Ben Aase is a Principal with CliftonLarsonAllen, where he provides national leadership to the firm’s nonprofit and public sector strategic, financial, and operational consulting and advisory services. Ben personally leads projects for a range of nonprofit, foundation, and governmental clients nationwide with a particular focus on the K—12 education, foundation, and arts and cultural sub-sectors. Prior to joining CliftonLarsonAllen Ben co-founded a company that provides outsourced accounting and financial advisory services to the K—12 education market. Ben is a licensed consultant for the Standards for Excellence Institute, having received extensive training in how to provide training, consulting, and support on the Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector. Ben is currently board Treasurer of the Givens Foundation for African American literature, and a founder of the Minneapolis Professional Chapter of Net Impact, an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to make a positive impact on society by growing and strengthening new leaders who use business to improve the world. Ben is also a review board member for the Social Entrepreneur division of the Minnesota Cup, the largest state-wide new venture competition in the country that seeks out aspiring entrepreneurs and their breakthrough ideas. Ben has his B.A. in Economics from Colorado College in Colorado Springs and an M.B.A. with an emphasis in strategy, finance, and entrepreneurship from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.