Board of Directors

2024 Board of Directors

Holly Whiteside, EA, President

Holly has been a tax preparer since the 1980’s first working for H&R Block and then later at Jackson Hewitt managing one of their offices in Maryland. She decided in 2011 to open her own office in order to have more flexibility with her schedule. She became an Enrolled Agent in 2015. Holly has been a member of NATP since 2012 and joined the NAEA in 2015. Holly has a BS in Human Resources Management. Her full-time job is supervising a program that works with children who have developmental delays. Holly has two daughters and 3 granddaughters who are the lights of her life.

Troy M. Clawson, Vice President

Troy has a B.S. in Forensic Accounting, cum laude, from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. He is the owner of his tax and accounting business, The TMC Tax Experience, LLC since its inception in 2011 and has grown from 50 returns per year to 400 as well as picking up payroll clients to keep the lights on all year around. Troy also serves his community on Youngsville Borough Council as well as many other civic and community organizations. Troy is very passionate about local politics and local small businesses due to their huge impact on the community. Troy has a very wonderful wife, Wendy, who is a Medical Laboratory Scientist at Warren General Hospital and also a CPR and EMT instructor. They both enjoy gardening, traveling and cooking.

Susan Bure, AFSP, Treasurer

Susan Ellen Bure has been a member of NATP since 2011 and a PA-NATP board member since 2014. She has held the position of chair-person of the nominating committee, Newsletter Editor and has worked on several other committees and is currently the Treasurer of PA Chapter of NATP. She graduated in 1969 from Kittanning Senior High School in the top 1/3 of her class with a concentration in business. In 1993, she graduated, magna cum laude, from Butler Community College, with an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Accounting and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa and was on the President’s Achievement List. Sue has owned and operated her accounting and tax firm, Accounting by Sue, for over thirty years and has worked for various businesses as a controller, accounting assistant, accounts payable clerk and financial coordinator.

Joyce Jones, EA, Secretary

Joyce has been a member of NATP since 1994, specializing in Schedule F returns. She has been raising White Galloway cattle for 21 years. She is an avid volunteer in her community. Joyce and has been Secretary/Treasurer for the American Galloway Breeders’ Association for 18 years and has been involved in 4-H for over 17 years.

Patti Blum

Patti received her degree in Accounting from Clarion State University. She worked in various accounting departments of local industries and in 1979 she began working for International Petroleum Service Company, an affiliate of UGI Corporation. She began working in the tax industry in 1985 serving as Manager & Educational Director for a major tax franchise chain for 10 years. Patti specializes in self-employed returns for the Logging, Oil and Gas, and Trucking industries. She also instructs small businesses in record keeping and bookkeeping practices. Patti joined the PA-NATP Board of Directors in October 2001. She served many roles including Membership Chairman, 2^nd Vice President, 1^st Vice President and also President. In 2010 she completed her Certificate as an instructor and was awarded the PA-NATP Award of Excellence. Over the years Patti has been a dedicated volunteer serving 7 years as PTA President, Civic Association Secretary, and serving over 15 years as Chairman of the Local Boy Scouts of America Troop. She is also a very active member of the Sheffield United Methodist Church Council where she currently serves as the Finance Chairperson.

Charles Evans Jr.

Chuck graduated from Pennsylvania Military College and Lancaster Theological Seminary. He served 30 years in the United Methodist Church dealing with personal and religious taxation. Chuck took an early retirement and became a Block Office manager for 10 years before opening his own office, which he has done for the past 7 years. Chuck has volunteered on the board of PA-NATP for 8 years, gaining many insights from the state and national conventions, along with many local workshops and the committee for the Working Together With the IRS, in Pennsylvania.

