Barbara with a degree in Business and Accounting.

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Jim Neesen

Managing Partner, Growth

Jim Neesen

Managing Partner, Growth

Jim is the Managing Partner at Connor Group, the #1 Accounting Advisory firm in the world for IPOs, SPACs, and high-growth companies.

Connor Group has worked on over 150 IPO and SPAC transactions in the past decade including Tesla, Spotify, Uber, Lyft, Palantir, Snap, Etsy, Survey Monkey, Stichfix, Mulesoft, and 1,000+ top tech, biotech, and growth companies. Our IPO and SPAC client base has raised over $35B in IPO proceeds at a $265B valuation when going effective.

Jim is a guest lecturer and CEO mentor at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business where he graduated with a Master's degree and launched a career as a lifelong entrepreneur.

Jim is active with multiple NFL player initiatives, mentoring NFL players and business coaching with both the San Francisco 49ers and the Las Vegas Raiders.

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Aleks Zabreyko

Managing Partner, Strategic Initiatives

Aleks Zabreyko

Managing Partner, Strategic Initiatives

Aleks is Partner and Strategic Markets Leader in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice. In addition to client service, Aleks focuses on the firm’s market activity in several geographies, including Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Seattle. He is also responsible for interactions with regulatory organizations and several of our business alliances.

Aleks has hands-on US GAAP and IFRS experience advising clients and other Connor Group professionals in areas such as revenue recognition, complex financial instruments, leases, consolidation, business acquisitions and dispositions, stock compensation, capital markets, SEC reporting, and complex or unique transactions. He has in-depth familiarity with issues affecting emerging growth companies, both private and public, in the technology, software, cloud, clean energy, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

Prior to his current role, Aleks founded and led our Professional Practice organization. He also directed the development of the firm’s guidance and client services in relation to the new revenue recognition rules of ASC 606.

He is a member of the Financial Reporting Executive Committee (FinREC) of the AICPA, Financial Reporting Committee of the IMA, and Auditing Practice and Accounting Standards committee of California Society of CPAs. Additionally, Aleks is part of the AICPA Digital Assets Task Force, which develops nonauthoritative accounting and auditing guidance for cryptocurrencies, tokens, and other assets. He has presented on a variety of accounting topics at conferences and webinars.

Prior to joining Connor Group in 2009, Aleks spent 17 years with the Ernst & Young audit practice. He is a Certified Public Accountant (California) and Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant (the United Kingdom).

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Partners

Betsy Zangara

Partner, Managed Services

Betsy Zangara

Partner, Managed Services

Betsy is a Partner in Connor Group’s Managed Services group. Prior to joining Connor Group, Betsy worked in the audit practice at BDO, where she served as a partner in the audit practice serving clients in retail, franchising, sports and leisure, technology and finance. She began her career at Deloitte gaining a wide range of experience in retail, distribution, and manufacturing. Over her time in public accounting, Betsy has been a part of many life-cycle events for her clients, including the largest leveraged buyout ever in the retail industry. Betsy has also assisted clients in their adoption of varying accounting standards, including ASC 606 and ASC 842, and experience with business combinations and divestitures, restatements, and control deficiencies including material weaknesses.

Betsy holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology and a master’s degree in social work from Washington University in St. Louis and a master’s degree in Accounting and Information Systems from Arizona State University. Betsy is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Arizona.

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Blake Collins

Partner, Technical Accounting

Blake Collins

Partner, Technical Accounting

Blake is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice, providing assistance to clients with technical accounting issues and helping clients achieve IPO readiness. He has extensive experience with revenue recognition, lease accounting, business combinations, goodwill and intangibles, public equity offerings, and stock-based compensation.

Prior to joining Connor Group, he worked as an audit professional at Deloitte in Orange County, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah, for more than 8 years, most recently as a senior manager serving both public and private multi-national and small companies in a variety of industries. His international audit experiences include mergers and acquisitions, SEC reporting and compliance, as well as resolution of technical accounting issues.

Blake graduated from Brigham Young University holding both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant in Utah.

