2024 Govermental Accounting & Auditing Conference - Both Days - Live In Person

Diane Allison, Director of Local Government Services, Louisiana Legislative Auditor

Diane Allison joined the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office in May 2021 as the Director of Local Government Services, having served as chief financial officer in three different local governments for a combined total of 17 years.  LLA’s Local Government Services oversees the work of more than 200 independent CPA firms that conduct over 3,600 audits and other types of engagements, prepares fiscal and actuarial notes for the Louisiana Legislature, educates local governments on governmental accounting and internal controls, and performs various advisory services. 

Diane’s areas of expertise are accounting and financial reporting, financial management, budgeting, fiscal policies, school activity funds, accounting for the expenditure of tax-exempt bond proceeds, tax and fiscal compliance, and internal controls.

Diane has over 30 years of accounting experience, including for-profit manufacturing, not-for-profit, public accounting, and local government sectors. She has been a Certified Public Accountant for over 20 years and also holds certifications as a Chartered Global Management Accountant and Certified Government Finance Officer.  In 2019 she received the Woman to Watch Award from the Society of Louisiana CPAs. 

Diane has presented at national, state, and regional accounting conferences, including the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants’ (LCPA), Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance, and both the Southern and Louisiana Associations of School Business Officials. In addition, she has written articles for various professional publications. She has served on and chaired various LCPA state and chapter committees. She currently is Chair of the national GFOA Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting committee; serves on the LCPA state and local Governmental Accounting and Auditing committee; President-Elect of the Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance, New Orleans Chapter; and board member of the Women in Public Finance, Louisiana chapter.

Diane is a graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Accounting. She is a member of the following professional associations:

• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
• Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants
• Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada
• Louisiana Government Finance Officers Association (past President)
• Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance (past President of the New Orleans chapter)
• Louisiana Association of School Business Officials
• Association of Government Accountants
• Women in Public Finance
• National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers

Frances Dufrene, Citizens National Bank

Frances Dufrene is Executive Vice President of Retail Banking at Citizens National Bank. She is responsible for growth of the retail branch customer base by offering competitive financial products and services as well as digital banking capabilities. She joined Citizens National Bank in 2019 as Senior Vice President. Her role encompasses sales and service delivery, branch wide training initiatives as well as risk management of branch administration, operations and regulatory compliance. Frances began her banking career in 1988 working part-time at First National Bank of Commerce in New Orleans while attending college. She’s a graduate of University of New Orleans where she received her B.A. degree. Although a big part of her banking career was spent in South Louisiana, she calls Shreveport home for the last 13 years along with her husband, Mark, and daughter, Audrey.
During her banking career, Frances has served the communities she lived in through active volunteerism in various non-profit organizations including Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, United Way, Habitat for Humanity, Go Red for Women and St. Joseph Catholic School PTO.

Rebecca Hammond, Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC

Becky Hammond is an audit partner in the New Orleans practice unit of Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC. Becky utilizes more than 23 years of experience to serve clients in the governmental area. Her audit and accounting experience spans a variety of governmental entities, including municipalities, school boards, enterprise funds, special districts, and governmental employee benefit plans. She also has many years of experience serving not-for-profit entities, employee benefit plans, and closely-held businesses. She has issued numerous financial and compliance reports in accordance with Government Auditing Standards and OMB Uniform Guidance (formerly Circular A-133) for governmental, not-for-profit, and for profit entities, including funding from the Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and FEMA. She serves as an assistant governmental line leader for her entire firm, currently in the top 25 largest firms in the United States.

Becky earned her Bachelor of Science in Management with an Accounting Major from Tulane University. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Louisiana Society of Certified Public Accountants (LCPA).  She serves on the LCPA Governmental Accounting & Auditing Committee. She is also a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Accounting and Finance Women's Alliance (AFWA), and the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). Becky has led numerous internal and external governmental accounting and auditing seminars, including numerous presentations for the LCPA Governmental Accounting and Auditing Conference, the LCPA Accounting and Auditing Conference, the LCPA Not-for-Profit Workshop, and the annual convention for the AFWA.

As a member of the American Taekwondo Association (ATA), Becky is a Certified Instructor and a Fourth Degree Black Belt in Songahm Taekwondo.  She is also a six-time World Champion - 2017 World Champion in Creative Weapons, 2015-2016-2018 World Champion in XMA Weapons, and 2011 & 2013 World Champion in Combat Weapons Sparring. Her family owns Forever Driven Martial Arts, a Taekwondo school in Lakeview New Orleans. She is so very passionate about her students and the families at her school.

J. Inzina, J Michael Inzina, CPA, CGFM, CGMA

J. Michael Inzina is founder and CEO of Audit Litigation Training and Efficiency Consulting, Inc. (ALTEC), a consulting company serving public accounting firms and other accounting and auditing organizations on matters of audit efficiency, continuing education, litigation and ethics.

Mike has been named Outstanding Instructor by the American Institute of CPAs and several state societies 13 times, and has served on several national committees, including: AICPA Professional Ethics Executive Committee, Auditing Standards Board, AICPA Independence and Behavioral Standards Subcommittee and Governmental Technical Standards Committee.

