Professionals on the Move is a round-up of recent hiring, promotion, awards, and other staffing announcements from around the accounting profession.
RSM Names Joseph Taiano Chief Marketing Officer as the Firm Redefines the Middle Market and Accelerates Global Platform
RSM US LLP (“RSM”) – the leading provider of assurance, tax, and consulting services to the middle market – recently announced the appointment of Joseph Taiano as Chief Marketing Officer and a member of RSM’s executive leadership team. Taiano will lead RSM’s brand evolution, marketing modernization, and integrated go-to-market strategy to accelerate growth and deepen client impact worldwide.
Transformational leadership
Taiano brings more than 25 years of experience in global marketing and growth transformation, including executive roles at Accenture—where he more recently served as Global Head of Marketing for Growth & Strategy and led marketing for its creative division, Accenture Song. A former CPA, he combines deep business and financial acumen with modern marketing leadership, having led global teams, managed multi-billion-dollar client portfolios, and built high-impact marketing organizations grounded in data and measurable results.
In his view, effective B2B marketing today requires a deep understanding of the complexity of the business environment and how brand drives results. While clients buy for many reasons—relationships, price, quality of product or service—brand is often what they are really buying. “Brand is not a logo or an ad; it is what every employee embodies in every interaction, direct or indirect, with clients, shaping their experience and perception of the firm,” he said.
Reinforcing the brand promise
A key focus of Taiano’s leadership will be reinforcing the core of RSM’s brand promise—The Power of Being Understood—which reflects the firm’s commitment to building deep, personalized relationships with clients, colleagues, and communities through insight and understanding. This focus will ensure clients receive proactive guidance and outcomes that help them compete and grow in an increasingly complex global environment. Internally, he will champion a results-driven culture that empowers teams to execute RSM’s global strategy.
Taiano will develop a unified brand across the globe that will be locally relevant to the middle market. Clients can expect a seamless experience across assurance, tax, and consulting services, grounded in shared values, processes, and approach.
Maxwell Locke & Ritter Announces Lesley Hargraves as Next Leading Partner, Effective 2027
Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP (ML&R), the largest locally owned and managed accounting and advisory firm in Central Texas, recently announced that Lesley Hargraves will assume the role of Leading Partner in January 2027, succeeding current Leading Partner, Kyle Parks. The planned, year-long leadership transition is designed to ensure continuity and long-term success for the firm, its clients, and its people.
Hargraves has been with ML&R since 2009, building her career on the firm’s audit team. She became a partner in 2017 and most recently served as Audit Practice Leader. Over the next year, Hargraves and Parks will work closely together to ensure a seamless transition for clients and team members.
Hargraves’ appointment reflects ML&R’s long-standing commitment to developing leaders from within. Her leadership journey has been shaped by strong relationships, deep firm experience, and active involvement in the Central Texas community, reflecting ML&R’s long-standing focus on people, clients, and community.
Hargraves will become the fourth Leading Partner in ML&R’s history and the first woman to hold the role, marking an exciting milestone for the firm and reflecting its strong leadership pipeline and long-term commitment to continuity, client service, and people-focused growth.
Ascend Appoints Evie Woodforde as its First Chief Operating Officer
Ascend, a strategic partner to leading regional accounting and advisory firms backed by Alpine Investors, recently announced that Evie Woodforde has been appointed Chief Operating Officer, a newly created role for the firm.
Woodforde previously served as Regional President, a position she held since August 2023, shortly after Ascend’s founding in January of that year. As COO, she will oversee platform-wide operations and growth as the firm continues to scale.
Ascend’s model is designed to preserve the independence of high-performing regional firms while providing the capabilities and resources of a top 25 organization to help them reach their full potential.
Ascend partners with regional accounting firms generating between $15 million and $50 million in revenue, that demonstrate strong leadership, healthy cultures, and ambitious growth goals. Ascend platform firms currently operate in more than a dozen states nationwide.
Goering & Granatino Hires Parker Woodson as Chief Growth Officer
Goering & Granatino (GG Advisors) recently announced that Parker Woodson has joined the firm as Chief Growth Officer. In this role, Woodson will align business development and operations to improve speed, quality, and the client experience. Woodson’s role spans two core priorities:
- Operational efficiency and margin: Modernize processes, eliminate bottlenecks, and strengthen quality at scale so client work moves faster and feels easier.
- Revenue generation and market evolution: Advance business development, refine and expand offerings, and equip teams to communicate value clearly at every touchpoint.
