Speakers

Dan Durst

Dan Durst is a Manager at Capital Edge Consulting, with extensive experience in various accounting and compliance issues related to Federal government contracts and grants. Dan’s areas of expertise include Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal awards to non-Federal entities (Uniform Guidance), Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS). Dan is also well-versed in various levels of audit support including DCAA, Single Audit, and Inspector General audits. Dan’s industry experience includes defense, nonprofit, and public sector. Dan has assisted clients with Indirect Cost Rate Proposal Development, Indirect Rate Structure Assessment, Subrecipient Monitoring Support, Audit Support and Risk Assessment, Audit Findings Remediation, Procurement System Certification, Internal Controls Assessment, Forensic Investigations, Grants Closeout Support, and other regulatory compliance matters. Prior to joining Capital Edge, Dan was an audit supervisor and lead consultant for Clarke Leiper PLLC, a member of the AICPA’s Government Audit Quality Center. Dan has previously held security clearances with the U.S. Department of Defense, including Secret Clearance. While contracted by the U.S. Department of State Dan conducted audits and analysis at the U.S. Embassies in 19 foreign countries. Dan has supervised and performed several Single Audits under both OMB A-133 and the new Uniform Guidance. Dan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting with a minor in Information Technology and a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from George Mason University.

Elizabeth Gombash

Elizabeth Gombash is Executive Director of Strategic Grants Planning and Development at Seminole State College of Florida. She has 25 years of grant writing and grant management experience, including spending four years working as a federal grants management specialist and providing diverse grant writing, grant system analysis, and strategic planning services to college and university clients over the past five years as the head of G Team Communication, LLC, her education consulting company. Grants written by Ms. Gombash have been funded for over $75 million by federal, state, and private sources, including grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. She has maintained an average annual funding rate of approximately 80%.

In addition to grant proposal development, Ms. Gombash specializes in developing institutional grants management capacity to keep pace with evolving funder regulations and interpretations relating to internal control systems. She is a nationally recognized authority in grant writing and grants management, rooted in her years of practical experience combined with her extensive knowledge of funder regulations, rules, and policies.

She has delivered numerous training workshops and conference presentations around the country and written articles for professional publications. Ms. Gombash has served as a director on the national boards for the National Grants Management Association and the Council for Resource Development, and currently serves on Thompson Grants’ Editorial Advisory Board.