Mr. John K. Bugunya joined the IFAC Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Advisory Group in November 2025 following his nomination by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Rwanda (ICPAR).

He is a seasoned finance professional with over 20 years of experience in financial management, corporate governance, and strategic leadership across Africa and Europe. He currently runs his own advisory business, providing strategic finance and leadership services.

John previously served as Chief Finance Officer (CFO) and Executive Board Director at CIMERWA Plc, Rwanda’s only integrated cement company, where he contributed to strategic management, governance, risk management, and compliance. Before this, he was Chief Executive Officer of Prime Insurance Limited, leading the company’s commercial transformation and serving as Chairperson of the Rwanda Insurers Association (ASSAR), where he supported legislative and digital reforms in the insurance sector.

John also worked as CFO at Bank of Kigali Plc for five years, supporting its successful listing on the Rwanda Stock Exchange and shaping its financial strategy. Earlier in his career, he worked in external assurance with Deloitte in the UK and EY in Uganda.

John is a Fellow of ACCA (UK), Vice President of ICPAR, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and an MBA in Finance.

Mr. Siddique is the Chief Operating Officer of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB). He joined in 2008, advancing to Director (Technical) in 2013, where he oversaw strategic functions including Quality Assurance, Technical Standards, Training & Research, and International Affairs.

His professional experience encompasses governance and the implementation of IFAC’s SMOs at ICAB. He served as Member Secretary to several ICAB Council committees. From September to November 2020, he also concurrently held the position of Secretary & CEO of ICAB.

He contributes to regional and global accountancy bodies, having held the positions of Assistant Executive Secretary (2016) and Executive Secretary (2017) of the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), and is nominated again for these roles in 2025 and 2026, respectively. He also serves as an ICAB-nominated Director for the SAFA Foundation and as Marketing Director for Chartered Accountants Worldwide. Prior to ICAB, he worked as a consultant for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales on a World Bank-funded ICAB-ICAEW twinning project and in the finance division of a major telecommunication company.

He holds a Master’s in Accounting and completed his professional training at Hoda Vasi Chowdhury & Co., Chartered Accountants gaining audit experience across financial institutions and multinational corporations. He qualified as an ICAB Associate Member in 2007 and was admitted as a Fellow in 2012.

Mr. Siddique has served as a faculty and resource person for professional institutes including ICAB. His professional and personal travels have spanned numerous countries across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.

Lamyaa AlRasheed joined the IFAC PAO Development & Advisory Group in January 2026 after being nominated by the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA). She is a Partner at Ernst & Young (EY) based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

She has built a strong career leading complex, large-scale audit engagements, with deep experience in client relationship management and people leadership. Over the years, she has led audits for prominent multinational and local organizations across sectors such as government, telecommunications, retail, and services. In her current role, she oversees significant client portfolios, works closely with senior stakeholders. Lamyaa is an active member of the SOCPA Examination Committee and serves on the board of the Saudi Accounting Association. She also regularly participates in professional forums and conferences focused on audit, finance technology, and digital transformation, and serves on advisory committees for several universities in Saudi Arabia.

Lamyaa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from King Saud University and is a Certified Public Accountant in Saudi Arabia.

Sam became a member of IPAE in January 2026, nominated by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) and CPA Australia.

Sam is the General Manager responsible for the CA Program and pathways at CA ANZ. She led the transformation of the CA Program, launched in 2021, and championed the development of inclusive pathways, including a school leaver pathway, introduced in 2025.

Sam is a qualified CA and a fellow of both CA ANZ and ICAEW, commencing her journey with EY in the UK. Sam's career in education began over 27 years ago lecturing for several of the professional accounting qualifications, specialising in Financial Reporting, Auditing and multi-disciplinary case study subjects. Sam joined CA ANZ after migrating to Australia 16 years ago.

Sam is Co-Chair of the Global Accounting Alliance (GAA) Education working group.

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 UCL 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.

Susan 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 recognised 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 the American Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants (AICPA).

Ms. Rimes is Director – Global Assurance at BDO International, a firm she joined in 2013 after initially working for BDO USA.

Ms. Rimes holds a B.S. in Business ADminsitration from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (US).

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.