The Executive Board of Integra International is pleased to announce the appointment of Maria N. Nazario as its first CEO.
Maria was born in Cuba and is a US naturalized citizen having lived in the Pasadena, CA area since 1970. She is fluent in Spanish and English.
She attended California State University, Los Angeles and earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a minor in Finance. She is a Certified Association Executive (CAE), awarded by the American Society of Association Executives in 2003.
Ms. Nazario is a member of the American Society of Association Executives and the California Society of Association Executives.
Prior to accepting the appointment with Integra, Ms. Nazario was Strategic Relations Director with the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, a 40,000 member professional accounting association and the largest in the country. During her 20 years with CalCPA she was responsible for large firm membership growth and services, business development, governance, strategic planning, articles of incorporation and bylaws, print media advertising, division finances, and grassroots political advocacy. Ms Nazario is co-editor of The Witness Chair, an expert witness/forensic accounting publication for CPAs, attorneys and judges. She spearheaded the Society's Women's Initiative and Annual Conference to support the growth of women in accounting.
Prior to CalCPA, Maria was the Manager for the American Red Cross in Pasadena from 1987-1995 where she was recognized twice by being awarded the Manager's Award for Employee Excellence and the Golden Bear Exceptional Services Award for Inclusiveness.
When asked what excited her about accepting the new job with Integra Maria says "I am really looking forward to the opportunity to work with respected accounting firms around the world and experience that diversity."
Ms. Nazario is very involved in community and civic work and has contributed to the community while honing her leadership skills. She served on the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council from 2010-2013, an advisory group to the City of Los Angeles Council and has been involved with the American Red Cross (ARC) as a volunteer since 1987. She has been a member of the National Disaster Services Human Resources system since 1989 and has served on many national and local disaster operations as an operations director. She is a past member of the Advisory Board of Career Encores, founding member of Latinos for Economic Awareness and Development, and a mentor in Puente Project for High School students.
Maria says her first order of business is "I want to call and visit as many firms as possible, as soon as possible, to see how Integra can help them benefit from their membership in the association. I will strive to make sure that we have a good governance system and that the content at the conferences is relevant and that they are successful."
Maria sums things up by saying "I am very excited to be joining Integra International at this stage in their development and look forward to moving the association forward.
(Source: Integra International, 20 January 2015)