Virginia Slack: Celebrating Over 40 Years of Achievement

If you’ve been a volunteer for a non-profit in the Kanawha Valley, there’s a good chance that Virginia Slack has been involved with the money side of the organization. While being a CPA has earned her the highest accolades, it’s her quiet determination, generous nature, dedication to her family and to her community that makes her the perfect recipient for the YWCA Lifetime Woman of Achievement Award.

Virginia has been a resident of the Charleston area for 45 years. She grew up in Hickory, NC, and is a proud graduate of North Carolina State University (Go Wolfpack!), where she received her accounting degree. She tells stories of often being one of few females in her accounting classes while she attended NC State.

After graduation, she found her first job in Raleigh and, as Virginia likes to say, she met this “West Virginia guy,” Charlie Slack. Marriage followed, but country roads were calling him back home, so they moved to West Virginia in 1978.

Virginia earned her CPA license at the age of 25, and quickly found employment with the firm of Arnett and Foster in Charleston. During that time, she became pregnant, and she told her bosses that she wanted maternity leave, and that she would return with a "flexible schedule.”

As her daughter, Lisa Schessler, (who is now a CPA) explained, "they didn't know what to do with her. They had never had a CPA want maternity leave or a flexible schedule. So she just explained it to them and designed the plan.” 

Later, Virginia decided to form her own solo-practitioner accounting firm and work from her home – a move that was quite novel at the time since it was before the internet, powerful computers and accounting or tax software. This decision was based on a strong desire to continue to work in the accounting profession and serve her clients with their accounting needs all while taking on the role of being a new mother.

With the arrival of two more daughters and her increasing role as a stepmother to Charlie’s son, Virginia was determined to be involved in their lives and activities by volunteering for parent organizations, classroom activities, sports teams, girl scout meetings, and more. All this time she balanced her thriving accounting practice of more than 100 individual and business clients with personal and professional attention.

As her children grew older, Virginia started to participate in more professional activities, taking on active roles with the West Virginia Society of CPAs. Their programs had provided much support for her accounting practice, such as a roundtable meeting in Charleston that benefited the needs of small practitioners. These were so helpful that she joined the Small Practitioner Committee and in 2010 was named its chairperson. In this position, she decided the meeting in Charleston needed to be increased to benefit all small practitioners around the state. Thus, she developed regional meetings to be held annually in Wheeling, Parkersburg, Lewisburg and Charleston. Judy Proctor, CEO of the WVSCPA, affectionately called Virginia the “mother of the roundtable” for her efforts to expand the program.

In 2011, Virginia was named to the WV Society of CPAs Board of Directors. She progressed through officer positions and in 2016 was named the 98th President of the Society, the fifth woman to hold that position. During her tenure, she emphasized the representation of small practitioners around the state and advocated for the accounting profession as a great career for college students — especially women.

After her term, Virginia continued to serve on the Small Practitioner Committee to keep planning the annual roundtable meetings. In 2022, Virginia was appointed by Governor Jim Justice to serve on the West Virginia Board of Accountancy, which oversees the licensing of CPAs in the state. In June 2023, she was honored by the Society with a Life Membership Award for her dedication over the years to the Society and to the accounting profession.

Virginia has now maintained her accounting practice for 40 years. She’s volunteered for many treasurer and board positions for her church (Christ Church United Methodist), schools (Sacred Heart Grade School and Charleston Catholic High School), and non-profits, most recently with Faith in Action of the Greater Kanawha Valley. 

“Virginia Slack is the perfect daughter, the perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect friend, and the perfect role model for both male and female accountants,” explained friend and fellow accountant Mary Agnes Kern. Accolades, awards, recognitions, and titles aside, if asked to name her proudest achievements, they would be her 43-year marriage, her three amazing daughters and stepson, and eight wonderful grandchildren. 

Congratulations to Virginia Slack, 2024 Lifetime Woman of Achievement honoree.