Lenny Amaya, CPA is currently the Vice President of Internal Audit at Nine Energy Services (NYSE: NINE), an oilfield services company based in Houston, TX.  At Nine, Internal Audit provides SOX 404 testing, ERM, Operational and IT audit services and will soon be providing ESG audit support services. Lenny strives to lead strong technical and collaborative teams that provide insight and value to their stakeholders.  Lenny is originally from Corpus Christi, TX and graduated from St. Mary’s University (BBA – Accounting).  In his spare time, Lenny is an NCAA and Texas Association of Sports Officials baseball umpire.  

Jamie is a Manager in the Consulting practice at FORVIS. With more than 20 years of experience, including audit, financial management, project management and higher education, he focusses on helping organizations thrive to reach their highest potential. Prior to joining FORVIS, Jamie worked for the City of Atlanta in the Internal Audit department and is also a part-time professor at Georgia State University. He obtained his BBA from Jackson State University in Finance, his MBA from Kennesaw State University, and his PhD from Hampton University. Jamie is a Certified Fraud Examiner and Certified Project Management Professional.

Abu is a seasoned audit and risk management executive with over 20 years of experience in professional services and industry. Currently, Abu leads the Internal Audit function at Excelerate Energy, a global LNG player, where he is responsible for internal audit, internal controls, and Enterprise Risk Management. Abu began his career in Big 4 firms, where he spent the first decade of his career in both external auditing and advisory functions. Since then, he has worked at several energy companies to establish, enhance, and transform their internal audit, internal controls, and risk management functions.

Margie Bastolla, CIA, is an Orlando-based author, trainer, and consultant who helps internal audit departments write clear, impactful reports; reduce report revisions; and quicken report issuance.  She is author of the 2023 book Clarity, Impact, Speed:   Delivering Audit Reports that Matter, 2nd Edition, published by The IIA.  Margie has taught auditors in hundreds of organizations to think critically and write clearly. She also helps organizations design reports that meet their readers’ needs. Margie’s clients include the Fortune 500, the U.S. military, the international agencies, and many organizations in the financial services, healthcare, and higher ed sectors.  Before forming her training company, Margie spent 20 years in executive and leadership roles at The Institute of Internal Auditors in Lake Mary, Florida.  To learn more about her training and consulting services, visit www.auditreportwriting.com.

Sonny serves on the Board of Governors of the IIA Houston Chapter.  He is active with the National Association of Corporate Directors and is one of 1200 professionals that have earned the NACD Directorship Certification.  Sonny has had the opportunity to work with numerous public, private and non-for-profit boards over his 30 year career. Sonny is a risk and controls consulting partner with Crowe. 

Tamura Gidado is an IT Risk professional with 18 years global work experience providing assurance and advisory services around systems, business processes, and technology risk. She delivers services across multiple risk lines including IT risk assessment, regulatory readiness reviews, IT risk and controls implementation, technology risk audit and compliance modernization, SOX-readiness, and other framework driven risk and compliance projects.  Tamura was previously the regional lead for intelligent Process Automation and IT Innovation. She is recently focused on cost take-out in compliance, and risk in technology modernization.

Vicky is a business / board advisor, coach and mentor. She was the former national practice leader for BDO USA’s Risk Advisory Services practice. In addition, she served on the BDO Global Steering Committee for Risk Advisory Services and led the Global Market Development team.  As a results-oriented executive, Vicky has led and teams with Global Risk Advisory Services leaders to deliver best-in-class client service. She has more than 30 years of experience in delivering internal audit, Sarbanes-Oxley, IPO Readiness, compliance and advisory solutions for Fortune 500 and middle market companies. Vicky has designed internal audit departments, identified control and efficiency issues, and recommended alternative solutions to executive management and audit committees. She has also directed client responsibilities for a variety of clients including public companies in the U.S. and clients on foreign exchanges.  Vicky assists clients in assessing the health of their organization using a framework that includes strategy, leadership, people, processes, and results. Her client’s have crossed multiple industries, including manufacturing and distribution, natural resources, consumer products, and private equity.

