What It Takes to Grow and Lead in Accounting: Lessons from EY’s Global Tax Leader

Adam Mendler is a nationally recognized authority on leadership, renowned for his unique ability to deliver perspective-shifting insights shaped by interviewing more than 500 of America’s most successful leaders. The creator and host of the top-rated business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, Adam regularly elicits insights from America's top CEOs, founders, athletes, celebrities, and political and military leaders. A keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations, Adam has written extensively on business and leadership, having authored more than 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc., and HuffPost. A Los Angeles native and lifelong Angels fan, Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA, serves on the board of UCLA’s Master of Applied Statistics & Data Science program, is an emeritus member of USC’s Board of Governors, and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders.

An EY veteran of more than 28 years, Marna Ricker, Global Vice Chair – Tax, oversees all aspects of the EY Tax strategy, its offerings, and client services for the EY Global Tax service line, comprised of more than 76,000 EY Tax, People Advisory Services (PAS) and Law professionals worldwide. Marna oversees all aspects of the Global Tax strategy, including operations, people development, client relations, quality control, risk management, thought leadership, knowledge, and learning. Marna’s leadership experience spans a variety of roles over her EY Tax career. For the previous four years, Marna was the EY Americas Vice Chair – Tax, where she guided the Tax team in providing exceptional, digitally-enabled services and solutions to clients across North, Central and South America, and Israel. She served as the EY Tax Central Region Managing Partner prior to becoming the Americas Vice Chair – Tax. In her client service roles, Marna assisted multinational companies in global transactions, transformation and business strategy, with a focus on tax transformation efforts, international planning, as well as tax compliance and reporting. As a transformational leader, Marna believes in the power of authentic leadership development to build high-performing, collaborative teams. She focuses on the positive power of tax policy to help business and economies shape a brighter, more sustainable future that delivers long-term value. Marna is passionate about diversity, inclusiveness, and anti-discriminatory ideals beyond tax, throughout EY and universally, and is keenly focused on a culture of care and well-being. She is a Board Member of Junior Achievement USA, an organization focused on inspiring and preparing the next generation for success, particularly in the area of financial literacy. She earned a BS in Business Administration from Ohio State University and a JD from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Minnesota and New York Society of Certified Public Accountants. Marna and her husband, Erick, have two sons, Colton and Cooper, and a golden retriever, Bear.