Moultrie Accounting Instructor Ann Young has been nominated and confirmed as the Secretary for the Georgia Association of Accounting Educators (GAAE) for 2020 – 2021. After eleven years of devoting her time and energy to being a stay-at-home-mom to her five children, Young made what she calls a deliberate choice when her youngest child was six. “At that time, I enrolled in school, completed my Associates of Accounting, my Bachelors of Accounting, and my Masters of Accounting within 7 years, all while working full-time and raising the children,” she said.  Young spent five years working in public accounting before she transitioned to the classroom. She now has a decade of accounting instruction under her belt, and she credits the GAAE conferences as a boon to her career in higher education.  “These have been the best conference for educators of Accounting that I have attended, including some national conferences,” Young said. “When my peers and I get together to discuss the issues of the Accounting classroom in higher education we learn, grow, and encourage one another in an entirely connected way.”

Founded in 1952, GAAE’s membership is open to accounting instructors at traditional four-year universities, community colleges, and technical colleges, as well as to others who share the Association's objectives. According to its website, the Association seeks to form a close relationship among accounting educators in the various institutions of higher education in Georgia, advance the standards of instruction in those institutions, and form a close relationship with members of the accounting profession.

The post of Secretary is a progressive officer position in which Young will advance annually to Treasurer, Vice-President, and then President. As President, she will be responsible for hosting the annual conference that year. The two-day annual meeting generally includes special plenary speakers who address emerging issues and challenges facing the profession and/or the academy and sessions where participants select from a variety of professional development topics designed to help them strengthen their professional knowledge and teaching skills.  

In addition to her leadership role in GAAE, Young also acts as an advisor for SRTC-Moultrie’s chapter of Phi Beta Lambda, an organization that seeks to inspire and prepare students to become community-minded business leaders in a global society through relevant career preparation and leadership experiences.

Young says that she is honored by the opportunity to serve her peers, “I am looking forward to serving GAAE for the next four years. One of the primary purposes of GAAE is to form close relationships with members of the accounting profession and to grow our institutional accounting programs. Both are missions that are close to my heart.”