NASCLA 2010 Annual Conference General Sessions

    Meet the Speakers

Karen Smith, AMCC Karen manages and directs operational, financial and corporate development for Arbitration Mediation Conciliation Center, a full service Provider firm serving California and nationwide commercial, government and private parties.  She is the program manager for the CA Contractors State License Board (CSLB) arbitration program, serving over 300,000 consumers. In addition to her duties at AMCC, Karen is the 2010 President of the industry critical California Dispute Resolution Council.  She is a frequent speaker to law firms, universities and trade associations on topics relative to the ADR industry.

Thomas K. Hannah, State of Florida (Retired) Thomas K. Hannah proudly served as the Chief of Investigative Services for both the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.  His duties included oversight of all investigative and inspection activities statewide. Prior to this position he served as Assistant Chief at the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) which included over thirty Boards and Counsels including the Construction Industry Licensing Board.  He appeared as a media representative on a number of special projects for the DBPR including the department’s response to Hurricane Andrew.  He has his degree from Florida State University in criminology and is a graduate of the Department of Justice DEA training school and the FBI Interviewing and Interrogations training course.  He has served as an officer or member of the Board of Directors in numerous professional and community service organizations including the United Way, Jaycees, March of Dimes, and Chamber of Commerce. He serves as a Senior Instructor on Investigations and Inspections for the Council on Licensure Regulation and Enforcement (CLEAR), was a founding member of the National State Medical Board Investigator Certification Committee sponsored by Administrators in Medicine and the Federation of State Medical Boards. He began his public service career as an investigator for the State of Florida in 1974. He has been involved in the regulation of numerous professionals and businesses in the State of Florida and retired with thirty five years service in 2008. He has received numerous professional, governmental and civic commendations and letters of appreciation for his work. He continues to promote the dissemination of information throughout the nation by consulting, speaking and instructing investigators, inspectors, licensed professionals and professional associations in an effort to combat unlicensed activity, to increase professionalism and provide proactive continuing education on governmental regulatory issues.  His family has resided in Florida since the 1890’s and he lives in Tallahassee.

Michael T. Maher, RA AICP, Charleston Civic Design Center Michael T. Maher is the founding Director of the Charleston Civic Design Center (CCDC).  He is an award-winning architect and educator who has practiced and taught in Chicago, Houston, Tampa, Milwaukee, Paris, Barcelona, and Charleston, SC. As Director for the CCDC he provides creative leadership for the Center in its mission to promote Charleston’s commitment to progress and innovation in urban design and the civic processes of making the public realm.  As a practicing architect, he has collaborated on several award-winning projects, as well as numerous prize-winning entries in international design competitions. Mr. Maher has been nationally recognized for his teaching excellence, receiving the 2001 ACSA/AIAS New Faculty National Teaching Award and a 1999 AIAS Outstanding Faculty Award.  He has served as an Assistant Professor at Clemson University, where he was elected to the University Faculty Senate and was appointed the first Director of the Clemson Architecture Center-Barcelona. In addition, he has been a Visiting Professor at the Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture (ESA) in Paris and the Escola Tecnica Superior d’Arquitectura (ETSAB) in Barcelona, and has also been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  He currently teaches urban design studios and professional practice courses at the Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston. His professional and academic work has been widely published and exhibited in the United States, and he has lectured on his work and teaching in the U.S. and Europe.  He has also served on design juries around the U.S. and in Europe. Mr. Maher received his Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and his Master of Architecture from Rice University.

Heidi Lincer-Hill, California Contractors State License Board Heidi Lincer-Hill is the Chair of NASCLA’s National Examination Committee and she has been working with NASCLA on its national examination program since 2000.  When she is not working on NASCLA business, Heidi is responsible for the development and validation of California’s 45 contractor licensing examinations.  On an annual basis, the CSLB Testing Division conducts nine occupational analyses, develops five or six new examinations, and schedules over 80,000 computerized examinations in the CSLB’s eight testing facilities across California.  The Examination Development Unit also conducts an ongoing survey to assess consumer satisfaction with the CSLB’s handling of complaints, as well as other research projects requested by the Board.  Prior to working at the CSLB, Heidi worked for four years as a Test Validation and Development Specialist for the California Department of Consumer Affairs’ Office of Examination Resources.  She conducted occupational analysis studies and developed licensing examinations for several boards and bureaus within the state of California.  Heidi received a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Southern California in 1994.

