LEA Global hires new CEO
Chicago, IL October 1, 2018 – LEA Global (Leading Edge Alliance) announced today that it has engaged Erica Ishida in the Association’s newly created position of CEO to lead the Association into the future.
Erica begins working today with Karen Kehl-Rose, the Association’s President, who has held the position since the creation of LEA in 1999. Karen who will retire at the end of the year (December 31, 2018), will continue to assist in transition through June 2019. LEA Global is a leading association of independent CPA and Chartered Accounting firms that provide clients with professional accounting, audit, tax and a variety of consulting services by way of 226 members with over 600 offices in 110 countries throughout the world. In addition to creating seamless cross-border cooperation among member firms, LEA’s main focus of “best-practices sharing” makes it a unique organization amongst world-wide professional services Associations.
With more than 15 years of experience in organization design, change management, and leadership development, and a solid understanding of the dynamics of change leadership, Erica believes in the power of culture, talent, and leadership in growing organizations by growing its people. She has worked in industries spanning professional services, technology, telecommunications, and venture development. In addition, Erica has been a trusted advisor & coach to CEOs, both on the inside and the outside of organizations. She has deep subject matter expertise in organization design, change management, leadership as well as sales and client services.
Erica is a certified Leadership Development Coach and has had responsibilities for coaching CEOs in the companies she has worked for, and on a consulting basis. She leaves a strategic execution consulting Firm she founded, whose focus was on developing leaders, with an emphasis on women leaders.
Michael Newton, LEA’s Chairman said
“Erica’s skillset and experience will be on display as part of LEA’s training and coaching and best practices initiatives. She will lead and/or participate in member groups consisting of young professionals, young leaders, women leaders and newly-minted managing partners.”
Newton continues, “Karen (retiring President) has been with LEA since day 1, having worked with LEA founder and accounting industry leader Gary Shamis to have grown LEA from a hand-full of like-minded Firms in 1999 to the organization that now spans 110 countries and whose annual revenue, on a combined basis, tops $3Billion. Karen’s commitment to quality, tirelessness and her ‘connection’ skills have set the tone for the organization. Erica’s role is to now move us forward in a different direction while building off the base that Karen forged in over 19 years as its President”.
The Association’s Search Committee that selected Ishida was represented by members of its International Board of Directors, chaired by Newton, Managing Partner of 15 years at FL Fuller Landau (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Jeffrey Weiner, Chairman & CEO of Marcum LLP (New York, New York) and assisted by Allan Koltin, one of the leading consultants to the public accounting profession.
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