Leading an audit function can be isolating.

You’re expected to have all the answers — but where can you go to talk honestly about challenges, board relationships, and leadership struggles?

That’s where the Audit Leader Forum™ (ALF) comes in.

It’s an exclusive peer group of Audit Leaders and Chief Audit Executives who meet to share real experiences, talk candidly, and learn from one another.

This isn’t a webinar or course. It’s a strategic and informal space where you can:

• Say what’s on your mind

• Hear from others who’ve been there

• Exchange advice on emerging audit topics

• Keep sharpening the saw through real conversation

"I don't think any of my colleagues understand just how difficult this job really is. It is refreshing to talk to others each month who actually get it." - CAE, Financial Services Company

"As a seasoned audit director, I was looking for a certification beyond the CIA. I have been managing an audit department and conducting audits for over 40 years but was still seeking a certification. The Certified Chief Audit Executive® certification through cRisk Academy was the answer. The related Audit Leader Forum™ is also a fantastic resource of peers exchanging ideas and knowledge through bi-monthly Zoom meeting." CAE, Community Bank

"I've been looking for a group like this for 15 years." - CAE, Pharmaceutical Company

"I like hearing the different perspectives and issues others are dealing with. It helps me understand better what is going on in my world and see things with different eyes." CAE, Social Media Company

"I love this group and the people we've pulled together. I love that there's stability and continuity to it, so that I feel comfortable opening up and sharing with others." - CAE, University System

"There isn't anyone else in my organization I can turn to when I need help. If I did my peers will think I'm weak and don't know what I'm talking about. I can't even talk to my friends and family because they don't understand what I'm going through. The stress and pressure can be a lot to take sometimes. I'm so glad I found like minded peers in this group. It's exactly what I've been looking for." CAE, Food Company

"When I started in the Audit Leader Forum™ I was new to the CAE role. Now after just a few short years, I was promoted to Chief Accounting Officer of my organization, thanks to what I learned in the group." CAE, Oil & Gas Company

“The most vexing and challenging issues about being an audit leader are usually more about the ‘Executive’ part of the title and less about the ‘Technical’ part of the title. I love the practical advice shared in the group.” - CAE, Regional Bank and Insurance Company

"The insight I got from this one group call was worth the entire investment!" - CAE, Insurance Company

"I participated in the IIA Audit Executive Center and Gartner's program, but cancelled both since I didn't see value for money paid. The Audit Leader Forum™ provides a tremendous value for my investment. I have see a huge return on investment." - CAE, Agribusiness Company

"Things are fine until they are not, and that's when I needed help. I found the help I needed in this community." - CAE, Real Estate Company

"I enjoy bouncing ideas around with others in the group. I appreciate you reaching out from time to time for individual calls between the group calls." - CAE, Telecommunications Company

“During the pandemic, and the extensive length of the non-optional work from home ‘experiment’, having other audit leaders to talk with about common problems has been a lifesaver. Roundtables are all good and fine, but they don't allow me to exchange ideas and solve problems in a confidential setting.” - CAE, Research Hospital

“I have met and gotten to know some audit leaders in this program solely via recurring Zoom calls yet feel like I can contact any of them for a confidential chat. That has been priceless.” - CAE, Regional Bank

"I've been officially promoted to the audit leader role to head the Internal Audit department at my company... Couldn't have done it without you! My growth during the last six months since I found your podcast, the Audit Leader Forum™, and the Certified Chief Audit Executive® (cCAE™) course has been nothing short of incredible!" - CAE, Real Estate Company

"One of the things that I always get out of the Audit Leader Forum™ is, it brings me back to center, and reminds me of of the things I'm supposed to be working on, because, you know, you can get distracted by an investigation, or a particular problem, or an employee or something, and the group calls always brings me back and and helps me refocus on what the intent is, and somebody always has something that that they bring up as a topic they want to talk about. And it's related to something I was dealing with. But I didn't really think it was that big of a deal yet, or I wasn't ready to talk about it, or whatever it's. We all live in the same space, even if we're totally different industries and sizes, and it's just very helpful to bring it all back to the core center." CAE, State University System

"What drew me initially was really having the ability to have some specific coaching. What we do as an auditor is different. People outside of audit don't always get it. It's nice to have a place, either one-on-one, or in a group forum to talk about topics, see what other people are doing. We can't know it all, and this group helps introduce me to topics I wasn't even aware of. It's basically a safe place to talk, vet ideas, get advice, and make good networking contacts as well." CAE, Regional Bank

"I love the idea of sharing things that are on my mind, things that I'm concerned about. I appreciate the seasoned execs in the group who have deep technical, IIA, and industry experience. I always walk away with meaningful perspective to help me make decisions. And then there's the group itself, who, I think, is pretty active in terms of sharing things that I should be thinking about, and allowing me to pose questions to the group at large. I have always gotten pretty good feedback to help me on a variety of topics. Where I don't spend a lot of time, is on soft skills that gets intertwined in what we do and discuss in the Audit Leader Forum™. I think, the soft skills are equally as important and brings to my attention things I should be focusing on so the combination of all of that is is what's causing me to to want to continue on here year after year." CAE, Financial Services Company

