Why Diversity Matters

Instructor bio

Dr. Kelly Richmond Pope is the Dr. Barry Jay Epstein Endowed Professor of Accounting DePaul University in Chicago, IL. Pope is a nationally recognized expert in risk, forensic accounting, and white-collar crime research. An award-winning educator, researcher, author, and documentary filmmaker, Pope teaches managerial and forensic accounting both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her book Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories and Secrets from the Trillion Dollar Fraud Industry published by Harvard Business Review Press (2023) is a riveting look at the perpetrators, victims, and whistleblowers behind financial crimes and how organizations can prevent and detect fraud. Additionally, Pope is a National Instructor for Becker Professional Education.

Pope currently serves on the board of directors for the Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD) and chairs its audit committee. Pope is a former director and finance committee chair for Mercy Hospital & Medical Center, former director of the Illinois CPA Society, and former member of the governing council for American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). In 2023, Governor JB Pritzker appointed Pope to serve on the Money Laundering in Real Estate Task Force for the State of Illinois.

In 2023 and 2020, the AICPA and CPA Practice Advisor named Pope among the top 25 most powerful women in accounting. Her area of expertise lies in understanding and identifying financial fraud risk within financial statements, assessing corporate culture, and compliance systems designed to confront internal control challenges. Pope's research on executive misconduct culminated in directing and producing the award-winning documentary, All the Queen's Horses which explores the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. As such, Pope is a frequent subject matter expert on enterprise risk management and compliance issues for companies in various industries ranging from banking, healthcare, and insurance to consumer-packaged goods, technology, and governmental agencies.

Pope is a frequent international speaker and consultant to numerous corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies regarding helping organizations develop and implement internal controls and whistleblowing policies. Pope has appeared on news outlets such as C-SPAN, CNBC, the BBC, and WGN-TV offering commentary on best practices for fraud risk management and ethics. Pope's research has been cited in publications such as Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, CFO Drive, Accounting Today, Forbes, The Washington Post, Kiplinger, and The Daily Beast discussing how to identify red flags in the financial statements to minimize fraud occurrences. 

Pope earned her bachelor's in accounting from North Carolina A&T University and her master's in accountancy and doctorate in accounting from Virginia Tech University. She is a licensed CPA in the State of North Carolina and is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). Pope resides in the Chicagoland area with her family and dog, Nigel.