Leveraging a formative love for numbers and helping others, certified public accountant (CPA) Lisa A. Gioia naturally desired to enter the field of accounting. She has thrived as a CPA for more than 40 years and began as an independent financial management and accounting consultant in 1990 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and then has been in Kansas City, Missouri, since 1998. As a CPA licensed in Missouri, Ms. Gioia specializes in serving nonprofit organizations as an accounting contractor as well as serving as a financial officer for several nonprofit organizations. As part of her responsibilities, she helps nonprofit organizations with audits, budgeting, cash flow preparation and grant proposals. Ms. Gioia also prepares financial statements for the nonprofits for whom she has worked and volunteered for and trains nonprofit staff members.
Prior to her current position, Ms. Gioia worked in Philadelphia as an independent auditor and tax professional with numerous nonprofit organizations for eight years, including spending two of those years as a contract trainer, designing and teaching graduate-level courses for The Pew Charitable Trusts. In addition to these stints, she imparted the many facets of her expertise as an adjunct instructor of graduate programs at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania, a contractor for continuing education at The Center for Professional Education, a contract discussion leader for the Foundation for Accounting Education, and a senior fellow and teacher for the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
In 1981, the year Ms. Gioia graduated, summa cum laude, from Avila College (now Avila University) with a Bachelor of Arts in accounting, French, and international management, she began working with Laventhol & Horwath. She held key roles at the firm through 1990 as an audit supervisor in Kansas City and then in Philadelphia as a manager in the national accounting and audit department executive office and as an audit manager. After spending many years working in her industry and sharing her knowledge with students and other emerging professionals, Ms. Gioia received a Master of Public Administration in nonprofit management from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2007.
Having enjoyed academic and professional careers entrenched with notable milestones, bolstered by an extensive list of individual honors and recognitions, Ms. Gioia is particularly proud of working with nonprofit organizations and rising through the ranks of success during her journey. After her years working for an international accounting firm, she continued to enrich her knowledge base as time progressed until she felt comfortable being a self-employed accountant. As such, Ms. Gioia has received commendations for her industry performance. Most recently, in 2023, she earned the Northfield Village Good Neighbor Award, having previously won an accolade from Ingram’s Local Heroes in 2022. She was also named Accountant Advocate of the Year by the Small Business Administration and received the Volunteer Achievement Award for Accountants for Public Interest and the Community Accountants Volunteer of the Year, all in 1992. Looking forward, Ms. Gioia aims to continue volunteering with nonprofit organizations to help advance their missions.