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Chris LeFever

Partner, Technical Accounting

Chris LeFever

Partner, Technical Accounting

Chris is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice. Chris provides guidance and analysis on a variety of technical accounting issues, helps clients evaluate industry best practices, and assists in the implementation of process improvements. He has extensive experience with revenue recognition (including ASC 606/IFRS 15) and application of accounting guidance to both public and private companies in the technology and services industries.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Chris spent nine years working in senior finance roles at several technology companies. While in industry, Chris worked closely with senior executives and audit committee members on a variety technical accounting issues and business-related topics. Chris helped these companies ensure that the accounting was in compliance with US GAAP and SEC regulations, while at the same time achieving efficient and scalable policies that aligned with corporate objectives. Before his time in industry, Chris started his career in the Assurance Practice at Ernst & Young’s San Jose office.

Chris is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of California. He graduated valedictorian from San Joaquin College of Law with a JD and with honors from the California State University Fresno with a BS in Business Administration.

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Corey Saunders

Partner, Financial Operations

Corey Saunders

Partner, Financial Operations

Corey leads our national Transformation & Risk Solution Practice. With over 20 years of Big 4, consulting, and private sector experience, Corey specializes in the governance, risk, and financial accounting complexities of high-growth companies, including the rapid maturation of internal controls over financial reporting, business process improvement, and organizational scaling. His clients are focused within varying technology and life sciences sectors, including SaaS, eCommerce, medical device manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals.

Before joining Connor Group, Corey was a partner with RSM, advising on governance, internal controls, and business process improvement for companies spanning from pre- and recently-IPO’d all the way to well-established public entities. Prior to that, he was with KPMG where he helped build and maintain the Internal Audit and SOX functions for a multinational mining and manufacturing company. Corey has also worked in industry, having successfully led the re-structuring of a large national waste management company’s SOX function. .

Corey is a licensed CPA and graduated with honors from Arizona State University, with a degree in accounting.

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Deepika Sandhu

Partner, Financial Operations

Deepika Sandhu

Partner, Financial Operations

Deepika is a Partner in Connor Group's Financial Operations (FinOps) practice. Deepika has more than 20 years of direct industry, management consulting and Big-4 experience business process improvement, financial operations and organizational effectiveness. Deepika has led numerous projects for high-growth companies in the areas of close process optimization, public company readiness, internal controls and system implementations and optimizations.

Deepika also has significant experience in risk consulting, helping clients to quantify and pro-actively mitigate risks and assessing companies overall internal control effectiveness. Previously Deepika was a Senior Manager in the advisory practice of Grant Thornton LLP and the head of Business Process Improvement and Internal Controls at bebe Stores, Inc. Deepika was also a Senior Management Consultant with Deloitte & Touche.

Deepika completed a MSc in Local Economic Development from the London School of Economics and a Dual BA in Economics and International Relations from Scripps College. Deepika is also a published author. Her debut book is titled, “Hello Universe, It’s Me”.

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Derek Anderson

Partner, Managed Services

Derek Anderson

Partner, Managed Services

Derek has over a decade of corporate controller and VP finance experience spanning public and PE- and VC-backed private growth companies.

Derek joined Connor Group in 2018 to help launch the firm’s Managed Services Practice, a practice dedicated to providing premium controller services primarily focused on operational accounting and finance matters. Derek has assisted multiple public and IPO companies through audit preparation, financial statement preparation and review, material weakness remediation, acquisition accounting and systems integration, standard costing implementations, and he has served as interim corporate controller. Some of the subject matter areas on which he has assisted clients include revenue and accounts receivable, complex inventory and costing, stock-based compensation, budgeting and forecasting, and cash flow statement preparation.

Prior to Connor Group, Derek spent eight years in industry as a corporate controller and finance director in SaaS, alternative energy, and med device companies. Some of his experiences included leading his team through challenging first-year audits with Big 4 firms, a first-year public company audit and SOX implementation after a fast-paced IPO, multiple systems and ERP implementations, and the build-out of budgeting and FP&A functions. He has liaised as a controller with dozens of accounting firms, including all of the Big 4 and several global firms. Derek is a licensed CPA in the state of Utah and holds both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Accountancy from Brigham Young University.

