Board Members
By Illinois statute, the ILBOE’s 11-member non-compensated Board of Directors “the Board” is comprised of nine (9) Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and two (2) public members, including one attorney and one educator, appointed by the Governor of the State of Illinois. The Board participates in four (4) quarterly meetings and several committee meetings-Administrative, Candidacy, Education Advisory, Executive, Finance & Strategic Planning annually.
Board Responsibility:
Our Board Members are the fiduciaries appointed to govern the business strategy and financial affairs of the Illinois Board of Examiners.
Board Meeting Dates, Agendas & Minutes
Next Meeting–
Previous Meeting– July 30, 2020
Get to know our Board Members and their strengths, talents and abilities below.
Lawrence holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy with high honors from DePaul University, a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University School of Law, and a Master of Law degree in Taxation from DePaul University. Formally, a partner for over 20 years at the DLA Piper LLP (US) law firm where he focused on the defense of corporate and business professionals, Mr. Wojcik is currently a partner with McDermott Will & Emery, LLP. Prior to his association with the law firms, Mr. Wojcik practiced as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with a Chicago-based national CPA firm performing audit, tax and consulting services for public and private companies and governmental entities.
Currently Lawrence is a member of the Leadership Council of the Civic Consulting Alliance of Chicago. He is also a board member of the Uptown People’s Law Center and serves on Northwestern School of Law’s Bluhm Legal Clinic Advisory Board.
Lawrence has also served as Chair of the Illinois CPA Society, as well as Chair of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility Conduct Committee and the Chicago Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility Committee. He was also appointed to the Illinois State Bar Association’s and the Chicago Bar Association’s Joint Committee on Ethics which made recommendations to the Illinois Supreme Court in 2010 for revisions to the Illinois’ Rules of Professional Conduct which governs the conduct of Illinois lawyers.
Brian holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and both a J.D., with honors, and an L.L.M. in Taxation, with high honors, from the Illinois Institute of Technology/Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Brian retired in 2016 as a Senior Tax Partner with Plante Moran, a Midwest regional certified public accounting firm. During his nearly 30 years with the predecessor firm, Blackman Kallick, Brian was the partner in charge of both Wealth Transfer Services and tax services related to the firm’s Tax Exempt Organizations Group.
Over the last thirty-nine years, Brian has practiced in both law firms and public accounting firms. His expertise focused on business succession planning, tax planning, and compliance issues related to high net worth individuals and their closely held businesses, as well as Exempt Organizations.
For the past 12 years, Brian was an adjunct member of the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Campaign where he taught in the Masters of Science in Taxation Program. Prior to that Brian taught at DePaul University in their Masters of Science in Taxation Program. He writes a quarterly column under the by-line “Untaxingly yours” in Taxes – The Tax Magazine published by the CCH division of Wolters Kluwer’s.
Brian is a Past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Illinois CPA Society, and earned the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Illinois CPA Society in 2014. He received the Austin Fleming Award from the Chicago Estate Planning Council in 2018. He is an active member of the American Bar Association; the Illinois State Bar Association; the Chicago Bar Association. He continues to be an active member of the AICPA where he serves on the Estate and Gift Tax Technical Review Panel.
He is a frequent national speaker before professional groups. His straight-forward plain English speaking style makes complex topics understandable for both practitioners and clients.
Tom Homer received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois in Urbana and a Juris Doctorate from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Tom began his legal career in 1974 as a prosecutor in Lake County. He served two terms as the Fulton County Attorney and six terms as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives. He was elected to the Illinois Appellate Court in 1996 where he served until 2003, serving as the presiding justice for two one-year terms. From 2004 to 2014, Tom served as ethics advisor to the Illinois General Assembly during which he was recognized by the Illinois General Assembly for his integrity and ability (House Joint Resolution 142, 95th General Assembly). In March 2017, Governor Bruce Rauner appointed Tom to the Illinois Board of Examiners.
Tom is the owner of the Homer Law Firm in Naperville, where his practice is concentrated in the areas of estate planning, probate, real estate, and civil mediation. As a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), Tom also advises clients with respect to wealth accumulation and wealth preservation strategies.
Brad obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan, his Juris Doctorate from Michigan State University-DCL, and LLM in Taxation for Georgetown University.
As a PwC Principal, Brad has 18 years of public accounting experience. He is the Mid-Central Region State and Local Tax Coordinator for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Indirect Tax practice. Although based in Chicago, Brad serves clients throughout the Midwest. Since joining PwC, he has served clients in all industries related to multi-state sales, use and excise tax matters.
Brad also serves as faculty at the DePaul University School of Business as an instructor of State and Local Taxation, and has published materials relating to state and local tax on-behalf of the American Bar Association, Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants, and Michigan Bar Association. He also frequently serves as a speaker at industry events on tax matters.
Brad is the loving father of three who enjoys family vacations and biking.
Annette is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame having earned a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration in Accountancy. She is a Certified Public Accountant.
Annette is Controller for Amsted Industries which is a diversified global manufacturer of industrial components. Prior to joining Amsted in 2018, Annette was Vice President of Finance and Head of Internal Audit for RR Donnelley & Sons in Chicago. During her 15 years at RR Donnelley, Annette progressed through various financial roles with increasing responsibility including Investor Relations, Financial Planning & Analysis and Operations Finance. Annette began her career as an auditor with Ernst & Young LLP, then spent time at both McDonalds Corporation and Follett Corporation before a successful career at RR Donnelley.
Annette is a former board member of the Illinois CPA Society and is a current member of the Chicago Finance Exchange.
