Natashia Soopal is the Executive of Ethics Standards and Public Sector at the South African Institute of Chartered  Accountants (SAICA) where she is responsible for overseeing the development of thought leadership, technical updates, technical resources and technical support for members, as well as advocacy for both ethics standards and public sector.  She plays a significant role in developing and implementing an integrated ethics plan and professionalizing the public sector plan at SAICA. She is also responsible for maintaining the SAICA Code of Professional Conduct and its alignment with the IESBA Code.

Prior to joining SAICA, Natashia Soopal was an audit manager at the Auditor General of South Africa and a Chief Financial Officer at a public entity.

Natashia Soopal is a chartered accountant and a member of SAICA and has a Bachelor of Accounting (Hons) degree.

Deepa Agarwal became a Technical Advisor for Mr. Amarjeet Singh in July 2024.  An Assurance Partner at S.R.Batliboi & Associates LLP (member firm of Ernst & Young Global, UK), Deepa has over 20 years of experience in Auditing, Accounting, Indian Companies Act, Quality and Risk Management, Sustainability Reporting & Assurance and Regulatory matters.  She is the Sustainability Assurance Professional Practice Leader for India and is part of EY’s global Sustainability Professional Practice Group involved in the formulation of policies, methodology & comment letters.  She also oversees guidance and training for the firm’s assurance practice, advising practitioners on the application of professional standards, and regulatory requirements.  

Deepa is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Over the years, working with regulators and large professional service firms, Deepa has led and participated in the preparation of standards and implementation guidance and comment letters on behalf of industry bodies in India and the implementation of ISQM.  She is an author & speaker at various public forums & conferences. She is also a Certified Public Accountant (Australia).

Dylan is currently an accounting major at SUNY Geneseo with a minor in data analytics. He was a 2024 summer intern at IFAC, working in the accountancy education department. He is a member of the SUNY Geneseo Student Managed Investment Fund and plays for the Geneseo Men's Division III Soccer team.

Mariyam Azka Ismail is pursuing ACCA qualification and is currently interning at Nexia Maldives through Excelerate Programme. Azka is acquiring practical experience in various aspects of accountancy with a particular focus on audit. Her enthusiasm for the profession and dedication to continuous learning drive her career aspirations.

Mariyam Azka Ismail joined the IFAC Young Leaders Collective as a founding member in August 2024.

Christie Lim is a senior auditor in Singapore and has had 3 years of audit experience. She graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting and Finance and is expected to complete the CPA Australia program in December 2024. She is looking forward to collaborate, learn and be inspired by other members of the Collective.

Christie joined the IFAC Young Leaders Collective as a founding member in August 2024.

Nicholas Tay is a dynamic M&A professional and a qualified Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) with the ICAEW. During his time of training as an ACA, Nicholas was a founding member and later served as the Chair of the ICAEW Malaysia Student Network (IMSN) where his team helped set the foundations for a common voice and building a community of aspiring chartered accountants in Malaysia.

Nicholas is an Assistant Vice President at Mizuho Bank Malaysia and mainly covers cross-border advisory for green- and brownfield transactions between Japanese and Malaysian companies as well as for outbound investments from Malaysia. Nicholas graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Actuarial Science and Mathematics from the University of Manchester and is passionate to discuss about all things sustainability, capital markets and further improving the accounting profession.

Nicholas joined the IFAC Young Leaders Collective as a founding member in August 2024.

Stefania Mierlita is pursuing a PhD in Accounting through a co-supervision program between Babes-Bolyai University in Romania and the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, exploring the intersection of accounting and digital technologies. Since 2022, Stefania has served as an Associate Teaching Staff member at Babes-Bolyai University's Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, specializing in accounting, audit, and management. Passionate about the future of accounting globally, she is particularly interested in addressing the challenges posed by digital transformation.

Stefania joined the IFAC Young Leaders Collective as a founding member in August 2024.

Tshepo Bonnita Boitumelo is a highly proficient fellow certified chartered accountant with over 8 years’ experience in financial reporting, external and internal audit, regulatory risk and compliance acquired throughout her career journey. Tshepo started her career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in June 2015 before joining the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants in May 2019, as an Officer in the Technical and Public Sector Accountancy services department where she assists the Institute to promote and improve strong regulatory compliance through different measures to ensure public interest protection.

Tshepo joined the IFAC Young Leaders Collective as a founding member in August 2024.

Muhammad Farhan provides International Tax & Transaction Services at EY in Pakistan. Alongside this, he has experience in Business Tax Services (BTS) and Global Compliance and Reporting (GCR) at EY.

With respect to his professional qualifications, Muhammad is an Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) member and a Pakistan Institute of Public Finance Accountants (PIPFA) member, specializing in International Taxation, Transfer Pricing and other International Cooperation and Development matters.

Muhammad joined the IFAC Young Leaders Collective as a founding member in August 2024.

Tahiya Gupta joined the profession very young at 18 years old. She started her journey at KPMG UK on the audit apprenticeship scheme and is working towards her ACA qualification. She began her journey with AAT and has currently completed her Level 3 AAT and will be completing her Level 4 AAT within the next few months before moving onto her Level 7 ACA qualification. With 3 years of experience already in the audit sector, she looks forward to sharing and expanding her knowledge of the profession as well as collaborating with the other members of the Young Leaders Collective.

Tahiya joined the IFAC Young Leaders Collective as a founding member in August 2024.