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Diana Jew

Partner, Financial Operations

Diana Jew

Partner, Financial Operations
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Domenic Sanelli

Partner, Managed Services

Domenic Sanelli

Partner, Managed Services
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Dominick Kerr

Partner, Technical Accounting

Dominick Kerr

Partner, Technical Accounting

Dom is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting Practice resident in the New York office. In this role, he provides guidance and leads client service engagements on a variety of technical accounting issues including leasing, debt and equity financing transactions, revenue recognition, business combinations, embedded derivatives, foreign currency, stock and employee compensation, and new accounting standard implementation. He is the leader of Connor Group's thought leadership and client service roll out around the new leasing standard (ASC 842). Dom is also a member of the FASB Small Business Advisory Committee and is a developer and presenter of training classes for external and internal audiences and a presenter at accounting conferences.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Dom spent ten years at PwC, including two years as a technical accounting consultant in the Accounting Services Group of PwC’s National Office. While in the National Office, Dom consulted on a variety of technical accounting issues including leasing, debt and equity financing transactions, embedded derivatives, the statement of cash flows, foreign currency, and private company accounting alternatives. Before his time in the National Office, Dom was a member of PwC’s Private Company Services assurance practice serving private equity backed enterprises, pre-IPO companies, and large closely held businesses in a variety of industries. He managed all aspects of audit and attest engagements including technical accounting research, financial statement preparation, internal controls assessments, and process improvement analysis.

Dom is a Certified Public Accountant (New York & New Jersey). He graduated with distinction from Hofstra University with an MBA in Accounting and graduated with distinction from the State University of New York College at Geneseo with a BS in Business Administration.

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Erin Flugstad

Partner, Technical Accounting

Erin Flugstad

Partner, Technical Accounting

Erin is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice.

Erin has extensive experience in technical accounting and financial reporting matters, including business combinations, financial instruments, variable interest entities, lease accounting, IFRS, and other public and private company financial statement and reporting issues. Prior to joining Connor Group, Erin's experience included accounting advisory at Deloitte and Ernst & Young, as well as senior accounting policy and controllership roles in industry. Erin was a Postgraduate Technical Assistant with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.

Erin is a CPA in Illinois and Texas and graduated from Boston University.

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Jared Ellison

Partner, Managed Services

Jared Ellison

Partner, Managed Services

Jared is Partner in Connor Group’s Managed Services practice. Jared has significant experience leading accounting and finance advisory activities for public and privately held domestic and international companies with revenues ranging from $1 million to $40+ billion. Jared specializes in accounting and financial operations improvement, technical accounting, public and private financing transactions, internal control over financial reporting, and financial statement reporting and process enhancements.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Jared was a senior manager in the assurance and advisory practice at national and Big 4 public accounting firms in Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and the United Kingdom. Jared has extensive experience managing and executing financial statement audits, initial and secondary public and private debt and equity offerings, mergers and acquisitions and technical accounting and financial reporting. Jared has been involved in over 50 buy and sell-side advisory deals ranging from $5 million to $1+ billion serving as a financial due diligence expert. Jared’s experience also includes serving a secondment in the United Kingdom assisting clients with IFRS an SEC reporting matters, as well as serving as a national instructor for in-house training as a subject matter expert.

Jared’s technical background includes ASC 606 adoption and implementation, ASC 805 business combination issues, ASC 470 debt accounting and financial reporting considerations. Jared has served clients in various industries including life sciences, technology, consumer products, manufacturing and distribution, professional services and financial services.

Jared holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Accounting from the University of Utah, and is a licensed CPA in the state of California.

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Jared Walker

Partner, Recruiting & Interim Staffing

Jared Walker

Partner, Recruiting & Interim Staffing

Jared is a Partner in our Recruiting and Interim Staffing practice and manages all of Connor Group’s client relationships. Jared has successfully built the recruiting and staffing group into being a significant contributor to Connor Group and its many clients. Jared’s attention and dedication to his client’s needs coupled with his concern and interest for his network of candidates have allowed him to establish key long-term working relationships. His expertise is in all areas and positions of Finance and Accounting.

