Dr. Venkatesh joined IFAC's IPAE on January 1, 2026, nominated by the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). At UNO, she is the Director of the School of Accounting, the Union Pacific Professor of Accounting, and a (2024-2026) Fellow of the NU DEAL program.

She currently serves on the ICMA Board of Regents. She served on IMA's Global Board (2019-2025), as Chair of the IMA Global Board's Volunteer Leadership Committee, on the Governance Committee, and Audit Committee. She is Chair-Emeritus of the IMA Committee on Academic Relations and a founding board member of the IMA Platte Valley Chapter, Nebraska. She received the 2024 IMA Exemplary Global Board Member Award, 2020 - IMA R. Lee Brummet Award and IMA Champion Award, and 2017 IMA Faculty leadership Award.

She is also a member of the Future Accountants Sponsoring Organizations (FASO) Principles Working Group, and NBPA's Education Advisory Committee. Dr. Venkatesh's research is published in Journal of Management Accounting Research, Accounting Horizons, Issues in Accounting Education, IMA Statements of Management Accounting, and others.

She has received the 2018 Dean's Citation Award for Excellence in Service, 2017 UNO Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award, and the 2016 Dean's Citation Award for Excellence in Teaching. She is a co-author of a cost management accounting textbook in its 11th edition – "Cost Management: A Strategic Emphasis" 2027 Release.

Dr. Smith joined IFAC's IPAE on January 1, 2026, nominated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Dr. Smith is a Professor of Accounting at University College London School of Management. She has extensive experience in accounting education and professional practice, with particular expertise in education. Her work focuses on the development of high-quality accounting education and the preparation of future professional accountants. She leads the international Accounting Streams initiative.

Dr. Smith is the Chair of the CCAB Ethics Group and a member of the ICAEW Education and Training Board. Previously she served as Chair of the ICAEW Ethics Standards Committee.

Dr. Smith's education leadership has been recognized through the award of a National Teaching Fellowship and as Principal Fellow of Advance HE. Susan earned her PhD at the University of Sussex and is a member of ICAEW.

Jen Rimes joined the IFAC International Panel on Accountancy Education in January 2026, after being nominated by
BDO.

Prior to serving on the IPAE, Mrs. Rimes supported the work of the Panel through her involvement in IFAC's Accounting
Education Directors Forum.

Mrs. Rimes is currently a Director in BDO's Global Assurance Department where she has helped to develop and support
the network's technology, methodology and learning resources for use by BDO firms. Since joining BDO's Global
Assurance Department she has trained and presented internationally in various countries and has been integral in
leading the learning strategy and learning content development for global initiatives. She is also a CPA who has
experience in auditing manufacturing, retail and services entities and providing audit methodology support to
engagement teams.

Mrs. Rimes holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (US)
and is a member of the American Institute of CPAs.

Sven became a member of the IPAE in January 2026. His international career includes board and senior executive roles in executive management of a professional services firm, in client-service, and in academia. Until July 2022 Sven served as Managing Partner for Assurance Strategy of EY Germany. As audit partner he looked after multinational public interest entities (PIEs) and chaired EY's IFRS Desk for EMEIA (2002 – 2011).

In the profession, he was a member of the German Accounting Standard Setter (2004 – 2011; 2016 – 2021) and serves the current chairman of the WG "Statutory audit regulation and professional principles" (2019 – today) with the German Auditing at the Institute of Public Auditors in Germany (IDW).

Sven studied Business Administration in Lüneburg and Saarbrücken (both Germany), received his PhD in Business Administration from Saarland University and has an active professorship at Hamburg University. Also, the Tongji University in Shanghai granted Sven an honorary professorship.

Currently, Sven serves clients as strategic advisor to corporate governance tasks at board level. Sven is a German CPA and US CPA (Illinois) and member of the respective professional organizations.

Joshua Stopek, CPA, is Senior Manager – Research, at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants for the US Uniform CPA Examination, focusing on advancing the accountancy profession through research in accounting skills, assessment, and trends. Since 2007, Joshua has worked to keep the CPA Exam relevant by exploring innovations in technology and psychometrics, collaborating with external accounting bodies and other experts. Joshua currently serves as Co-Chair of the Global Accounting Alliance Education Working Group.

Matthew Schultz, PhD, is a Senior Psychometrician at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants for the US Uniform CPA Examination, where he supports both psychometric research and operations. Matthew was previously Director, Psychometric Services at Vantage Learning/McCann Associates, and has also worked at Glaxo Smithkline, PECO Energy and the Law School Admissions Council. Matthew regularly presents and publishes his research. He holds a PhD in Psychometrics from Fordham University.

David Simpson is Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean (ICAC), an IFAC Network Partner. He previously served as the president of ICAC from 2021 to 2023 and has a long-standing relationship with the organization. Simpson is committed to fostering collaboration among ICAC members to achieve their goals, including developing a robust strategic plan to address immediate challenges and position the organization as a thought leader in the accounting field.

Azlina Bulmer recently joined ICAEW as International Director and part of ICAEW Leadership Team. Ms. Bulmer has overall responsibility for ICAEW’s international offices and operations to ensure that ICAEW continues to provide a high-quality service to members, students and stakeholders across the globe.

Most recently, Ms. Bulmer was Managing Director and a member of the Board of Directors at the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), the professional body for the automotive sector. During her 12 months leading IMI, she returned the Institute to profit. Previously, Ms. Bulmer held the position of Executive Director of Membership & Engagement at the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) with responsibility for CII’s membership activities and engagement programmes in the UK and internationally.

Prior to the CII, Ms. Bulmer was the Director of International at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), where she established the RIBA’s first international directorate in 2019 and led on the expansion of the RIBA’s operations and profiling in target markets in Middle East and China.  Ms. Bulmer originally joined the RIBA in January 2016 as Head of Operations, Nations & Regions, managing the operations of the RIBA’s 10 UK regions.

Ms. Bulmer’s early career included public sector work in economic and community development, which was followed by seven years working at a social investment bank.  She is currently an associate non-executive director on the Board at Harrogate District NHS Foundation Trust and has held several non-executive director roles previously including Chair of Finance & Estate Committee at University College of Osteopathy and Chair of The Works UK.

Simon Sfeir is an external auditor who graduated with an accounting degree from Notre Dame University in 2002 and holds a CPA from the State of California since 2005. He had a five year experience at Ernst & Young Beirut and has been a partner at Sfeir & Associates since 2009. Simon has mainly an audit experience in banking, insurance, retail and services industries as well as not-for-profit organizations.

Simon was instructor for external and internal audit classes (English and French) at the Lebanese University (2008-2023) in addition to CPA at Morgan International (2008-2012), IFRS Diploma and ISA classes at the Lebanese Association of Certified Public Accountants (LACPA) (2014-2023). He delivered and contributed in several trainings in audit, accounting and finance in Lebanon and the region.

Simon was also a member of the technical committee at the LACPA, who issued the quality control and the peer review guides as well as the audit file manual for external auditors.

In 2023, Simon was appointed as a member of the Exams Committee at LACPA and was elected Board Member in June 2024. He was then named by the LACPA Board as technical advisor for the International Panel on Accountancy Education (IPAE).