"Women to Watch" Awards given to female CPAs in Illinois, New Mexico.

Four female CPAs from Illinois and two female CPAs from New Mexico are recipients of the "Women to Watch" Award, presented by the AICPA's Work/Life and Women's Initiatives Executive Committee, the Illinois CPA Society, and the New Mexico Society of CPAs. The Women to Watch Awards are sponsored by Accountemps and Robert Half Finance & Accounting.

The program, which is in its second year, highlights the accomplishments of women in the CPA profession. There are two categories of awards: Experienced Leaders, given to more established members of the profession, and Emerging Leaders, for new professionals. This is the second group of Women to Watch Award winners to be announced this year. Winners from Missouri were announced in Aug. (The CPA Letter, Oct.).

"The women from Illinois and New Mexico who have been selected to be the 2006 winners of this award are exemplary role models who have excelled in their professional endeavors," said Linda Bergen, chair of the AICPA Work/Life and Women's Initiatives Executive Committee.

The following are the 2006 Illinois "Women to Watch":

Experienced Leaders:

* Kathy Hannan, Partnner, KPMG LLP, Chicago

* Kathleen Kedrowski, Managing Director, Navigant Consulting, Inc., Chicago

* Erica O'Malley, Partner, Grant Thornton LLP, Oakbrook Terrace

Emerging Leader:

* Sara Carlson, Senior Manager, Grant Thornton LLP, Chicago The following are the 2006 New Mexico "Women to Watch":

Experienced Leader:

* Virginia Stanley, Principal, REDW, The Rogoff Firm, Albuquerque Emerging Leader:

* Shelly McGuire, Partnner, Grant Thornton LLP, Albuquerque Accountemps and Robert Half Finance & Accounting, divisions of Robert Half International, will present a scholarship in the winners' names to the Advancing Women in Accounting Scholarship Fund in Illinois and to the New Mexico Society of CPAs Scholarship Fund.

For information about the individual award winners, visit the Web sites of the Illinois CPA Society (www.icpas.org) and the New Mexico Society of CPAs (www.nmscpa.org). For information on the AICPA's Work/Life and Women's Initiatives Executive Committee, visit www.aicpa.org/worklife.