Zicklin Alum Named to Crain’s List of Notable Women in Accounting

Last month, Dana Zukofksy (MBA, ’07) was one of the 86 women named to Crain’s New York 2020 list of Notable Women in Accounting. While three other Zicklin alumnae—Angela Chen (BBA, ’97), XiXi Dong (BBA, ’07), and Mary Vasilescu (BBA, ’02)—were also named, Zukofsky was the only Zicklin MBA on the list this year. She sat down for a Q&A with Zicklin News.

Zicklin News: Congratulations on being named to the Crain’s New York list! The article noted that your accounting niche is in food and beverage. Tell us more about that.

Dana Zukofsky: My first job was at the accounting firm GGK, first in taxation and then auditing. I learned a ton, but I hadn’t quite found my niche. Then I got put on an audit for a restaurant group and found that I loved it because I understood it. It was tangible. I could count the inventory and think of each meal as a sale, and so on.

Once I realized how much I loved the industry, I went to J.H. Cohn and joined their restaurant practice. The partner I worked for allowed me so many great opportunities and it is through that firm that I eventually ended up at Bold Food, the company co-owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay. That was pivotal. They let me get involved with stuff besides accounting so that I understood the whole business cycle, not just the financial part. Eventually I ended up at a restaurant accounting firm that was bought by BDO, so that’s how I got here. I’m now part of the leadership group at BDO’s national restaurant practice.

ZN:  And why did you decide to go to the Zicklin School?

Dana:  Several of the partners at GGK had studied at Zicklin and highly recommended it. I took a look at the program and the school and thought it was fantastic. It was very convenient (I live in Gramercy) and I was in the evening MBA program so the schedule was very flexible.

One of the best things about Zicklin is the practitioners—these great adjunct professors who are top professionals in their field. I took a retail marketing course with the former head of Federated Department Stores and entertainment marketing with a top person from a studio in Los Angeles.

ZN: Have you been involved with the school as an alum?

Dana: Yes, I recently joined the Executives on Campus mentoring program. Especially after winning this award, I think it’s really important to pass forward what I was given.

ZN: Tell us about your charity work with City Harvest and other organizations.

Dana: I’ve been a volunteer with City Harvest for almost 20 years, and I also knit scarves to donate to the homeless during the holidays. My mom, who passed away last year, taught me to knit and encouraged my philanthropy, so this year I started a group called Sheryl’s Scarves named for her. We’re hoping to donate 1,000 scarves this year.

ZN: And since we’re doing this interview in the midst of the pandemic, can you talk about the decline in restaurants and dining because of COVID-19? What do you see happening over the next several months?

Dana: New York is resilient. If anything can come back, it’s the New York restaurant scene. But landlords need to be understanding and work with their restaurant tenants, so everyone can be successful together.

Categories: News