"For me, I think there are 2 key reasons for being a member of the Audit Leader Forum™. I think one is a diversity of perspectives. We have different views, different opinions, different perspective, different experiences. The culmination of all the diversity and experiences that come together as we discuss topics provides many perspectives on a given topic, is pretty revealing and helpful. Then you can leverage the information, or have that in the back of your head when you are actually dealing with that topic or audit. It provides me with a perspective from multiple individuals that is very valuable. The second component for me is validation. I think the validation helps, because it solidifies how I choose to pursue something and really mold what we discuss on a certain topic, or audit or review, or whatever it is that we're discussing and find what is best for me and my organization. Again and again the validation of what I'm doing and what others are doing has been very meaningful." CAE, Insurance Company

"I'm newer to this leadership role. I have been leading the internal controls group for about 3 and a half years, and now have the responsibility as the head of internal audit. It's good to have some peers who have done it before to get perspective. There is a networking piece, and it's a safe space to talk about things. What I've noticed in this role is, it could be a lonely position. In this position you're seen as the bean counter, you're seen as the compliance person, and there are not a lot of people in your organization who you can have some of these candid conversations with that I can have in the Audit Leader Forum™. People in the group have gone through the same things as me. They've seen it before, and that's definitely beneficial for me. Something else that brought me here is the diversity of perspective. I've been in other forums that focused on women leadership, but now I'm really looking to target my networking, to focus on individuals who are in the audit industry, who are doing what I'm doing and what I want to be doing." CAE, Automotive Company

"When I first joined the Audit Leader Forum™, I was newer to the CAE role at my organization. We're a very small shop. Having the benefit of those in the group to learn and to hear from, and to see what's happening, because with one or 2 people you're so siloed that you don't really have a lot of people to bounce ideas off of is very helpful. I came from a bigger audit shop where the brainstorming, and the "I'm doing this, what do you think about this?" was a big part of our shop. Now to be totally isolated where people don't trust you at first, left me feeling vulnerable. I can't go to other executives in my organization or they will think I don't understand what I'm doing? That's why I joined the Audit Leader Forum™. Both, from learning how to navigate senior management leadership, but also just to have the network in the peer group, because we're such a small shop and I need the perspective of others." CAE, Retirement Fund

"I see, 4 huge benefits to the Audit Leader Forum™. The first, and the thing that really drew me to this group was that I was feeling increasingly isolated. It's an isolating role that we have as audit leaders, right? In fact, I felt like I was on an island, not the way Great Britain is an island, in the way that Fiji's an island. Our team, our subordinates are just that there are employees. Our leadership and peers often don't understand or support the role of internal audit, at least not fully. So I was left feeling like I was on an on an island. This is a place of community of people with shared experiences and similar roles. The second big thing is the it's connection to cRisk Academy, which is my go to for training. It's high quality instruction at good prices. And the discount associated with Audit Leader Forum™ is a huge savings for me. That's how much I use cRisk Academy. My third reason is the one-on-one coaching and opportunities to have calls with Jason and with Hal. That's hugely valuable. And the fourth thing is the leadership tool kit. There's a lot of great information there. That's what I'm getting out of the Audit Leader Forum, and it's what I think other audit leaders could get out of it as well." CAE, Public Transportation Agency

"I've spent the last 3 weeks trying to raise the level of thinking of my staff. So the Audit Leader Forum™ is a nice space to come to where everyone was already sort of at that level. They already know what it's like to have to think the chair of the Board or the Audit committee chair or all your key stakeholders, and you're not constantly tired. While the perspectives of different in terms of our industry. there's a level set that we're all coming into, because we're all leaders. I appreciate a lot is that there's not 20 min of trying to explain why we have to think of certain things at a certain level because everyone's there. And I like the debate and the respectful challenge of certain of the ideas. I think it was one of the first meetings I was on, and someone challenged something I was thinking and was questioning "Well, why are you trying to do that? And why?" It was that question that got me thinking in a different way. It was very respectful, and we always have respectful debate on the group calls and the different perspectives that everyone is bringing. It's this nice little comfort coming into this group call each time. I was trying to prove internal audits value with money, and the feedback got me to kind of pivot from my cost savings to cost avoidance mindset and I start selling our value that way because of the question from the group. When we recently had cost savings initiatives, I could say "I just helped you avoided $450,000 worth of cost because of the last project we did, so back off." I didn't have to lay off anyone this year because of this advice, nor have my budget reduced like others in our organization." CAE, Financial Services Company

"This last year at my bank has been a complete storming phase post merger, and I found myself new to the role without a lot of support. The Audit Leader Forum™ has been my go to place for mentorship, and for community to make sure that I wasn't crazy most of the time, what my next steps would be, who I needed to get involved, and how to approach things. The one-on-one calls have had have been priceless helping me navigate through these challenges. I was challenged on the calls and provided with perspective that I wouldn't have had going into certain situations. Without that, and the connection with a number of other leaders in this group, I wouldn't have accomplished what I have. As an example, working with our risk partners I was able to increase my staff and expense reduction point in time as well. All of that was based on what I learned in this Forum. I'm very appreciative." CAE, Regional Bank