Ginger is the Director of Internal Audit for Prosperity Bank.  She is active in her local community and is a member of the IIA Houston Chapter.  Ginger began her career in public accounting, serving primarily oil and gas clients as an assurance manager before transitioning to internal audit.  Ginger has managed audit teams in the oil and gas and financial services industries for over twenty years. 

Trip has 12+ years of hands-on experience evaluating cybersecurity in a broad range of IT environments. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, private equity groups, small enterprises and government entities alike on security and compliance and has performed 250+ assessments across unique and complex IT environments. He also performs cyber risk assessments, cybersecurity compliance, vulnerability and penetration tests to help organizations improve their cybersecurity posture.  This hands-on experience, ongoing education and active community involvement keeps Trip at the forefront of best practices, leading frameworks (including NIST-CSF, CIS CSC, MITRE ATT&CK, ISO 27001) and regulatory requirements (PCI, CMMC, etc.).

After serving 25 years as a Special Agent in the FBI, Michael “Bret” Hood became the director of 21st Century Learning & Consulting, LLC upon his retirement in 2016.  Bret serves as an adjunct professor of corporate governance, ethics, and forensic accounting for the University of Virginia as well as a faculty member for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Bret is also a board member for the School of Accounting at Southern Illinois University.

Since his retirement, Bret has keynoted and provided leadership, ethics, and anti-fraud instruction for Fortune 500 companies, non-profit entities, and governmental organizations.  Bret has also given two lively Ted Talks on ethics.  Bret is the author of the critically acclaimed books, Eat More Ice Cream: A Succinct Leadership Lesson for Each Week of the Year & Get Off Your Horse! 52 Succinct Leadership Lessons from U.S. Presidents.

A globally recognized innovation strategist and bestselling author, Shawn Kanungo works at the intersection of creativity, business, and technology. He spent 12 years at Deloitte working closely with leaders to help them better plan for the opportunities associated with disruptive innovation. In his high energy keynotes, Kanungo draws on his extensive experience to provide audiences with an optimistic roadmap for the future; one that embraces unexpected approaches to innovation to remain competitive and relevant.

Since leaving Deloitte, Kanungo has worked with hundreds of organizations on their journey to digital transformation. He’s led complex projects incorporating artificial intelligence, cloud technologies, behavioral economics, Web3, and more. Today, Kanungo is a Partner with Queen & Rook, where he advises leading organizations and executives on disruptive trends and invests in early-stage ventures.

Kanungo is the first innovation expert to have a streaming special, released on Apple TV and Prime Video in August 2023. It complements and shares the name of his bestselling debut book, The Bold Ones, a playbook for individuals to become bolder and push their careers and organizations forward. It has been touted as one of McKinsey’s top decision-making books for leaders. Kanungo’s work has also been featured in the Globe and Mail, The Guardian, CBC, and CTV.

A prolific content creator, Kanungo’s content on innovation has garnered millions of views across LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook. He’s been recognized by Edify magazine as one of their “Top 40 Under 40” and was called the “best virtual keynote speaker I’ve ever seen” by Forbes in 2021.

Ann Kluppel is the General Auditor for Phillips 66, a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company. She joined the company in 2001, serving in various roles within Operations, Finance and Human Resources. Ann started her career in public accounting and later moved to Vastar Resources. Ann served as the University of Texas McCombs School Business partner for Phillips 66 from 2008 – 2023, holding positions on the University of Texas Accounting Advisory Council, as well as the Kay Bailey Hutchison Energy Center Advisory Council.

 Ann earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Texas and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston. She is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the state of Texas, as well as a Certified Internal Auditor.

Renée Marino is a Connection expert, TEDx speaker, and best-selling author who helps business professionals communicate effectively and confidently through simple and easy tools in person and online. Her best-selling book, Becoming a Master Communicator, endorsed by Dean Graziosi, Russell Brunson, Bryan Adams, Chazz Palminteri, Jenna Kutcher, Dhomonique Murphy, and many more, is a powerful guide for those struggling to have clear and honest communication in a world driven by digital technology.

