2022 Conference Speakers


​TULSA IMA CONFERENCE 

AUGUST 16TH AND 17TH, 2022

RIVER SPIRIT CASINO RESORT

16 CPE


Nate Allphin


Nate has 20 years of experience in the data and analytics world. His career started as a data analyst and he quickly came to realize that organizing and enabling companies with data was his true passion.

After various stints at startup companies during his early career, he met his eventual business partner, Nathan McMurtrery, and they founded data warehousing and consulting company Xerva in 2014. Xerva was focused on helping companies that felt they were buried in data chaos. Their passion for organizing data and making it actionable, accessible, and accurate has served them well. In 2019, Xerva was acquired by Eide Bailly to help enhance the offering they could provide to the many clients that Eide Bailly serves.

In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, gardening, fly-fishing and almost any outdoor activity.

A
A
A




Jim Bridenstine


Jim Bridenstine is a Senior Advisor at Acorn Growth Companies, an Oklahoma City based private equity company that invests exclusively in aerospace, defense, and intelligence. 

Before joining Acorn, Jim served as the 13th Administrator of NASA, where he was responsible for managing NASA’s 70,000-person workforce and $23 billion annual budget.  Under his leadership, NASA reestablished an American human spaceflight program, which was lost after the retirement of the Space Shuttles in 2011.  He also created NASA’s Artemis program to establish the first permanent presence on the Moon with commercial and international partners and enable a path to Mars. 

Before being appointed as NASA Administrator, Jim served in the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma’s First Congressional District from 2013 to 2018.  He was a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee where he chaired the Subcommittee on the Environment. 

Prior to Congress, Jim served as a pilot in the United States Navy acquiring 1900 flight hours and 333 landings on an aircraft carrier.  He flew combat missions in Afghanistan (2002) and Iraq (2003) off the USS Abraham Lincoln, where he earned an Air Medal and Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V”.  Originally an E-2C Hawkeye pilot, he transitioned to the F-18 Hornet and flew as an aggressor (Red Air) at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, the parent command to TOPGUN.

Jim serves on the Board of Directors for Viasat, Inc., the Board of Trustees of the Aerospace Corporation, and he Chairs the Board of Advisors for Voyager Space.

Jim earned a triple major from Rice University in Economics, Business, and Psychology and an MBA from Cornell University.  He lives in Tulsa with his wife Michelle and three children: Walker (15), Sarah (13), and Grant (9).

A
A
A

Reggie Brown

Reggie is a manager with Stinnett & Associates. Based in Houston, he has more than 15 years of experience in supply chain, procurement, commodity trading and risk management, and logistics, across multiple industries including consumer packaged goods and energy including upstream and midstream oil and gas.

Reggie has an extensive background in a broad range of service lines specializing in logistics, fuels, and other raw material commodities. His expertise also includes market analysis, data analysis, data processing and automation. He’s experienced with various ERPs, data platforms, programming languages and sourcing/procurement tailored solutions.

Prior to joining Stinnett, Reggie held supply chain, procurement and commodity management roles at Chevron and Procter & Gamble.  As the Petrochemical Logistics Category Manager for Chevron he managed $40-$70 million petrochemical logistics desk for international and domestic shipments for Americas region.  At Procter & Gamble, he traded and managed multi-million dollar supply chains for multiple business units, and generated millions in cost savings through supplier negotiations, competitive bidding events, and execution of risk management strategies.

Reggie holds a Bachelor of Science in Business & Finance from Florida State University, and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Southern Methodist University. 

gggggg

Clint Bruce


Clint Bruce is a former Navy Special Warfare Officer, a graduate of the US Naval Academy, decorated athlete, and seasoned entrepreneur. He is dedicated to helping leaders protect, perform, endure, and compete while helping veterans and their families transition successfully from service.
 
A 4-year letter winner at Navy playing middle linebacker, captain and MVP of the ’96 Aloha Bowl Championship team, he was named to multiple all-star teams his senior year. He enjoyed opportunities with both the Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints and was inducted into the Navy/Marine Corps Stadium Hall of Fame in 2009.

Clint’s desire to serve was deep and firmly rooted. He left the NFL to pursue becoming a Navy SEAL and successfully completed BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL Training) in 1998 with Class 217. Joining SEAL Team FIVE, Clint completed multiple deployments pre and post-911 directly involved in counter-terrorism and national security missions globally. 

After leaving the Navy, Clint discovered a passion for building companies and organizations that are both deeply impactful and highly purposeful. 

