Harborstead was founded on a simple premise: leaders deserve a safe harbor — a trusted space to ask candid questions, gain clarity, and strengthen their basis for decision-making.
At Harborstead Advisory, we help leaders make sense of complex budgets and financial decisions in high-stakes environments. We partner with local businesses, local governments, elected officials, and advisory boards to translate numbers into clear stories — empowering leaders to communicate confidently and make informed choices.
Our approach blends Big 4 consulting expertise, professor-level teaching, and community-driven insight. We specialize in:
Helping administrators and boards understand budgets, revaluations, and tax impacts
Advising elected officials behind the scenes to communicate fiscal priorities with credibility
Supporting schools, universities, and professional organizations in strengthening the accounting talent pipeline
At Harborstead, we believe that numbers should empower — not intimidate. Our mission is to equip leaders with the insight, language, and confidence they need to make informed choices, communicate them effectively, and lead with clarity in moments that matter most.
About Brigid.
Brigid D’Souza is a CPA, educator, and civic advocate who blends Big 4 consulting expertise, higher education leadership, and community-driven impact. She founded Harborstead Advisory in 2025 to help public-facing leaders — from small business owners to city administrators and elected officials to advisory boards — navigate budgets, fiscal reporting, and high-stakes financial decisions with clarity and confidence.
Brigid began her career at the U.S. Government Accountability Office and later joined Deloitte, where she helped launch a specialized advisory team serving Fortune 50 clients with tax and technology compliance solutions. While stepping back from consulting to raise two young children, she founded Civic Parent, a widely recognized fiscal literacy platform empowering Jersey City residents to understand property taxes, budgets, and revaluations.
Her community work laid the foundation for her pivot to academia as a full-time accounting professor at Saint Peter’s University, where she taught, mentored future CPAs, and advised industry leaders on addressing the nationwide accounting talent shortage.
Brigid’s perspective — as a former Big 4 consultant, professor, and advocate — uniquely positions her to help leaders tackle financial challenges under public scrutiny. At Harborstead, her mission is simple: equip leaders to ask better questions, make informed decisions, and communicate the stories behind the numbers.