Meet the Speakers

  • Dr. Kelly Richmond Pope is the Dr. Barry Jay Epstein Endowed Professor of Forensic Accounting at DePaul University in Chicago, IL. Pope is a nationally recognized expert in risk, forensic accounting, and white-collar crime research, and an award-winning educator, researcher, author, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. Pope teaches managerial and forensic accounting both at the undergraduate and graduate level.


    In 2020, the AICPA and the CPA Practice Advisor named Dr. Pope among the top 25 most powerful women in accounting. Her area of expertise lies in understanding and identifying financial fraud risk
    within financial statements, assessing corporate culture and compliance systems designed to confront internal control challenges. Pope's research on executive misconduct culminated in directing and producing the award-winning documentary, All the Queen's Horses which explores the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. Pope’s TED Talk entitled "How Whistle-blowers Shape History” has been viewed over 1.6 million times, translated into 20 languages, and serves as a resource to help organizations and
    individuals embrace internal whistleblowing.

     

    Pope currently serves on the board of directors for the Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD) and chairs its audit committee. Pope is a former director and finance committee chair for Mercy Hospital & Medical Center, former director of the Illinois CPA Society, and former member of the governing council for American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).


    Pope is a frequent international speaker to numerous corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies. Pope has appeared on news outlets such as CNBC, the BBC, and WGN-TV offering commentary
    on fraud, risk, and ethics. Additionally, Pope has appeared in publications such as Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, CFO Drive, Accounting Today, Forbes, The Washington Post, and The Daily Beast discussing fraud and the need for sound internal controls. Pope has earned her Bachelor of Science in accounting from North Carolina A&T State University and her master’s in accountancy and doctorate in accounting from Virginia Tech. Pope resides in the Chicagoland area.

  • William Truett is a Senior Manager in the Standards & Guidance practice at the IIA Global headquarters. He was previously the Director of Internal Audit at Holiday Inn Club Vacations where he helped mature the control environment and implement SOX controls.  William is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA).   

    William started his career as a systems auditor for Ernst & Young and has held numerous 2nd and 3rd line of defense roles in various industries including timeshare/hospitality, financial services and government contracting.  William has extensive experience in developing/maturing control environments, risk management, SOX, and IT Auditing.

  • Christopher first joined Wolters Kluwer as an Implementation Consultant and assisted clients in leveraging TeamMate+ software to drive their audit process. He has advised global clients in best audit practices through iterative workshops and training. In his current role, Christopher is responsible for overseeing Implementation projects from inception to close, while monitoring project progress, solving issues that arise, and ensuring stakeholder satisfaction. Prior to joining Wolters Kluwer, he served as an Analyst within Deloitte’s Risk Advisory practice. Christopher holds his MBA from Binghamton University, and is CSM and PMP certified.  

  • Rob Eyckmans leads the airlines, transportation, and manufacturing verticals at DataSnipper. Since joining the team, he’s empowered internal audit teams at top airlines and Fortune 500 companies to transform their audit process through automation and AI.  With a passion for disruptive technological change, Rob continually pushes the boundaries of innovation. Prior to DataSnipper, he helped revolutionize multifamily residential leasing by introducing the first fully virtual leasing platform as the head of go-to-market at Peek.

  • Vivian is a Manager Internal Audit at Atlas Air Worldwide, where she leads the review of the company’s Sustainability Report, various operational and financial audits and testing of internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) across various processes. Vivian has been with Atlas since 2022 and specializes in leveraging Excel and Tableau for full population testing, data reconciliation, data visualization, and outlier analysis. Her prior experience includes financial auditing and fund accounting.

    Vivian is a Certified Public Accountant and holds an MS and BBA in Accountancy from Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business.

  • Abbas Badami is the Staff Vice President and Head of Internal Audit at Atlas Air Worldwide. Abbas joined Atlas in 2009 in the Internal Audit Department. Throughout his Atlas career, Abbas has led and executed a number of strategic, operational, financial, compliance and IT audits, advanced the use of technology and data analytics to gain efficiencies in the audit process, managed the Company’s Sarbanes-Oxley/Internal Controls testing program and the ongoing refinement of the Company’s Enterprise Risk Assessment process. Prior to joining Atlas, Abbas worked for PwC for 14 years and last held the role of Internal Audit Manager at PwC.

    Abbas is a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Accountant (India) and holds a Bachelor’s in Commerce from Bangalore University, India.

  • With over twenty years of experience in the technology, cyber, and risk advisory and audit space, I've had the privilege of contributing to impactful audit work at industry leading companies such as Microsoft, Nordstrom, GE, and now United Airlines. My career has been focused on helping companies improve operations to create and protect business value. In my various roles, I have partnered with key technology, cyber, and business leaders on strategic risk insights and solutions, helping to strengthen risk management strategies. At United Airlines, I lead our digital technology and cybersecurity audit functions, as well as our digital solutions and analytics team where I've been focused on helping to transform Internal Audit through digitalization, datafication, and intelligent automation.

