10 Jun 2025

Record-Breaking Attendance at the 2025 North American Regional Conference

That’s right; we had record-breaking numbers in Nashville, TN, with more than 240 attendees (191 were members)! This event was our highest-attended conference post-COVID. The LEA Global team is equally grateful and inspired by our members’ commitment to gather and foster relationships throughout the community. 

Designed to address the 2025 conference theme, “Collaborate to Create: The Power of Strategic Alliances,” our agenda featured dynamic thought leaders and presentations that offered expertise, strategies, roadmaps, and real-world experiences to support members in their alliance-building journeys. 

 

A Five-Star Agenda 

We started the conference with Jan Twombly, President of The Rhythm of Business, Inc., as our keynote speaker. She shared the roadmap for creating strategic alliances and how they can be an integral aspect of firms’ growth strategies. Twombly then facilitated a panel discussion between three member firms – Bennett Thrasher, Brown Plus, and Miller Kaplan – to demonstrate real-world, member-to-member partnerships.  

David Lam (Miller Kaplan), John Rostern (CBIZ), and Jason Gotway (Anders) brought Hollywood to Nashville with their rendition of Family Feud with a cybersecurity twist. Thanks to the Keiter and Delap "families" for jumping on stage to identify and solve a semi-realistic fraud simulation. Congrats, Delap! 

We welcomed David Pereles of Clario Advisors to speak on AI in the industry and how we can harness this technology to improve efficiency and simplify operations. Sue Coffey, CEO of Public Accounting at AICPA, also joined us to offer a state of the profession update; she outlined challenges, predictions, and strategic initiatives shaping the industry's future.

Kim JonesFounder & CEO of Kim Jones Alliance – dove into inclusion and allyship, proving that these practices deliver positive business outcomes and inspiring us to find meaningful ways to improve our leadership skills. Chris De Santis closed the conference with a keynote on workforce values, demonstrating how world events have shaped the generations in today's workforce. He shared strategies on how to better understand each other’s values and find commonalities, even in moments where we feel disparate. 

Our collaboration groups also had ample time to meet and discuss their respective agendas – allowing for technical discussions, reflections and deep dives related to conference sessions, and cross-collaboration between groups. Thanks to the members and steering committees for your efforts in making these groups a pillar of the conference experience!  

Naturally, we couldn’t stay away from the energy and musical influence that courses through the streets of Nashville. We headed out to the Tin Roof on Broadway for an evening of live music, food, and fun!  

 

Thank you! 

We’d like to thank our North American regional council members, event planning team, staff at the JW Marriott Downtown Nashville, A/V squad, sponsors, collaboration groups, and members for doing your part in making this conference an undeniable success. It is an honor to provide the space and education for member connections and alliances, and we trust that the learning and partnerships will extend far beyond Nashville and 2025. Thank you for your time, involvement, and support! 

 

Presentations & Materials 

If you want to review or download any of the presentations featured at the conference, please visit the event page

 

2026 Conference Announcement 

Mark your calendars! Our 2026 North American Regional Conference will be held in San Diego, CA, from Sunday, May 31, to Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

 

Thank you to our conference sponsors!

 

Champion Sponsors
Thomson Reuters

 

Supporting Sponsors

LCvista

Suralink

McGowanPRO

Trullion

Xero

LeaseCrunch

Miles Talent Hub

Becker

Caseware

Avalara

AuditDashboard

Circit