AI Conference

Tea Gennaro

Téa Gennaro is a multi-award-winning nonprofit executive with more than two decades of progressive leadership across finance, operations, real estate, technology, and governance. She serves as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Operations at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), where she also holds the elected position of Secretary/Treasurer on the NAB Board of Directors.

At NAB, Gennaro provides executive oversight for Finance, Administration and Real Estate (1M Properties, LLC), Information Technology, and the organization’s newly established Data and AI Intelligence team. She leads the financial and operational infrastructure for NAB and its affiliates—NAB Leadership Foundation (NABLF), 1M Properties, LLC and NABPAC—and serves as strategic liaison to the Board’s Audit, Investment, and Real Estate Committees. She oversees a cross-functional team of 23 professionals, including the 1M staff, and manages more than 118,000 square feet of commercial real estate assets (1M Building).

Under Téa’s leadership, NAB has streamlined financial processes, navigated the financial and operational complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic, and achieved 96% leasing of its largest asset, the 1M building. She is also overseeing the launch of a unified enterprise data and AI strategy—transforming fragmented systems into a connected platform that powers automation, insight, and innovation. Her leadership is marked by a fusion of operational discipline and financial rigor, advancing NAB’s organizational growth, strategic direction, and long-term sustainability. Widely respected for her strategic clarity and decisive leadership, she is known for guiding her teams with vision, confidence, and operational excellence.

Prior to NAB, she served as EVP and CFO at Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), where she implemented a national financial framework across 69 chapters, modernized enterprise finance systems, led a 401(k) conversion to a MEP structure, and negotiated $1.7 million in lease savings. Earlier in her career, she held senior finance and controller roles at RSM (Tate & Tryon), AUVSI, and Chenega Technology Services Corporation. Gennaro holds an MBA from Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business and a BS in Accounting from Pensacola Christian College. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA), and holds a Commercial Real Estate Certificate from Cornell University. She is fluent in English and Albanian, with working knowledge of Italian and Turkish.

She has served on the Board of Governors of the Greater Washington Society of CPAs (GWSCPA), contributed to its Women’s Leadership Conference, and held a board role with Byte Back, Inc., a nonprofit advancing digital literacy and economic opportunity.

Neil Stechschulte

Neil Stechschulte has been an audit professional and technology enthusiast at Ernst & Young since January 2018. He has helped multiple clients and audit engagements use technology in order to develop more efficient processes and have better insights.

Lalita Pemmasani

Lalita Pemmasani is a Senior Manager in Assurance at Forvis Mazars and a Virginia-licensed CPA with nearly two decades of experience in auditing, technical accounting, and financial reporting. She has worked with organizations ranging from start-ups to large multinational companies across several industries. Her experience includes complex accounting matters, SEC reporting, internal controls, business combinations, and accounting system implementations. Lalita is also an AI Champion who helps accounting professionals use AI and existing technology more effectively while maintaining quality, professional judgment, and appropriate oversight.

Kyle Hall

Kyle Hall is the Corporate Controller of AMERICAN SYSTEMS, a leading government IT solutions provider and one of the top 100 employee-owned companies in the United States. In this role, Kyle provides financial leadership for the company and supports its approximately 2,000 employees as they deliver information technology, engineering and analysis, test and evaluation, and training solutions to Department of Defense and civilian government customers.

Previously, Kyle held leadership positions in public accounting at BDO USA and in industry at Northrop Grumman. A licensed CPA in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Kyle is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Virginia Society of CPAs (VSCPA). With experience spanning public accounting, aerospace and defense, and government contracting, Kyle brings a broad perspective to the opportunities and challenges of applying artificial intelligence in accounting.

Angelique Scott

Angelique Scott is a Managing Director in BDO’s Advisory practice and leads the firm’s System Strategy, Assessment & Selection practice. She advises organizations on ERP strategy, business system assessments, and technology selections, including how emerging AI capabilities can support finance and operational priorities. Angelique helps leaders identify practical opportunities for automation and AI and align technology investments with their broader business objectives.

Jennifer Brearey

Jennifer Brearey is the Chief Financial & Operating Officer and the Executive Director of AdvaMed Advance and AdvaMed Women’s Executive Network. She was appointed chief financial officer of AdvaMed in March 2016, having previously served as the association’s vice president of finance and director of finance. Mrs. Brearey also serves as the Executive Director for AdvaMed’s inclusion diversity programs which includes the industry initiative AdvaMed Advance and AdvaMed’s Women’s Executive Network.

