2026 Women's Conference

Vanessa Claiborne, President & CEO, Chaffe & Associates, Inc

Vanessa Claiborne is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Chaffe & Associates, Inc. She is a CPA, ABV by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and has received her designation as an ASA by the American Society of Appraisers. She holds Securities Licenses 79, 24, 27, and 63. Ms. Claiborne is also AEP by the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils. She specializes in business valuation services primarily for estate and gift taxes, ESOPs, GAAP fair value reporting, financial reporting, business interruption claims, litigation support including expert testimony, exit planning, and shareholder transactions. Ms. Claiborne is active in many organizations including the American Society of Appraisers, serving as Governor of the International Board of Governors 2003-2007, Association for Corporate Growth, Isidore Newman School, American Red Cross, and the Agenda for Children.  She recently received the 2021 LCPA Women to Watch Most Experienced Leader Award.

Jennifer Fuselier, EisnerAmper

Jennifer Fuselier is a Director in the firm's Audit and Assurance Services Group. With nearly 15 years of public accounting experience, Jennifer has served a wide range of clients, including not-for-profit organizations and governmental entities.

Jennifer is responsible for planning and supervising financial statement audits, single audits, agreed-upon procedures, and other services for these clients. Jennifer is knowledgeable of the regulatory, compliance and reporting requirements of the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. Jennifer's not-for-profit clients include charter schools, private schools, universities, and foundations. Jennifer's governmental clients include parishes, cities, special districts, and school boards.

In addition to her focus on client service, Jennifer has instructed trainings, both internally and externally, covering updates from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, Financial Accounting Standards Board, and Uniform Guidance compliance requirements. Jennifer also serves on the boards of several local not-for-profit organizations. Most recently, Biz New Orleans Magazine named Jennifer as one of their 2024 Women to Watch.

Prior to joining the firm, Jennifer was an Associate Director at Postlethwaite & Netterville (P&N), a leading full-service accounting and business advisory firm.

Nene Gianfala, Vice President, Chaffe & Associates, Inc

Nene Gianfala is a Vice President of the Valuation Advisory group with over 15 years of experience in accounting, corporate finance, and business valuations. She joined Chaffe & Associates, Inc. as a Financial Analyst Intern in June 2007, and upon completion of the internship, joined the company. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Accredited in Business Valuations (ABV), Certified in Entity and Intangible Valuations (CEIV), Certified in the Fundamentals of ESG by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and an Accredited Senior Appraiser in Business Valuations with a specialty in Intangible Assets (ASA-BV/IA) by the American Society of Appraisers. Ms. Gianfala performs intellectual property and intangible asset valuations for purchase price allocations, impairment testing, internal intangible asset management, portfolio valuation, and litigation support. She provides business valuation services to public and private companies for estate, gift, and income tax planning, financial reporting, corporate planning, employee stock ownership plans, and litigation. Ms. Gianfala is very active in her community and in professional organizations including hosting podcasts for the AICPA on various topics from ESG to Crypto. She serves on the Board of the Louisiana SPCA, is the Past Treasurer Junior League of New Orleans, the Past President of the Tulane Association of Business Alumni, and an Adjunct Faculty Member of the University of Holy Cross.

Rebecca Hammond, Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC

Becky Hammond is an audit partner in the New Orleans practice unit of Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC. Becky utilizes more than 23 years of experience to serve clients in the governmental area. Her audit and accounting experience spans a variety of governmental entities, including municipalities, school boards, enterprise funds, special districts, and governmental employee benefit plans. She also has many years of experience serving not-for-profit entities, employee benefit plans, and closely-held businesses. She has issued numerous financial and compliance reports in accordance with Government Auditing Standards and OMB Uniform Guidance (formerly Circular A-133) for governmental, not-for-profit, and for profit entities, including funding from the Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and FEMA. She serves as an assistant governmental line leader for her entire firm, currently in the top 25 largest firms in the United States.

