Risk Management in Turbulent Times: A Private Company Perspective

Overview

The moderated panel will be discussing the critical topic of risk management in challenging times to provide valuable insights and practical advice from experienced professionals who have successfully navigated turbulent markets and economic challenges.  It will be an exploration of the latest strategies in Enterprise Risk Management for mitigating risks and maximizing opportunities as it may apply to private companies.  The discussion will include how to identify emerging risks, develop contingency plans, and adapt quickly to changing market conditions. Its an opportunity for attendees to learn from their real-world experiences and get actionable insights to apply to their respective boardroom(s).

Parking

One Atlantic Center Lot, 1200 West Peachtree St. NW, Atlanta, GA 30309 (across the street from venue) - vouchers will be provided for this lot only!

Registration

$30 Registration Fee
$40 Non-Member Registration Fee

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Thank you to our National Sponsors!

 Panelists

Jagruti R Solanki CFO Bit Pay

Jagruti Solanki is the CFO at BitPay, the world's largest crypto payment processing company. Most recently, Jagruti served as an Audit and Financial Reporting Advisory Partner at Aprio, a top 50 CPA firm in the US and specialized in Technology - Fintech and Blockchain companies, where she worked closely with companies backed by VC and PE where she assisted them through several phases of their exits including M&A.

She is a CPA, and MBA and was born in India, raised in Oman. Today, she is a nationally recognized contributor in the accounting and audit areas of blockchain working with the regulators in developing guidance for companies in this space. She speaks nationally at blockchain conferences, providing companies with insights, best practices and pitfalls related to blockchain accounting, audit, tax, regulatory, valuation and cyber risk considerations.

Ms. Solanki has dealt with issues in ASC 606 revenue recognition, business combinations and purchase accounting, consolidations, variable interest entities, fair value accounting, discontinued operations, troubled debt restructuring and alternative financial instruments, including hedge funds and other derivatives. Jagruti has significant experience with building internal control framework, designing enterprise risk assessment models, financial planning and strategic analysis, including compliance aspects of payment processing companies.

Jagruti is one of the few auditors in the entire country to have figured out ways to audit the world largest crypto payment processing company even before blockchain started getting into mainstream. She has also built proprietary blockchain audit tools and is a subject matter expert for national educational and training institutions and serves as an advisor of the board of several blockchain companies and associations. She was selected to be on the taskforce of the AICPA Digital Asset Group, which is the world's largest member association representing the accounting profession, and with this, she is helping educate regulators (AICPA, FASB, SEC) and establishing accounting, financial reporting and auditing standards for digital assets.

Jagruti has received the AICPA’s Innovative Practitioner of the Year Award for her work on blockchain accounting and was named as 50 On Fire by Atlanta Inno. She was also listed as one of the 21 people by Accounting Today to watch in 2020 in the Top 100 Most Influential People who help share or reshape Accounting. She was honored with accepting 2019 Bridging the Gap IT & Firm Management Project of the Year award by Boomer Consulting, Inc., on behalf of her company.

Jagruti strongly believes that a successful business should link the strategic objectives of the Company with its financial goal. Her deep operational and industry knowledge of technology, combined with the accounting and finance experience, brings a unique value to the business.

Jagruti’s professional affiliations include:

• Steering Committee member of Technology Association of Georgia - FinTech Society
• Board member Association for Corporate Growth
• Board member TiE Atlanta Chapter
• Former Board Member of Technology Association of Georgia Corporate Development Society and Blockchain Society
• Former Board Advisor at crypto accounting software company, Verady
• Former Board member and Treasurer of Senior Services North Fulton
• AICPA Digital Asset Taskforce 

Education: MBA Management accounting, Post Graduate Diploma in Finance, Bachelor of Commerce, CPA, CGMA

Howard L Kaplan CEO & Founder Kaplan Fiduciary Group

Howard Kaplan, a distinguished professional with over three decades of expertise, is an authority in private and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)-owned companies.   Howard’s unique practice focuses on advising ESOPs and private companies on board governance issues and fiduciary matters relating to operational, financial, regulatory and other enterprise risk issues. 