Robert A. Davidson, Davidson, Golden & Lundy Robert Davidson co-founded Davidson, Golden & Lundy in 1987 as an accounting and consulting firm primarily serving the construction industry. Robert’s leadership and 32 years of experience have made Davidson, Golden & Lundy one of the most respected firms in the industry. The firm provides services to more than 350 construction industry entities nationwide. In addition to traditional audit and tax services, Robert regularly consults with clients to provide claims documentation, litigation support, continuity planning, valuations, cash flow management, equipment costing, internal controls, and merger and acquisition services.  Throughout his career, Robert has built a reputation as an exceptional teacher and speaker at construction industry seminars. He recently completed three years of service as the chair of the AICPA National Construction Industry Conference. Robert has been a speaker and instructor for numerous national construction industry organizations, including the Associated General Contractors, the Construction Financial Management Association, the American Road Builders Association, the National Surety Bond Producers Association, and the Design Build Institute of America. Robert co-authored an eight-hour construction accounting and tax seminar that he presents to numerous state societies and construction organizations. He has been the recipient of the Outstanding Discussion Leader Award for the Florida, Virginia, Wyoming and Tennessee CPA Societies. He also has received numerous highest-rated speaker awards at conferences in Ohio, Maryland, Florida, Texas, Colorado, California, Washington, Tennessee, Virginia, Wyoming and Illinois.  Robert is on the editorial board of the Journal of Construction Accounting and Taxation and has been published more than 25 times by various national construction industry magazines. He is also a founding member of the Hard Hat Construction Group, an association of CPA firms that specialize in the construction industry. He is active in several accounting organizations and also has served on committees and/or boards of various construction organizations, including the AGC, CFMA, TRBA, ABC and ARTBA. Robert was appointed by the Governor to four terms on the Tennessee State Board of Accountancy. Robert currently serves as Treasurer for U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper.

Karin Vertefeuille, Accela, Inc. Karin Vertefeuille works for Accela Inc., an enterprise government software provider.  She has over fourteen years experience in state government, formerly a Director of Licensing in Connecticut.  Karin has worked with agencies across the US and worldwide in working to provide technology to increase productivity, create efficiencies and enable transparency and online services to the public.

Vincent L. DiCianni, Affiliated Monitors, Inc. Vincent L. DiCianni has served as the president of Affiliated Monitors, Inc. (AMI) since its inception, in 2004, and has been instrumental in the creation and development of the company. AMI was founded with the goal of creating a company to bridge the gap between regulatory agencies and licensing boards and those who are subject to their oversight.  Mr. DiCianni has made presentations to healthcare licensing boards across the country, insurance company representatives, professional societies, federal, state and local enforcement agencies on the alternative sanctions that are available though AMI’s independent monitoring, compliance/best practices programs, reporting hotlines and educational programs.  Regulatory and other oversight authorities recognize the benefits that independent monitoring and the implementation of compliance programs can have on individuals and businesses. Mr. DiCianni served as Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts before moving into private practice in 1988. He has handled many matters before the licensing boards that provide oversight to regulated practices and industries. He also has extensive civil litigation experience in construction, tort, contract, employment and civil rights law. He was an instructor for 13 years at Anna Maria College, where his course work focused on ethics and standards of conduct. In addition to his law practice, Mr. DiCianni served as an instructor for Anna Maria College for thirteen years (1985-1998).  One area of concentration in his course work focused on ethics and standards of conduct.  During that period of time, he developed a particularly affinity for the understanding, development, analysis, and application of standards of conduct and codes of ethics in various professions.  That knowledge and the experience he brings is well-suited to the application of the monitor and compliance of services provided by Affiliated Monitors, Inc. Throughout his experience, Mr. DiCianni has appeared before licensing boards throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, including the Boards of Registration in Medicine, Chiropractics, Allied Mental Health Professionals, Real Estate Brokers, Cosmetologists, Psychology and others.  In addition, in his construction work, he has represented the Department of Transportation and clients in matters involving pre-qualification requirements, construction disputes, prevailing wage disputes, and other government public construction matters involving the state and municipal governments. AMI was created as the result of the recognition of a need for the private sector to take steps to regulate itself and aid the government in regulating and in insuring compliance with government and internal standards, regulators, and standards of ethical conduct.  The services provided by AMI give professionals and businesses a practical understanding of the complex regulatory requirements they must follow and the ability to incorporate compliance into their daily operations.

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