Renée can be seen as the female lead role, Mary Delgado, in the movie "Jersey Boys," directed by Clint Eastwood, and has graced the Broadway stage in “Pretty Woman the Musical”, “Jersey Boys”, “Chaplin” and “Wonderland”. She has been featured in People.com's "Ones to Watch," Variety, and The Huffington Post.

Renée was the co-host of Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi's "World Summit" and a featured speaker at the “2023 Ziglar Coach Summit" event. Renée Marino's mission is to empower people to make authentic communication a priority by understanding that: "Everything starts with Communication, and when we learn to Master this Skill, we become Limitless!"

McKenzie’s focus has been establishing long-term investment roadmaps, assessing IT/OT and operational risk by business unit, and deploying value-added zero-trust security architectures to ensure resilience, cyber defense and compliance across the organization.  Prior to joining ConocoPhillips, McKenzie held the role of chief security officer and vice president of supply chain at Calpine Corporation, responsible for setting cyber and physical security strategies across all functional business units as well as the overall strategy for IT compliance, business continuity, infrastructure, supply chain and facilities. McKenzie has also held the role of chief information security officer at Baker Hughes, where she was responsible for a multinational team focused on cyber-defense, securing digital oilfield operations, security of future oilfield product designs, application security and architecture, records management, data privacy and consulting with Baker Hughes’ global oilfield customers; PwC’s advisory practice; and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration HIDTA task force. McKenzie holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University, as well as CISSP, CRISC and CISA certifications.  McKenzie was named one of Houston’s top millennial women to watch in 2019 by the Houston Chronicle, was nominated as Orbie awards’ 2020 Houston CIO of the Year and was nominated for Constellation Research’s 2021 Business Transformation 150 Award.

Kevin G. McMahon serves as Senior Vice President, Internal Audit and Chief Compliance Officer. He joined Calpine in May 2006 to lead the Internal Audit function and took on the added role of Chief Compliance Officer in August 2009. Mr. McMahon is responsible for managing and conducting all internal audit activities, supporting operations and the functional departments as requested, managing the Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) compliance oversight program, leading records management activities and reporting audit findings with the appropriate recommendations to senior management and the Audit Committee. In addition, he oversees the company’s regulatory compliance efforts with particular emphasis on ensuring that proper procedures are in place to help the company meet all FERC and NERC regulatory requirements. Prior to joining Calpine, he was Vice President and General Auditor for Exide Technologies, a global manufacturer of stored electrical energy products and services for industrial and transportation applications. He previously served as Vice President-Internal Audit Services and in other senior auditing positions for HCA, Inc., the largest hospital provider in the United States, and served in senior management and auditing positions for Ernst & Young LLP, Southern Company Services, FPL Group and HSBC/Marine Midland Bank N.A. Mr. McMahon has a Master of Business Administration degree from Palm Beach Atlantic University and a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the State University of New York. He is both a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and Certified in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA).

Greg is an Independent Consultant specializing in Enterprise Risk Management, Internal Control Environments, Internal Audit Quality Assurance Reviews, and Internal Audit.  Greg also is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston teaching a master’s level course in Enterprise Risk Management. Greg started his career in 1988 with JCPenney Company as a Staff Auditor responsible for auditing the distribution network and later was promoted to a Senior Auditor responsible for auditing the field operations in Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii.  He joined Sysco Corporation in 1996 as an Auditor in the Operations Review Department where he was promoted to Assistant Manager in late 1997.  In 1998, he was promoted to CFO of Sysco’s operation in Chicago, Illinois which at that time was the 5th largest company in the organization.  In 2002, Greg became the Sr. Director and head of Operations Review and was responsible for the internal audit activities for Sysco.  Greg also had responsibilities for Sales/Use Tax Compliance and Corporate Credit.  In 2009, Greg was promoted to Vice President of the Internal Audit Department responsible for assessing the control environment of all of Sysco’s locations in the Americas, Europe and Asia including the corporate office, field locations, IT and SOX compliance.

Greg retired from Sysco in 2022 and continues to reside in Houston with his daughter who will soon graduate High school. Greg is on the Board of Governors for the Houston Chapter of the IIA as well as on the Wine Sales Committee for the Houston Live Stock Show and Rodeo. 

