OasisLMS

Shifra Kolsky

Shifra Kolsky is the U.S. Controller and Chief Accountant for BMO Bank N.A., where she leads the U.S. accounting and reporting functions for a large, complex financial institution.

She brings more than two decades of experience in accounting leadership, financial reporting, internal controls, and finance transformation. Prior to joining BMO, Shifra served as Chief Accounting Officer and Controller at Discover Financial Services and began her career in the audit practices of Deloitte and Arthur Andersen.

 

Shifra is known for combining deep technical expertise with practical judgment, strong governance discipline, and clear communication on complex accounting and reporting matters.

 

She holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in New York and registered in Illinois.

Geoffrey Brown

Geoffrey ‘Geof’ Brown, CAE, is president and CEO of the Illinois CPA Society (ICPAS), one of the largest state CPA societies in the nation. Brown also serves as president and CEO of CPAs for the Public Interest and ex-officio board member of the CPA Endowment Fund of Illinois.

A seasoned certified association executive (CAE), Brown has more than 20 years of experience as an association professional. Before joining ICPAS in 2022, he served as CEO of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), the nation’s leading professional association of fee-only financial advisors, for nine years. Prior to NAPFA, Brown was an account executive with Sentergroup, an association manager at SmithBucklin Corporation, and held multiple positions with North-American Interfraternity Conference.

Brown served as the board chair for Association Forum and is an active member. He is also an active member in the American Society of Association Executives and is a board member for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and the Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values. Brown earned his bachelor’s degree in government and politics from the University of Maryland.

Doug Lowery

Doug Lowery was one of the original five founders of Brilliant in 2009 and returned to the company in 2023 as Chief Revenue Officer, where he drives business development and customer success. Doug’s career began at Arthur Andersen where he spent five years in the Audit and Advisory practice. His clients included manufacturing, technology, healthcare and power companies. In 2002, he moved to recruiting where he focused on permanent placement offerings for accounting, tax and audit roles at Brilliant.Most recently before rejoining Brilliant, Doug was the lead sales executive for Crowe LLP in the Chicagoland market. Prior to Brilliant, Doug’s career began at Arthur Andersen where he spent five years in the Audit and Advisory practice. His clients included manufacturing, technology, healthcare and power companies. In 2002, he began his career in recruiting where he focused on permanent placement offerings for accounting, tax and audit roles. He joined Jim Wong who is a current board member and co-founder of Brilliant at a Chicago-based search firm in 2004 where he became the Area Managing Director of Perm in Chicagoland. Doug’s previous role at Brilliant was as leader of all permanent placement solutions along with business development responsibilities. Doug was instrumental in driving the explosive growth of Brilliant between 2009 and 2018. Doug believes that growth of a business is based on building deep customer relationships and trust. The most successful business development individuals are those that become a true partner to the client and they are always an honest and thoughtful advisor. Doug has a passion for the people business and views his role as simply finding great people, finding companies that need great people, and making the introduction between the two. Doug is the embodiment of Brilliant’s mission to ‘Make People’s Lives Better’.