A Kansas City native, Woodson has ledfinancial operations and strategic initiatives in management consulting and advisory environments, often parachuting into high‑potential practices to build scalable processes and turn early wins into repeatable performance. He is focused on sustainable growth and a better end‑to‑end client experience.
Woodson is active in youth sports coaching and mentorship and has served with nonprofit boards across Chicago and Kansas City. He earned his degree in finance fromBaylor University.
CohnReznick’s Kaye named to Women We Admire’s Top 50 Women Leaders of Miami for 2026
CohnReznick, a leading professional services firm, recently announced that Teri Kaye, Partner, has been recognized by Women We Admire as one of its Top 50 Women Leaders of Miami for 2026. The list honors women executives who are shaping Miami’s business landscape through leadership, innovation, and impact across a wide range of industries.
According to Women We Admire
About Teri Kaye
Teri Kaye serves as the South Florida Tax Practice Leader and has more than 30 years of experience in public accounting, specializing in holistic tax planning and compliance for high net-worth families and their entities. In this role, she helps clients reduce their total tax burden throughout their life cycle events and in planning for the transition of their businesses to next generations or third parties. Teri has significant experience in federal and state and local tax (SALT) matters.
From Silk Road to Valid8: Former US Marshals Asset Forfeiture Expert Joins as VP of Public Sector
Valid8 Financial, a leading provider of forensic accounting software for financial crime, recently announced the appointment of Joanna Summers as the Vice President of Public Sector. Summers worked in the Asset Forfeiture Division (AFD) of the United States Marshals Service for more than nine years.
In her role, Summers will focus on running Valid8’s public sector team. She will leverage her experience to help Valid8 better serve law enforcement and government agencies in their work, furthering her emphasis on the importance of public-private partnerships. Summers will also lead training and educational sessions to help investigators gain the skills and knowledge needed to successfully seize assets in financial crime cases.
At the U.S. Marshals Service, Summers worked on landmark asset forfeiture cases, such as Silk Road, where she helped take federal custody of cryptocurrency for the first time. The team ultimately managed and disposed of approximately 175,000 Bitcoin in that case alone. Summers also contributed expertise in valuing and assessing assets in cases such as the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme and the 1MDB scandal.
Summers also serves as president-elect of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Association for Women in Cryptocurrency, where she mentors women across the crypto and fintech industries and contributes regularly to The Financial Club, a community dedicated to AI and technology in financial services.
Wiggam Law Welcomes Former IRS Counsel Clint Locke to Strengthen Tax Litigation Practice
Wiggam Law recently announced the addition of Clint J. Locke, JD, CPA, to its team, further expanding the firm’s capabilities in complex tax litigation and controversy matters. Locke joins Wiggam Law as a senior attorney following a distinguished career with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Office of Chief Counsel, where he most recently served as Assistant Associate Area Counsel.
Locke brings more than 15 years of experience handling sophisticated tax disputes, including syndicated conservation easements, micro-captive insurance arrangements and other high-stakes cases in U.S. Tax Court. During his tenure with the IRS, he managed litigation teams, reviewed pleadings and advisory opinions, and led trial efforts on complex matters, while also training attorneys on Tax Court rules and motions practice.
At Wiggam Law, Locke will represent individuals and businesses in federal and state tax disputes, audits, investigations and litigation, while advising clients on risk mitigation and compliance strategies.
Locke earned his J.D., cum laude, from The University of Alabama School of Law and holds a B.B.A. in accounting from Freed-Hardeman University. He is a licensed CPA and a member of the Alabama State Bar.
Bluth named CohnReznick’s new Office Managing Partner – New York, NY
CohnReznick, a leading professional services firm, recently announced that Jarrett Bluth, Partner and New York Tax Practice Leader, has assumed the role of Office Managing Partner of the firm’s New York, NY, office. Bluth has been preparing for this position for the past year as a planned succession in conjunction with the retirement of Jay Levy, who held the position for the past seven years.
With more than 20 years of experience as an advisor, complemented by five years as an owner/operator, Bluth brings a practical, strategic perspective that supports organizational decision‑making, operational performance, and long‑term value creation. A Certified Public Accountant, he has extensive experience in strategic tax and business planning, M&A transactions, and value creation across the lifecycle of private equity‑backed portfolio companies.
In the New York office, Bluth leads a multidisciplinary team delivering assurance and tax services, as well as integrated support for complex business challenges through collaboration with CohnReznick teams in accounting, valuation, consulting, M&A, transaction advisory, and more. The office serves a broad range of industries, providing deep expertise in areas such as financial services, private equity, commercial real estate, consumer and retail, hospitality, manufacturing and distribution, technology, media, and family offices.
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