Danielle Supkis Cheek Receives AICPA’s Outstanding Young CPA Award in Honor of Maximo Mukelabai

Texas CPA Recognized for Service to Profession and Community at AICPA EDGE Experience Conference

August 4, 2016

Media Contact: James Schiavone, 212-596-6119, jschiavone@aicpa.org

Las Vegas (August 4, 2016)
– The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is pleased to name Danielle Supkis Cheek, CPA, president of D. Supkis Cheek, PLLC in Houston and an adjunct professor at Rice University, as the winner of the Outstanding Young CPA Award in Honor of Maximo Mukelabai. Supkis Cheek was recognized for volunteer activities within the profession and her commitment to promoting financial literacy in her community.

The Outstanding Young CPA Award recognizes a CPA under the age of 40 who demonstrates an unwavering commitment to the accounting profession demonstrated through their successful practices, involvement and contributions. The award was presented to Supkis Cheek by Dan Griffiths, CPA, director of strategic planning at Tanner LLC, at the AICPA’s EDGE Experience conference for Young CPAs in Las Vegas. Griffiths was honored with the award last year.

“The spirit of volunteerism has always been deeply embedded in the accounting profession and CPAs have a lengthy history of giving back to their communities,” said Cheryl Reynolds, AICPA vice president, communications, advertising & brand management. “Helping Americans make better financial decisions is one of the causes of the CPA profession. Danielle’s work in the Houston area promoting financial literacy to people who have the opportunity to pay those lessons forward is a creative and innovative way to reach as many people as possible with her message.”

A member of the AICPA, Texas Society of CPAs (TSCPA), Houston Chapter of the TSCPA and American Women’s Society of CPAs, Supkis Cheek has made an impact upon the profession as a frequent presenter and published author. She has served the AICPA as a member of the GenNext Task Force, Women’s Initiatives Executive Champions Task Force and as a committee member on the Private Companies Practice Section Technical Issues Committee. She has received many honors and accolades for her work in the profession, including being honored by both The CPA Practice Advisor and National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts on their ’40 Under 40’ list. She was also named a 2014 Rising Star by the TSCPA.

“As a CPA, people naturally come to me with questions about their personal finances. I was surprised and discouraged by how frequently people make poor financial decisions, regardless of their education level, and I wanted to help make them aware of how minor changes in their approach to money could have a big impact” said Supkis Cheek. “I elected to focus my outreach on females and small business owners, as they have a tremendous ability to influence the financial behaviors of their families and community and can help further the message and create more awareness about the importance of financial literacy.”

Supkis Cheek is very active in her community promoting financial literacy with groups such as The Women’s Resource of Greater Houston and the entrepreneurship accelerator programs at Rice University, The Texas Medical Center and The University of Houston.

“When I received the call telling me that I was going to be receiving this award, I was in disbelief. I gain so much personally from my volunteer efforts and it helps to reinforce how much I love the profession. To be presented with an award recognizing the spirit of volunteerism that Maximo Mukelabai was known for is truly an honor,” added Supkis Cheek.

The primary criteria used to judge nominations for the Outstanding Young CPA Award are:

  1. Demonstrates passion and eagerness to encourage and pique students’ interest in accounting as a career
  2. Contributes recommendations and best practices toward improving processes and/or activities
  3. Performance in committee and/or other volunteer activities that relate to the engagement and advancement of the profession
  4. Involvement in community-based organizations to improve the lives of citizens
  5. Hold an active CPA license and be between the ages of 22 – 40.

Maximo Mukelabai was a member of the inaugural class of the AICPA Leadership Academy and the youngest chair of the North Carolina Association of CPAs board of directors. Tragically, his life ended abruptly at the age of 36. The AICPA established the award in 2011 as a tribute to Maximo’s legacy.

To be considered for the award, candidates submitted applications and details on their volunteer history, along with professional references forms from their peers, AICPA staff, employers and state CPA societies. The AICPA’s Young CPA Network Task Force then reviewed all qualified nominations to determine the winner.

Those with questions on the nomination process may contact YoungCPANetwork@aicpa.org. The application period for next year’s award will open in early 2017.

More info is available online at www.aicpa.org/YoungCPAAward