Leadership Council

Allen Wilson was the President of Eton Solutions, a technology company serving the ultra-high net worth wealth services space. Prior to joining Eton Solutions as the President, Allen was the Vice-President of Strategy and Innovation at UNC Kenan Flagler Business school and prior to that job, was the Managing Partner of the Strategic Federal Tax Services (SFTS) group at Grant Thornton.

Allen started with Andersen in Greensboro in 1982 and moved to Raleigh in 1992 as head of the Raleigh tax practice. He joined the national solutions group within Andersen in 1998. From 1998 until 2002 he was involved in several initiatives, including serving as the national head of the INTAK practice, Andersen’s multidisciplinary review (state, local and international) of large corporate tax opportunities. Allen joined Grant Thornton in June 2002 as part of the Carolinas Andersen acquisition. At Grant Thornton he was part of the SFTS group and in January 2003 became a Managing Partner.

Allen is a past Chairman of the Educational Foundation, Inc. (aka Rams Club) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Rams Club. He has served on the Board of Visitors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is currently on the Board of Visitors of Kenan-Flagler School of Business. Allen previously served on the Law Alumni Council of the Wake Forest University School of Law, the Board of Trustees at North Carolina Baptist Hospital and is the past Treasurer of the North Carolina Business Committee for Education. He is currently the President and on the Board of Directors of the Old Chatham Golf Course and was the initial President of the Rosemont Homeowners Association.

Allen has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Juris Doctorate, with honors, Wake Forest University School of Law

Nita Asher is a Principal in the Washington National Tax Office of PwC, where she advises both U.S. and foreign-based companies on a wide range of international tax issues including financings, treaty qualification, and cross-border restructurings. She advises companies on the impacts of tax policy, such as the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), and issues related to technical corrections, administrative guidance, and legislative changes to various provisions.

Prior to rejoining PwC, she served as Legislation Counsel for the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), a nonpartisan committee of the United States Congress. During her time at JCT, Nita was heavily involved in the development of the TCJA.

Nita earned her bachelor’s from the University of North Carolina, a JD from North Carolina Central University School of Law, and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center.

Michael is a State and Local Principal based in PwC’s Charlotte office with over 20 years of public accounting experience. Michael’s primary experience is in income/franchise tax; however, he also has significant experience assisting clients with other areas of state and local tax, including sales and use tax, property tax and unclaimed property. He has worked with public and private multinational companies of all sizes and specialized in providing state and local tax compliance and consulting services as well as assisting clients with audit defense matters, implementing corporate reorganizations and analyzing potential state and local tax issues arising from mergers, acquisitions and / or divestitures. He has worked with clients in a variety of industries, including the software, technology, financial services and professional services industries.

Michael is a frequent speaker at external and internal conferences. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law. He is currently a licensed attorney in the State of Georgia.

Julie Dosek is a Partner in EY’s Business Tax Services practice in Minneapolis, MN. Julie has over 20 years of experience identifying, managing and implementing Federal tax planning projects including accounting methods, capitalization, inventories, and the research and experimentation tax credit. She also has experience with Tax Accounting including ASC 740 and Tax Controversy. She serves large multinational clients in the retail, consumer products, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, transportation, healthcare, and insurance industries throughout the Central Region.

Julie has significant experience in implementing technology and process improvements on tax planning projects including the use of statistical sampling, surveys and other innovative approaches. She frequently represents her clients with the IRS and state taxing authorities through Exam and Appeals.
She is a certified public accountant licensed in the state of Minnesota. She is a frequent lecturer at client events such as EY University and the Domestic Tax Conference. She has also led many of the firm’s training events such as Milestones, New Tax Senior, New Tax Staff and Tax Technical learning courses in her areas of expertise.

James W. Freeman serves as principal of the Strategic Group of Companies, an Atlanta-based private equity boutique specializing in tax advantage investments. Mr. Freeman’s expertise includes the structuring and investing in Opportunity Zone funds, complex conservation easements, historic preservation, renewable energy and entertainment transactions.

Mr. Freeman’s writings have been published in a varying array of periodicals, including Commercial Investment Real Estate (the magazine of the CCIM Institute), Shopping Center Business, and the Scotsman Guide. Notably, the Georgia Society of CPAs honored Mr. Freeman as the recipient of the Outstanding Member in Industry Award for 2009 for his leadership and strong ethical character

Mr. Freeman obtained his Bachelor of Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in Biology with minors in both Chemistry and Business Administration and soon after received a Master of Accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, with a concentration in Tax and Real Estate. He later received a Master of Business Administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business with a concentration in International Economics. He is a licensed CPA in multiple states and holds securities license designations as an Investment Banker and General Securities Principal.

