Carolyn Mazzenga, Tax & Business Partner, Featured in Long Island Business News – Long-time employee rises at Marcum

Carolyn Mazzenga has been promoted to the position of partner-in-charge of the Melville office of Marcum. In her new role, Mazzenga will be responsible for overseeing the growth of the accounting firm’s Long Island operations, while continuing to serve as partner-in-charge of Marcum’s family wealth services group.

Mazzenga has a diverse accounting background. Early in her career, she worked in the accounting department of GMAC, the financial division of General Motors. When her position was relocated from New York to Michigan, she chose to enter public accounting, spending 10 years with Coopers & Lybrand. Then, Mazzenga struck out on her own, providing accounting services to small, midsized and women-owned businesses and high-net-worth individuals, before joining Marcum in 1991.

Looking back, Mazzenga said she has no regrets. “My career has taken many twists and turns, and all of them have led me to where I am today,” she said.

What Mazzenga is most proud of is sharing in Marcum’s meteoric growth. “When I started here, there were about 20 people in the firm,” she said. “Now we’re hitting up against 1,000, and I think it’s unbelievable how the firm has evolved. The culture is very entrepreneurial, which has allowed the firm to get the most out of people like myself who thrive in that type of environment.”

A few years ago, Mazzenga was instrumental in the launch of the Marcum Women’s Leadership Development Program, an initiative to promote and nourish the careers of the firm’s female managers and partners. An important aspect of the program is that more experienced women help those who are newer to the field with professional and business development. “We teach newer professionals how to get themselves noticed in the organization,” Mazzenga said. “Many young women think that if you sit at your desk and do a good job, that your career will take care of itself. But you have to promote yourself, which is difficult to do, because you don’t want to come across as boasting.”

Mazzenga provides specialized tax training and serves as a mentor for several of the firm’s managers. Throughout her career, Mazzenga has always had mentors herself. “Mentoring is extremely important if you are going to progress to the next level,” she said. Mazzenga has been pleased to note that as her career has gone on, more and more of her mentors have been women. “Early in my career, there weren’t as many women in higher management positions,” she said.