"I like the frequency of the group calls. A lot of leadership forums are quarterly, with set agendas that are not relevant to me. I like that we get to set the agenda of each meeting. We're coming in each group call with things that are on our minds, that we need to talk about, that we need resolved as opposed to sort of some pre-made agenda set by what other people think we need to talk about." CAE, Financial Services Company

"There's a lot of reasons to be a member of the Audit Leader Forum™, but I think for me, what drove me to really join the group was this. I attended a lot of trainings. I went to different events. When you go to those other forums and trainings the candor isn't always there, especially if you're not already a world class audit department, or if you don't have an abundance of resources, or your organization isn't at that level of maturity. And yet I feel like when I go to a lot of those trainings they're wanting to tell me I have to meet an unrealistic expectation. I actually feel inadequate sometimes when I leave other trainings, because there's no way my company is ready for that, and there's no way my team or my departments are ready for that. I need a way to bring it down and still be able to achieve the required objectives that's laid out in front of me. I need to be able to do my job and know that I'm meeting the requirements. This group helps me to do just that. We're not all cookie cutter. But when you go to those trains, at least that's I feel. The Audit Leader Forum™ gives me a realistic preview of the fact that internal audit can be different things to different organizations. We cannot be a one-size-fits-all, and we don't have to be. I can still do the right things for my organization, and figure out my best path forward, with people in this group." CAE, Food Company

"I joined the Audit Leader Forum™ because I was recently promoted to take over the Chief Audit Executive (CAE) role. I was really comparing this and the Audit Executive Center from the IIA. After my one-on-one session with Jason I decided to join. One thing that convinced me was his training as a coach and work he did with Brian Tracy since I was familiar with Brian and watched a lot of his videos on Youtube. But for me why I really wanted to join is to have a community of other audit leaders, especially being new to the CAE role. This role is an interesting journey. I thought I knew I was getting into because I was already in a department, but I think it's actually maybe worse than I thought it was. I'm a positive person, but some days it's challenging. I need this group to raise the standard in the department. I really, really appreciate the conversations that we have. and the guidance I receive. I am amazed at the resources available to me in the group." CAE, Financial Services Company

"I've just learned so much in the Audit Leader Forum™. It's one thing to learn a lot from the LinkedIn posts and emails, but also being able to bounce off ideas, or get better ideas from other people, and sometimes hearing the questions other people ask are like, "Oh, those are the same questions I have," or are questions I should be asking that I'm not. I really appreciate and respect all the views and better leading practices that I get from the group. I appreciate the practical advice we receive so each of us can determine what's best for our team and organization instead of just being told how we are supposed to audit, or are left to feel inferior if we can't meet the best practices shared by others in the profession." CAE, Manufacturing Company

"What led me to the Audit Leader Forum™ was basically I was looking for something in internal audit that I could get a certification for which I found relevant to my role, and I found the Certified Chief Audit Executive® (cCAE) from cRisk Academy. I've been doing internal audit for a long, long time, and everything that I seem to find was so repetitive and basic. It was like, "I've heard this so many times, I want something new." So when I found the cCAE I was very, very happy with it. I love going through that process. Each video challenged me to think more about my role as an audit leader, and where I could get our 2 Member Department to advance the department. Once I went through the cCAE course, the Audit Leader Forum™ was the next logical step for me. If you're in a small shop, you tend to go over the same thing in your mind, and you have the same thought process over and over and over, and sometimes you can't seem to get off that wheel. So having these meetings and listening to people, and it's like, "Oh, I didn't think of that from that perspective," gives me gives me an opportunity to think of things differently. And sometimes it's like, "Wait a minute. Should I be doing that?" The Audit Leader Forum™ gives me a way of thinking about things differently. I like the candor, but I also like the respect from everyone. I don't feel like if I have a question that anyone is going to think, "jeez, you know, that's such a dumb question," because I think we're all here learning from one another and looking for different perspectives, and and how to be better." CAE, Community Bank

Access to YEARS of Previous Group Call Recordings

Get access to years of previous group call recordings (since 2018). This means you have hundreds of hours of material you can use exactly when you need it 24/7.

Ninja Phrases and Questions Resource

A big part of communicating effectively is knowing exactly the right words to use and questions to ask. You will get access to a resource of ninja phrases and questions, psychological ways to increase the effectiveness of your communication and get people to take action. It's like having the secret Jedi mind tricks. And it's not just having a list of questions, but knowing how to ask them and the practice that makes you effective.

Discount on the Certified Chief Audit Executive® Certification

Prove your knowledge as a CAE by earning the only professional certification for Chief Audit Executives. Whether you are already a CAE, or want to become one in the future, this is the certification to add to your resume.