At the beginning of his career, Mr. Freeman joined Arthur Andersen’s Global Tax practice where he assisted clients with global tax strategy and corporate restructuring. He later took a three-year expatriate assignment in the Brussels, Belgium office where he continued this work and expanded his network of clients. He subsequently joined Deloitte & Touche’s Brussels Tax practice where he furthered his tax expertise by structuring complex tax solutions for large international clients in close cooperation with the Washington DC national tax practice.

Mr. Freeman then worked for Ashland Inc./Valvoline Inc. as the National Managing Director of Valvoline’s business in Germany. There he managed and balanced all aspects of Valvoline’s business in Germany and doubled sales during his tenure.

Mr. Freeman currently lives in the metro Atlanta area with his wife, Jessica, and their children. He is the past President of the Georgia Society of CPA’s and currently serves on the Board of Directors and is also the past President for the Atlanta Chapter. Mr. Freeman serves on the Board of Governors of the Buckhead Club and sits on advisory boards of various US companies. Mr. & Mrs. Freeman are both members of numerous community and volunteer organizations and continue to be active members of their church.

Bill Hackney is a retired investment management executive with 45 years of experience in equity portfolio management, investment research and economic analysis. Throughout his career, he has had a strong interest in the impact of income and capital gains taxes on the economy and the capital markets.
From 1995-2017 he was a senior partner with Atlanta Capital Management Company, an institutional investment advisor with $21 billion in assets under management. During his tenure with the firm, he was Managing Partner and member of the executive committee, portfolio manager for firm’s equity investment strategies and author of the firm’s investment newsletter.

Prior to joining Atlanta Capital, Bill was Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of First Union’s Capital Management Group in Charlotte, North Carolina. In this capacity, he supervised the investment management of over $50 billion in institutional and individual assets. Earlier in Bill’s career, he was Director of Investor Relations for First Union Corporation (a bank holding company subsequently acquired by Wells Fargo) and Regional Research Director for E.F. Hutton & Company’s Southeast Region.

Bill also served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps and retired in 1999 with the rank of Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves. His personal decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal. Since 1992, he has served as an investment consultant to the Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS) Command in Quantico, Virginia. In this capacity, he currently oversees a $650 million pension plan for the civilian employees of the Marine Corps.

He is currently a director of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History in Jamestown, New York and the Brevard Music Center, Brevard, North Carolina. From 1996-2008, he served as a director of The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation in Quantico Virginia.

Bill is a 1970 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He received a MBA from the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina in 1975. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Bill was born April 12, 1948 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He resides in Marietta, Georgia and Lake Toxaway, North Carolina.

Gary is a partner in the Washington National Tax Office (“WNT”) of Deloitte Tax LLP. He is a member of the firm’s Federal Tax Accounting, Periods, Methods and Credits Group and has more than 29 years of public accounting experience specializing in federal income tax credits and incentives and related accounting method issues. Gary and his team provide due diligence, private ruling requests, structuring, tax controversy, application writing and transactional consulting with respect to a wide array of federal income tax incentives including the Paycheck Protection Program, Employee Retention Credit, Qualified Opportunity Zones, Energy Tax Credits, Renewable Energy Production Tax Credits, ARRA 1603 Cash Grants, New Markets Tax Credits, Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credits, Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Credits, Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Railroad Track Maintenance Credits, and various other incentives.

Gary is a frequent public speaker and published author on federal tax matters. His articles have appeared in Tax Notes, Journal of Accountancy, and the Tax Advisor. Gary previously served as the moderator of the firm’s Federal Tax Dbrief webcast series. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Ann joined KPMG’s Charlotte office in 1994. She currently serves as a Partner in KPMG’s Washington National Tax (WNT) State and Local Tax (SALT) and the National Leader of the Income and Franchise Tax Practice group. From 1994 to 1996, Ann was a member of KPMG’s financial services federal tax practice. During this period, she prepared federal and state income tax returns and financial statement tax provisions. In 1996, she transferred to the SALT practice in Atlanta, focusing on restructuring projects, audit defense and consulting. Ann transferred to WNT in 2001 and led the WNT SALT group from 2007 to 2011. Ann is a frequent speaker on various state and local tax issues and serves as a firm resource on financial state provision issues.

Danielle Hutcheson is the Vice President, Tax at SPX Technologies, a large multinational supplier of highly engineered products and technologies headquartered in Charlotte, NC. Danielle leads the tax team for the company, focusing on the creation and preservation of shareholder value through the support of various corporate initiatives and M&A, development and implementation of tax strategies, and minimizing risk in the areas of income tax accounting, controversy, and compliance.

