Chapter Profile - South Florida Chapter #11

ACFE South Florida Chapter Board

Founded in December 1989, the ACFE South Florida Chapter in Miami, FL was one of our first chapters. While leadership has changed throughout the years, finding dedicated board members has never been difficult. Their board consists of thirteen members who stay busy organizing conferences and networking events, organizing membership drives and offering various scholarships.

Over the years, the South Florida Chapter has forged relationships with several universities; they offer scholarships to deserving students at the University of Miami, Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University. In 2019, in addition to offering these local scholarships, they donated $2,500 to the Ritchie Jennings Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Their greatest achievement

The chapter celebrated its 30th anniversary this past January. They co-sponsored an event with more than 350 in attendance. Their incredible lineup of speakers included WorldCom whistleblower, Cynthia Cooper, CFE; Enron whistleblower, Sherron Watkins; ACFE General Counsel, John Warren, J.D., CFE; and more.

A unique training opportunity

They hold an annual summer “Baseball and Ethics” course in the summer at Miami Marlins Ballpark which starts with a 2 CPE Ethics training course in the Florida Marlins press conference room. After the event, participants were able to go onto the field to take pictures and have lunch in a suite. This event is solely for their members, and the chapter subsidizes the cost of attendance to make it affordable.

Many different ways to recruit new members

The chapter tries new tactics to recruit new members. One tactic is personalization; members of their board reach out to ACFE members in the South Florida area with a personal email versus a mass email blast. They provide discounted pricing for events to non-ACFE members in the hope that people see the value of training opportunities afforded to members. Other tactics they use to boost membership are doing a big push on their LinkedIn page to promote the chapter and inviting local law enforcement to their events. The chapter has also tried to include new topics at their events to engage new attendees.

Chapter recognition

They would like to recognize Yoshua Garfinkel, Networking & Events Director, who has been instrumental in bridging the gap between the chapter and local law enforcement. The chapter provides complimentary registrations for up to ten local law enforcement officers that attend their one-day conferences.

Their biggest challenge

South Florida Chapter past presidents, Ivan Garces, CFE and Fernando Cancino.

Since Florida is such a large state, it’s challenging to serve all CFEs spread throughout the state, from Key West up to the panhandle. They are working to improve this, and one major step has been getting the support of the new Palm Beach County Chapter, headed by the South Florida Chapter’s most immediate past president, Alan Blass, CFE.

Future goals

The chapter has several goals they would like to accomplish in 2020. One is to deploy “lunch and learns” in both Broward and Dade County every other month, which will help serve chapter members throughout the region. They are also looking to add a half-day targeted training course to their established calendar of main events so that the chapter members can obtain all 20 CPEs required by CFEs by attending their events. Going forward they want attendees at their larger events to not only feel they coming to see great speakers and earn their CPE but also leave with a memorable experience. Lastly, the chapter will be launching a new website next month.

Advice for other chapters

Since all of the board members are volunteers, organizing events can be very challenging and time-consuming. However, they note that you have to take a step back and realize that all the effort you’re making is for your entire chapter and not just for yourself. Chapter members rely on local chapters to provide the necessary CPEs they need to their credential.

Congratulations to the South Florida Chapter for all of your accomplishments and remaining consistently active throughout the years. Thank you to all the current and past leaders who have dedicated their time serving the local community.