Age 39  |  Chief financial officer, R&R Realty Group

Tony Rogers knows that many people wouldn’t expect an accountant to get joy out of teaching 4-year-olds in Sunday school or working to grant wishes for Make-A-Wish Foundation children.

“But it’s amazing how rewarding something like that can be,” Rogers said.

Rogers has been with R&R Realty Group for 15 years, working his way through the ranks as an accounting manager and controller before expanding his role to get involved with banks, lenders and the company’s partners before becoming chief financial officer. He said he hasn’t had a boring day on the job yet.

“I’m constantly being challenged. There’s always something new happening,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed that challenge and learning from new experiences every day at work. It’s a continual education.”

One of the perks is that R&R encourages him to be a part of the community and give back, which is also something his parents instilled in him. That led the University of Northern Iowa graduate to be involved in the 2007-08 class of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute, where he was on the project steering committee and actively involved in the group’s Miracle League Project.

He’s also heavily involved in working with youth ministries at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, where he teaches Sunday school, and as chairman of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Iowa board of directors. Through that, he had the chance to attend a national Make-A-Wish conference in Florida and visit Walt Disney World, which he said provided an opportunity to see the destination of many of the organization’s wish children.

Rogers is also involved with the John Stoddard Rally Against Cancer Committee, the Iowa Society of CPAs, Financial Executives International and Toastmasters International, among other groups.

His involvement in the community is something that helps him in his job, and vice versa, he said.

“If I rank things by importance, clearly faith is number one and family is number two,” Rogers said. “But really being involved with these other organizations throughout the community is an important piece to the rest of my life.”