Bill Swirsky Innovation Award

Innovators lead the way towards a future that is not yet within our grasp.  Innovators see concepts and ideas transformed into action, which to others may not seem possible.

2012 Bill Swirsky Innovation Award Recipient - Peter Wood

About the Bill Swirsky Innovation Award

Named after a prolific innovator and thought leader who retired in 2007 after over 30 years at the CICA, the Bill Swirsky Innovation Leadership Award is made every other year to recognize an employee, member or volunteer of the Institutes/Ordre who has demonstrated innovation by leading the development of effective and sustainable projects, concepts, processes or procedures with outcomes that have direct implications for advancing the CA or CPA, CA profession, accounting, and/or financial reporting nationally and/or internationally.

Nominations

Members and staff of the Institutes/Ordre in Canada and Bermuda may nominate candidates for consideration. The winning entry is chosen by a panel consisting of a representative of the Council of Senior Executives, the CICA President and CEO, and a CaseWare representative.

Contact

Questions concerning this award should be sent to Margaret Grisdale margaret.grisdale@cica.ca.

Innovator and Thought Leader Bill Swirsky, FCA

During his long career with the CICA, Bill Swirsky played a significant role in contributing to the 1996 Vision report, the Canadian Performance Reporting Initiative and the creation of the Canadian Performance Reporting Board, which has developed the CICA’s MD&A Guidance. 

He was the initiator of the specialization program that spawned the investigative and forensic accounting specialization and the Rotman Diploma in Investigative and Forensic Accounting.  

Bill recognized the value and need to address reporting issues in non-GAAP areas such as value creation measurement, environmental impact of operations, risk assessments and organizational social responsibility long before they were recognized by mainstream CA professionals. 

He played a pioneering role in the development of the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) Guidelines for reporting on social, environmental and economic aspects of a company’s operations.  GRI is now an international standard used by companies to measure activities related to best practices in the environmental arena. 

Bill Swirsky joined the CICA in 1976 and retired as Vice-President, Knowledge Development in 2007.