RSM makes raft of leadership appointments

RSM US, a national mid-market accounting and consulting firm, has made nine leadership appointments across its business lines.

The appointments follow the announcement of several executive promotions earlier this month.

“I am proud to welcome these leaders into their new roles,” said Brian Becker, managing partner and CEO of RSM US. “They embody RSM’s values and bring insight, experience and fresh ideas as we continue to further our depth, agility and expertise to serve the middle market at scale. Their leadership will be instrumental as we embrace our digital future and serve our clients and teams in an increasingly connected global business environment.”

Assurance

Mandy Wheat has been named RSM’s assurance operations leader, responsible for financial strategy and management, performance measurement and driving quality and operational excellence throughout the practice. Wheat has been at RSM for 18 years and previously served as construction and government contracting capability leader for assurance.

Jeremy Zwart has been appointed as assurance growth and industry leader. In the role, he will drive execution, promote quality, and empower RSM’s auditors to grow the business. Zwart has been at RSM for 27 years and previously was assurance leader for industrials.

Matt Gerkens has been appointed as construction and government contracting capability leader for assurance, overseeing a team of professionals providing audit services to construction and government contracting clients. He joined the firm as a partner in 2020 and has more than 20 years of experience serving private, public, and private equity clients.

Tax

Gregg Kiehl has been named tax operations leader, aligning RSM’s tax client service teams to support the execution of strategic tax priorities. He brings more than 30 years of experience providing tax compliance and tax advisory services to clients in a variety of industries. Kiehl previously served as RSM’s corporations capability leader for tax and market managing partner for Carolina.

Leslie Stackpole has been named corporations capability leader for tax. In this role, Stackpole will lead a team of tax professionals serving public companies, non-audit clients, large corporate US and Canadian subsidiaries of companies with headquarters in foreign countries, and complex private companies organized as C-corps but not private equity–owned. She has nearly 30 years of accounting experience, with expertise across mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, global tax planning and compliance, accounting methods, R&D credits, and IRS examinations. Stackpole previously led RSM’s Los Angeles office.

Consulting

Jamie Burgess has been appointed as RSM’s consulting strategy and execution leader, driving execution across key initiatives. A CPA with more than two decades of experience, Burgess has been at RSM since 2012 and served on its board since 2022. She most recently was RSM’s risk consulting enterprise leader. Burgess was earlier this month appointed as chair of RSM US’ board of directors.

Bill Kracunas has been named consulting industry and growth leader, leading the continued expansion of RSM’s consulting services across industries and driving growth through innovation and strategic relationships. Kracunas previously served as RSM’s management consulting leader.

Ron Draganowski has been appointed as consulting digital leader, transitioning from his interim role. Draganowski has over 25 years of business technology consulting experience, including 14 years at RSM, where he has led teams focusing on ERP customization, integrations, and analytics.

Real Estate

Troy Merkel has been appointed as leader for construction and real estate, while continuing in his role as assurance digital strategy leader. In his new role, Merkel will advance RSM’s strong relationship with middle market players in the construction and real estate industry. He has been at RSM for 20 years.