Danielle has more than 25 years of tax experience, including 14 in public accounting, primarily with Deloitte. While at Deloitte, Danielle served a variety of large public companies, focusing on tax planning and income tax accounting. She is a CPA and a member of the NCACPA.

Danielle is from Annapolis, MD. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BS in Business Administration and a Master of Accounting. She was also a member of the Women’s Lacrosse team while at Carolina. Danielle met her husband, Ryan, in the MAC Program, and they currently live in Charlotte, NC with their two teenage boys, Mack and Knox.

Lisa Ku is a Senior Director in RSM US, LLP’s Charlotte, NC tax practice with over 24 years of public accounting experience. She has served clients in a variety of industries over the years, including energy, professional services, retail and wholesale distribution. She specializes in corporate taxation, both in the tax compliance and tax consulting areas.

Lisa has served for three years on the board of the Myers Park High School Foundation. She and her husband, Otis, have two daughters, Katherine and Caroline, and her oldest is currently a freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill. In her spare time, Lisa enjoys running, travelling and spending time with family and friends.
Lisa began her career in the Washington, D.C. office of Arthur Andersen. She transferred with Andersen to the Charlotte tax practice which later joined Grant Thornton.

Lisa received her bachelor of science in business administration and master of accounting from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. She is a CPA and a member of the AICPA and NCACPA.

Deanne Morton Director – San Francisco Deanne Morton is a Director in the Andersen US National Tax office. A former practicing attorney with a master’s degree in taxation, Deanne draws on her over 15 years of experience to serve Andersen clients in navigating IRS Practice, Procedure and Controversy matters. Deanne also helps analyze tax policy and legislative developments, assists with business and individual tax planning, and plays an integral role in the firm’s thought leadership and knowledge management efforts. Prior to joining Andersen, Deanne worked with LexisNexis where she created tax research tools and served as editor-in-chief of a premier federal tax journal. She also worked as an attorney with the multinational law firms of King & Spalding LLP and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP. Deanne is admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court and is a member of the California and Georgia State Bar Associations. She is active in the Tax Section of the American Bar Association (ABA) and serves on the ABA Tax Section’s Administrative Practices and Standards of Practice Committees.

M. Andy Spittle, CPA, CFP®, is a Tax Partner who concentrates on tax planning, compliance, and consulting for high net-worth individuals, private foundations, and closely-held businesses. He has worked with a variety of clients throughout his career including family-owned businesses, pass-through entities, large corporate and consolidated groups, and corporate executives. Andy is both a licensed CPA and a Certified Financial Planner™ with extensive experience in the tax compliance aspects of investment strategies utilized by high net-worth individuals such as hedge funds and alternative investments.

Andy is originally from Indian Trail, NC and completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Accounting. He began his career in the tax division Deloitte & Touche. He joined Blair, Bohlé & Whitsitt in 2006 as a Senior Tax Accountant and in 2014, became the youngest associate in the history of the firm to be promoted to Partner. He now is a Tax Partner at Thompson Whitlock PLLC. Andy maintains memberships in the AICPA and the NCACPA.

Andy lives in Concord, NC with his wife and three children. He enjoys running in his spare time and is a long-time supporter of Greater Matthews Habitat for Humanity, where he previously served as the organization’s Treasurer.

Tamara is an industry tax partner in PwC’s Charlotte, NC office with over 20 years of public accounting experience. She currently serves as the lead tax partner on a variety of large public and privately held multinational companies. Tamara spent close to ten years in PwC’s Washington, DC market, six of which were in PwC’s Washington National Tax Services Practice, working closely with the firm’s top technical specialists and former Congressional, Treasury and IRS officials.

Tamara provides tax consulting services for companies in a variety of industries including manufacturing, retail and consumer, entertainment and media, telecommunications and software development. She specializes in corporate taxation, tax compliance and tax accounting consulting and has significant experience with tax-efficient global structuring, intellectual property and intercompany transaction planning, treasury and cash management, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. Tamara was the tax accounting and compliance leader for the Carolinas’ market for six years and served as PwC’s partner leader and liaison for UNC-Chapel Hill for ten years.

Tamara served for three years on the board of and Treasurer for A Child’s Place, an organization dedicated to erasing the impact of homelessness on children and their education. She and her husband, Jon, have three children, Eva, Sophia and Tristan. In her spare time, Tamara enjoys practicing hot yoga and is actively involved with Elevation Church. Prior to joining PwC, Tamara was with Arthur Andersen and received her Master of Accounting, B.S. with distinction in Business Administration and a Minor in Spanish, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a CPA and member of the AICPA.