Nonprofit CFO’s Receive Top Honors at Annual Awards
The Nonprofit CFO of the Year Awards is an annual occasion that recognizes the nonprofit CFO, an event in which Association TRENDS is honored to play a part. 2018’s luncheon and the ceremony took place on October 11th at the Capitol Hilton in Washington, D.C.
The Chief Financial Officer is an incredibly significant role in associations and nonprofits across the country. However, 12 years ago founding partners Tate & Tryon and West, Lane & Schlager realized that the contributions the CFO plays are often overlooked and go unrecognized. West, Lane & Schlager’s Co-founder and Principal, Eric West, kicked off the event by explaining this joint revelation. He described the awards creation driving from three things; the recognition that the nonprofit CFO is vital, that the job itself continues to expand and cover more areas than just financial, and that the CFO’s role was not publicly promoted.
This year’s founders and sponsors were more than excited to continue this tradition and publicly recognize eight accomplished and well-deserving individuals in the nonprofit finance community.
This year’s event Keynote Speaker was Ankit Gupta. Ankit is a machine learning data scientist at Crisis Text Line. He designed and implemented an AI-powered triage algorithm to serve 94% of high-risk texters in under five minutes. The room was hushed as Ankit explained the power of the work Crisis Text Line is doing and how they are using data science and technology to assist counselors quickly and accurately in order to save lives. It was an honor to host Ankit.
2018’s event launched the first ever Class of Rising Stars where five outstanding CFO’s were recognized for their vast accomplishments all before reaching the age of 40.
The Class of Rising Stars included:
- Rich Cohen; National Council of Nonprofits
- Tea Genmaro; Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc.
- Zerihum Haile-Selassie; American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
- Dave Jackson; American Counseling Association
- Warren Sander; Society of Conservation Biology
The three top honors this year went to Mary Jane Morrow, Philanthropic Organization CFO of the Year, Margie Erinle, Association CFO of the Year, and Joe Janela, CFO of the Year.
Mary Jane Morrow is the Chief Financial Officer(CFO) at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington where she brings more than 40 years of auditing and accounting experience. A graduate of Wheaton College, she holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her career has spanned both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, including serving as the CFO of the Boys and Girls Club of Washington, Federal Realty Investment Trust, and the Mills Corporation.
Margie Erinle is the CFO at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries. In less than 2 years in the role of CFO at ISRI, Margie Erinle has brought a new level of professionalism, confidence and overall excellence to our financial and accounting operations. She brings almost 40 years of accounting/auditing/finance experience. Before ISRI, Margie worked at Howard University managing a $657MM budget and prior to that served as Controller to a number of for and non-profit organizations through Accounts Plus. Margie holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Bowie State University and an MBA in Finance from Morgan State University. Margie has used her background in accounting to ‘pay it forward’ and established an orphanage in her home country of Nigeria where she provides a place for displaced children affording them food, education, and clothing.
Joseph Janela is Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration for the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). APhA is the first established and largest association of pharmacists in the United States and represents more than 60,000 practicing pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, student pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and others interested in advancing the profession. As Chief Financial Officer, Joe serves as a business partner to the Chief Executive Officer and Senior Management Team and is responsible for all financial matters including budgeting, long-range planning and forecasting, banking and investment relationships as well as fiscal and operational oversight of the Association’s office building and related lease operations with the U.S. State Department. In addition, Joe oversees the operation of APhA’s Administrative Services and Information Technology Departments in support of APhA’s association-wide activities.
Each of our top winners was introduced by their CEO’s who poignantly explained what they mean to their respective organizations and their colleagues. Congratulations to Joe, Margie, and Mary Jane on your past and continued successes in the nonprofit finance industry.
Thank you to all of 2018’s CFO of the Year Award sponsors and attendees. Click here to check out all the pictures from this year’s event.
We are already gearing up for The 2019 Nonprofit CFO Awards which will take place on October 10th at the Capital Hilton and registration is open! Visit nonprofitcfoaward.com to grab your seat. We can’t wait to see you there!
