The New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants is recognizing 41 of its members as Ovation Award winners.

The honorees were announced during the organization’s 2022 Convention & Expo held June 16.

Awards are distributed in seven categories, in addition to the Lifetime Leader Award, which this year was bestowed upon Michael Polito, a retired partner from Deloitte & Touche LLP of Parsippany.

Polito is a past president of NJCPA (2001/2002) and has served on the board of trustees and as a chair of the Finance Committee, New Jersey Uniform Accountancy Bill Committee and Professional Conduct Committee. The award celebrates an NJCPA member “who is credited with extraordinary contributions to the accounting profession over the course of their career.”

“We are particularly pleased to honor Mike in this way as he embraces the very epitome of leadership,” said NJCPA Chief Executive Officer Ralph Albert Thomas. “Throughout the years, Mike has always been one to give his time and energy to inform CPAs about issues that are important to the profession while also creating ways colleagues can connect.”

According to NJCPA, Polito has also played a key part in writing and teaching the organization’s ethics course since its launch in 2022. He’s also helped to raise more than $500,000 for the NJCAP Scholarship Fund, where an award is distributed annually in his name.

Of the remaining Ovation honorees, Thomas remarked, ““It’s an honor to award these prestigious individuals and celebrate their many accomplishments and dedication to the accounting profession. It is particularly rewarding to be able to do that in-person this year.”

Here are the rest of the 2022 NJCPA Ovation Award Winners:

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Keri Fleming — chief people office People Officer, Mazars USA LLP
Al-Nesha Jones — partner and founder, ASE Group
Patrice Turner — audit professional, Deloitte

Emerging Leaders

Ryan Berdnik — senior manager, Mazars USA LLP
Joseph Breen — senior tax accountant, Withum
Kyle Drost — assurance manager, Untracht Early LLC
Jay Guttmann — partner, SRG Advisors LLC
Joseph Hunt — audit senior, SobelCo
Karen Nici-Talarico — director, Merck & Co. Inc.
William Smitheman — audit manager, Baratz & Associates PA
Christopher Stoop — senior manager, EisnerAmper
Rachel Suntag — audit senior, Deloitte

Exceptional Educators

Amy Lysak — assistant professor, Rowan University
Sarah O’Rourke — lecturer of professional practice, Rutgers Business School

Impact

Neil Becourtney — tax partner, CohnReznick LLP
James Blake — partner and chief operating officer, Mazars USA LLP
Robbin Caruso — partner, Prager Metis CPAs LLC
Nicole DeRosa — senior tax manager, Wiss
Della Hammer— CFO, Make- A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey
Brian Lawrence — CEO, Fellowship Senior Living
Christopher Lovasz — managing director, Deloitte & Touche LLP
Jerry Maginnis — executive in residence, Rowan University and author
Daniel Marques — principal, Drucker & Scaccetti PC
Alan Preis — owner, Alan J. Preis CPA PC
Ainsley Reynolds —New Jersey Division of Investment
Michele Theuerkauf — Michele Theuerkauf CPA LLC
Edward Zollars — Owner, Thomas Zollars & Lynch Ltd.

Innovation

Vincenzo Antinozzi — audit staff, WilkinGuttenplan
Daniel Geltrude — managing partner, Geltrude & Co. LLC CPAs
Shawn Henderson — manager, Citrin Cooperman & Co. LLP
Christopher Massood — senior accountant, Massood & Co. PA
Ryan Warnet — accountant, SKC & Co. CPAs LLC

Women to Watch

Danielle Abrahamsen — assistant controller, CommVault Systems, Inc.
Paula Ferreira — office managing partner, Mazars USA LLP
Michelle Gasiorowski — partner, Bowman & Co. LLP
Courtney McLaughlin — senior tax manager, Johnson & Johnson
Lori Roth — national managing partner, Prager Metis CPAs, LLC
Jenna Sanfilippo — senior tax accountant, WilkinGuttenplan
Caitlin Smith — accountant, SKC & Co. CPAs, LLC
Valerie Thorpe — manager, WilkinGuttenplan

The 2022 NJCPA Ovation Award winners will be profiled in the fall issue of New Jersey CPA magazine.

Want more on New Jersey’s leading CPAs? NJBIZ will reveal its 2022 Power 50 Accounting list in print and online on June 27.