Becky earned her Bachelor of Science in Management with an Accounting Major from Tulane University. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Louisiana Society of Certified Public Accountants (LCPA).  She serves on the LCPA Governmental Accounting & Auditing Committee. She is also a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), the Accounting and Finance Women's Alliance (AFWA), and the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). Becky has led numerous internal and external governmental accounting and auditing seminars, including numerous presentations for the LCPA Governmental Accounting and Auditing Conference, the LCPA Accounting and Auditing Conference, the LCPA Not-for-Profit Workshop, and the annual convention for the AFWA.

As a member of the American Taekwondo Association (ATA), Becky is a Certified Instructor and a Fourth Degree Black Belt in Songahm Taekwondo.  She is also a six-time World Champion - 2017 World Champion in Creative Weapons, 2015-2016-2018 World Champion in XMA Weapons, and 2011 & 2013 World Champion in Combat Weapons Sparring. Her family owns Forever Driven Martial Arts, a Taekwondo school in Lakeview New Orleans. She is so very passionate about her students and the families at her school.

Catherine Roe, Owner, Cowart Roe CPA LLC

Catherine Roe is a CPA, management consultant, educator, and entrepreneur with over fifteen years of experience in public accounting, corporate finance, and academia. She is the founder of Cowart Roe CPA and Cowart Roe Academy, where she helps small businesses improve financial clarity, operational efficiency, and strategic decision-making through advisory-focused accounting and consulting services. In addition to leading her remote CPA firm, Catherine teaches accounting at the college level and regularly speaks on financial literacy, business systems, workflow efficiency, and strategic growth for entrepreneurs and small businesses. She also serves as Chapter President of the New Orleans Chapter of the Louisiana Society of CPAs and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Organization and Management with a specialization in Entrepreneurship at Liberty University.

Melissa Thompson, Success Labs

Melissa Thompson, PhD, is a leadership and organizational development expert known for transforming teams and organizational cultures. As a partner at Success Labs and curator of TEDxBatonRouge, Melissa leverages her deep expertise in communication and leadership to help executives and emerging leaders navigate change and drive meaningful growth. Recognized for her charismatic approach and trusted insights, she empowers leaders to build resilient teams and achieve lasting organizational success.

Mary Jane Walsh, Business and Life Coach, Thrive

Mary Jane Walsh is an international executive coach who helps her clients achieve breakthrough results. She has helped several companies reach their revenue growth goals, create strategic plans, identify ways to secure new clients, master time management skills, achieve work-life balance, build their pipeline and so much more.  She has extensive experience coaching professionals and companies across many industries, including wealth management firms, realtors, lenders, IT companies, marketing agencies, CPAs and accounting firms, and many other businesses.

Laila Zissis

Laila Morcos Zissis, PCC, NBC-HWC, CMC, is an intuitive and an ICF Professional Certified Coach, National Board-Certified Health, & Wellness Coach, and a Certified MentorCoach©.  Zissis has a private practice in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is working with or has worked with The Georgetown University Institute of Transformational Leadership Life as a Practicum Advisor with students earning their Health & Wellness credentials, Lyra Health, and Headspace Health. 

Laila decided to go into coaching after experiencing her own challenges in life including unmanageable stress, infertility, weight gain, and most recently, she has undergone breast cancer. But through her own development, she is happy, healthy, and thriving. She helps others achieve the same transformation easily and effortlessly through Coaching – enhancing function at work and at home. We all experience unhappy times in our lives with dreams of achieving more, and Laila is honored to work with clients to uncover what might be getting in the way of their highest potential. 

Zissis is also the Founder and President of LikeMinded Ladies™, a 501c6 membership organization comprising women in business and/or those interested in launching new careers or undertaking new professional endeavors who support each other both professionally and personally to advance toward accomplishing their goals. 

Previously, Zissis worked in Travel Media, Marketing & Sales Executive for MILES, the nation's leading tourism marketing partner, where she worked hand-in-hand with New Orleans & Company and their 1,100 + business members to create forward-thinking content marketing for leisure and business travelers. Zissis is also an award-winning television and radio journalist and public relations practitioner with an extremely diverse background. Her knowledge with on-point messaging and media training, navigating emergent social media, and providing multi-pronged public relations strategies has helped bring clients' businesses to another level in the marketplace.