Lifetime Achievement Award in Government Finance

Presented to

Abdool S. Akhran, CPA

 The GFOA-WMA recognized Mr. Abdool Akhran, CPA, for over thirty (30) years of dedicated service to Federal, state and local governmental organizations locally as well as throughout the United States.  As a partner with Bert Smith & Co.,  Mr. Akhran has provided high quality financial statement audit, attestation and management consulting services to a wide variety of organizations, including state and local governments, federal regulatory agencies, healthcare entities, not-for-profit organizations, educational institutions, and commercial entities, where he was critical to the continuous improvement of the financial management within these organizations.  Specifically, he served as engagement partner on many high-profile projects on behalf of the District of Columbia Government, including the Medicaid contract with the Department of Health, a performance and procurement review for the D.C. Public School System, as well as the annual financial statement audit of the District’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and the annual Single Audit of the District’s federal award programs, to name only a few. In his addition to his outstanding service to his clients, Mr. Akhran has also been a leader in the accounting profession during the past 30 years as demonstrated by his continuous service to the GFOA-WMA, The Greater Washington Society of CPAs, and the DC Board of Accountancy, serving as the President of The Greater Washington Society of CPAs for 2012-2013, and as the Chair of the DC Board of Accountancy in 2014.  The GFOA-WMA recognized Abdool Akhran with this Lifetime Achievement Award in Government Finance for the important role he has played in helping his governmental clients improve the financial management within their organizations as well as his significant contributions of time and energy to the GFOA-WMA, The Greater Washington Society of CPAs, and the DC Board of Accountancy during the past thirty years.

2013 Unparalleled Leadership Award

Natwar Gandhi

Natwar Gandhi retired in January 2014 from his long tenured position as the District of Columbia's independent Chief Financial Officer (CFO) where he was first appointed by Mayor Anthony Williams on June 7 2000, re-appointed by Mayors Adrian Fenty (2007) and Vincent Gray (2012). In his CFO capacity, he was responsible for Washington, DC's finances, including its approximately $12 billion in annual operating and capital funds.