Steven Kraemer, Louisiana Legislative Auditor

Steven Kraemer is a Senior Advisor at the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office (LLA) and has been 
with the LLA since 2008. Steven is a Certified Internal Auditor. Steven works in Advisory Services 
providing guidance and recommendations to local governments for implementing/strengthening internal 
controls, ensuring compliance with laws, and implementing good business practices.


Recognizing the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in the public sector, 
Steven has recently begun teaching local government staff and officials how to effectively utilize 
AI to enhance efficiency and decision-making. Through his training sessions, Steven aims to empower 
individuals to harness the potential of AI to become more effective and efficient in their personal 
and professional
lives.

Dean Mead, Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC

Dean Mead is a Partner at Carr, Riggs & Ingram CPAs and Advisors (CRI), in the government and public sector industry line. Prior to joining CRI, Dean was a member of the staff of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) for 24 years, most recently as Assistant Director of Research and Technical Activities. During that time, he also was Coordinator for the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council (GASAC) and the author of the GASB’s plain-language communications, including its award-winning User Guides. Between 2008 and 2020, Dean was an adjunct member of the Accounting and Information Systems faculty at Rutgers Business School, where he taught governmental accounting, auditing, and financial analysis. He is a member of the AICPA, FICPA, Association of Local Government Auditors, and Association of Government Accountants, among other professional organizations.

Les Nettleton, IT Director, Bourgeois Bennett, LLC

Les Nettleton served as Bourgeois Bennett’s Director of Information Technology Services for 35 years. In that capacity, he managed the team of specialists that both supports the technological infrastructure of Bourgeois Bennett and provided individualized technology services to the firm’s diverse client base.

Les has specialized experience in the areas of systems analysis, technology management consulting, database management and information systems training. He regularly addresses academic, community and professional groups and organizations, both locally and nationally, on a variety of technology topics and provides technology training to the firm’s staff.  Les was awarded the 2020 Outstanding CPE Discussion Leader by the Louisiana State Society of CPAs after receiving the highest overall speaker rating for 2020.

Active in the community, Les is on the Board of Directors of Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans. He is a member of the St. Catherine of Siena Pastoral Council.  He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs Technology Sector. Les is also a member of Technology Section for AGN North America, an international association of 200 accounting and consulting firms.

Kurt Oestriecher, Partner in Charge, Oestriecher & Company, APAC, CPAs

Kurt Oestriecher is partner in charge of accounting and auditing services with Oestriecher & Company, CPAs, in Alexandria, and is also involved in litigation support and small business consulting engagements.

Kurt is a 3-time recipient of LCPA’s Outstanding Discussion Leader Award and has been named an Outstanding Discussion Leader for the AICPA 10 times. Kurt has served on the Accounting and Review Services Committee, AICPA Council, and has authored several courses for the AICPA and LCPA.

Jenifer Schaye, General Counsel, Louisiana Legislative Auditor

Jenifer Schaye is General Counsel for the Legislative Auditor of the State of Louisiana. 
She is a graduate of the University of Dallas and of St. Louis University Law 
School. She has practiced law continuously for the last forty-three years in Texas and 
Louisiana. Jenifer has substantial experience in the governmental arena. She has 
worked as a Legislative Aid to a State Representative in Texas. She was a 
Louisiana Assistant Attorney General for eleven years. As an Assistant Attorney 
General, she focused on tort, insurance law, and gaming law and all aspects of the 
Administrative Procedure Act. In her capacity as general counsel to the Legislative 
Auditor, Jenifer advises on public law issues and laws relating to fiscal matters, 
ethics issues, and all public laws which impact political subdivisions and the audits of 
political subdivisions on the local and state level. Jenifer also serves as a board 
member on the Louisiana Survivor’s Benefit Board as the Legislative Auditor’s 
designee. In addition, Jenifer represents the Legislative Auditor and staff in those 
matters where they are called to testify and/or to produce records for further 
inquiry by state and federal courts. She advises the Louisiana Legislative Audit 
Advisory Council on relevant audit law issues. 
Because of her governmental background, Jenifer has a broad knowledge of the 
processes of government and the relationships between the various branches of 
state and local government.

Michael Waguespack, Louisiana Legislative Auditor

Michael J. Waguespack was elected Legislative Auditor on April 19, 2021. Mr. Waguespack, a Louisiana native, has had a long and varied career. He graduated from LSU in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and accepted employment with PricewaterhouseCoopers (then Coopers & Lybrand) in Houston, TX. Mr. Waguespack transferred to the firm’s New Orleans office and worked there until he started his own accounting firm in 1993. In 1999, Mr. Waguespack was elected Assumption Parish Sheriff, from which he retired in 2016. In the years since, Mr. Waguespack worked as the co-managing member of an accounting firm and chief financial officer of an industrial contractor. In addition, he served as Vice Chairman of the Louisiana Tax Commission from 2016-2021. Mr. Waguespack is a licensed Certified Public Accountant with more than 25 years of experience performing a large variety of governmental audits, reviews, compilations, and investigations.