  • TRG is a trusted advisor on security, safety, crisis response, and training to businesses and agencies across the United States.
  • HoldFast is a leadership and performance growth company featuring transitioning veterans as speakers and personal/professional executive coaches.
  • WindiJ advises innovative leaders who are developing training, technology, and material for the human performance industry and works closely with strength and conditioning professionals as they develop and support the next generation athlete. 
  • Carry the Load (now led by fellow Navy grad and Former SEAL Stephen Holley) was founded to restore true meaning to Memorial Day and celebrate the service and sacrifice of Police, Fire, and Rescue personnel and their families during the month of May.

Clint lives in Dallas with his college sweetheart and 3 daughters who are not impressed that he played football or was a Navy SEAL.

A
A
A


Dr. Kimberly Church


Dr. Kimberly Swanson Church is the BKD Professor of Leadership & Director for the School of Accountancy at Missouri State University. She is an award-winning educator in the area of managerial and accounting information systems with an emphasis in emerging technologies. She is an active campus advocate and influencer and currently serves on the advisory board for the IMA-Kansas City professional chapter & works with the Heartland Council. She is the 2018 recipient of the “Jim Bulloch Award in Innovations in Management Accounting Education”, the 2018 “Outstanding Accounting Educator for Achievement and Commitment as an Educator and IMA Board Member”, the 2019 national “IMA Champion”, the 2020 “IMA Faculty Leadership Award” winner and the recipient of the 2021 “R. Lee Brummet Distinguished Service Award for Educators”. She has partnered with her local IMA chapter (Kansas City) to obtain grants, research support, teaching resources and professional partnerships. She has published many academic and practitioner articles, won several best paper awards and her articles have appeared in Strategic Finance and the IMA Management Accounting Quarterly. Dr. Church works actively with a variety of professional organizations and serves as a frequent invited speaker on topics related to professional development and technology disruptions to the accounting profession.

A
A
A

Jeff Dehart


Jeff is a Principal with Stinnett & Associates. He has over 30 years of experience in both Audit and Information Technology and has worked for several large organizations including Williams Companies and Magellan Midstream Partners. During his career, he has held such positions as Associate General Auditor, Director of Audit Services, and Information Technology Manager.

Jeff’s additional experience and accomplishments include managing and overseeing outsourced Internal Audit functions at several clients; managing the Stinnett & Associates Vendor Risk Management and Fraud Investigations groups; working directly with client senior management and Board members in reviewing potential process improvement opportunities as well as resolution strategies; construction management consulting; oil and gas operations including field assets and measurement functions; aviation MRO operations and business continuity planning. Current clients include customers from the Energy (upstream, midstream and downstream), Aerospace, Non-Profit and Manufacturing industries.

Jeff is a frequent speaker at such events as The IIA International Conference, MISTI SuperstrategiesConference, International Liquids Petroleum Association (ILTA) annual conference, Associates of Certified Fraud Examiners chapter meetings, Petroleum Accountants Society, IIA Chapters across the country and many others.

Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Oklahoma State University.  He is a Certified Internal Auditor, a Certified Information Systems Auditor, a Certified Fraud Examiner, aCertified Business Continuity Professional, and a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).

A
A
A



Lacey Horn


Lacey A. Horn (Cherokee Nation) is a visionary creator, thought leader and financial expert. These talents converge for the benefit of humanity, as her storied career is evidenced by optimal solutions and ideal outcomes. 

Lacey is the CEO of Native Advisory a strategic financial consulting firm serving tribes. Through this work, she advises Tribal Leaders on best practices so that they can accomplish True Tribal Sovereignty, a multi-level approach to a thriving tribal existence. Lacey also founded and heads HORN CPA, a niche cryptocurrency consulting firm serving Tribes and individuals. She is also the founder of the Native Opportunity Zone Fund LLP, and in the summer of 2020, she merged the NOZF for greater scale with Verte OZ Fund. 

Her most recent role was serving as the Treasurer of the Cherokee Nation, the largest federally recognized Native American tribe. She oversaw all financial functions of the tribal government, including the tribe’s $1.2B annual budget – a budget that doubled during her term of 2011-2019, enabling exponential expansion of services to the Cherokee People. Lacey’s efforts were integral to a $400M capital and IT expansion of the Nation’s health care system, which is the largest of its kind. She produced 8 years of perfectly clean audits, upgraded the Nation’s bond rating, and modernized the Nation’s treasury and investment strategies. She began her career with Hunt Oil and KPMG Chicago as an auditor and is a licensed CPA.