Prior to joining AdvaMed in June 2012, Ms. Brearey’s experience includes seven years at Ford’s Premier Automotive Group where she held management roles in profit analysis and vehicle pricing for Jaguar and Land Rover North America. She also led accounting for the US offices of a privately held legal-services firm, CPA Global. Ms. Brearey began her career in public accounting, and has more than 19 years of finance, accounting, managerial and organizational planning experience. She holds a B.B.A from James Madison University. Ms. Brearey recently served as chairwoman of the FAR Roundtable, a 300-member network of nonprofit executives.

Azunna Anyanwu

Azunna Anyanwu is the Founder of The Agile CIO, who helps small to medium businesses (SMB) quickly improve business outcomes by accelerating digital transformation. With 25+ years of experience in IT operations, technology strategy, cybersecurity, business process reengineering, agile methodologies, and more, Azunna brings a unique and diverse technical skill set that has proven invaluable to clients.

Azunna is a 3-time Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Top 100 accounting firms including a Top 25 firm, where he oversaw all IT Operations, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, End User Services and Merger and Acquisition (M&A) technical integration activities. Azunna previously served as the Director of IT at a Federal Government contractor as well as 12+ years in Big 4 consulting delivering technology solutions for state and federal government clients.

Azunna is an accomplished writer and blogger whose writings have appeared in digital and print magazines as well as industry publications. He is also a frequent speaker on Cybersecurity and Technology topics at industry and vendor-sponsored events.

Azunna graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science; The John Hopkins University with a Master of Sciences in Computer Science; and the Quantic School of Business & Technology with an Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA). Azunna is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Agile Practitioner (PMI-ACP).

Karl Spanbauer

Karl has served as Controller at Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) for four years, directing the accounting and audit functions. He also uniquely oversees development of AI and other automation solutions utilized by CAFB’s finance department, actively experimenting with frontier AI capabilities to push what’s possible for a nonprofit finance team. Before that, he was a manager in public accounting, where he served solely not-for-profit clients in the Washington, D.C. metro area.

Since joining the food bank, he and his team have led the implementation of numerous key financial systems and revamped utilization of the food bank’s ERP system. He has also spearheaded the development of AI and automation solutions that streamline common nonprofit pain points - including donor gift processing, revenue recognition, grant compliance, and other administrative areas. This work has driven the organization’s annual close process from an average of over 100 days down to just 34 days, most recently for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026.

Karl graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.S. in Accountancy and is a licensed CPA in Maryland and Virginia. He is published in the Journal of Accountancy and has presented at numerous industry conferences on his automation work at CAFB.

Outside of work, Karl enjoys cooking, traveling, and recently completed his first triathlon.

Anna Wagner

Anna Wagner is the Chief Financial Officer at the Community Foundation of Harrisonburg & Rockingham County in Virginia. In her role at the foundation, she oversees finance and technology, ensuring that the Foundation has efficient and effective operations to support its mission.

Prior to joining the foundation, she worked in public accounting as an auditor for nonprofits, local governments, benefit plans, and other entities.

Anna is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Information Technology Professional. She is a member of the Virginia Society of CPA’s A&A Advisory Committee and Scholarship Committee. She also is the vice chair of the FAOG Accounting Practices Committee, which reviews and reports on accounting standard changes and other guidance that affects community foundations.

In her free time, you’ll often find her hiking in the mountains, playing the piano, or trying to shorten her stack of unread books.

Jim Blackwell

As an accomplished Managing Director at BDO Digital, Jim brings over 25 years of experience in IT solution architecture, design, and delivery, with a keen focus on enterprise and mid-market businesses. He is highly skilled in Data Analytics, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence, where he leads engagements supported by a dynamic team of IT professionals. His passion for simplifying the complex has enabled Jim to assist business leaders in developing successful long-term digital transformation strategies. With hands-on experience leading infrastructure, cloud, Business Intelligence (BI), and managed services delivery teams, Jim has created significant value across markets in the US and globally. His deep understanding of how to leverage technology has consistently driven business growth and kept his clients ahead of the competition.

Andy Newnham

Andy specializes in Innovation and AI strategy, human-AI teaming and behaviors, workflow automation, and business-focused AI to improve accuracy, efficiency, engagement and decision-making. His approach blends design thinking, systems thinking, and user-centered design to create technology that people actually adopt. Often working in a hands-on, workshop-style format, he helps Executives and their teams to free up strategic capacity with AI.

As Transformation Director, Andy leads firm-wide and client transformation projects focused on AI and generative AI. He shapes and executes technology roadmaps, guides consulting engagements, and manages cross-functional teams so that AI capabilities are secure, efficient, and scalable. Much of his work centers on ideation, discovery, and knowledge sharing, partnering with clients and internal teams to turn early-stage ideas into working technology and to help organizations realize value from their technology investments. Over his career he has developed and implemented technology for organizations ranging from start-ups to large multinationals, and was part of a team that led an AI and Data start-up from Series A funding to a successful exit.