LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Grant Thornton LLP named Jacqueline Akerblom as the firm’s West region managing partner effective Aug. 1.
Akerblom, who succeeds Joel Anik in the role, will be responsible for all operations, including client service and professional matters for 11 offices in the western United States. She will also continue to lead the firm’s Southern California practice as the office managing partner.
“Jacqueline has played a key role in the success of our Southern California practice during her tenure as managing partner,” said Mike McGuire, national managing partner – operations for Grant Thornton. “We’re confident that her strong leadership skills and vast experience will be integral in maintaining and building upon the momentum that Joel established for the firm’s West region.”
Akerblom joined Grant Thornton in 1989 as an audit manager in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Prior to becoming the office managing partner in 2012, she served as a technology audit partner and International Business Center director for the firm’s San Francisco and San Jose offices. She was the national managing partner of Women’s Initiatives and Programs for Grant Thornton from 2007 to 2011, during which time the firm saw the number of women partners increase by 197 percent.
In 2010, Akerblom was elected to Grant Thornton’s Partnership Board, and is currently serving a three-year term. She spent nearly four years in the firm’s London office serving as an advisor to U.S. and European companies on cross-border transactions.
She is a certified public accountant in California, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants. She is a former executive committee member of the AICPA Women’s Initiative Executive Committee. Akerblom is a member of the California Chamber of Commerce, a member of the University of San Diego School of Business dean’s advisory board and a member of the dean’s advisory council at the University of California, Irvine School of Business.
Akerblom received a bachelor’s degree in business administration in accounting from the University of San Diego.
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