Prior to leading the Recruiting and Interim Staffing practice Jared managed many of Connor Group’s marquee clients including AMD, ArcSight, Codexis, Big Band Networks and BlueArc. He served as a project leader and technical advisor to the Controllers and VPs of Finance. On the majority of his projects he focused on financial statement and footnote drafting, stock-based compensation, audit preparation and establishing accounting policies.

Jared is a Certified Public Accountant (Inactive) and started his career with Ernst & Young in San Jose after graduating with a Masters in Accounting from Brigham Young University.

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Jaron Chatterley

Partner, Research & Development

Jaron Chatterley

Partner, Research & Development

Jaron is a Partner in Connor Group’s Research and Development practice. He has significant experience in leading large accounting and finance teams in large technology companies leveraging the latest smart data driven technologies. Jaron is a big innovative thinker and understands the importance of effectively leveraging technology to scale business growth.

Prior to joining Connor Group in Lehi, Jaron worked for Amazon as Director of Finance Operations and was responsible for Order to Cash for AWS. Before Amazon, he/she worked for Microsoft in various business group CFO roles. Jaron graduated with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Finance from Brigham Young University and Masters in Business Administration from St. Mary’s College.

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Jenna Stevens

Partner, Financial Operations

Jenna Stevens

Partner, Financial Operations

Jenna is a Partner in Connor Group’s Financial Operations practice with a focus on Digital Solutions. She is an expert in designing and implementing financial systems including the processes, controls, and people to complement those systems. She is a certified NetSuite Administrator, Multi-book authorized and is a certified BlackLine Implementation Partner. She has worked with companies ranging from large multinational corporations to high-growth startups.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Jenna was an Assistant Vice President of Accounting at Cantor Fitzgerald and started her career at PwC. She is a Certified Public Accountant (NY - Active) and graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

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Jesse Fillerup

Partner, Technical Accounting

Jesse Fillerup

Partner, Technical Accounting

Jesse is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting practice leading complex revenue recognition projects and providing support on all aspects of ASC 606. He and his team assist clients in the following areas:

  • Creating revenue recognition policies and other documentation;
  • Advising on systems selection;
  • Creating use cases;
  • Analyzing standalone selling prices;
  • Providing deal desk and contract review services;
  • Providing operational close support;
  • Assisting with all aspects of the OTC cycle.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Jesse spent worked in public accounting and in management roles within the revenue recognition groups at Sun Microsystems and Oracle. He has an ability to foster collaboration and business partnering amongst disparate lines of business and with external auditors. Jesse has extensive experience in distilling complex ASC 606 concepts in a manner relatable to all business functions.

Jesse graduated from Brigham Young University holding both Bachelors and Masters degrees in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant in Colorado.

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Joanna Lynch

Partner, Technical Accounting

Joanna Lynch

Partner, Technical Accounting

Jo is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice assisting clients with resolution of complex technical accounting issues, audit and IPO readiness and S-1 filing process. Prior to joining Connor Group, Jo spent over six years as a senior manager in the Central European Area Capital Markets Group of Ernst & Young. She was a technical advisor and reviewer for companies going through the S-1 or F-1 filing process with the SEC as well as companies already listed on US exchanges. She also provided business, accounting, and reporting expertise to multi-national companies reporting under US and international accounting standards.

In addition, Jo is a former manager in the assurance and management advisory service practices of KPMG Silicon Valley. She worked with private and public companies in technology and other industries and managed audits over financial statements and internal controls.

Jo is a Certified Public Accountant (California) and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of California, Los Angeles.

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Jonathan Kearl

Partner, Financial Operations

Jonathan Kearl

Partner, Financial Operations

Jonathan is a Partner in Connor Group’s Financial Operations practice. He has significant experience in finance transformation, business process improvement/ optimization, finance training and management reporting.

Before joining Connor Group, Jonathan was a Manager at KPMG in its advisory practice. During his career, Jonathan has gained strong project management experience leading global teams. He has a very diverse finance background including Finance/Management Consulting, Internal Audit and Tax.

Jonathan is a Certified Public Accountant (California) and graduated with his Master of Accountancy from Brigham Young University.

