Past Presidents

Alfredo Cepero Past President, 2002-2004 Audit Partner, BDO Seidman LLP

Alfredo Cepero is an Audit Partner with BDO Seidman, LLP (BDO) in Miami. His responsibilities include assisting clients in a variet of industries with their accounting, auditing, tax and business needs. Alfredo is also responsible for practice development initiatives for the Miami office. In addition, he oversees the development of the Miami office's professional staff and is also responsible for university recruiting.

Alfredo currently serves as the Immediate Past National President of ALPFA. He served as National President of ALPFA from 2005-2008. Previous to this, Alfredo was the first ALPFA Miami Chapter President from 2002-2004 and served on the ALPFA National Board as a Director at Large of the South Region from 2002-2004. He is also a member of the American Institute of CPA's, the Cuban-American CPA Association, as well as Past President of the Downtown Miami Chapter of the Florida Institute of CPA's. He is Chair-Elect of the Florida International University (FIU) College of Business Administration Alumni Circle and was awarded a Lifetime Member Award by the Florida International University Accounting Association in 2003.

Alfredo earned his Bachelor of Accounting from Florida International University in Miami in 1988 and his Masters of Accounting from FIU in 1990. He has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1990. He has been married to Marlene for sixteen years and has two sons, Alfredo and Alejandro, and one daughter, Carolina.

Zameer Upadhya Past President, 2004-2007 Co-Founder and CEO, My Harvest Field, Inc. Co-Founder and Chaiman, BabySpot.com and BabySpotLatino.com

Zameer Upadhya is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of My Harvest Field, Inc. (www.myharvestfield.com). My Harvest Field assists Individuals and Business Owners “Protect their Financial Assets.” Through offices in Houston, Miami, and New York Zameer advises clients with financial planning that includes insurance protection, investment allocation and estate planning. Prior to My Harvest Field, Zameer was in the State Farm Insurance Agent training program. Zameer graduated from the State Farm training program with the Most Valuable Trainee award. While a career as a State Farm Agent seemed promising, Zameer decided that his experience as an entrepreneur would best serve other entrepreneurs if he were an independent agent.

Along with My Harvest Field, Zameer is also Co-Founder and Chairman of BabySpot.com and BabySpotLatino.com, the highly successful social networking and informational websites that CNET recently dubbed as the Facebook for Babies. The site is designed for new parents to connect with family, friends, and other parents while sharing pictures, videos, and parenting tips and tricks. Prior to My Harvest Field and BabySpot Zameer was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AMR Consulting Services (AMR). AMR provided CFO services for small businesses and leadership development for professionals and students. Prior to building AMR Zameer was an Auditor with BDO Seidman, LLP where he handled the financial audit for public clientele such as Mastec and Equity One. Zameer began his career with Johnson & Johnson as a Financial Analyst in their prestigious Financial Leadership Development Program. While at Johnson & Johnson he had increasing responsibilities including support of a $120MM Research and Development budget, $180MM Regulatory Affairs Budget, Sales Forecasting for a $3.2B Biotechnology Operating Company, and License and Acquisition due diligence for the Biotechnology sector.

Zameer is a graduate of Florida International University (FIU) and Barry University, both in Miami, Florida, where he earned a Bachelor of Accounting and Bachelor of Biology respectively. While at Barry University, Zameer displayed his leadership as President of the American Medical Students Association. Zameer was also inducted into the prestigious Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honors Society and Tri-Beta, the Biology Research Honors Society. After successful internships at Rice University, the Baylor College of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the National Institutes of Health, Zameer made a career change towards accounting.

While at FIU, Zameer founded the student chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA). Under his leadership Zameer grew the student chapter into the largest in the nation. Zameer’s success in this role earned him a position on the National Board as student director and recognition as the National Student of the Year. He was also identified as one of "Florida's Finest" by Florida Leader magazine. Zameer was also President of Beta Gamma Sigma, the National Business Honors Fraternity - reserved for students graduating in the top 10% of their class. While at FIU, Zameer kept busy with internships at Rachlin, Cohen & Holtz C.P.A.s (Tax), PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP (Audit) and by operating his own bookkeeping service.

Zameer founded the FIU Accounting Association Corporate Advisory Board. His commitment to the University was recognized in the Spring of 2005, Fall 2006, and Spring 2007 as the Most Supportive Business Professional. Previously, Zameer served as President of the ALPFA Miami Chapter and grew the organization from 250 to 700 members, making it the 2nd largest chapter. For his efforts Zameer was recognized as the National Most Promising Business Professional of the Year, the youngest recipient of this award. This continued success enabled Zameer to earn a second tour of duty on the ALPFA National Board as South Region Director. As South Region Director, he is responsible for the Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Orlando, Puerto Rico, and Tampa Chapters.

Maria M. Yip Past President, 2007-2010 Founder and President, YIP ASSOCIATES

Ms. Yip is the founder and President of YIP ASSOCIATES, a boutique firm specializing in forensic accounting and financial investigations serving clients throughout Florida, the Caribbean and Latin America, based in Coral Gables, Florida. She worked for Price Waterhouse, Arthur Andersen, and as a partner at Grant Thornton led the forensic accounting practice for Florida.

Ms. Yip is a Florida certified public accountant (CPA), certified fraud examiner (CFE), certified insolvency and restructuring advisor (CIRA) and is certified in financial forensics (CFF) by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She has more than 15 years of experience providing consulting and expert witness in commercial disputes, litigation, and arbitration. Clients include attorneys representing individuals, corporations, board of directors (audit committees) and governmental agencies (SEC, CFTC, FTC) in need of expertise in litigation support, financial investigations, fiduciary roles and insolvency matters.

She serves as an expert witness in Federal Bankruptcy court, Federal and State court and international litigation and arbitration matters. She also serves as a Chapter 7 Federal bankruptcy Trustee, as a court-appointed Examiner and Custodian.

Ms. Yip assists attorneys with the independent investigation of alleged corporate frauds including internal and white-collar investigations, embezzlement and asset misappropriation, financial reporting and securities fraud in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. She conducts interviews (English/Spanish), utilizes detailed analysis of financial and operational information to determine the facts, reconstructs accounting and business records, determines the impact on financial statements, identification of the person(s) involved, determination of potential reliance by other parties, identification of the scheme(s) utilized, identification of misappropriated funds, determination of the flow of funds to potential sources of recovery, and preparation of reports. Ms. Yip has significant experience with investigations in Latin America.

Ms. Yip has provided forensic accounting and litigation support including calculating damages for attorneys representing clients in commercial disputes, dissolution of marriage or contested probate estate. These services include detailed review and analysis of business records, assistance with discovery, and preparation of damage analyses, written reports, demonstrative exhibits and testimony. Ms. Yip has experience presenting facts, the methodology employed and the results of her analysis in a clear and concise manner.

With her experience in complex matters combined with language capabilities and cultural understanding, Ms. Yip has effectively provided consulting and expert witnesses services to attorneys in Florida and nationally in connection with Latin America and Caribbean matters.

Ms. Yip holds a Bachelor of Accounting degree from Florida International University. Ms. Yip is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA), Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA), Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA) and on the Florida International University School of Accounting Advisory Board.