Luis Plascencia is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in Illinois. He manages his own CPA practice and teaches accounting and tax courses at the college level. Mr. Plascencia is a member of the faculty at Harold Washington College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago. Luis has served on multiple ICPAS Committees including serving as the Chairperson of the Tax Practice and Procedures Committee. Mr. Plascencia is a frequent speaker at various ICPAS continuing education events including the annual Summit and the annual Cannabis Industry Conference. Luis has also appeared as frequent guest on the Chicago Legal Clinic Immigration Issues Show where he discussed tax issues that affect immigrants. In 2018, Mr. Plascencia was recognized as Outstanding Educator by the Illinois CPA Society.
Luis is an avid distance runner and cyclist. Luis has volunteered his time to Chicago Area Runners Association and is a frequent charity runner for the Organization for Autism Research.
Sook J. Lee provides financial and litigation consulting services to clients in a wide range of industries, including, but not limited to, professional services, securities, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, insurance, construction and manufacturing. More specifically, she provides financial damages and forensic accounting analysis as well as expert testimony, litigation and arbitration support to clients involved in complex commercial disputes, accounting malpractice claims, government investigations, and tax controversy matters.
Maria de J. Prado obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Chicago and holds a Certified Public Accountant license. Her greatest accomplishment in becoming a Certified Public Accountant was sharing the evening’s recognition dinner with her now business Partner Hilda S. Renteria and both of their mothers in 1989.
She began her professional career as an Auditor at First National Bank of Chicago (now JPMorgan Chase).
In 1990 she co-founded Prado & Renteria CPAs where she now serves as Managing Partner. She has more than thirty years of management consulting, auditing and accounting experience in governmental, non-profit and commercial sectors. She is accountable for oversight of consulting engagements and provides the technical review function for the firm’s audit and attestation services. In addition, she is accountable for overseeing consulting engagements including; quality reviews of CPA firm audit reports, technical assistance for local governments and non-profit organizations and process improvement reviews.
Maria recently served as the Interim CFO for Institute for Latino Progress, a Chicago-based NonProfit Organization serving immigrant families.
Maria is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Illinois CPA Society. She is a current member of the Nominating Committee for the Illinois CPA Society and previously served on its Board of Directors. She serves on Non-profit organization Boards including The Resurrection Project where she serves as the Finance Committee Chairperson. She previously served as the Treasurer for Chicago United, Inc. and as the Chairperson for the Board of Directors of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Maria is a mother of two daughters. She enjoys taking long walks with her husband, travelling and gardening.
Amanda Gavin is a graduate from Millikin University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and the University of Illinois with a Mater’s Degree in Business Administration. She is a Certified Public Accountant.
Amanda began her career in public accounting at CliftonLarsonAllen, a top 10 accounting firm, where she started her career in audit and worked her way to Director of Federal Tax Solutions until 2014, when she joined Caterpillar Inc, a worldwide manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives.
In addition to being a board member of the Illinois Board of Examiners, Amanda is an active member and former president of the Illinois CPA Society’s Central Chapter, where she spearheaded a committee that founded an annual young professional’s leadership conference in Central Illinois. Amanda is actively involved in her local community by volunteering her time to the Junior League of Peoria, Girl Scouts and leads a weekly women’s life group. Amanda has been recognized among WEEK-TV’s 25 Women in Leadership, 40 Leaders Under Forty, Illinois CPA Society Young Professional Leader and is a graduate of the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce Community Leadership School.
Amanda is happily married to her best friend and has an active family, including twin sons, a daughter and stepdaughters.
Martrice is a lifelong Chicagoan that has built a career anchored in her passions and talents. After receiving her BS in Accountancy and Certificate of Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she passed the CPA exam in 2005 and obtained her license in 2006. Shortly thereafter, she started her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Private Company Services tax practice.
Upon leaving public accounting, she began working in the not for profit sector as a Senior Accountant in the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago’s Government, Contracts and Grants Group for 7 years. She served as the accountant for YMCA-managed senior housing facilities and in that role performed month-end close, prepared and analyzed monthly financial statements and assisted with the external audit.
Currently, she is the Senior Director of Accounting at OneGoal, an organization focused on ensuring every young person has an equitable opportunity to achieve their greatest postsecondary aspirations. Aside from overseeing the reporting of all regional and national revenues from the organization's development teams, she also leads the streamlined execution of month-end close and successfully managed OneGoal’s ERP and expense reporting software transition.
Martrice is currently a member of the Illinois CPA Society’s endowment board. She is active in other local boards and organizations, such as Sounds Good! Choirs and Women in Sports and Events.
Rose Ann is a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with a Bachelor’s degree in Accountancy. She is a CPA with nearly 20 years of public accounting experience and currently a partner at Baker Tilly US, LLP. With a focus on service and a passion for diversity, inclusion and equity, she is involved with various organizations. At Baker Tilly Rose Ann leads one of its signature diversity and inclusion initiatives, SOAR (Supporting Opportunity, Advancement and Recognition for all). Rose Ann also serves on the boards of Step Up (Chicago chapter) and Ascend (Midwest Chapter). She also serves on the Illinois CPA Society’s Employee Benefit Plan Committee, and it’s Conference Committee.
A strong believer in the power of mentorship, through Step Up (suwn.org), she works to empower teen girls from under resourced communities to become confident, college bound, career-focused and ready to join the next generation of professional women. Through her involvement in Ascend, the largest, non-profit Pan-Asian organization for business professionals in North America, she works to enhance the presence and influence of current and future Pan-Asian business leaders amplify the collective voice for Pan-Asian business communities.
Rose Ann, her husband and children enjoy travelling, spending time with family and friends, and outdoor activities.