Lacey currently serves as Chairwoman of the board of the Native American Rights Fund and as a trustee for the  Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI).  She has a rich advisory and board background, including a former appointment by the Secretary of the Treasury to advise on tribal taxation via TTAC, naming by the GASB Chair to two separate advisory committees, and featured in a campaign to inspire Native American students to pursue business and financial careers. 

A heavily decorated professional, the Native American Finance Officers Association selected Lacey as “Executive of the Year” in 2014 and she appeared in two 40 Under 40 lists: NCAIED in 2015 and Oklahoma Magazine in 2012. She has two degrees from SMU and was named SMU’s 2017 “Emerging Leader.” Lacey was featured on the December 2018 cover of Native Business Magazine.

A
A
A



John Howell


John Howell, Grant Thornton, Managing Director, Advisory Services

John has over 25 years of professional consulting experience and has significant experience assisting clients with Financial Management and Reporting related process change initatives. Specifically, John has deep financial reporting process improvement and accounting information system expertise. He helps finance teams to build repeatable and sustainable processes to report Bette, smarter, and faster

Prior to joining Grant Thornton, John enjoyed a successful career of nearly 20 years combined at KPMG and Deloitte & Touche where he served a broad range of clients.

A
A
A


Dr. Chris Kuehl


Kuehl is pronounced Keel – like the bottom of a boat

Dr. Chris Kuehl is a Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence. He provides forecasts and strategic guidance for a wide variety of corporate clients around the world. He is the chief economist for several national and international organizations – Fabricators and Manufacturers Association, National Association of Credit Management, Finance, Credit and International Business and the Business Information Industry Association. He is also the economic analyst for several state accounting societies – Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Kansas.

Prior to starting Armada in 1999 he was a professor of economics and finance for 15 years – teaching in the US, Hungary, Russia, Estonia, Singapore and Taiwan. He holds advanced degrees in economics, Soviet studies and East Asian studies.

Chris is the author of Business Intelligence Briefs and Executive Intelligence Briefs - both publications from Armada. He is also responsible for the Credit Manager’s Index from NACM and Fabrinomics from the FMA.

A
A
A


Stacy Kymes

 

Stacy Kymes is president and CEO of BOK Financial Corporation. He leads a team that oversees a diverse portfolio of services for commercial, consumer and wealth management clients across the country through banking centers in eight states in the Midwest and Southwest. The company’s national lines of business include energy financial services; healthcare banking; trading and brokerage; mortgage origination and servicing; and TransFund, a top 10 electronic funds transfer network.

Prior to being named CEO in January 2022, Kymes was the chief operating officer and oversaw all of the company’s revenue-generating divisions. He also served as executive vice president over specialized banking areas, including energy, commercial real estate, healthcare, treasury services, commercial strategies and TransFund.

Kymes joined BOK Financial in 1996. He has held a number of positions in various areas of the company, previously serving as chief auditor, corporate controller, treasurer and chief credit officer.

Kymes graduated from Harding University, summa cum laude, with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting. He began his career at KPMG LLP where he audited public and private companies, primarily in the financial services sector.

A
A
A

Dr. Tyler Moore

Tyler Moore is the Tandy Professor of Cyber Security and Information Assurance in the Tandy School of Computer Science at the University of Tulsa (TU). He is the inaugural chair of the School of Cyber Studies, a new interdisciplinary department at TU that offers cyber degrees at the BS, MS and PhD levels. His research focuses on security economics, cybercrime measurement, and cybersecurity policy. He is a founding Editor in Chief of the Journal of Cybersecurity, a new interdisciplinary journal published by Oxford University Press. He was a 2016-17 New America Cybersecurity Fellow. Prior to joining TU, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Research on Computation and Society (CRCS) at Harvard University, the Hess Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Wellesley College, and an assistant professor at Southern Methodist University. A British Marshall Scholar, Prof. Moore completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge, while he holds BS degrees in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from the University of Tulsa.

A
A
A

Matthew Morgan


Mr. Matthew L. Morgan (Chickasaw/Choctaw) currently serves as Chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association and the Executive Officer/General Counsel for the Office of Governmental Affairs & Partnerships at the Chickasaw Nation. Over Mr. Morgan’s 20+ year career at the Chickasaw Nation he previously has served as the Director of Gaming Affairs, two terms as the Gaming Commissioner for the Chickasaw Nation, associate General Counsel for the Chickasaw Nation and General Counsel to the Office of the Gaming Commissioner.

Mr. Morgan is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, where he earned his Juris Doctorate from the College of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Price School of Business and resides in Goldsby, OK with his wife Shannon Morgan and their children.

