On demand webinars

Andrea Vardaro Thomas is a Managing Director at Protiviti and a leader in finance transformation and public company readiness. She brings over 20 years of experience across corporate finance, FP&A, SEC reporting, and technical accounting, helping organizations build the finance capabilities required to operate as public companies. Andrea has led and advised organizations through IPO readiness initiatives, supporting infrastructure buildout, accelerated close processes, FP&A operating models, and SEC-compliant financial reporting. Her experience includes supporting key IPO activities, such as Form S-1 drafting, KPI development, readiness assessments, and post-transaction integration. She works closely with executive leadership to connect strategy, planning, and performance, enabling finance organizations to scale, operate with discipline, and meet public company expectations.

Julia Gielow is a Managing Director at Protiviti and leads the firm’s Public Company Transformation Center of Excellence. She has over 20 years of experience helping organizations prepare for life as public companies, along with deep expertise spanning IPO and SPAC readiness, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, internal controls, and internal audit transformation. Julia has guided organizations through the full public company journey, from readiness assessments and S-1 support to designing SOX frameworks and building internal audit functions. She regularly partners with executive management, audit committees, and external auditors to strengthen governance and address complex control challenges, including material weakness remediation. Her work focuses on helping companies establish durable, repeatable governance and control environments that stand up to the scrutiny and expectations of the public markets.

Andrew Struthers‑Kennedy is a Managing Director at Protiviti and the firm’s Global CAE Solutions Leader, responsible for shaping strategy and solutions across internal audit, technology audit, and SOX and controls advisory services. With over 20 years of experience, Andrew helps organizations modernize assurance and governance through technology, cybersecurity, and data‑driven approaches as they prepare for and operate as public companies. Andrew advises executive leadership, boards, and audit committees on integrating cybersecurity, IT risk, and IT general controls into scalable, public company control environments. His work focuses on moving organizations away from manual, fragmented processes toward technology‑enabled, resilient risk and assurance models that can withstand regulatory scrutiny and evolving threat landscapes.

Melissa Stanley, CPA, is a Principal within the internal audit department at Gemini Space Station, Inc., a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian. She has over 10 years of experience in audit execution, as well as building and scaling global internal audit programs. In her IA Professional Practices role, Melissa supports strategic plan, methodology, quality assurance and improvement program, and reporting on audit results. She also partners with audit teams and stakeholders to enable automation and use of AI across all audit activity.

Erin Dempsey Heuwetter is the Head of Audit, Risk & Compliance at Navan, where she sits at the intersection of high-growth scaling and public market readiness. With a legal background and a technologist's mindset, Erin has been the architect behind Navan’s audit and risk program transition from a private governance model to a robust, IPO-ready framework.

During her tenure, she and her team have built the organization's regulatory compliance, ERM, internal audit, and SOX compliance functions from the ground up with a heavy emphasis on modernization through AI. Erin is a vocal advocate for moving beyond "check-the-box" compliance, instead leveraging automation to create a dynamic, risk-aware culture that supports rapid innovation. She is a frequent speaker on the future of GRC.

Kara Killingsworth, CPA, is a Product Marketing Manager for SOXHUB at Optro. She has 6 years of experience working in IA consulting, helping financial services clients with SOX compliance, operational audits, and regulatory compliance, most recently as a Manager at Protiviti. Kara has reviewed and performed end-to-end SOX testing for clients, with a special focus on how the right technology can speed and streamline processes.