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Diane Medley, CPA, ABVPrincipal & Managing Member |
Active in public accounting since 1981, Diane Medley founded Waterfront Financial Group in 2024 as a concierge tax and financial planning firm. She previously co-founded Chilton & Medley in 1988 and Mountjoy Chilton Medley LLP (MCM) in 2010. She led MCM through several mergers and acquisitions, making MCM the largest CPA firm in the region with approximately 350 employees across five locations, including offices in Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky; Indianapolis and Jeffersonville, Ind., and Cincinnati, Ohio. As the former Managing Partner and Co-Founder, she was the first woman in the region to have this leadership position within a major firm, and one of only a few in the U.S. Top 100. Effective August 7, 2023, MCM was acquired by Cherry Bekaert LLP, a top 25 Firm in the US with offices throughout the southeastern United States. Diane’s other distinctions include induction into the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame, 2017; the Today’s Woman Most Admired Woman Award, 2016; The UofL Entrepreneurship Circle of Fame Award, 2016; Alumna Fellow of the Year of the University of Louisville, 2015; Women Leading Kentucky, Martha Layne Collins Award, 2015; Business First’s Enterprising Woman of Achievement Award, 2014; NAWBO’s Business Owner of the Year Award for Large Businesses, 2014; Tower Award for Business, 2009; Business First Who’s Who in Finance and Accounting, 1995; Outstanding CPA, 1987 and Outstanding Alumnus, 1993 Award from University of Louisville Beta Alpha Psi Accounting Fraternity; Kentucky Society of CPAs Award for Highest Grades on May 1981 CPA Exam; Elijah Watt Sells Award for National High Distinction on May 1981 Exam. Diane currently serves as Chair and a Board Member of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees; Board Member of Brinly Hardy Inc, a multi-generational family owned business; Board Member of German American Bancorp; President of IWF-KY; former Board Chair of Greater Louisville Inc.; Past Chair of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce; former Board Chair of One Southern Indiana; Former Board Chair of the University of Louisville Foundation; former Board Member of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of Impetus, the KY Society of CPAs and the AICPA. She is an alumna of the Leadership Louisville Class of 2008 and the Leadership KY Class of 2015. After graduating from Meade County High School, Diane attended the University of Louisville and graduated with a B.S. in Commerce with Highest Honors. She was the class Valedictorian of the School of Business and Outstanding Senior in Accounting. She is married with a combined family of six children and eleven grandchildren. |
