Firm Operations Forum (E2411940)

Rachel L. Anevski, M.A.O.B., PHR, SHRM-CP, is the founder and chief executive officer of Matters of Management, LLC. Rachel has held executive roles in marketing, business development and human capital for mid-size and large professional services firms. She has spent her career working alongside business owners and managing partners carrying out firm missions, acquiring talent and providing coaching to executives, management and staff. Consulting engagements have consisted of organizational redesign of operations and infrastructure, personnel programming, senior talent acquisition, total benefit and rewards systems, policy and procedure manuals, and providing business development coaching training. She is certified in human resources, has a Masters Degree in organizational behavior from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an undergraduate degree in forensic psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Aiysha (AJ) Johnson, MA, IOM, is CEO and executive director of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJCPA). Prior to joining the NJCPA in 2023, Johnson was executive director of BKR International’s Americas Region, where she was responsible for overseeing the implementation of all strategic efforts for BKR accounting and business advisory member firms in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to serving the accounting profession, she worked for a range of associations including Vizient, the nation’s largest healthcare performance improvement company, where she supported members with complex benchmarking needs. Johnson has more than 20 years of wide-ranging global experience working for nonprofits and professional and trade associations. She was elected to the boards of the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ) in 2024 and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce in 2023. She was a member of BKR’s Center of Excellence Advisory Board and is on the boards of the Community Foundation of New Jersey, Together for Youth and Junior Achievement of New Jersey. In addition, she was recognized among the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting by Accounting Today (2023) and on the NJBIZ Power 100 list (2024) and has received numerous honors and awards including being named No. 1 on NJBIZ’s Accounting Power 50 list in 2023 and 2024 and one of its 2023 People to Watch in Finance. She was also named one of ROI-NJ’s ROI Influencers: People of Color 2023. She served on the Alumni Board of the University of Chicago (2021-2023), where she graduated with a Master’s in Administration and Policy. She also completed the Senior Management Program in Business Management at University of Chicago/IE School of Business and holds a certificate in Management Accounting for Leaders. She holds a B.S. from Western Illinois University. Johnson enjoys entrepreneurship, the arts, volunteering, writing, reading and travel. She is also a food and wine enthusiast and a member of Chaine des Rotisseurs. She resides in Hudson County.

Jessica L. Levin, M.B.A., CMP, is the president and chief connector for Seven Degrees Communications. With a background in marketing and event planning, she has a passion for connecting people and creating experiences based on strategic goals. Ms. Levin is known as the “go to” person in marketing, event design and anything involving trends in technology. She uses social networking tools to build and strengthen both personal and business relationships and teaches others how to embrace social media as a way to create both corporate and personal brands. Ms. Levin’s professional background includes experience in the professional services arena, association management and industrial marketing. Her strategic approach to marketing includes a mix of both traditional marketing channels and web 3.0 tactics. She focuses on creating, strengthening, and maintaining relationships for business and for the people that drive them. Ms. Levin is the president of the New Jersey Professional Marketers Association (NJPSMG) and is the digital communications chair for the Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM). She currently serves on the social media advisory group for the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA). She was named Planner of the Year by the New Jersey chapter of MPI and is a JASPER Award winner in the special event planning category. Jessica holds the designation certified meeting professional (CMP). She was named New Jersey’s 2009 Top Forty Under 40, a Planner to Watch by Convention South magazine in both 2010 and 2012 and was inducted into the New Jersey Social Media Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2011, Connect Meetings and Rejuvenate magazines named her to their Forty Under 40 list. Ms. Levin is a frequent presenter on the topic of strategic social media, marketing, networking, event engagement and technology. She has authored numerous articles on marketing, event design and social networking and blogs at Sevendegreescommunications.com. Ms. Levin earned a master’s of of business administration with a concentration in marketing from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and a bachelor’s of science from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, with majors in marketing, management and entrepreneurship. Twitter @JessicaLevin

Sean is an expert and sought-after speaker, focusing on the intersection of financial services, blockchain and cryptocurrencies. He is a regular contributor to IBM’s Blockchain Unleashed website, analyzing applications for blockchain technology on business at large, as well as being a regular expert guest on China Global TV Network discussing blockchain and related applications. Sean is a member of the Advisory Board for the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance, which coordinates with the AICPA in developing standards and reporting frameworks in this emerging area. Sean continuously works with, and consults for, the AICPA and several professional training organizations in the creation and delivery of blockchain and cryptocurrency related content. He is currently under contract to publish two books focusing on blockchain applications for financial services and other industry sectors. Sean is the host of the NJCPA TechTalk Podcast, a past leader of the NJCPA Emerging Technologies Interest Group and a member of the NJCPA Board of Trustees. He is a professor at the City University of New York - Lehman College.

June is a principal at WilkinGuttenplan and is the president of the NJCPA for the 2024/25 term. She has been a member of the NJCPA since 1995 and has served in a variety of capacities, including the Peer Review Executive Committee, Strategic Planning Committee and Volunteer Relations Committee, and was chair of the NJ-CPA-PAC Board of Trustees, chair of the Committee Operations Committee and vice leader of the Business Valuation, Forensic & Litigation Services Interest Group. She is also an active participant in the Accounting & Auditing Standards and Nonprofit interest groups. Before WilkinGuttenplan, June was the managing member of zbt Certified Public Accounting & Consulting, LLC. She is a former treasurer of Garwood Municipal Library; a recipient of NJCPA’s Volunteer Award in 2018 and its Women to Watch Award in 2019; one of New Jersey Monthly’s Leading Women in 2015 and one of NJBIZ Accounting Power 50 from 2020 to 2022.