Chapter Leader Profile: Pavla Hladka, CFE
/President, Czech Republic Chapter #149
Pavla Hladka, CFE
The co-founder of the Czech Republic Chapter and president since September 2012, Pavla Hladka, CFE, is a leader both in the chapter and the anti-fraud community.
Her journey as a professional includes not just the CFE credential, but also master’s degrees in business and law and several certifications. The combination of her educational achievements and practical work experience has led her to manage forensic engagements as a Senior Manager for EY across Europe including Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, the UK, Ukraine, Croatia, Slovenia and Romania.
Hladka has seen first-hand that fraud knows no boundaries or borders.
What are the benefits of serving as a chapter leader?
First of all, it is an opportunity to meet various people with wide experience in fraud prevention, detection and investigation. It is also a chance to convince firms that fighting fraud is worth it: that it can bring savings, improve the firm´s culture, and change the attitude of employees towards the firm´s values and management itself. These might be the first steps to create a less corrupt environment.
What goals would you like to help the chapter accomplish during your time on the board?
The main goals of our chapter set up are inform, support and unite.
We try to promote our chapter and its activities, increase the number of members and arrange interesting workshops and anti-fraud trainings from various industries and sectors to educate our members. We also work to promote the fraud prevention community in the Czech Republic and facilitate sharing experiences, fraud-related knowledge and best practices.
We arrange events with the aim of helping anti-fraud professionals from various fields and specialization -- internal auditors, forensic auditors, police investigators, compliance advisors and officers, prosecuting attorneys, consultants, security managers, private investigators, etc. -- to meet and share their experience and knowledge with others. Our goal is for professionals to fight fraud together and contribute to reduction of fraud in the society.
Do you have any advice for other chapter leaders?
It is very important to have a good team of chapter officers who are interested and experienced in fraud prevention and detection, and who are willing to help others grow and become anti-fraud professionals.
I found it useful to create a chapter website at the beginning to inform our members about our planned activities and show the public that our chapter exists and what the ACFE can offer them. Based on our website´s content and announcements we received many questions about the ACFE, the CFE credential and requests for membership.
What do you like to do for fun in your spare time?
I have always enjoyed traveling, and I try to spend my holidays in lesser-known destinations. It is a real adventure to get to know inhabitants of a new country, their culture and history, habits, current situation and speak to them in person.
Hladka enjoying a trip to South America.
South America.
Italy.
