Wesley Speanburg '09

Senior Manager, CFGI

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

Major: Accounting

Any activities/organization you were involved with at Siena: Officer in the Bjorklund Fund during junior and senior Year; Coached AAU basketball for underprivileged youth from downtown Albany during freshman and sophomore year.  

How do you involve yourself in your community? As a member of the Community Service Committee at CFGI, I help schedule community service events locally in Philadelphia for our firm to participate in such as food and toy drives, on-site assistance at a local food pantry over the holidays. 

Describe a typical day in your life. 

As a consultant for CFGI, most of my days are spent assisting clients with complex accounting issues.  These issues can come in the form of writing technical accounting memos off-site or by maintaining extended on-site presence at various clients throughout the Northeast, depending on the engagement.  Travel is to be expected, although I’ve been spoiled lately with an extended engagement in center city Philadelphia. After all of that, I enjoy watching sports, working out (which doesn’t seem to happen as much as it should), and spending time with my girlfriend, Liz, and our adopted 10-year old pup, Benny.  

How did your Siena education prepare you for the work you’re doing today? 

My Siena education prepared me for the work I’m doing today because it stressed the importance of being well-rounded, practicing effective communication, and being able to simplify complex issues.  On a day-to-day basis, it is important in my profession to be able to relate to people in a way that enables me to understand client issues so I can most effectively assist them.  Being unafraid to ask questions until your understanding is achieved is perhaps the most important skill of all.  

Describe your professional progression since leaving Siena.

After graduating from Siena, I enrolled in a two-summer Master of Science in Accounting program at Boston College.  I began my career at KPMG in the Audit practice, where I worked 8.5.  My time at KPMG took me from Loudonville to Boston, back to Albany, and then to Philadelphia where I worked for 2.5 years before starting at CFGI in April 2018.  I am a licensed CPA in New York and Pennsylvania.