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Ken Doty

Partner, Mergers & Acquisitions

Ken Doty

Partner, Mergers & Acquisitions

Ken Doty is a Partner at Connor Group in the Mergers and Acquisitions practice. Ken performs buy and sell-side financial diligence serving both private equity and corporate clients. His industry experience spans most industries including extensive experience within the business services, technology, and healthcare fields. His experience includes advising clients on issues related to complex transactions including adjustments mechanisms, such as working capital and other accounting related issues.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Ken was a Partner at a regional accounting firm where he was responsible for building their M&A practice into a successful business. Ken also served as Director in the M&A practice of PWC where he gained significant cross border deal experience. Prior to PWC, Ken was the Director of Financial Reporting for Black & Decker. Ken also worked at Comcast and as an audit manager at KPMG.

Ken is a Certified Public Accounting and graduated cum laude with a degree in Business Administration from the University of Richmond. He is on the Board of Directors and serves as Treasurer for Wayfinders, a non-profit organization based in Charlotte N.C.

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Keyur Shah

Partner, Technical Accounting

Keyur Shah

Partner, Technical Accounting

Keyur is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services group providing assistance to clients with technical accounting issues and helping clients achieve IPO readiness. Keyur has extensive experience in working with stock-based compensation arrangements (including employee stock purchase plans), analyzing complex equity structures and financing arrangements, business combinations, financial statements preparation, and foreign currency issues.

Prior to working at Connor Group, Keyur spent a number of years working within the Transaction Services group at both KPMG and PwC working with Companies in the consumer products, technology, financial services, and life sciences sectors.

Keyur is a Certified Public Accountant (NY - Active) and graduated with his Bachelors in Accounting from the Pennsylvania State University.

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Laura Stephens

Partner, Technical Accounting

Laura Stephens

Partner, Technical Accounting

Laura is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting Practice with nearly 20 years of experience advising clients on deals and complex accounting topics. Laura leads the southeast practice, which is based in Atlanta, GA. She has led numerous clients through multibillion-dollar transactions, including initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions and spinoffs/divestitures. She has extensive technical knowledge of complex accounting and financial reporting requirements and the application to both private and public companies. Her diverse client portfolio includes technology, media, telecommunication, industrial products, and consumer market companies ranging in size from small startups to large accelerated filers.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Laura was a Managing Director in PwC’s Deals practice. Laura joined the Deals practice after several years in the Atlanta and New York offices as part of the core assurance practice where she served as senior manager on several Fortune 500 accounts. Laura’s mix of audit and deals experience positioned her to effectively advise her clients through complex transactions with their auditors. Laura led the learning and development (L&D) efforts for her practice team and championed a transformational initiative to redesign the L&D experience for her practice. Laura was an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and an active leader in the PwC Atlanta Women’s Inclusion Network.

Laura is a Certified Public Accountant (Georgia). She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia with a masters in accounting. Laura enjoys spending time with her husband and two children (Elizabeth and Anderson), playing tennis and being outdoors.

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Lauren Bowe

Partner, Financial Operations

Lauren Bowe

Partner, Financial Operations

Lauren is a Partner in Connor Group's Financial Operations practice. She has a combination of industry and professional services experience in financial operations, controllership, business process improvement, accounting systems and internal controls.

Lauren partners with clients’ senior finance executives in fast-paced, high-growth environments to provide strategic solutions to a variety of operational accounting challenges pertaining to people, processes and systems. Lauren has extensive experience introducing and improving business processes to prepare the finance organization for the public company environment. She works with clients designing and implementing practical recommendations that optimize the use of systems and improve the controls around a variety of key business areas including financial close and reporting, procure to pay, order to cash, intercompany and foreign currency transactions. Lauren has worked with both public and private companies in multiple industries with a focus in the technology space.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Lauren was a Manager of Accounting Operations and Compliance for Loews Corporation and started her career at Deloitte. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Providence College and is a licensed CPA in New York.

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Maisha Wilson

Partner, Financial Operations

Maisha Wilson

Partner, Financial Operations

Maisha is a Partner in Connor Group's Financial Operations (FinOps) practice.

