Meet the Admin & Finance Team - The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California

Our Administration and Finance department at the Office of the Bishop is made up of three staff members and two part-time Accounting Professionals from Utonomy, a regional Accounting Firm specializing in non-profits.  One of the ways that the Office of the Bishop has been able to reduce the cost of running our office, is to contract with Utonomy for their expert financial services. We receive exactly the amount of accounting staff time that we need (about 40 hours), at the level of expertise we need.

Lisa Bruno is our Director of Finance and Administration.  She graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, majoring in Accounting. As a CPA with over 20 years of professional experience at a regional public accounting firm, she now directs the financial and administrative activities of the Diocese.  You should contact Lisa (lisa@norcalepiscopal.org or 916.442.6918 ext. 211) about:

-Property Questions
-Audit Questions
-Applying for a Loan (for E&MT loans you should review this section of the website before contacting Lisa)
-Questions relating to the Board of Directors or Diocesan Council and Finances
-Budget Questions

Nicole Baxley is the Communications Director and Benefits Coordinator for the Office of the Bishop, and a staff member in the Admin and Finance Department. Nicole began with the Office of the Bishop in October 2012 as the Office Manager & News Editor. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, a Master’s degree in Communication Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Technical Writing and Professional Communication from Kansas State University. Additionally, she has experience in the field of non-profit communication, and has served in numerous leadership positions in both parish and diocesan levels in several dioceses. In addition to serving as the Communication Director, Nicole works as the Benefits Coordinator for the diocese and works directly with the accounting department. She also facilitates communications for the Administration & Finance department. You should contact Nicole (nicole@norcalepiscopal.org or 916.442.6918 ext. 215) about:

- Insurance or Benefits
- Illness & Injury Prevention (our Safety Program)
- Wellness
- Event Registration
- News Article Submissions

Cassie Bangerter is the Vice President of Utonomy and has been our Controller for the past four years.  She started in public accounting, and her experience extends to various industries, with a specialty in financial services and non-profit accounting.  Because of the high level of Cassie's duties, she is very part-time and her schedule is flexible.  You should contact Cassie (cassie@norcalepiscopal.org or 916.442.6918 ext. 220) about:

- Financial management questions related to the diocese at a corporate level
- Anything that someone else on the Admin & Finance team refers you to her about

Stephanie Moulton is an Accountant for Utonomy  She has an accounting degree and has been working in the accounting department here in the Office of the Bishop since April of 2008.  She is working to obtain her CPA license.  She is generally in the office Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays.  You should contact Stephanie (stephanie@norcalepiscopal.org or 916.442.6918 ext. 218) about:

 -Endowment questions
- Loans
- Program budget questions
- General accounting questions

Tamoya Brewster is the Office Coordinator at the Office of the Bishop. She is currently striving for a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Economics at California State University, Sacramento. She is in the office Monday through Friday from 9am - 4. You should contact Tamoya (tamoya@norcalepiscopal.org or 916.442.6918 ext. 229) about:

- Status of TMR receipts
- Diocesan calendar scheduling
- Teleconferences
- Church Officer questions
-Parochial Report questions

Utonomy
Utonomy specializes in small business accounting.  Their staff is integrated into the team or staff of each organization they work for.  They work in many different non-profit environments, but because they are permanent employees, they quickly learn to understand the specific quirks of individual organizations.  They offer financial expertise from basic bookkeeping all the way up to the CFO level.  Ordinarily, it is hard to interest high level accountants in employment of only a few hours a week.  Because these employees are actually employed by Utonomy, small businesses (like our churches) can hire an experienced bookkeeper or accountant for their true level of need. 

In addition to our diocese, the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, St. Micheal's Episcopal Church in Carmichael, and St. Michael's Episcopal Day School contract with Utonomy.  For information about how your church might benefit from a relationship with Utonomy, call 530.878.3988 or e-mail michael@utonomy.com.  You can also visit their website: www.utonomy.com.