Grant Thornton elects two new Partnership Board members

Doreen Griffith and Catherine Hyodo join nine re-elected or continuing board members

CHICAGO — Grant Thornton LLP’s partners and principals have elected two new members to the firm’s Partnership Board, which helps guide the governance of the partnership and determine the firm’s direction. New members include:

• Doreen Griffith, office managing partner for Dallas (based in Dallas).
• Catherine Hyodo, office managing partner for Los Angeles (based in Los Angeles).

In addition, three current board members have been re-elected to new three-year terms:

• Muhammad Bhayat, Northeast regional Audit practice leader (based in Iselin, New Jersey).
• Seth Siegel, office managing partner for South Florida offices (based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida).
• Chris Smith, national Strategy Solution leader for Advisory Services (based in Bellevue, Washington).

“Skilled and talented stewardship is critical during this time of historic disruption and uncertainty,” said Brad Preber, CEO of Grant Thornton. “Our elected and renewed board members will bring critical and timely competencies to our firm, while also helping ensure that Grant Thornton delivers quality, value and innovation to clients.”

Continuing Partnership Board members who are currently serving terms include:

• Brad Preber, CEO (based in Phoenix).
• Lori Davis, office managing partner for Denver (based in Denver).
• Bert Fox, national managing partner of Professional Standards (based in Chicago).
• Enzo Santilli, Transformation Advisory Business Line leader and Pittsburgh office managing partner (based in Pittsburgh).
• Mark Sullivan, office managing partner for Chicago (based in Chicago).
• Jim Wittmer, chairman of the Partnership Board and national Tax leader for market growth (based in Philadelphia).

Griffith serves as Grant Thornton’s office managing partner for Dallas. She possesses more than 30 years of experience in the tax industry, including 17 years at Grant Thornton. She has been a member of Grant Thornton’s Tax leadership team and was the Financial Services Tax leader. Prior to that, she was the firm’s California managing partner. Griffith has also held a range of other leadership roles, including national managing partner of Tax Services and West region Tax practice leader, as well as office managing partner in Honolulu. Griffith has extensive experience managing cross-service-line teams in multiple disciplines and geographies, with an expertise in federal tax consulting, structuring and compliance. Her broad industry experience includes areas such as food and beverage, real estate, hospitality, gaming, private equity and other financial services. She sits on the advisory board at Louisiana Tech University’s College of Business, and on the advisory board at Brigham Young University’s School of Accounting. She received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Louisiana Tech University — and is a certified public accountant (CPA) in Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Illinois and Texas. Griffith is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Hyodo serves as Grant Thornton’s office managing partner for Los Angeles. She has more than 25 years of public accounting experience serving clients in a variety of industries — with a special focus on media, technology and entertainment. She also works with dynamic growing companies ranging from start-ups to accelerated public filers. While Hyodo’s background is in assurance services, she has also served numerous clients in an advisory capacity, guiding them in areas ranging from operational improvement to Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. She possesses extensive experience conducting assessment and design work, preparing initial public offerings, and handling transactions involving special-purpose acquisition companies. Hyodo previously served as Grant Thornton’s Southern California assistant Audit practice leader. She was also the Los Angeles representative for the firm’s Women at Grant Thornton business resource group. She currently sits on the Corporate Advisory Board at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and sits on the school’s Undergraduate Advisory Council. She received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Southern California. She is CPA in California and a member of the AICPA and California Society of CPAs.

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