Chapter Awards Presented in Austin

ACFE President Bruce Dorris presenting the Chapter of the Year Award to Houston Area Chapter President Chrysti Ziegler.

Each year at the ACFE Global Fraud Conference, the ACFE recognizes local chapters that have excelled in their missions with two awards: Chapter of the Year and Chapter Website of the Year. This year’s awards were presented to the Houston Area Chapter and Dallas Area Chapter, respectively.

The 2019 Chapter of the Year was accepted by Chrysti Ziegler, president of the Houston Area Chapter. While the Houston Chapter has continued to be a high-performing and high-contributing chapter of the ACFE, in 2018 they looked at making what was great even better. From new membership initiatives to greater support of future fraud fighters, they proved to their members and the community how impactful the Houston Chapter is.

The Houston Chapter held 19 educational opportunities for a total of 66 CPE hours offered. These events included nine monthly luncheons, a sold-out two day conference, trainings at local universities and more.

ACFE President Bruce Dorris with Houston Area Chapter Leaders Stacy Hypolite, Cindy Dunigan, Chrysti Ziegler, Krystin Mitchell, and Ryan Hubbs

In 2018 alone, the Houston Chapter gave $47,000 to scholarships benefiting the next-generation of fraud fighters. This included $12,000 to the Ritchie-Jennings Memorial Scholarship Fund and $35,000 to several local universities. In addition to providing financial support to local universities, members of the board participated in 18 student chapter meetings to continue communication to new and prospective student chapter members about the ACFE and various fraud topics. They also approved a membership policy to allow students who obtain ACFE membership at their university to be given free membership to the Houston ACFE chapter.

The chapter also spent countless hours volunteering and promoting the ACFE and the chapter. In preparing for International Fraud Awareness Week, they participated in a radio interview and highlighted the ACFE, the chapter, and the credential. They participated in the SecureWorld Cybersecurity Conference in May 2018, where they exhibited and met with many attendees. The Houston Chapter also provided a speaker for the Council for Petroleum Accountants Societies fall meeting where the ACFE and the 2018 Report to the Nations was discussed. This not only introduced the audience to the ACFE and the CFE credential, but also provided valuable information about occupational fraud.

These are only a few of the accomplishments made by the Houston Area Chapter in 2018. If you would like to know more about their accomplishments or use some of their ideas for your chapter, please review their complete nomination form.

ACFE President Bruce Dorris presenting the Chapter Website of the Year Award to Dallas Area Chapter Vice President Chris Mabile.

Chris Mabile, Vice President for the Dallas Area Chapter, accepted the 2019 Chapter Website of the Year award. The Dallas Area Chapter put a lot of effort into its website over the last few years, which began with a unique redesign on the Wild Apricot platform. Over the last year, they made additional improvements to increase communication, add more information about the ACFE, and provide resources for members and their community.

The site is regularly updated with chapter news and new events. They also added a Fraud Resources section to the site, which includes basic fraud education, recent articles, a collection of links and resources, and a directory of local CFEs.

The Dallas Area Chapter made it easy for members to join or renew their chapter membership and register for their events online through their online portal.

Both winners were selected by the Chapter Leaders Committee and chosen from among nominations submitted between January and March of 2019. Congratulations to both winners!

ACFE President Bruce Dorris with Dallas Area Chapter Leaders Scott Ward, Cliff Porter, and Chris Mabile.