Independent director candidate·CPA·St. Louis, Missouri

Alicia
Brockland-TakeCPA

President & Principal, Assurance Services — Conner Ash P.C.

Boards don’t need another opinion in the room. They need the person who reads the footnotes, asks the question nobody wants asked, and stays until the numbers tie. She has done it for twenty-four years — and chaired a board while doing it.

Board inquiries

Tie-out — every figure agrees to a source

  • 24years in audit & assuranceconnerash.com
  • 13years a trustee — chair 2020–22Nat’l MS Society
  • 6board seats — 3 currentboard record
  • 3rdoverall, 50-mile ultramarathonrace results

Board biography

Twenty-four years inside the businesses with the thickest rulebooks.

Alicia Brockland-Take, CPA, is President and Principal, Assurance Services, at Conner Ash P.C., a St. Louis certified public accounting firm and member of BKR International, a global association of independent accounting and advisory firms. She leads the firm’s audit and assurance practice and serves on the board of BKR International.

Alicia Brockland-Take, CPA

Over 24 years in public accounting, Alicia has provided audit, assurance, and tax services to insurance pools and captives, closely held businesses, trade association affiliates, not-for-profit organizations, and governmental entities. Her work centers on the questions boards are accountable for: whether financial reporting can be relied upon, whether internal controls are designed and operating effectively, whether fraud risk is being managed, and whether the organization is in compliance with state and federal regulation. She has helped clients establish accounting control procedures, strengthen the financial reporting process, and evaluate tax considerations in regulated, complex environments.

Alicia brings 23 years of governance experience. She has served on the Board of Trustees of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Gateway Chapter, since 2013, including terms as Vice Chair (2018–2020) and Chair (2020–2022). She currently serves on the boards of BKR International and the St. Louis Forum. Prior board and committee service includes St. Martha’s Hall, the Girls on the Run young professionals board, the St. Charles Community College Foundation, and United Way’s allocations and community investment panels.

She holds a B.S. in Accounting from Saint Louis University and is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, the Missouri Society of CPAs, the Self-Insurance Institute of America, the Missouri Captive Insurance Association, and the Missouri Trucking Association. An accomplished endurance athlete, she has completed numerous marathons and ultramarathons, including a 50-mile race in which she placed third overall.

Alicia is available for independent director and trustee appointments, with particular fit for audit, finance, risk, and governance committees.

Alicia Brockland-Take presenting financial results to a board
The boardroomTwenty-four years of telling boards what the numbers actually say.

Director skills matrix

Every competency, with its evidence.

CompetencyEvidenceCommittee relevance
Financial expertise & reportingCertified Public Accountant. Twenty-four years of audit and assurance. Meets the profile of an audit committee financial expert.Audit · Finance
Audit & assuranceLeads the assurance practice at Conner Ash P.C. as President & Principal.Audit
Risk management & internal controlsDesigns, tests, and remediates control environments. Fraud prevention and detection.Audit · Risk
Regulatory & complianceState and federal compliance for insurance pools, governmental entities, and regulated operators.Audit · Risk · Governance
TaxEvaluates tax considerations for closely held businesses and not-for-profit organizations.Finance
Insurance, captives & self-insuranceInsurance pools and captive programs. Member, Self-Insurance Institute of America and Missouri Captive Insurance Association.Audit · Risk
Transportation & logisticsTrucking and transportation clients. Member, Missouri Trucking Association.Audit · Finance
Not-for-profit governanceTwenty-three years of board and committee service across health, human services, education, and philanthropy.Governance
Board leadershipChair and Vice Chair, National MS Society, Gateway Chapter. Boards of BKR International and the St. Louis Forum.Governance · Executive
Executive leadershipPresident of a St. Louis CPA firm; leads its assurance practice.Executive · Governance

Board & committee service

Governed since 2003. Chaired through 2020–2022.

TermRoleOrganization
Current Board MemberWorldwide Board · Americas Regional Board since 2021 BKR InternationalGlobal association of independent accounting and advisory firms
Current Board Member St. Louis ForumThe region’s organization of influential women leaders
2013 – now Board of TrusteesChair 2020 – 2022 · Vice Chair 2018 – 2020 National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyGateway Chapter
2016 – 2018 Board Member St. Martha’s Hall
2010 – 2012 Young Professionals Board Girls on the Run
2007 – 2008 Sub-Panel Co-ChairAllocations Panel United Way
2004 – 2007 Board Member St. Charles Community College Foundation
2003 – 2007 Panel RepresentativeCommunity Investment Committee United Way

F Footed: 23 years of governance service since 2003.

CF Cross-footed: 6 boards · 2 United Way panels · 1 chair · 1 vice chair · 3 seats current.

Alicia Brockland-Take walking a trucking terminal yard with a client
The fieldInsurance pools, trucking fleets, governmental entities — the clients with the thickest rulebooks, audited on site.

Board fit

Built for the boards that can’t afford a rubber stamp.

  • Insurance carriers, captives & risk pools

    Pools, captives, and self-insured programs are where she has logged the most audit hours. Member, Self-Insurance Institute of America and the Missouri Captive Insurance Association.

  • Trucking, logistics & transportation

    Regulated fleets, thin margins, heavy assets, and the accounting that goes with them. Member, Missouri Trucking Association.

  • Not-for-profits, foundations & associations

    Trade association affiliates, human-services organizations, and the boards that govern them — including the one she chaired.

  • Closely held & family businesses

    Owners preparing for a transition, a sale, or their first outside director. She has built the control environment these companies grow into.

  • Public & quasi-governmental entities

    Governmental audits and state and federal compliance work, where the reporting is public and the tolerance for surprises is zero.

Audit, finance, risk, and nominating & governance committees. Chair or member. Corporate, mutual, captive, and not-for-profit boards.

Beyond the boardroom

The fifty-mile résumé.

Many full marathons. Several ultramarathons. One 50-mile race where she finished third — overall, not third woman.

Board service is an endurance event: three-year strategies, restructurings that outlast the people who started them, the audit committee meeting that hits hour four. She has been training for that her whole adult life, and she does not fade in the back half.

26.2 · MARATHON 50 MI · 3RD OVERALL 0 10 20 30 40 50

Credentials & affiliations

  • Certified Public Accountant
  • Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants
  • American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
  • Self-Insurance Institute of America (SIIA)
  • Missouri Captive Insurance Association
  • Missouri Trucking Association

Education & practice areas

  • B.S. Accounting — Saint Louis University
  • Audit & assurance services
  • Fraud prevention & detection
  • Internal controls
  • Management assistance
  • Financial reporting & regulatory compliance
Alicia Brockland-Take speaking from a podium
Board leadershipChaired a board through 2020–2022. Currently seated on three.

Board inquiries

For nominating and governance committees, board chairs, and search partners.

Available for independent director and trustee appointments. Reach her directly.

314-317-6502