Maisha brings over 20 years of experience in finance & accounting operations, finance strategy, business process improvement and organizational effectiveness. Maisha has led numerous high profile engagements related to finance function improvement, system implementations including NetSuite and Blackline, controls improvement and SOX, IPO readiness and organizational design.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Maisha worked for PricewaterhouseCoppers in the Banking, Real Estate and Leasing audit practice for 5 years. Maisha has held many senior finance/accounting roles responsible for key aspects of the global finance function. She has worked with both private and public companies in numerous industries including clean tech, software/SAAS and life sciences.

Maisha is a Certified Public Accountant (California-inactive) and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BS degree in Business Administration.

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Markham Bennett

Partner, National Digital Solutions Market Leader

Markham Bennett

Partner, National Digital Solutions Market Leader

Markham is a Partner in Connor Group's Business Development practice and one of the original Founders of the firm. He is a serial entrepreneur helping create, organize and manage companies from the ground up. He has passion and proven expertise in establishing the foundation and motivation for any company to build upon. Markham continues to thrive in all aspects of Connor Group specifically focused on business development, recruiting, people operations, and marketing.

Prior to Connor Group, Markham has helped start and build multiple software professional services firms, developing multiple multi-million dollar SAP, Oracle & PeopleSoft implementations across various industries. Markham has helped start or re-create four SaaS internet startups in both B2B and B2C spaces. He has the ability to persuade as well as see the good in people. This combination has been key to building a business critical partnership, landing a large sale or helping internal divisions see eye to eye, he can find common interests to meet all needs.

Markham graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations.

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Matt Lepley

Partner, Technical Accounting

Matt Lepley

Partner, Technical Accounting

Matt is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice and serves as the Boston Metro Leader.

Matt has significant experience in complex accounting issues including business combinations, leases, revenue recognition, financial instruments, and public offerings. He has strong background in internal control and processes, especially with high-growth companies.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Matt spent 12+ years at Deloitte in Boston in their audit practice. While at Deloitte, Matt served a broad range of clients including large multi-national entities to emerging growth companies who were both public and private in the technology, consumer products, life science, and financial services industries.

Matt is a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts and graduated from Fairfield University with a B.S. in Accounting, and from Boston College with a M.S in Accounting.

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Matthew MacLachlan

Partner, Financial Operations

Matthew MacLachlan

Partner, Financial Operations

Matt MacLachlan is a Partner in Connor Group’s Financial Operations practice. He has significant experience in SOX/Internal Controls (IT and business controls), close & process improvements, complex data analytics, homegrown technologies, and system implementations. Matt has spent his entire career in professional services acting as a business advisor, assisting his clients achieve their strategic objectives and solving their most complex challenges.

Before joining Connor Group, Matt worked in Grant Thornton’s Advisory practice in Seattle, WA and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in business administration and concentration in information systems.

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Michele Clarkson

Partner, Technical Accounting

Michele Clarkson

Partner, Technical Accounting

Michele is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice, providing assistance to clients with technical accounting issues and helping clients achieve IPO readiness. Michele has over twenty years of experience in leading new standard implementations (revenue recognition and leasing), M&A and divestiture transactions, and reporting challenges from the lenses of advisor, preparer, and auditor. Prior to working at Connor Group, Michele has worked as a technical accounting consultant at RSM, an assistant controller at a public company, and an audit professional with PwC. Michele is a Certified Public Accountant in Pennsylvania and graduated from Penn State University.

In Michele’s spare time, she likes to spend time with her peeps taking the unbeaten path and finding new places to explore. In the winter, it is usually to find a new place for food and wine. In the summer, it is usually to hike or bike followed by a micro-brew.

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Mike Brandstetter

Partner, Technical Accounting

Mike Brandstetter

Partner, Technical Accounting

Mike is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice, providing assistance to clients with technical accounting issues and helping clients achieve IPO readiness. Mike has extensive experience with revenue recognition, business combinations, consolidation and variable interest entities, complex debt and equity arrangements, derivatives, goodwill and intangibles, inventory and related reserves, stock-based compensation, financial statement preparation and SEC Reporting.

Prior to working at Connor Group, Mike worked as an audit professional at PwC in San Jose, California and Singapore, for more than 11 years, most recently as a senior manager serving both public and private multi-national and small companies in technology industries.

Mike graduated from Santa Clara University with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant in California.

