New Chair Nominee at CalCPA

From California, James Rubin writes:

Barring a last-minute twist, Andrea Cope will become the next chair of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Cope is a San Francisco-based partner at Burr Pilger Mayer. She has been active with CalCPA, the leading trade association for accountants in the state. Last year, Cope served as first vice chairman for CalCPA. That position has been a launching ground to the chair role. Her predecessor, Greg Burke, a partner at Sacramento-based John Waddell & Co., also was first vice chair before becoming chair. Cope was also a past head of the San Francisco chapter of CalCPA, one of 14 across the state.

CalCPA chairs serve one-year terms starting in mid-year. They usually seek to accomplish two or three goals. Burke focused his efforts drawing accountants to academia, where there has been a shortage of accounting professors and overhauling educational restrictions that have made it difficult for California accountants to practice out of state.

A CalCPA nomination committee chose Cope for the post. She will be officially named to the chair position around May 1, Burke said. Until that time, members can nominate an alternative candidate, forcing a subsequent vote, Burke said. But Burke said that he was unaware of that happening in his 23 years as a CalCPA member.

Burke said that Cope has a good sense of humor. She is a trained chef who studied at the California Culinary Academy.