Director of Membership, Massachusetts Society of CPAs: Age 36
Jill Foley is not an accountant, and she doesn’t play one on TV.
But she’s essentially made a career out of promoting and supporting accountants from across the state.
Indeed, she’s been director of membership for the Massachusetts Society of CPAs for eight years now, playing a major role in growing membership, expanding networking events, and providing more opportunities for members to connect and develop professionally. It’s a role that brings rewards on many levels.
“Relationships, and connecting people with people, are a big part of what I do and what our team does,” she told BusinessWest, adding that this work takes many forms.
These include everything from the agency’s Small Firm Roundtables, created to provide firm owners and leaders with a collaborative, non-competitive space to share best practices, discuss operational challenges, and learn from one another, to an expanded Sip and Socialize, MassCPAs’ most lucrative and best-attended networking event, from a single annual gathering in Boston to a multi-region, three-event series with Boston and Springfield locations.
It also includes the launch of a new program to support entrepreneurial CPAs who have recently started or are planning to start their own business, surpassing year-one participation goals by more than 50%.
A graduate of Assumption College, Foley majored in accounting, drawn to the profession by the diversity of opportunities available to people in the accounting world — and the importance of those professionals to individuals, businesses and nonprofits of all sizes.
An entrepreneur herself, she also created Fed by Foley, a food service business serving the Pioneer Valley, which she operated until late last year.
In the venture’s second month, she created Charcuterie for Community, where she worked alongside other organizations to support general operations or special projects for organizations and causes ranging from the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts to Cancer Connection; from Cooley Dickinson Hospital to Nonotuck Community School.
“The business grew in ways I never imagined — over a thousand orders over those four years,” Foley said. “It’s so hard to open a small business, but so many people in this region want to support you.”
That’s one of many examples of how she makes giving back a priority. She’s a board member for the People’s Institute of Northampton, raises funds for the National Brain Tumor Assoc., and serves as a non-medical volunteer for the Medical Reserves Corps of Massachusetts.
Add it all up — that’s what they do in accounting — and it’s easy to see she’s a member of this year’s 40 Under Forty.
—George O’Brien
