{"id":19018,"date":"2025-08-14T13:24:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T13:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/?page_id=19018"},"modified":"2025-08-14T15:18:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T15:18:15","slug":"board-of-advisors","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/","title":{"rendered":"Board of Advisors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Board of Advisors<\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

A diverse group of leaders guiding ISBA\u2019s mission and the future of business appraisal.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

\nOur Board of Directors brings together accomplished valuation experts and industry innovators whose insight and leadership help shape ISBA\u2019s programs, strengthen the value of the BCA credential, and foster a vibrant community of professional appraisers.<\/p>\n

The International Society of Business Appraisers (ISBA) is proud to introduce its inaugural Board of Directors\u2014a distinguished group of valuation professionals, educators, and industry leaders dedicated to advancing the practice and profession of business appraisal. This Board represents decades of collective expertise across disciplines, including marital dissolution, ownership transitions, M&A, estate and gift planning, and litigation support.<\/p>\n

Much like the members they serve, our Directors are committed to the values that define the ISBA: practical, real-world education; a collaborative professional community; and a credential\u2014the Business Certified Appraiser (BCA)\u2014that reflects both technical mastery and market credibility. Their guidance will help ISBA expand access to high-quality, case-based training, strengthen the value of the BCA designation, and ensure our programs remain flexible, affordable, and accessible to professionals from all backgrounds.<\/p>\n

As stewards of ISBA\u2019s mission, the Board will play a critical role in shaping educational initiatives, fostering member engagement, and upholding the high ethical and professional standards that make our credential trusted by clients, colleagues, and the courts. Together, they will guide ISBA in building a thriving, connected community of business appraisers equipped to deliver accurate, defensible valuations in an ever-evolving marketplace.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Board Members<\/h3><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>

John W. Zoellner<\/b><\/h4><\/div>

President & Owner, Zoellner Garten & Company<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

John Zoellner is President and Owner of Zoellner Garten & Company, where he advises business owners on sales and acquisitions and provides business and machinery & equipment appraisals. Earlier in his career, he built and led equipment leasing and tax-exempt financing portfolios as a commercial lender and senior vice president at Central Trust, growing outstanding balances to more than $140 million. After earning his Series 7 in 1987, he launched Zoellner Garten in 1988 and has since served on multiple corporate and advisory boards across manufacturing, financial services, and member organizations. John holds an MBA in Finance from Xavier University and a bachelor\u2019s in Business & Economics from the University of Wisconsin\u2013Stevens Point.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Scott Gabehart, BA, MIM, CBA, CVA, BCA<\/h4><\/div>

Chief Valuation Officer, BizEquity<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>

Scott Gabehart is Chief Valuation Officer at BizEquity and has evaluated, appraised, and\/or sold more than 3,000 privately held companies since 1992. He co-created BizEquity\u2019s widely vetted valuation algorithm used by wealth advisors, banks, and insurers nationwide, and he co-founded the BizEquity Business Valuation Institute. A published author and former Thunderbird MBA faculty member, Scott has served as an expert witness and instructed professionals across finance, lending, and real estate. He holds the CBA, CVA, and BCA credentials and has been appointed to the BVR Leadership Council (2024) and the ISBA Advisory Board (2025). His experience spans SBA lending, ESOPs, tax matters, disputes, and transaction planning.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Hafiz Imtiaz Ahmad, PhD, CVA, MAFF, BVIUK, BCA-R<\/h4><\/div>

Faculty of Accounting & Finance and Academic Program Chair for Real Estate & Property Management at the Higher Colleges of Technology (UAE);<\/span><\/i> Editor-in-Chief, The Valuer<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>

Dr. Hafiz Imtiaz Ahmad is a faculty in Accounting & Finance and Academic Program Chair for Real Estate & Property Management at the Higher Colleges of Technology (UAE). Formerly on faculty at New York Institute of Technology (2013\u20132018), he now serves as Editor-in-Chief of The Valuer, the official journal of the Business Valuation Institute (UK). He holds a PhD in Accounting & Finance from the University of Lille, France, and multiple international certifications, including CVA, MAFF, BVIUK, and BCA-R. Dr. Ahmad has published extensively, contributes to global conferences, serves on BVIUK\u2019s AI Policy Council, and is a recipient of NACVA\u2019s \u201c40 Under Forty\u201d and the 2024 Outstanding Member Award.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Austin Zhao, BCA, CVA, M&AMI, CM&AP, CBI<\/h4><\/div>

Partner & Vice President, Transworld Business Advisors (South & West TX, NM & WY)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>

With 38+ years of business experience, Austin Zhao is a senior M&A advisor specializing in business sales, mergers and acquisitions, and valuation. A Partner and Vice President at Transworld Business Advisors, he holds multiple professional designations (BCA, CVA, M&AMI, CM&AP, CBI) and is a licensed Texas real estate agent. Austin\u2019s industry recognition includes IBBA Platinum Chairman\u2019s Circle, M&A Source Gold Club, Transworld Diamond Club, and Top 5 Producer among 1,000+ Transworld advisors worldwide (2023). He serves on the IBBA Board and Conference Committee and has held leadership roles in regional business associations, reflecting his commitment to the brokerage community and small-business success.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"100-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19018","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nBoard of Advisors - International Society of Business Appraisers (ISBA)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Board of Advisors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"International Society of Business Appraisers (ISBA)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-14T15:18:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/\",\"name\":\"Board of Advisors - International Society of Business Appraisers (ISBA)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-14T13:24:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-14T15:18:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Board of Advisors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/\",\"name\":\"International Society of Business Appraisers (ISBA)\",\"description\":\"International Society of Business Appraisers\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Board of Advisors - International Society of Business Appraisers (ISBA)","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Board of Advisors","og_url":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/","og_site_name":"International Society of Business Appraisers (ISBA)","article_modified_time":"2025-08-14T15:18:15+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/","url":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/","name":"Board of Advisors - International Society of Business Appraisers (ISBA)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-08-14T13:24:27+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-14T15:18:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/board-of-advisors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Board of Advisors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/","name":"International Society of Business Appraisers (ISBA)","description":"International Society of Business Appraisers","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19018"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19018"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19036,"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19018\/revisions\/19036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.certitrek.com\/isba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}