As the Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, Commissioner Tindell oversees the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers’ Training Academy, the Office of Capitol Police, the Driver Service Bureau, the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security, the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory, the State Medical Examiner’s Office, Commercial Trucking Enforcement, Crime Stoppers, and Public Safety Planning. Commissioner Tindell currently manages over 1,400 employees throughout the state.
Commissioner Tindell was appointed by Governor Tate Reeves to lead the Mississippi Department of Public Safety in May 2020. Prior to joining the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, he served as a Judge for the Mississippi Court of Appeals, representing District 5, Position 2. Commissioner Tindell was appointed by Governor Phil Bryant to fill the vacancy created by Judge David Ishee’s appointment to the Mississippi Supreme Court. Commissioner Tindell also served in the Mississippi Senate, representing District 49, from 2012 until his appointment to the bench. He was chairman of the Senate Judiciary A Committee and vice chairman of the Senate Tourism Committee. He also previously served as Assistant District Attorney for the Second Circuit District of Harrison, Hancock, and Stone counties from 2002 to 2007 and City Prosecutor for the City of Biloxi from 2008 to 2011. In his private law practice, Commissioner Tindell represented a number of business clients and governmental bodies, including the City of Diamondhead, the Stone County Utility Authority, Harrison County, and the Orleans Parish District Attorney. In addition to practicing law, Commissioner Tindell held a real estate broker’s license and actively managed his own commercial and residential rental properties.
Commissioner Tindell holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the Mississippi College School of Law, where he served as student body president and earned honors of American Jurisprudence in counseling, negotiations, and domestic relations. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. He also participated in a study abroad program with an emphasis in finance at the London School of Economics.
CYNTHIA COOPER
Cynthia Cooper is an internationally recognized speaker, consultant, and best-selling author. In her book Extraordinary Circumstances, she shares her experiences and the lessons she learned during the WorldCom scandal. Cynthia donated all profits from the book to support ethics education for college and high school students. Cynthia speaks globally on topics including ethical leadership, corporate integrity, and how to avoid the pitfalls of organizational failure.
In 2020, Cynthia was included in TIME‘s list of the 100 Women of the Year, highlighting the most influential women of the past century. She was also named one of TIME magazine’s Persons of the Year for her role in uncovering the fraud at WorldCom—one of the largest corporate frauds in history. Cynthia is the first woman inducted into the AICPA Business Hall of Fame. Named one of the 25 Most Influential Working Mothers by Working Mother magazine, she also received the Maria & Sydney E. Rolfe Award for public education in business and finance. In 2022, she received the Internal Audit Beacon Award for thought leadership. She is also an inaugural inductee into the Institute of Internal Auditors’ American Hall of Distinguished Audit Practitioners, and the first woman to receive the American Accounting Association’s Accounting Exemplar Award.
Cynthia has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CFO Magazine, and BusinessWeek. She has shared panels with Anderson Cooper, Donna Brazile, and Grover Norquist, and has appeared on programs on NBC, ABC, PBS, Fox Business, C-SPAN, and CNBC.
Cynthia served on the board of the NASBA Center for the Public Trust, a nonprofit promoting ethical leadership. She is a Certified Fraud Examiner and served as Chairman of the Board of Regents for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the world’s largest anti-fraud organization with nearly 80,000 members. She also served on the Standing Advisory Group of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), a nonprofit created by Congress to protect investors through oversight of public company audits. She currently serves on Mississippi State’s College of Business Executive Advisory Board and previously advised the University of Alabama, LSU, and Lehigh University.
She has delivered keynote presentations and training around the world to government agencies including the FBI, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Labor, and the Ontario Securities Commission; leading universities such as Harvard, Cornell, and Western University’s Ivey Business School; intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations; public companies including Dell, France Telecom, Raytheon, Walmart, and Vanguard; and professional associations including the National Association of Corporate Directors, Network of Executive Women, Ethics and Compliance Officers Association, and the Washington D.C. Trial Lawyers Association.
Cynthia began her career in public accounting and previously worked in Atlanta for Deloitte & Touche and Price Waterhouse. Following the WorldCom scandal, she served as Chief Audit Executive at MCI, where she and her team helped guide the company through its emergence from bankruptcy. Cynthia holds a Master of Professional Accountancy from the University of Alabama and a Bachelor of Accountancy from Mississippi State University.
Jenna Hope Harris helps people break free from negative thinking so they can live with confidence, purpose, and emotional peace.
Her work is rooted in a simple belief:
When you change your thoughts, you change your life.
She blends mindset science, lived experience, and uplifting perspective to help individuals and organizations shift the way they think, and in turn, the way they lead, work, and live.
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KIMBERLY WILLIAMS is the Chief Financial Officer for Medical Management Services. In her position, she oversees the accounting for MEA Medical Clinics as well as other medical practices. Kimberly received her Bachelor of Accountancy from Mississippi State University and MBA from Mississippi College.
Kimberly has been active in the MSCPA since she received her CPA license in 2013. She is currently the Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect of the MSCPA. She previously served as the Vice-President/Events Chair and was then elevated to Young CPA Network President. Under her leadership the Young CPA Network received the Mississippi Food Network's Volunteer of the Year Award for statewide participation in the MSCPA Annual Day of Service. Upon completion of her year as Young CPA Network President, Kimberly served on the Board of Governors for the MSCPA as the Young CPA Network representative, joined the Young CPA Liaison Committee and began serving as the chair of the Industry Committee. She also served as Treasurer of the MSCPA. Kimberly enjoys speaking to students on behalf of the MSCPA to promote leadership skills, the accounting profession and the CPA designation. In 2018, Kimberly received the MSCPA's Rising Star Award.
Kimberly serves on the Board of Ellipsis International, which is a non-profit organization. She also serves on the Board of the Mississippi Chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association as the Membership Chair. In her spare time, Kimberly enjoys volunteering at local organizations and supporting charities through 5k participation. Kimberly serves in the Preschool Ministry at the Madison Campus of Pinelake Church. Kimberly and her husband Drew have two children and live in Madison.