As the CEO and founder of Kaplan Fiduciary Group, a nationally renowned consulting firm, Kaplan is resolute in his commitment to enhancing the fiduciary and governance performance of boards, management teams, and the fiduciary duties of private and employee-owned companies. His exceptional leadership has earned him positions on five private corporate boards, where he serves as chair of multiple executive compensation, governance, and nominating committees. Three of his fiduciary board positions are with employee-owned companies, and two are private family-owned businesses: 

• Dividend Asset Capital Holdings – a South Carolina investment management firm
• Woodstock Furniture Outlet – a well known local Georgia chain of retail stores
• Harrison French Associates Holding Company – an architectural, engineering and construction company located in Bentonville, AK
• USSI – a McDonough GA regional engineering consultant and warehouse material handling solutions company
• Lake Trust Company – a Nevada private trust fiduciary company 

Prior to establishing Kaplan Fiduciary, Kaplan spearheaded fiduciary practice teams at top-tier trust companies. A sought-after speaker, he frequently shares his vast knowledge on board governance, ESOP trusteeship, and fiduciary subjects at industry association meetings. Additionally, he is a regular guest lecturer at the UC Sand Diego’s Beyster Institute at the Rady School of Management and Kent State’s Ohio Employee Ownership Center, underscoring his dedication to fostering education and professional growth. 

Howard Kaplan is a long-term member of both the ESOP Association and the National Center for Employee Ownership. He further demonstrates his commitment by actively participating in multiple association advisory committees. Kaplan's expertise has also led him to serve as the fiduciary process expert in seven federal court lawsuits, solidifying his reputation as an industry-leading authority.

Joseph Astrachan, Ph.D Founder and Chair Generation6

Joe, board chair and a founder of Generation6 (a family business consulting firm), comes from a family that has owned or led many family businesses including Meindersma, a Dutch pharmaceutical company sold to AKZO Nobel, and the world’s third largest shipping company in the 1970s, NYSE listed Seatrain Lines, which ceased operation in the 1980s following the death of the patriarch, sending the family into chaos, and the company into a death spiral. 

Joe is a scholar as much as he is a practitioner: He is former Editor of the Family Business Review and the Journal of Family Business Strategy (of which he was co-founder). He has 40 years of experience studying and working with family companies and has sat on the boards of 19 family businesses, currently serving on nine in a wide variety of industries (e.g., heavy and ag equipment, food manufacturing, building materials manufacturing, restaurants, automotive, healthcare, insurance, and commercial, residential and industrial real estate development and holding). Before focusing on his board work, he gained extensive experience over 35 years of consulting with more than 100 family businesses, including some of the largest business families around the world. 

Joe is Emeritus Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at Kennesaw State University, where he previously served as Executive Director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center, and where he developed an executive MBA for businesses families. Today, he is a Family Business Fellow with the Smith Family Business Initiative at Cornell University, visiting scholar at Germany’s Witten/Herdecke University, the Institut für Finanzdienstleistungen, Luzern Switzerland, and Affiliated Professor at the Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership at Sweden’s Jönköping International Business School. 

Joe has received numerous awards for his research, writing and service, including top honors from the Family Firm Institute (Beckhard Award, International Award, fellow status), the Family Business Network International, the International Family Enterprise Research Academy (of which he is a fellow and member of the founding team) and was recently honored with a Lifetime Influence and Impact Award from the Family Enterprise Research Conference at the University of Vermont in 2019. 

Joe earned BA, MA, MPhil and PhD degrees from Yale University. He is based in Atlanta.

Moderator

Shawn Dahl, CIA, CRMA, CCSA Principal, Risk Advisory Services RSM US LLP

Shawn Dahl is a principal in risk advisory services based in Atlanta, GA and is the national leader for enterprise risk management (ERM), and Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) within the risk practice, responsible for ongoing framework and methodology development and client delivery. Over the past twelve years at RSM, Shawn has focused on providing internal audit, SOX and enterprise risk management services for clients in the commercial, public sector and insurance industries. His ERM work has included multiple full ERM implementations, and he regularly performs assessments for organizations seeking to optimize their ERM practices.

Prior to RSM, Shawn has held executive positions in internal audit and risk management, and has been involved in building best practice audit functions within multiple companies, including Allstate Insurance, Kellogg’s, Whirlpool and Allied Domecq (including Dunkin’ Brands). He has extensive international experience, conducting and leading audit, risk management and special project initiatives across North America, Europe and Asia.

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