Paul is a management consultant with over 33 years of progressive roles within industry and professional services where he has managed and delivered successful audit and consulting projects to clients across a multitude of industries.  At Revenew, Paul leads the Performance Improvement practice and oversees business development and account management for clients seeking cost recovery, cost containment and performance improvements both with their vendors, suppliers and contactors as well as within their operations.  Since 1999, Paul has been involved in providing consulting and internal audit services within technical areas of organizations including engineering, procurement and construction.  Prior to providing those professional services, he worked for over nine years in the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) industry with KBR.  Paul holds Master degrees in Business and Environmental Management as well as a Bachelor degree in Civil/Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of Houston.  He is certified as an Internal Auditor (CIA), Risk Management Assurance (CRMA), Professional EH&S Auditor (CPEA), Project Management Professional (PMP), Construction Controls Professional (CCP) and Construction Auditor (CCA).  Paul is an accomplished speaker and has been designated the highest professional speaking designation by Toastmasters International in 2006, Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM).

Adnan joined Meta in May 2022 as the Head of Internal Audit (Corporate Functions) & SOX Compliance based in Menlo Park, CA. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing assurance activities for all Corporate Functions (e.g., Finance, Enterprise Engineering, Facilities, Security, and HR) and managing Meta’s Global SOX Program.

Prior to joining Meta, Adnan served as VP Internal Audit at Visa, Inc., (2017 – 2022) directing financial and operational audits across all of Visa’s business segments and country operations. Previously, Adnan served as EVP Internal Audit, for Texas Capital Bank (2013 – 2017) in Dallas, TX where he implemented technology, training, and tools for the audit team, matured the SOX Program, and managed regulatory engagement.

His background also includes experience as a Senior Finance Manager of Payments Risk Management at Amazon, and various roles in the Internal Audit function at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas. His early career includes experience with KPMG, and Verizon.

Shayla Russell is a Managing Director in Protiviti’s Houston Internal Audit and Financial Advisory practice. For the past 17+ years, her efforts have focused primarily on Internal Audit and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance for both business process and information technology areas across a variety of industries, with a particular focus on private-to-public company engagements.  Throughout her career, Shayla has not only prioritized the requisite technical competencies of an internal auditor but has also actively cultivated a multifaceted skill set. This includes a strong emphasis on communication, skepticism, adaptability, and relationship management, among other essential qualities. Beyond personal development, Shayla contributes to the professional growth of her peers by hosting numerous training and one-on-one sessions. Through these initiatives, she imparts hands-on coaching, ensuring exposure to critical soft skills that she believes are instrumental to the impact we can have as internal auditors.

Lauren has been with Deloitte for more than 14 years, specializing in delivering risk and internal audit services in the health care industry. For the past few years she has worked to develop the conceptual framework of the Future of IA and led the implementation and transformation for IA departments as well. As part of her role in IA innovation she has focused on the concept of IA and the Intangibles around topics such as Sustainability, Culture Risk, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Recently she co-authored the Deloitte “Internal Audit (IA)’s role in Diversity and Inclusion(D&I) ”DEI” that was published in the Wall Street Journal. Lauren is also a frequent speaker on this topic, having presented at various Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) meetings and industry events targeted at internal auditors.

Stephen is responsible for Fossil’s Internal Audit, SOX compliance, ERM, Loss Prevention, Risk & Insurance, product testing and supplier compliance functions.  During his career he has held senior leadership positions in Internal Audit for Mr. Cooper, HP, KBR, Blockbuster, and Belo. He also had prior experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers and American Airlines.  Stephen has an MBA with a major in Computer Systems and a BBA in Accounting from the University of Toledo in Ohio.  He is a Texas licensed Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and a Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional (CCEP). 

John Warren is the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). He is also an advisory member of the ACFE Board of Regents and sits on the Board of Directors of the ACFE Foundation.  Warren is responsible for setting the strategic vision of the ACFE and for implementing enterprise-level strategic initiatives with the goal of growing global membership, improving member satisfaction and raising the profile of the ACFE. He is also a co-author of the Report to the Nations, the ACFE’s biennial study on the costs and effects of occupational fraud.