Beyond The License: Why Deregulation of CPAs Impacts Every Financial Executive

Brian is the South Florida Market Leader and the National Alternative Investment Funds Group Leader at Forvis Mazars. He has significant experience with audit, accounting, and compliance matters related to alternative investment funds, including private equity funds, hedge funds, venture capital funds, mutual funds, debt funds, and SBIC funds, for more than 24 years. His extensive knowledge in this area extends to a wide range of strategies, including but not limited to debt and credit strategies and real asset strategies. He has helped emerging managers and institutional funds, alike.

Prior to joining Forvis Mazars, he was an alternative investment partner with a Big 4 international accounting firm.

He is a graduate of Texas Wesleyan University, with a B.B.A. degree in accounting and an M.B.A. degree in accounting and management information systems.

Dr. George Young has served as Director of the School of Accounting at Florida Atlantic University since 2015. While at FAU, he has taught fraud examination, auditing, financial accounting, and tax. He has an active public Illinois accounting license for 44 years and practiced eight years before entering academia. He is also a Certified Fraud Examiner. During 2004 and 2005, he was a member of the Technical Working Task Group sponsored by a National Institute of Justice grant administered by West Virginia University that was charged with the responsibility to develop a model educational curriculum for fraud examination and forensic accounting. He is past chairperson of the Higher Education Advisory Committee of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. He is a co-author of Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination (McGraw-Hill, 2e) and Essentials of Forensic Accounting (2e) published by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. I have published articles in academic journals such as Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory; Journal of Business, Finance, & Accounting; Advances in Accounting Behavioral Research; Research on Accounting Ethics; Journal of Forensic & Investigative Accounting; and practice journals such as The Journal of Accountancy. He holds an earned doctorate from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Mari Rivera brings two decades of finance leadership experience spanning privately held multinational companies and publicly traded Fortune 100 corporations. Currently leading the South Florida expansion for CX, a Connor Group Company, Mari previously spent 10 years at MasTec, Inc., a prominent construction and infrastructure conglomerate based in Miami, FL, with operations across the United States.

Before joining MasTec, Mari held key roles at Office Depot and Parker Hannifin. Her responsibilities included managing accounting operations, overseeing technology implementations, and supporting core business functions. She began her career with Grant Thornton, LLP, in the Audit group.

Mari is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting, holds a CPA license, and earned an MBA from Florida Atlantic University.

Shelly Weir is President & Chief Executive Officer of the Florida Institute of CPAs (FICPA), the statewide professional association for Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in Florida. In this role, Weir serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the FICPA and FICPA Scholarship Foundation and works in partnership with the FICPA Council to develop and execute the Institute's strategic vision.
Weir is actively engaged in legislative, advocacy, and regulatory efforts, representing the CPA profession at the state and national level.
She is a member of both the AICPA's National Pipeline Advisory Group and its Experience, Learn and Earn task force, ensuring the FICPA plays a leading role in shaping the future of the profession; a member of the Board of Trustees for the Florida Chamber Foundation, where she advocates for the business and tax interests of CPAs; and a member of the CPA Society of Association Executives, where she collaborates with other association leaders to address regulatory and legislative agendas affecting CPAs across the nation. Finally, as FICPA's President & CEO, Weir represents all Florida CPAs with the state's Board of Accountancy and the Department of Business & Professional Regulation.