Jackson Thornton names new principals

November 3, 2022

Jackson Thornton, a certified public accounting and consulting firm headquartered in Montgomery, AL, is pleased to announce that Nancy M. Brown, Sarah V. Chandler and Ashley S. Taylor have been selected as the firm’s newest principals.

Nancy M. Brown is a principal in the firm’s Montgomery office and has more than 25 years of experience providing accounting and auditing with a concentration in employee benefit plans. In 2012, she joined Jackson Thornton Asset Management as an investment advisor to consult with retirement plan clients.

She is a Leadership Montgomery Legacy Class XXXIX member and volunteers as a Vietnamese interpreter for the Autauga, Elmore and Montgomery county public school systems. Brown is a CPA and has earned the CEBS (Certified Employee Benefit Specialist), RPA (Retirement Plans Associate) and GBA (Group Benefits Associate) designations through the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. She has also earned the PPC™ (Professional Plan Consultant) designation, having specialized knowledge of retirement plan compliance requirements, common plan services and plan administration.  She also holds professional membership in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AIPCA), the Alabama Society of Certified Public Accountants (ASCPA) and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists.

Brown received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Auburn University Montgomery.

Sarah V. Chandler is a principal in Chattanooga, Tennessee specializing in utility consulting. She joined the firm in 2011 and has provided financial forecasting, cost of service and rate design consulting projects for the firm’s utility clients for more than a decade. Chandler works with water, wastewater, electric and natural gas clients across the Southeast.

She is a member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the Water Environment Federation, Tennessee Association of Utility Districts (TAUD), the Tennessee Gas Association and the Alabama Rural Water Association. Chandler serves on the Utility Finance Committee, KY/TN Section of American Water Works Association (AWWA); the Finance, Accounting and Management Controls Committee of AWWA; and Women in Water, KY/TN and AL/MS Sections of AWWA.

Chandler is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Corporate Finance/Investment Management.

Ashley S. Taylor is a principal in the firm’s Montgomery office and has provided litigation support and business valuation services through the firm’s Business Valuation and Litigation Consulting group (BVLC) for almost 15 years. In 2022, she assumed responsibility for Jackson Thornton’s Refunding Verification and Arbitrage Rebate practice. Taylor also serves as Director of Campus Recruiting for the firm.

She holds professional membership in the AIPCA, the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) and the ASCPA. Taylor is a graduate of the Emerge Montgomery Torchbearers Leadership Class IV and the Leadership Montgomery Legacy Class XXXVII. She served on the inaugural Junior Executive Board for Child Protect Children’s Advocacy Center, is a past president of Jackson Thornton Young Professionals, and a past president of Emerge Montgomery. She currently serves on the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business Council, the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce’s Talent Recruitment Initiative Committee, and the board of directors of the Kiwanis Club of Montgomery. Taylor was named as Emerge Montgomery’s 2015 Young Professional of the Year and Auburn University Montgomery’s College of Business 2017 Outstanding Young Alumni.

Taylor received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Master of Business Administration from Auburn University Montgomery.

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