Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT) 2012-2013 Member Biographies

Eric B. Carriker, Boston, MA
Mr. Carriker is an assistant attorney general and the senior litigation manager in the Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charity Division of the Massachusetts office of the Attorney General. He conducts and supervises investigations and litigation that covers a broad spectrum of issues connected with the Attorney General’s oversight of charities that includes: (i) enforcing state registration and reporting requirements; and (ii) ensuring that charitable assets are properly managed, charitable fiduciaries fulfill their duties of loyalty and care, donor intent is fulfilled, and that fraudulent fundraising is remedied. Mr. Carriker previously served as a board member and as president of the National Association of State Charities Officials. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Boston University Law School. (Exempt Organizations)

Milton Cerny, Washington, DC and Richmond, VA
Mr. Cerny is counsel at McGuireWoods representing nonprofit organizations (hospitals, private foundations, universities, and U.S. affiliates of foreign charities). He advises on tax planning and legal representation on large case and team audits regarding tax controversies before the IRS, and compliance with federal requirements on governance and private foundations. He was technical advisor to the IRS Assistant Commissioner, Employee Benefits and Tax Exempt Organizations. Cerny received a B.S. in International Relations at American University, Washington, D.C., and a Juris Doctorate from American University, Washington College of Law.  (Exempt Organizations)

Holly Easterling, Ada, OK
Ms. Easterling is Administrator of Planning and Organizational Development for the Chickasaw Nation in Ada, OK, where she work directly with Governor Bill Anoatubby to ensure that the financial and strategic needs of the tribal government are realized. She served as an elected official in the tribe’s legislature including serving as Chair of the legislature and Chair of the Finance Committee. She also served as Controller for Chickasaw Enterprises, the business division of the Chickasaw Nation, which owns and operates one of the largest casinos world-wide. Ms. Easterling graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, and became a CPA in 1990. (Indian Tribal Governments)

Stephen L. Ferszt, New York, NY
Mr. Ferszt is chair of the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group at Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP. He counsels clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to small employers on all aspects of qualified retirement plans (defined contribution and defined benefit). He also counsels tax-exempt organizations on issues involving public charities and private foundations. Mr. Ferszt served as Chair of the Tax Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association and its Employee Benefits Committee. He is also a member of the IRS Northeast Pension Liaison Group, and a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel where he serves on its Employee Benefits in Estate Planning committee. Mr. Ferszt received his Juris Doctorate from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University and is a member of the New York and the New Jersey State Bars. (Employee Plans)

Diane M. Gange, Sequim, WA
Ms. Gange is CFO of Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and is responsible for the fiscal oversight of its companies, programs, and activities. She is responsible for analyzing and determining tax strategies relating to tribal business programs; advising Tribal Council on tax consequences of programs affecting its citizens; and developing policies and plans for company relations with outside firms. She has conducted training in accounting principles and governmental accounting. Gange received a B.S. in Accounting from Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA and an A.A. in Accounting at Peninsula College, Port Angeles, WA  (Indian Tribal Governments)

Karen A. Gries, Arlington,VA
Ms. Gries is a principal with CliftonLarsonAllen LLP where she works with a wide variety of tax-exempt organizations including charities, social welfare organizations, business leagues and associations, credit unions, health care providers, and religious organizations. She has extensive experience in unrelated business income tax planning and reporting, intermediate-sanction analysis as well as application and corporate compliance review. Ms. Gries is a graduate of Nettleton College in South Dakota.
(Exempt Organizations)

Robert E. Jaros, Boulder, CO
Mr. Jaros is Deputy Controller for the State of Colorado. He is responsible for addressing technical tax law issues, implementing new legislative provisions, reporting and analysis, payroll, accounting and recovery audits, and has worked with FSLG to address various technical tax issues. He serves as part-time accounting instructor at the Metropolitan State College in Denver, CO. Mr. Jaros received the Community Engagement Award from the Center for Urban Connections; and is a member of the AICPA, and the National Association of State Auditors, Controllers and Treasurers. Mr. Jaros received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Detroit School of Law; his Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University Graduate School of Business; and his Bachelor of Arts from Rutgers University. (Federal, State and Local Governments) 