  • Heather is an experienced professional who has spent her career focusing on ways to leverage technology and tools to generate efficiencies and create a better working environment. Heather's area of expertise include robotic process automation, system implementation and upgrades, and cross-functional trainings and development.

  • Andrew is a Senior Manager Internal Audit at Southwest Airlines, where he leads risk assessment and project oversight within Technology. Andrew has been at Southwest since 2020 and has a passion for developing relationships with Technology Stakeholders, cybersecurity risk, and continuous improvement. He has been in Internal Audit his entire career with a focus on Technology Risk across the defense, retail, and various industries.

    Andrew holds a BBA in Management of Information Systems from Texas A&M University, and he has earned CISA, CIA, and CISSP certifications.


  • Sue started her career spending 8 years in KPMG’s external audit practice. Since then she has delivered advisory services to a wide variety of companies. Her experience in both external audit and advisory allows her to bring a balanced perspective to her clients. Sue has substantial experience leading and coordinating internal audit and SOX advisory engagements. She has assisted many companies with their SOX 404 projects from initial implementation through to optimizing their programs to be sustainable and cost effective, and managing programs on a co-sourced or outsourced basis. Her clients range across many phases of the business cycle, from Fortune 1000 companies to pre-IPO companies. 

  • Josh has been the Director of SOX and Internal Controls at Allegiant Travel Company for a year and a half. He is a 20 year veteran of the audit and internal controls space, including a 4 year stint at EY, over 10 years in Internal Audit roles, including being the CAE of a $1 billion dollar organization in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, and the head of SOX and ERM at a gaming company on the Las Vegas Strip for 5 years prior to coming to Allegiant.

  • Grant Ostler, Industry Principal at Workiva, has more than 30 years of finance and operations experience, primarily in internal audit, enterprise risk management, and process improvement. Ostler served as the chief audit executive over almost two decades for entities ranging from Fortune 500 companies to a pre-IPO technology company, including building internal audit programs from scratch and leading the implementation of SOX 404 compliance programs for three companies. He is an active member of the Twin Cities Chapter of the IIA where he’s held numerous leadership positions, including Chapter President, over the past 20-plus years.

  • Jim Kearney is a Director within the Risk Advisory practice at Baker Tilly, a Top 10 CPA Advisory. Jim has over 13 years of experience providing risk services to clients, including Internal Audit, Enterprise Risk Management, Cybersecurity and Third Party / Vendor Risk Management. Jim is a Certified Internal Auditor and Certified Information Systems Auditor. Jim focuses on building and elevating high performing teams for seamless coordination and delivery with an evolving client base. He welcomes opportunities to expand his network and collaborate on creative solutions to address emerging risks. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-m-kearney/

  • Philip Monteiro is a Staff Internal Auditor at Atlas Air. He has been a member of the Internal Audit Department for the past two years, where he has focused on SOX/ICFR compliance, inventory review, and various operational audits. Prior to joining Internal Audit, Philip served as a Technical Procurement Intern in Atlas’ Tech Ops Department. Philip’s prior experience also includes work in the field of aviation law, including airman medical certification and aircraft purchasing.

    Philip additionally volunteers with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), where he serves as Deputy Commander and Aerospace Education Officer for his unit. He is a qualified aircrew member and regularly flies as a Mission Observer on CAP’s Cessna fleet.

    Philip holds a Juris Doctor from Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Marist College. He is a licensed attorney in multiple states.

  • Jordan is a Managing Director with Protiviti specializing in the execution of Internal Audit and Financial Advisory solutions.  Jordan has spent his career assisting clients with internal audit planning and execution and has been involved with all phases of internal control over financial reporting initiatives. Jordan is a frequent speaker on topics including Internal Audit, Internal Control, business resilience, cybersecurity, and emerging technology.

    Jordan is proud to serve on The Institute of Internal Auditors Houston Chapter, currently serving as chapter president.  Jordan is also responsible for Protiviti’s Houston Market and started his career at Arthur Andersen prior to transitioning to Protiviti as a founding member at inception in 2002.

  • Ben Quigley is a Principal in Baker Tilly’s risk advisory practice. He has expertise in the areas of risk and compliance management are wide-ranging, and clients frequently seek his advice on topics ranging from business process efficiency and internal controls optimization to internal and external audit matters and management of risk across all risk domains. Ben works closely with Baker Tilly’s publicly traded clients to address initial and ongoing compliance needs, including Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and other regulated initiatives. Beyond compliance, he focuses his risk advisory and consulting energies on proactive risk management, collaborating with both small businesses and large enterprises to perform dynamic risk assessments and forward-looking evaluations to help them anticipate and resolve issues before they negatively impact operations or the bottom line.

  • Miles has spent is career empowering internal audit teams to deliver greater strategic value to their organizations. With deep expertise in risk-based auditing, agile auditing, and the transformative role of AI in GRC, he helps drive innovation and efficiency in audit and risk management.