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Oleg Predoliak

Partner, Technical Accounting

Oleg Predoliak

Partner, Technical Accounting

Oleg is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice, assisting clients on a variety of technical accounting matters, SEC reporting, audit and IPO readiness, preparation of Regulation S-X compliant financial statements and S-1 filing process.

Oleg is an expert in complex technical accounting matters that include revenue recognition, debt and equity arrangements, share-based compensation, business combinations, leases, and the adoption of new accounting standards. Oleg has experience in multiple industries and has been involved in multiple IPO and other complex transaction engagements.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Oleg held various leadership roles in industry, in addition to public accounting experience with Ernst & Young in the Silicon Valley and Reno.

Oleg is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of California and a member of the AICPA.

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Randa Ghantous

Partner, Technical Accounting

Randa Ghantous

Partner, Technical Accounting

Randa is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice.

Randa has vast experience with multinational companies reporting under US GAAP and IFRS. She also has expertise in SEC reporting, preparation of financial statements, carve-outs, and the resolution of complex technical accounting transactions including revenue recognition, business combinations, debt and equity financings, provisions, assets held for sale, impairment, and fixed assets. Randa has been involved in multiple IPO and other complex transaction engagements. Her clients included companies such as Ultragenyx, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Aduro Biotech Inc., Invuity Inc., CytomX Therapeutics, Harris and others.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Randa spent nine years in the Accounting Policy group of Rio Tinto Alcan and her experience included the preparation of SEC filings, statutory and carve-out financial statements, and the resolution of technical accounting issues. In addition, Randa was an Audit Senior Manager at Ernst & Young in California and Greece where her primary responsibilities were the preparation of financial statements under US GAAP and IFRS as well as technical review of IFRS financial statements for Ernst & Young’s Southeast Europe offices.

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Ravi Kumar

Partner, West Region Market Leader

Ravi Kumar

Partner, West Region Market Leader

Ravi is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice providing technical accounting assistance on complex, structured transactions and helping clients achieve IPO readiness. Ravi has extensive experience in working with complex debt and equity transactions, consolidations, business combinations, leasing, revenue recognition (including ASC 606/IFRS 15), and public private partnerships (PPPs) under both US GAAP and IFRS.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Ravi was a Senior Manager in Ernst & Young’s Financial Accounting Advisory Services practice. Ravi’s career background includes cross-functional and multi-national Big-4 experience consisting of on-call technical accounting advice, new accounting standards implementation assistance, preparation of gap assessments between financial statements prepared under US GAAP and IFRS, financial due diligence for mergers and acquisitions, IPO readiness and financial statement and integrated audits for private and publicly-traded companies.

Ravi is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of California, a member of the AICPA, and has passed Level I of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam.

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Rochelle Rausch

Partner, Technical Accounting

Rochelle Rausch

Partner, Technical Accounting

Rochelle is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services practice managing client engagements such as IPO/SPAC readiness, the S-1/S-4 filing process, preparation of Regulation S-X compliant financial statements and providing assistance on a variety of technical accounting issues.

Rochelle has experience in multiple industries, including life sciences, financial services, real estate and consumer products. Prior to Connor Group, Rochelle worked at Deloitte & Touche, LLP most recently leading their Southern California Accounting & Reporting Advisory Services division and also served in their global offering services practice in London, U.K. and their National Office Accounting Consultation practice in San Francisco, CA. Rochelle also has experience in building and leading accounting policy and financial reporting departments at Healthpeak Properties, Inc., an S&P 500 company, and Pacific Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 500 company.

Rochelle is a Certified Public Accountant in California, and she received a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from Biola University.

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Roxanne Brady

Partner, Digital Solutions Leader

Roxanne Brady

Partner, Digital Solutions Leader

Roxanne is a Partner in Connor Group's Financial Operations (FinOps) practice and leads the Digital Solutions service line. Roxanne brings over 20 years’ experience in the Silicon Valley working with technology companies. Roxanne has led finance organizations in multiple industries including internet, software, biotechnology, and manufacturing. She has strong controllership and executive finance experience in fast paced, high-growth environments.