David N. Levine, Washington, DC
Mr. Levine is a principal at Groom Law Group, Chartered, where he provides ongoing employee benefit-plan advice to a number of tax-exempt, for-profit and governmental entities, as well as service-providers to these entities. In representing plan sponsors and service providers, he addresses both technical plan design and general administrative, recordkeeping, and “process” issues that are common to many plan sponsors. Mr. Levine has served as the Vice Chair of the Legislative Subcommittee of the ABA Tax Section’s Employee Benefits Committee. Mr. Levine received a Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. (Employee Plans)

Marty Martin, Raleigh, NC
Mr. Martin established Marty Martin Law Firm to provide legal services to nonprofit and tax exempt organizations and training for their boards and senior management. Mr. Martin is an instructor for the Duke University Nonprofit Management Certificate and, related, Intensive and Advanced Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership programs. He authors The Nonprofit Mentor blog, and frequently speaks on issues related to nonprofit organizations. Mr. Martin received a Masters in Public Administration degree with a concentration in managing nonprofit and public sector organizations from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Juris Doctorate degree from the Western New England University School of Law. (Exempt Organizations)

Joan E. McCabe, Scarborough, ME
Ms. McCabe is the managing partner of Actuarial Designs & Solutions, Inc, an independent actuarial consulting and retirement plan administration firm. She is a consulting actuary and provides plan design and consulting services for numerous defined benefit, 401(k) profit-sharing, ESOP, and nonqualified executive retirement plans. Ms. McCabe is an Enrolled Actuary, an Associate in the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and a Member of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries. She holds a Masters degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Nebraska and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the State University of New York. (Employee Plans)

William “Yaan Yaan Eesh” Micklin, Alpine, CA
Mr. Micklin is Vice President of the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, and represents over 28,000 tribal citizens. He is CEO for the Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians; Executive Director of the California Association of Tribal Governments; and a member of the Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 14 in Ketchikan. Mr. Micklin serves on the Department of Energy Indian Country Energy & Infrastructure Workgroup; and is Co-Chair of the Tribal Self-Governance Title IV Amendment Workgroup. He has served as a member of the FCC Intergovernmental Advisory Committee; and the Department of Interior Tribal Energy Policy Advisory Committee. Mr. Micklin has a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Washington. (Indian Tribal Governments)

Donna M. Mueller, Des Moines, IA 
Ms. Mueller is CEO of the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System — a state-wide public defined-benefit retirement system that has 300,000 members and 2,200 public employers; collects $755 million in contributions; pays $1 billion in benefits; and invests $22 billion in trust fund assets. She is President of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, and a member of the National Council on Teacher Retirement. Mueller received a B.A. in Political Science at the University of Minnesota, Duluth; and a Juris Doctorate from Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA. (Employee Plans)

David Mustone, McLean, VA
Mustone is partner at Hunton & Williams LLP advising employers on tax, ERISA and labor law aspects of employee benefits law. His clients include for-profit employers (both publicly traded and privately held) and a variety of nonprofit and governmental employers. He is co-chair for separate IRS liaison groups on determination letter and correction programs for tax qualified plans. He served as a senior attorney in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel. Mustone received a B.A. in Government from the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind.; and a Juris Doctorate and LL.M in Taxation from the National Law Center, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.  (Employee Plans)

Katherine A. Newell, Princeton, NJ
Ms Newell is Director of Risk Management and Ethics Liaison Officer at the New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority responsible for developing and implementing post-issuance tax compliance policies and procedures. As a Government Finance Officers Association member, she worked with the National Association of Bond Lawyers on the GFOA-NABL Post Issuance Compliance Checklist and is a member of the GFOA’s Debt Committee. She is Chair of the Educational Facilities Panel for the annual Bond Attorneys Workshop, NABL sponsored. Newell received her LL.M in Taxation from Georgetown University School of Law, Washington, DC; a Juris Doctorate from Villanova University School of Law, Villanova, PA.; and a B.A. in Mathematics from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. (Tax Exempt Bonds)


