CHAIR'S MESSAGE
FROM THE 2010-2011 ICPAS CHAIR, SARA MIKUTA, CPA
I am humbled by being elected to the chair of the Illinois CPA Society. Being a CPA has opened so many doors in my life. This profession is one that I am proud to be a part of. From the time I walked across the stage to receive my certificate in 1980 to now, 30 years later, the words Certified Public Accountant have been very important to me. And I know those words are just as important to all of those who are members of the Society.
It is that membership that the Board of Directors and I are very proud to serve. It has been our focus to “Enhance the Value of the CPA Profession,” and we do it through so many programs that I must ad mit I’m continually amazed by what’s available to our members—all at the click of a mouse.
Let me tell you about a few of our areas of focus.
With the economy continuing to batter those in all areas of our profession, and with so many of our fellow members out of work, we will continue to provide career transition services, trying to steady footings in a shaky job market.
In the face of standards and regulation overload, we will continue to bring you up-todate webinars and conferences to help you effectively navigate our changing environment, with significant value for the dollars spent.
We will continue to ensure that this is a career of choice for high school and college students through the work of our Students and Young Professi onals Group and Studen t Ambassadors. I really can’t wait for the new CPA banquet and to shake hands with our future, emerging leaders. I challenge all of you to bring them into your organizations and learn from them.
What’s more, diversity continues to be paramount in making the profession vibrant and exciting, and we will continue our efforts in this area as well.
So many of the things the Society does are immeasurable—funny coming from a CPA. But if just one person finds new employment through our services, a firm gains a new client who searched our Find a CPA directory, a student benefits from one of our many scholarships, a recent grad becomes a CPA, or a member of the military gets their taxes done by one of our volunteers, that’s success to me.
I think opportunities to give back to the community are also very much needed in this environment. Being a CPA has led me to explore philanthropic work. My family knows that I’ve always had a hard time saying “no” to volunteering for anothe r committe e, board or association, but it has always been a wonderful part of my career. It’s my way of giving back to a profession that has done so much for me. In fact, I often think it has been the best part of my career. I often tell people that I earn more “psychic” income from this; it really has made me a richer person.
The Society provides such wonderful volunteer opportunities for all of us, and you may be surprised by what you learn when you do something that stretches you a bit and takes you out of your comfort zone.
I look forward to this next year and assure you that the Board and I will have your best interests at heart.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Lee Gould for his guidance as our chair this past year. The Society could not have asked for a better person to guide us.
Sara Mikuta, CPA
About Sara Mikuta, CPA
Current Position
CFO, Leaders Bank, Oak Brook, IL
CPA Certified
1980
ICPAS Board Service
Treasurer (2008-09); Vice Chairperson(2007-08/2008-10); Director (2005-07)
Current Committee Service
Community Structure & Volunteerism Task Force (2005-10); Executive Committee (2008-10); Finance & Treasury Committee (2008-10, chair 2008-09); Finance Committee (chair, 2008-09); Illinois CPAs for Political Action (2008-10); Industry & Business Advisory (2008-10); Lifetime Achievement Award Task Force (2006-10); Young Professionals Group (2007-10).
Former Committee Service
Audit Committee (2008-09); Banking Conference Task Force (1993-2006); Board Governance & Leadership Task Force (2007-09); CCFL Advisory Group (2007-08); Financial Institutions Committee (2000-08, chair 2003-07); Financial Literacy Advisory Task Force (2006-07); Future of the Show Task Force (2008-09); Public Service Award Task Force (2005-06).
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