Event Calendar

Start Date: 2/11/2026 7:45 AM EST
End Date: 2/11/2026 10:00 AM EST

Venue Name: Westwood Country Club

Location:

Organization Name: HR Alliance DC

Contact:

Join us at the Westwood Country Club for our February Program! 

Networking: 7:45 - 8:15 AM
Arrive early for an opportunity to meet new people!

Program Description: 

Human Resources and Accounting serve very different purposes in an organization. However, the importance of these different functions not just being able to coexist, but being fully aligned, is more important than ever. In this panel conversation, moderator Sam McCarthy will be joined by Nicole Peace (Chief People Officer) and Kellie Goldstein (Chief Financial Officer) to discuss how these two functions can work together effectively and create beneficial outcomes for both the financial health of the business and the people working in that business. Plus, you’ll hear from Nicole and Kellie about the often-discussed CFO-CHRO reporting structure, HR having a “seat at the table”, workplace culture as a financial strategy, and much more.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain practical knowledge on the evolving relationship between CFO’s and CHRO’s/CPO’s
• Understand how HR leaders can build their business acumen, gain credibility, and evolve the function from being purely compliance-driven
• Gain an understanding from an experienced CFO on the mindset on how to collaborate with HR in a cross-functional way

Panelists: 

• Kellie Goldstein - CFO, CIBT 
• Nicole Peace - CPO, Applied Information Sciences (AIS)

Moderator: Sam McCarthy, HR Executive Search Director, Cordia Resources by Cherry Bekaert

Kellie Goldstein - As CIBT’s Chief Financial Officer, Kellie brings more than 25 years of experience in strategic executive roles, driving profitable growth in large, complex global organizations. Prior to CIBT, Kellie was the CFO for WorldStrides, a leading educational travel company, guiding the business through the pandemic to recovery and growth. Additionally, Kellie was the CFO for Travel Channel, the world’s leading travel media brand, driving the business to the highest levels of ratings, audience quality, and time spent viewing.

Before that, over a 13-year career at Thomson Reuters, a global leader in business information services, her roles included CFO for Emerging Markets (based in New York City) and CFO for Asia (based in Hong Kong), driving the highest-growing strategic divisions covering 80 and 19 countries, respectively, as well as Global Controller for the $7B financial markets division.

Kellie is a CPA and was Adjunct Faculty of Accounting at the University of Virginia. She is a graduate of the George Mason University School of Management, with a MS in Accounting, and of Virginia Tech, with a BS in Finance. She has also completed Dartmouth’s Executive Education – Strategic Financial Leadership program.

Nicole Peace is an HR executive with a passion for people-focused business strategy. She is committed to supporting business scalability and driving operational effectiveness by aligning people operations with broader organizational goals.
In her current role as Chief People Officer at AIS, Nicole oversees all aspects of human resources, shaping and guiding a comprehensive talent management strategy that supports the company’s growth.

Before joining AIS, Nicole served as Vice President of Human Resources at Metis Solutions where she helped scale the HR function as the company transitioned from a small to mid-sized business, playing a key role in positioning the company for a successful acquisition.

Nicole holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Miami. She resides in Old Town Alexandria with her husband, two children, and two Maine Coon cats.

Moderator:

Sam McCarthy is a Director of Recruiting & Staffing Services for Cordia Resources by Cherry Bekaert. As an HR Executive Search Director for Cordia Resources by Cherry Bekaert, Sam leads the HR Search practice for the Firm. His focus is on developing new business while managing client accounts and placing qualified candidates within the Washington, DC metro area and across the Southeast. 

Sam is people-focused and passionate about networking within the HR community. He uses a consultative approach to work with both candidates and clients throughout the search process. As host of the podcast Talkin' Talent with Cordia's Sam McCarthy, Sam shares stories and insights from the HR and talent community, including how to get into the field, career moves and growth at all levels, personal and professional challenges, and recruiting trends. 
Prior to joining the Firm, Sam held operational roles with a strong focus on recruiting, people management and development.

Sam holds an MBA from Elmhurst College and has a BA in Managerial Economics from Allegheny College.

Professional Development:
This program has been pre-approved for 1.5 Business recertification credit hours toward aPHR®, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®).



HR Alliance DC is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities. This program is valid for 1.50 PDCs for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. For more information about certification or recertification, please visit shrmcertification.org.



Pricing for this Program:

• Members:
  • Individual and Organizational Members - Free; Guests - $50
  • Annual Sponsors - Free; Guests - $50
• Org. Member Substitutes - Free (promo code must be entered)
• Public (Non-Member)
  • HR Practitioners: $75
  • Service Providers/Vendors: $125