As the leader of our Digital Solutions, Roxanne manages client engagements helping companies get the most out of all their finance systems including ERP, procure to pay, revenue automation, CRM, planning, and other modern financial tools. Roxanne leads the FinOps practice in our ASC 606 initiatives helping clients operationalize and systemize the new accounting policies and processes. In her role as systems lead, Roxanne is also responsible for our NetSuite practice where we are the proud recipient of the NetSuite’s 2018 Partner of the year for Software/Technology Vertical. Roxanne also assists clients through introducing and improving business processes and preparing the finance organization for the public company environment, including the financial planning functions.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Roxanne was Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer for Glam Media, Inc., where she managed a global finance team and had particular success in global finance systems implementations. Prior to joining Glam Media, Roxanne was Chief Financial Officer of Business Engine, Inc. a global software company. Roxanne’s experience also includes over six years in the biotechnology industry and completion of an IPO. Roxanne started her career at Coopers & Lybrand in San Jose (now PwC) and is a licensed CPA in California (inactive). She holds a B.S. in Accounting from Santa Clara University.

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Russ Higgins

Partner, Technical Accounting

Russ Higgins

Partner, Technical Accounting

Russ is a Partner in Connor Group’s Technical Accounting practice and is building the Connor Group presence in the DC metro. He has significant experience with technical accounting, M&A, IPOs, restatements, and bankruptcies as well as public company readiness/internal controls.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Russ was a Senior Manager at Deloitte, where he led Accounting and Reporting Advisory as well as audit engagements. Russ is also passionate about technology after spending a 15-month rotation as a Product Owner and leader in Deloitte’s Audit Innovation group where he earned the PSM I certification.

Russ is a graduate of the University of Richmond, where he earned a BSBA in Accounting and is currently the Chair of the Accounting Advisory Board. Russ is also a CPA in Virginia.

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Sebastien Cuvelier

Partner, Mergers and Acquisitions

Sebastien Cuvelier

Partner, Mergers and Acquisitions

Sebastien is a Partner at Connor Group and leads the Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) practice. He has extensive experience in buy and sell-side cross-functional due diligence, merger integration, carve-outs and divestitures, purchase and transition services agreement negotiations, post-close dispute resolution, financial analysis and modeling, process improvement, and cash planning and management. Sebastien has advised several of the Fortune 1000 and leading global private equity firms both domestically and internationally. He has broad M&A experience in a variety of industries including technology, software, telecommunications, consumer and industrial products.

Prior to joining Connor Group, Sebastien was a director in both PwC and EY’s deals practices in Boston. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Accountant in France.

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Tim Brandt

Partner, Managed Services

Tim Brandt

Partner, Managed Services

Tim is a Partner in Connor Group’s Managed Services practice. He specializes in financial statement analysis, preparation and review, month-end close optimization, project management, technical accounting issues and IPO readiness. Tim’s diverse background includes working both internally and externally in companies across multiple sizes and industries.

Prior to Connor Group, Tim spent ten years in industry in a variety of accounting leadership roles, including Director of Accounting at a global logistics company. Some of his experiences included financial close, leading the global accounting team through implementation of new accounting guidance, redesign of numerous processes, financial statement preparation and review and various system selections and implementations. Tim is also a Big 4 alum, where he worked on integrated audits of both public and private companies.

Tim holds a Masters of Accounting degree from Brigham Young University and is a licensed CPA in the state of Washington.

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Vinod Sodhani

Partner, Digital Solutions

Vinod Sodhani

Partner, Digital Solutions

Vinod has over 20 years of consulting experience. He has helped organizations on multiple initiatives involving finance transformation, technology implementation, process improvement around procure to pay and order to cash processes, source to report architecture design, package selection, with a focus on helping clients derive value from investments and optimizing business and technology spend.

Vinod has recently spent more than 11 years with EY building their finance technology practice with a specific emphasis on ERP Implementations on multiple Oracle platforms.

He lives in Princeton, New Jersey, and has two kids Naman (High School) and Anvi (Elementary School). He graduated from Mumbai University with a major in Accounting & Computer systems and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. In his free time, he enjoys watching movies with my family and playing cards and tables tennis with my kids

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Wendy Mazzoni

Partner, Digital Solutions

Wendy Mazzoni

Partner, Digital Solutions
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