PHOENIX — Native financial executive Hattie Mitchell has been appointed to a two-year term on the Government Accounting Standard Advisory Council (GASAC).
Mitchell, a member and former treasurer of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, is a senior manager and tribal consultant at the Phoenix office of advisory and CPA firm REDW, LLC, which works with more than 200 tribal governments across the nation.
The GASAC consults with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) on technical issues on the Board’s agenda, project priorities, matters likely to require the attention of the GASB, selection and organization of task forces, and other matters requested by the GASB or its chair. The GASAC has more than 25 members representative of preparers, attestors, and users of financial information.
“I thank the Native American Finance Officers Association, who nominated me for this national role, as well as REDW for its support of and commitment to excellence, innovation, and the highest level of ethics as it relates to the accounting profession,” Mitchell said in a statement. “I look forward to working with my fellow committee members as we support the Governmental Accounting Standards Board in establishing and improving financial accounting and reporting standards, providing useful information to investors and other users of financial reports, and educating stakeholders on how to understand and implement those standards most effectively.”
In addition to her GASAC appointment, Mitchell serves on the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Tribal Finance and Accounting Advisory Board, which works to enhance the financial acumen of tribal leaders and tribal employees through virtual and in-person certification programs and conferences. Its Introductory Tribal Finance and Accounting Certificate program won the prestigious 2021 Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA) Education Program of the Year award.
“We are tremendously proud of Hattie, a transformational leader who lives REDW’s purpose to make meaningful contributions in the lives of our clients, our communities, and each other every single day,” Steve Cogan, REDW Managing Principal, said in a statement. “She will be an asset and contributor to the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council, as she has been since day one at REDW.”
Mitchell was elected Tribal Treasurer of Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation from 2012 to 2016 and currently serves as the Treasurer for the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA), and Treasurer for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Entertainment Corporation.
She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Accounting and Finance from Washburn University and was recognized by The Washburn Alumni Association as the “Graduate of the Last Decade.”
Mitchell also studied International Politics at Cambridge University in Cambridge, England, Spanish Communication at Cantabria University in Santander, Spain, and both studied and applied case-study method emphasis to make business decisions about real businesses at Harvard Business School’s Summer Venture in Management Program.