Mary Lynn Lemmon, AFSP

Mary Lynn Lemmon, AFSP, is the owner of Lemmon Notary & Tax Services in Marchand, PA. Mary Lynn grew up in a small town outside of Wilkes Barre/Scranton area of northeast PA moving to western PA. She is married to Douglas Lemmon, my rock and favorite client a self-employed HVAC contractor. She has 3 daughters and 4 grandsons who look forward to the end of tax season to spend time with them. She loves spending time with friends around a camp fire on weekends at their summer home in Clarion, PA. Other hobbies consist of cooking, preparing their homemade kielbasa, sausage and bacon and canning from their very large vegetable gardens. Mary Lynn started her tax profession working with H & R Block and going out on her own in 2012. Recently moving to her new location due to the expanding demand of her services in Individual, Business, Rental, Farm & Self-Employed Tax Returns, Payroll/Bookkeeping. Mary Lynn is Sec/treasurer for the Jeffferson County Tax Collection Committee formed due to Act 32 which is a law that streamlines and standardizes the local earned income tax system. Act 32 reduces Pennsylvania’s number of Earned Income Tax (EIT) collectors from 560 to 21. Mary Lynn is also a commissioned Pennsylvania Notary Public (1997) & Full Agent (2012) with Penndot offering online service for Title transfers & registrations. She has 2 part time employees who are equally trained in tax preparation and are commissioned Notary Public.

David Luczak, EA

David Luczak’s background includes 25+ years in management consulting and finance with several Fortune 500 companies. He was active in various finance industry organizations and community groups (Boy Scouts of America) and has received numerous awards for his contributions to the finance industry and his community involvement. He is the author of several articles in finance industry trade journals. As a Board Member of the PA. Association of Mortgage Brokers for 7 years, he founded a conference in Western Pa. aimed at providing continuing education to members of the Mortgage Industry and served as State Ethics Chair and as a CE instructor. He was a member of the delegation providing input to the US Senate Finance Committee in their development of the SAFE Act to regulate mortgage brokers. His efforts received an award from then PA. Senator Rick Santorum (a member of the Senate Finance Committee). He co-founded the Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) Anti-Predatory Lending Task Force to highlight illegal mortgage practices by lenders and brokers. He worked for 15 years seasonally with a local accounting firm before joining the IRS. He founded he own firm, Pallas Associates. He is an Enrolled Agent and NTPI Fellow. The firm serves a wide variety of clients and has a niche in Representation and international taxation of US ex-pat’s and foreign nationals with US income. On a personal note, he is married with 5 grown children and two grandchildren.

Rebecca (Becky) Naylor

I received an AAS in Accounting from Olean Business Institute in 1997 and it was gratifying to have earned my Enrolled Agent status in September of 2022,

I enjoy dealing with numbers and I have worked in different positions over my career including an accounting position in a sawmill and a textile business. Currently, I am working in a small tax and accounting firm thus giving me more experience in the accounting field.

Of the vocations I am involved with is driving a school bus and an instructor for the Department of Aging, Treasurer of Allegheny Mountain Engine and Implement Association, an operator of a small farm, and various activities at my Church.

I have been happily married for 10 years and the proud mother of four wonderful children, ages 7 through 23.

Vickie Ziegler

I have been doing payroll since 1986 and have been preparing tax returns since 1991. I have had my own business for over 29 years.

I am married and have 1 son, 1 stepson and 3 grandchildren.
My hobbies consist of sewing, beading, hunting, fishing, and competitive target shooting.

Helen O’Planick

I think I was born to do taxes. I started my tax career at the age of six, when I was allowed to run adding machine tapes for my mother, who helped friends with their returns. I was writing returns when I was eight.

I worked with the VITA program in Kingman, AZ in 1984, becoming an honorary senior citizen at the age of 25. The next year, my family moved back to PA and I started working with H&R Block for seven years starting in 1985. In 1994, my office manager and I took the leap and started HELJAN Associates in Manchester PA.

I became an Enrolled Agent on June 30, 1994 and have never looked back. During the years of Prodigy and the early AOL years, I ran the Tax Channel on these mediums for NAEA. After NAEA left this arena, I managed the tax bulletin boards for AOL for over 4 years until they changed their focus to more blogging. My team and I would answer at least 10,000 tax questions during season and of course, we continued to answer them off season.

In 1996, along with Denise Brandt as my co-panelist, I filmed the last Taxbreak program for the IRS. This was shown on all PBS stations to help taxpayers prepare their own taxes. In 1999 to 2001 I was a founding member of ETAAC (Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee) at the IRS. This afforded me many opportunities to work with tax professionals as we molded the efile process. This also led to the Efile Road Show in PA. Between the IRS, State tax officials and myself, we “toured” the entire commonwealth for years giving educational seminars on efiling.

