Kelly Richmond Pope

Education Speaker, Innovator & Forensic Accounting Expert

  • Kelly Richmond Pope Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    Please Inquire

  • Languages Spoken

    English

  • Travels From

    Illinois, USA

  • Kelly Richmond Pope Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    Please Inquire

  • Languages Spoken

    English

  • Travels From

    Illinois, USA

Suggested Keynote Speaker Programs

THE WHISTLEBLOWER DILEMMA: JUSTICE OR LOYALTY?

Despite whistleblowers uncovering some of the biggest controversies and white-collar crimes of the day, including WikiLeaks, Theranos, the college admissions scandal, and the Boeing 737 scandal, there remains a stigma around whistleblowing that keeps many silenced and much ...

Despite whistleblowers uncovering some of the biggest controversies and white-collar crimes of the day, including WikiLeaks, Theranos, the college admissions scandal, and the Boeing 737 scandal, there remains a stigma around whistleblowing that keeps many silenced and much crucial (and potentially life-saving) information concealed. With words such as “rat” “tattletale,” and “snitch” used to describe anyone who leaks information, it is no wonder that whistleblowers are widely disdained and shamed into silence.

Forensic Accountant and Educator Kelly Richmond Pope has dedicated her career to studying and understanding white-collar crime. She has traveled around the country interviewing felons, whistleblowers, and victims of fraud in hopes of changing the conversation and connotation around whistleblowing. According to Dr. Pope, most whistleblowers are not disgruntled employees looking for attention, money, or even revenge, but are largely honest, justice-seeking individuals looking to reveal criminal behavior.

In this topical discussion, Dr. Pope draws from current and ongoing cases to examine the ethical need for whistleblowers, and the dilemma many of us will inevitably face between loyalty and justice. Despite the toll whistleblowing can take on careers, relationships, and even personal safety, Pope also reveals how most admit the relief they felt after revealing the truth.

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RATIONALIZING FRAUD: HOW ORDINARY PEOPLE COMMIT EXTRAORDINARY CRIMES

From embezzlement and pyramid schemes to false insurance claims, expense reports, tax reports, and overbilling, fraud is committed by millions of people at all levels of organizations. Each year, businesses, governments, and non-profits lose over $3.7 trillion to fraud. Kelly ...

From embezzlement and pyramid schemes to false insurance claims, expense reports, tax reports, and overbilling, fraud is committed by millions of people at all levels of organizations. Each year, businesses, governments, and non-profits lose over $3.7 trillion to fraud. Kelly Richmond Pope is a forensic accountant and filmmaker who, for over twenty years, has been studying why ordinary people commit extraordinary crimes. Having interviewed a number of convicted white-collar felons, Pope shares their first-hand accounts, from the alleged business or personal pressures that led to their crimes to their convictions and ultimate time in prison. In this speech, Dr. Pope will outline the three major reasons for fraud:

– Pressure — such as personal debts or earning quotas

– Opportunity — many people have access to tools to commit and conceal fraud

– Rationalization — feelings of entitlement, “borrowing,” or that it is a victim-less crime

She will then explain the many scales at which fraud is committed, such as Bernie Madoff, the biggest fraudster of all time, with $64 billion misappropriated, or Rita Crundwell, the largest municipal fraudster and subject of Pope’s award-winning documentary, All the Queen’s Horses, or the least-likely, most inconspicuous office employee that will never be outed and never prosecuted. As leaders, educators, volunteers, and voters are all susceptible to fraud, Dr. Pope will detail how to recognize it, how to curb it, and how to confront it, on a personal and professional level.

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ETHICAL LEADERSHIP: IMPROVING BUSINESS, SAVING DEMOCRACY

Ethics is under attack. Headline after headline cites conflicts of interests of high-profile, powerful figures. From the President and a number of elected officials to numerous CEOs, and the very social media platforms we use, the biggest forces shaping our world are falling ...

Ethics is under attack. Headline after headline cites conflicts of interests of high-profile, powerful figures. From the President and a number of elected officials to numerous CEOs, and the very social media platforms we use, the biggest forces shaping our world are falling short of their responsibility to uphold ethics and create a culture of values and principles.

According to Dr. Kelly Richmond Pope, Forensic Accountant and Professor of accounting and ethical leadership, ethics should be a nonpartisan value that we all share. Yet this current political climate does not value ethics or principles, but privilege, power, and money. Defining ethical leadership as established personal and organizational values, realizing a breach of values, and confronting misaligned behavior, a democracy without ethics is destined to fail.

In this speech, Dr. Pope explains how establishing ethics in corporations and organizations will lead to a wider ethical environment, but it must come from the top. As ethical leaders put their values before the bottom line, their teams will more likely be loyal, dedicated, and ethical in turn. Dr. Pope also explores how, regardless of your status, raising the “ethical bar” for yourself will also raise it for your team, your organization, and even your family.

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About Keynote Speaker Kelly Richmond Pope

Dr. Kelly Richmond Pope is a nationally recognized expert in forensic accounting and white-collar crime research. She is an award-winning educator, researcher, and documentary filmmaker. She currently serves as Professor of Accounting in the School of Accountancy and Management Information Systems at DePaul University, where she teaches managerial and forensic accounting. Her research focuses on organizational misconduct, ethics and fraud, and corporate culture and compliance systems designed to confront these challenges. Dr. Pope’s research on executive misconduct culminated in directing and producing the award-winning documentary, All the Queen’s Horses, in 2017. All the Queen’s Horses explores the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. In 2018, Dr. Pope became a TED speaker with her impactful and timely TED Talk entitled “How whistle-blowers shape history”. In 2020, the American Institute of CPAs and the CPA Practice Advisor named Dr. Pope among the top 25 most powerful women in accounting.

Dr. Pope has received numerous teaching and innovation awards including the DePaul University Lawrence W. Ryan Distinguished Teaching Award, the MERLOT Award for Exemplary Online Learning Resources in Business (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching), the American Accounting Association Diversity Section Innovation in Research Award, and the AICPA Mark Chain/FSA Teaching Innovation Award. One of her proudest moments to date was receiving the invitation to be the 2019 Fall Commencement speaker at her alma mater, North Carolina A&T State University.

Dr. Pope currently serves as a board member and chair of the Greater Chicago Food Depository audit committee. She is a former director and finance chair for Mercy Hospital & Medical Center, former director of the Illinois CPA Society and former member of the governing council for AICPA. She received her bachelor of science in accounting from North Carolina A&T State University and her masters in accountancy and doctorate in accounting from Virginia Tech. She is a licensed certified public accountant (CPA) in the state of North Carolina.

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