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Josephine Sarnelli, CPA, has had her own consulting business since 1991. She specializes in forensic accounting and white collar crime investigations (including expert testimony), internal control reviews, part-time and temporary CFO/controllership positions for manufacturing, retail and service companies, accounting software installation, and fund accounting applications for government and not-for-profit organizations. For a complete list of her varied types of assignments, read the summary under Consulting Engagements.

Experience
Jo started her career with four years in the Springfield office of Coopers & Lybrand, a large internationally known CPA firm, formerly part of the “Big Eight.” She left there to head up the Internal Auditing function of Friendly Ice Cream Corporation for eight years. This was a highly visible position reporting to Hershey Foods Corporation, the parent company. A vertically integrated business, Friendly Ice Cream had 30,000 employees, a manufacturing facility, and 850 company owned restaurants. For six years, Josephine was a full-time accounting professor at Western New England College. During the last two years, she was also the Assistant Dean of the School of Business.

Education
A 1976 graduate of American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, Jo was recipient of a full four-year mathematics scholarship. During those four years she obtained a BS in Accounting with a minor in Finance, a BA in Economics and her MBA. She graduated first in her class in both her graduate and undergraduate studies.

Professional Activities
Josephine is very active in her profession. In 1980 she founded the CPE Forum, an organization that offers educational programs to CPA’s and the business community in Western Massachusetts. She continues to act as the volunteer coordinator. To find out more about these offerings, visit her website www.cpeForum.org. Jo was also a Director on The International Board of the Institute of Internal Auditors, headquartered in Florida, for six years.

Community Activities
Always active in the community, Jo is currently a member of the Spirit of Springfield Bright Nights Ball Committee and Director on the Board of Westfield on Weekends. She was recipient of the Pope Pius X Award and taught sacramental religious education for 15 years.

Interests
An avid dancer, choreographer, and instructor, Josephine is the Artistic Director of Small Planet Dancers, an organization of performing dance troupes that she founded in 1986. In addition to performing at community events such as those sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts, the Bright Nights Ball, and the Big E New England Fair, the troupes also do charitable shows at nursing homes and fund raisers. To find out more about her dance troupes, visit www.SmallPlanetDancers.com.