Like the majority of her teammates, Jen Gonzales is also a born and raised Montanan. She moved to Washington during her college years and honed her craft as a Certified Human Resource Professional specializing in payroll and benefits for companies in the construction, financial and health industries, before returning home to Montana in 2011. With a blended family of kids ranging in age from elementary school to college, she spends most of her time zipping up and down the roadways of western Montana and Idaho trying to keep up. Jen enjoys her non-car time on Flathead Lake or on walks with her blind senior citizen Shih-Tzu, Speedy. Any remaining moments are spent in pursuit of travel destinations with open water and temps above 80 degrees.

Melanie Bengtson arrived from Germany to earn a Master’s in Organic Chemistry from the University of Montana in 2002. After a short stint with a biotech company in Colorado, she sensed there was no opportunity for a chemist and started at an automotive shop as a lube and tire technician. She earned an Associate of Occupational Science – Automotive Technology from Westwood College and advanced to ASE certified master mechanic. She moved back to Montana and after a substantial life changing event decided to return to the University of Montana to earn a Master’s in Accountancy from the University of Montana in 2016. Melanie joined another Missoula CPA firm as a tax season intern in January 2015 and progressed to tax senior by June 2022. A unique focus was on individuals and businesses with international transactions, as well as multi-state businesses. Melanie joined BDM as a tax accountant in August 2022. She is currently on the board of the Healthy Acres Healthy Communities Foundation. Outside of work, she lives on acreage outside of Missoula with a few beef cows, a flock of chickens and a large garden. When not at home, she can be found in the mountains with her dogs or horse.

Lindsey grew up in Whitefish and made her trek to Missoula in 2008 for college. She graduated with a variety of degrees and added a Masters of Business to the list soon after her undergrad. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, traveling, and teaching ballet at two local dance studios.

Lee was born in San Francisco and grew up in Billings. She moved to Missoula in 2003 right after graduating from MSU Billings with a B.S. in accounting. She is married, has one daughter and one stepdaughter, one dog, and two cats. Lee loves hiking, camping, and going to Flathead Lake with her family.

Natalya has been working in public accounting for over twenty years. She provides forensic, valuation, litigation, and tax services across various industries. Natalya has testified on a variety of valuation and litigation matters. She is a current member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Valuation Services Committee. As an AICPA member, Natalya is helping edit the AICPA’s Business Valuations for Gift and Estate Tax Practice Aid and working on the AICPA’s scenario task force. Natalya continues her engagement as a speaker/presenter on valuation-related topics at the AICPA & CIMA Forensic & Valuation Services Annual Conference for the second year in a row. Recently, she worked with the U.S. Department of Labor to help inform AICPA constituents about ESOP valuation matters.

Natalya’s areas of expertise include personal injury & wrongful death calculations, wrongful termination calculations, ESOP litigation, class action lawsuit award allocations, shareholder disputes and minority shareholder oppression review, prejudgment interest calculations, lost profits analyses, matrimonial valuation, and litigation including child support calculations, wage underpayment calculations, embezzlement-related calculations, present value of retirement plan calculations, gift & estate tax-related valuations, shareholder buy-out planning and valuations, and review of buy-sell agreements. Natalya also works with a variety of tax clients.