J. Sue Painter, Seattle, WA
Ms. Painter is System Director, CIO/Treasurer of her firm, Providence Health & Services, which is a multistate not-for-profit health care system with revenues in excess of $6.7 billion. She is responsible for the issuance of over $3 billion in debt financing. She served as Treasurer of Public Utility District of Clark County. She was responsible for the debt issuance of a local government issuer. Ms. Painter previously served as an investment executive with a major investment bank. Ms. Painter has an MBA from the University of Portland, and a BS in Business Admin/Finance from Portland State University, OR. (Tax Exempt Bonds)

Adam C. Pozek, Salem, NH
Mr. Pozek is a partner at DWC ERISA Consultants, LLC. He specializes in plan design, qualified-plan-related due diligence in mergers and acquisitions transactions, and corrections under the Service’s Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System. Mr. Pozek is active in the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries where he serves on the board of directors, executive committee and government affairs committee. He also serves as co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pension Benefits. Mr. Pozek is enrolled to practice before the IRS as an Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent, and he holds the professional credentials of Qualified Plan Administration (QPA), Qualified Plan Financial Consultant (QPFC), and Registered Employee Benefits Consultant (REBC). (Employee Plans)

Lisa M. Pusich, Juneau, AK
Ms. Pusich is the State Accountant for the State of Alaska. She is the state liaison with the IRS for all tax matters including return filing and overall tax compliance. She overseas the accounting services and payroll section for the state and is directly involved in implementing new tax provisions. She is responsible for addressing a myriad of technical tax law issues that affect withholding and information reporting. Ms. Pusich has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Accounting from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, and a CPA license in the State of Alaska. She is a member of the AICPA; Association of Government Accountants; and the National Association of State Auditors, Controllers and Treasurers. (Federal, State and Local Governments)

Celia Roady, Washington, D.C.
Ms. Roady is a partner in Morgan Lewis & Bockius, LLP, where she works on a wide range of issues affecting public charities, private foundations and other categories of tax-exempt organizations. Among other entities, she represents colleges and universities, museums, private and operating foundations, scholarship organizations, and disaster relief organizations. Ms. Roady received her Juris Doctorate from the Duke University School of Law and her LLM from the Georgetown University Law Center. (Exempt Organizations)

Kathy Sheppard, Boston, MA
Ms. Sheppard is Deputy Comptroller for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Office of the Comptroller. She is responsible for the tax reporting and compliance issues for all government entities in the commonwealth and works directly with the IRS to address and resolve various tax matters. Ms. Sheppard is responsible for implementation and direction of the state accounting and payroll system for all departments within the state. She serves on the Lieutenant Governor’s Task Force on the Prevention of Fraud, Waste and Abuse. Ms. Sheppard is a member of the National Association of State Auditors, Controllers and Treasurers. (Federal, State and Local Governments)

Lorraine Tyson, Chicago, IL
Ms.Tyson is a tax partner in Pugh, Jones & Johnson, P.C.’s Public Finance Practice Group and advises clients on federal tax and securities law issues that arise in public finance and privatization transactions. She also serves as tax controversy counsel to issuers or other participants on bond deals audited by the IRS. She is a member of the Tax Exempt Financing Committee of the American Bar Association and the Tax Committee of the National Association of Bond Lawyers.  Tyson received an LL.M in Taxation from Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago; a Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois College of Law; and a B.A. from Northwestern University. (Tax Exempt Bonds)

Gary J. Young, Boston, MA
Mr. Young is director of the Northeastern University Center for Health Policy and Healthcare Research and professor of Strategic Management and Healthcare Systems, Northeastern University. Previously, he was professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, senior associate with the Lewin Group, and also served as a health care attorney and analyst within the U.S. government. Young received a Juris Doctorate and a Ph.D. in Management from the St)ate University of New York. (Exempt Organizations)