Finance and Accounting
Moderator: Heather Zepeda
Heather is a District Director and Chief Development Officer with the Washington, DC office of Northwestern Mutual. In these roles, she leads a team of advisors and is responsible for leading the horizontal growth of the enterprise. She manages leadership development and the systems for recruiting and new advisor training and development. Heather began her career as an antitrust attorney with a prominent international law firm based in Washington, D.C. Her practice focused on the defense of corporate clients in connection with domestic and international mergers and acquisitions. Heather received her Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her BA from High Point University.
Jennifer Bryan
Jennifer Bryan joined Adage Capital Management in 2021 as an Equity Research Associate on the Consumer Team. Prior to joining Adage, she was a Credit Research Analyst at CreditSights covering Paper & Packaging. From 2019-2020 Jennifer was a Princeton in Africa fellow and worked at an impact investment fund in Nairobi, Kenya. Jennifer began her career at Deutsche Bank in Regulation & Compliance, after graduating from The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs in 2018. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Holly Li
Holly is the Managing Director at Polymer Wealth Management, a private firm headquartered in Hong Kong. Her roles also include Guest Speaker at John Hopkins University, Board Member at Women Impact Investing Network, and Secretariat Member for the IFC-facilitated Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN), a community of financial sector regulators and industry associations across emerging markets to share knowledge and build capacity on sustainable finance. Holly holds a Master of Laws from New York University Law School, an M.A. in Public Policy from George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Laws from Sun Yat-Sen University Law School in China. She has published seven peer-reviewed articles. Holly is a licensed attorney in New York and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Holly wants to convince people, companies, and counties that good ESG/climate practice makes financial sense, support their ESG risk management, and help them realize ESG-related opportunities.
Melissa Hall
Melissa Hall oversees global tax planning and compliance for Assurant, including tax risk management and tax department strategy. She formerly served as VP of taxation and financial ratings, managing financial strength and debt ratings for the Assurant companies. She began with KPMG where she worked in both New York and London. Ms. Hall graduated with distinction from George Washington University and earned her Masters in Taxation from Fordham University. She serves on the Board of The Tax Council and on the Advisory Board for the Tax Council Policy Institute’s Annual Symposium. Ms. Hall has been named to Treasury & Risk’s list of “Women in Finance,” and was named a Woman of Excellence and Achievement Honoree by the UWNYC. Ms. Hall lives in New York City with her husband and their four children.
Nikki Reid
Nikki Reid is a Partner in KPMG LLP’s Federal Advisory Practice where she leads the Federal Corporate Services Group. She has substantial experience providing financial-management process-improvement advisory support to federal agencies in the Civilian and Defense space. She helps clients achieve or maintain compliance, while streamlining operations through the use of tools, techniques, and technology. Nikki also provides subject matter expertise and guidance with respect to federal financial management transformation, financial system conversion, grants financial management, and data-quality review. She leads KPMG’s federal ‘Future of Finance’ efforts, aimed at bringing intelligent automation, predictive analytics, and data visualization into the finance function while upholding fundamental accounting principles and adhering to regulatory requirements. Nikki has authored several thought leadership pieces and led the development and implementation of many financial management approaches and methodologies. Nikki was named the 2018 National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) DC Chapter Accounting Leader of the Year and was featured as a 2021 Seramount Working Mother of the Year. She serves as the National co-chair to KPMG’s African Ancestry Business Resource Group (AABRG) and leads campus recruiting for KPMG’s national advisory practice. Nikki is a graduate of Hampton University, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM), and Certified Internal Control Auditor (CICA). She is also a proud wife and mother to two boys and two girls.