A
A
A


Jason Oelich

Jason is the partner-in-charge of Eide Bailly’s Tulsa Tax practice and works with clients across a variety of industries including renewable energy, real estate, manufacturing, construction, automobile dealerships and Opportunity Zone businesses. Jason’s background combines both public accounting and corporate roles which allows Jason to help clients maximize their success through the use of strategic tax planning and the optimal utilization of tax credits. When you work with Jason, you can expect him to take a keen interest in your current situation as well as your short and long-term objectives, and to thoughtfully analyze the best possible tax solutions to meet your strategic needs. Jason is also a decorated Army veteran from Desert Storm.
A
A
A


Janis Parthun


Janis is a Vice President within RGP’s Advisory & Project Services team. She brings over 20 years of experience and expertise in finance and technology process design, risk management and driving continuous improvement for companies.

Previously, she was a Director at RSM US LLP leading global and regional account engagements for the risk consulting practice. And prior to RSM, she was at the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) advocating the importance of accounting and IT to the accounting profession at large.

A
A
A


Kelly Paxton


Kelly Paxton has more than 20 years of investigative experience. Kelly is a Certified Fraud Examiner, Private Investigator, author, and podcast host-founder of Great Women in Fraud.

Ms. Paxton started her career in law enforcement as a Special Agent for US Customs Office of Investigations in 1993.  Ms. Paxton was recruited by US Customs for her expertise in finance.  She worked white collar fraud, money laundering and narcotics cases.  She also was responsible for the district’s undercover operations and financial reporting of these operations. Kelly worked as a contract investigator doing over 1000 security background investigations for the Office of Personnel Management and Department of Homeland Security.

Kelly has worked in the public and private sector.  Most recently she worked as a global investigator for Nike. Her investigations include embezzlement, conflict of interest, intellectual property, Open Source Intelligence and fraud. Kelly is also the proud owner of pinkcollarcrime.com, a passion of hers about embezzlers in the workplace.  She founded Great Women in Fraud in August, 2020.  Her book, Embezzlement How to Prevent, Detect and Investigate Pink-Collar Crime, was published in December, 2020.
A
A
A


Lynn Rohland


Lynn Rohland is Vice President of Risk & Compliance responsible for leading RGP’s Global Cybersecurity, Data Privacy & PCI Practice. She has 30 years of experience as a cyber risk advisor and privacy compliance strategist. In this capacity, she assists clients in building their risk management frameworks and data privacy programs, spearheading large scale assessments, conducting enterprise-wide audits, and helping clients remediate gaps and mitigate risks to achieve operational effectiveness. Prior to RGP, Lynn began a career as a global e-Commerce and privacy lobbyist for many years with EDS, then stood up and led Booz Allen’s Privacy & Data Security consulting practice for over a decade, and then she co-led the overhaul and rebuilding of Sony Picture Entertainment’s Global Information Governance and Privacy Program as a business leader within Deloitte’s Cyber Risk Services team before joining RGP.

A
A
A

Andrew Urich


Andrew L. Urich is the department head of Business Administration and holds the Eastin Chair for Career Readiness in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University. Professor Urich’s focus is on corporate training and executive coaching. Since 1993 he has presented over 2,000 corporate training programs in the areas of Influence, Negotiation, Ethics, Critical Thinking and Profitable relationships. He has presented to clients such as Bank of Oklahoma, Phillips 66, Chesapeake Energy, Lexus/ Toyota, QuikTrip, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Tyson Foods, Halliburton, the United States Air Force and Volkswagen.  In addition, Professor Urich was an adjunct faculty member of the Executive MBA at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi and Dubai from 2004 to 2012. Prior to joining the faculty at OSU, he practiced law with a major corporate law firm in Ohio.

A
A
A

Chris Zervas


Chris Zervas helps busy leaders improve their communication, leadership and employee engagement to impact their organization’s bottom line. 

Chris’s trainings have helped organizations increase efficiencies, productivity, and retention valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars by his clients. 

From Army National Guard Bureau, US Bank, and ConocoPhillips to small family owned businesses, Chris empowers leaders to communication relationally rather than transactionally.    

He is the author of the book, Bomb-Proof Constructive Feedback, and received his Master’s Degree in Communication from Wheaton College after graduating from the University of Oklahoma as a student/athlete.  

He has served two college communication faculties, worked in fundraising for over 10 years and has been trained in conflict resolution by the Administrative office of the courts of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma.  More information about his keynote speaking, employee development and coaching can be found at ChrisZervas.com.

Chris is a Cherokee Citizen and lives in Oklahoma with his wife and five children.