I am a former board member for the PA Society of Enrolled Agents and served as President from 2001 to 2003. I have taught at many EA conferences, both at the state and national level, including a level one instructor for NTPI. I became a fellow of NTPI in July 2001.

I started speaking for NATP as a professional speaker around 2010 and after 9 years of travel, I felt it was time to start to settle down in my life. I still speak for various state societies as requested.

My husband Jim and I have two beautiful children and two lovely grandsons. When I am not lucky enough to see the “boys”, Jim and I enjoy traveling for fun. I also am an expert jelly/jam maker and enjoy gardening. I love to see the fruits of my labors whether they are a vase of roses on the table or a dozen jars full of something I grew and canned.

Shawn L Bernheisel

Shawn was born and raised in Carlisle, PA and graduated from Carlisle High School in 2004. In 2008, Shawn graduated from Syracuse University’s Martin J Whitman School of Management with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. In 2009, he earned his Master of Science in Accounting from the same university. Upon graduating, Shawn worked for one year as a tax preparer at a firm in Syracuse, NY. In 2010, Shawn began working in a corporate accounting department at the headquarters of a large multi-national company in Harrisburg, PA. Shawn started his career at Cohick & Associates during the summer of 2015 and continues to work there. Upon starting at Cohick & Associates, he began studying for the Special Enrollment Examination (SEE). After completing the final portion of the SEE, Shawn became an Enrolled Agent in the spring of 2016. At Cohick & Associates, Shawn specializes in tax and accounting services for partnerships, corporations, non-profits, and individuals. Shawn is a member of the National Association of Tax Preparers and the Carlisle Area Chamber of Commerce. Outside of Cohick & Associates, Shawn is actively involved in the Carlisle Young Professionals where he serves as a board member. Shawn also serves as a board member for Project Share (Treasurer), the Syracuse Chapter of Delta Chi Alumni, Carlisle Lacrosse, and the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Association of Tax Preparers (NATP). When Shawn is not busy, he enjoys rooting for Syracuse sports, spending time outside, and playing volleyball.

Brad D. Messner

Brad Messner is a third-generation owner of M & J Tax Service located just outside of Pittsburgh, PA. He is the ﬁrm’s ﬁrst Enrolled Agent and has 25 years of experience specializing in research credits, farming, commercial beverage (wineries, distilleries, and breweries), tech/startups, and corporate tax preparation as well as an in-depth understanding of data security, due diligence, and entity selection. Obtaining complimentary bachelor’s degrees in information systems and business management with a concentration in accounting from the University of Pittsburgh coupled with an MBA with a focus in information systems from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Brad has a robust background in accounting, ﬁnancial systems, and information systems.

Upon the passing of his father in 2009, Brad stepped up to the role of Vice President at M & J Tax Service where he works diligently with their staﬀ providing tax preparation, tax planning, bookkeeping, and payroll services to a client base of several thousand clients across 30+ states and over 8 countries. Bringing representation services into the ﬁrm shortly after becoming an Enrolled Agent, M & J Tax Service has assisted clients in resolving tax situations totaling greater than $1 million.

Brad also has over 20 years of experience developing security solutions for small and large global organizations and was recently awarded one of only ﬁve NSA NCAE-C scholarships from the Department of Defense for his PhD dissertation work on the security of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and ﬁnancial systems. He also serves as a professor at the University of Pittsburgh with a focus on cybersecurity and information systems, teaching courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Brad is a nationally sought-after speaker on tax topics, blockchain, ethics, and cybersecurity, ﬁnding a balance between operational eﬃciencies and ensuring information integrity. His extensive work in data breach mitigation and recovery has awarded him the label as an industry expert in the security of accounting ﬁnance systems.

Brad is the 2023 Tax Professional of the Year, awarded by the National Association of Tax Professionals. He was nominated, voted on, and selected out of a membership of over 24,000 individuals for his dedication to ongoing education, outreach to new and younger members, and focus on trying to increase the overall eﬀectiveness of tax professionals.