Women in finance say it’s tough to find a mentor. A new program aims to amp up this critical career booster

Women in financial leadership roles, even CFOs, are seeking women in their field as mentors. And that’s a need the CFO Leadership Council aims to meet.

“What I’d like to do with the next three to five years would be to prepare the next generation of CFOs,” says Jack McCullough, who founded the professional association in 2006 and serves as its president. McCullough had a career as a finance chief before launching the CFO Leadership Council, and he is also the founder and cochair of the MIT Sloan CFO Summit.

This past October, the CFO Leadership Council launched a mentoring program to serve its more than 2,000 men and women members who participate in 30 chapters across the U.S. and Canada. 

“We have an option that allows people to state a demographic preference [for a mentor or mentee],” McCullough explains. “Many women state a preference for a female mentor or a person of color.” In finding CFOs who are women of color to participate as mentors, “a lot of my members are also in Chief [a network for executive women], and it ended up being a great resource for this purpose,” he says.

Studies point to how women leaders improve business and the benefits of successful mentoring programs for women, including greater career success, higher levels of employee engagement, and knowledge-sharing. Experts also recommend that women seek out sponsors at their organizations as well. 

I had the opportunity to talk with some of the women who are mentors and mentees in the CFO Leadership Council’s program about their experience.

‘As a controller, sometimes we don’t get to experience the strategic side’

Edwine Alphonse is the controller at Ramp, a fintech startup that offers a finance automation platform. In the past four years, Alphonse’s interest grew in becoming a CFO. But “wherever I’ve worked, I’m usually the only Black person or the only immigrant in the room,” she says. “I don’t think I know a startup accounting leader that looks like me,” Alphonse says. “So, it’s always challenging to find a mentor or coach to help me and support me.” 

Alphonse’s mentor is Joanne Cheng, CFO at Jellyfish, an engineering management platform provider. “The reason I clicked with Joanne is, first of all, she is a woman of color,” she says. “I knew she worked for a startup. And I was mostly interested in her experience. As a controller, sometimes we don’t get to experience the strategic side. And Joanne is more like a finance person. So, her background is extremely valuable.”

In starting her career, Cheng’s mentors were men because there weren’t women she worked with that were in formal mentoring roles. But she started connecting with women finance leaders on her own. For the CFO Leadership Council’s program, “I requested a female mentee because I just want to promote people in their careers, and often they need advice from someone outside of their company,” says Cheng, who’s held several CFO roles.

‘I’m a late bloomer’

Landy Lin is an executive director of finance at Project Outlier, a consulting firm for biotech and pharma industries. “Coming from an immigrant family I’ve definitely worked hard on my career,” she says. “When I was in my 20s, I felt like I just had a job. But in the last few years, I’ve been trying to grow my career. I’m a late bloomer. Some people I talk to are like, ‘Oh, I was the CFO at 19.’” 

One of Lin’s mentors is Margaret (Maggie) Libatique, currently a consulting CFO as well as a trustee for the Connecticut Science Center and previously held CFO roles at Daversa Partners and Evariant. “I knew very early on that I wanted to be a CFO,” Libatique says. “I told my husband on our first date that I wanted to have my first child by age 30 and be a CFO by 40. I did not have my first child by 30. But I had three and became a CFO two times by my 40th birthday. So I consider that all a big win.” 

Though she became a mentor to “pay it forward,” she has also seen benefits: “I was looking for a mentee, and I got a friend,” Libatique says. 

‘Mentoring is not always for new CFOs’

Amy Alost, CFO of Integris Solutions and an advisory board member of the CFO Leadership Council’s Dallas chapter, is also a mentor in the program. “Mentors must set clear expectations and goals with mentees from the beginning,” Alost explains. “That includes the cadence of meetings and determining what the mentee needs to achieve.”

Alost also points out that mentees can be at all levels of their careers. “Mentoring is not always for new CFOs and the next level down, sometimes seasoned CFOs help each other think through strategic transitions or highly technical or controversial situations that arise.”

Saule Shymshykbayeva has experience as a CFO, and she’s being mentored in the program. Shymshykbayeva, who is based in Kazakhstan, previously held CFO positions at major pharma companies like Novo Nordisk and Sandoz. She’s currently chair of the Eurasia and Baltics Area Committee and a member of the Global Thought Leadership and Business Ethics Committee at CIMA & AICPA organizations.

“The CFO Leadership Council for me is a networking opportunity and also an opportunity to discuss all my career objectives, and receive feedback from my mentor,” Shymshykbayeva says. “I’m also looking for international opportunities, so I’m seeking some expert advice from a person who has worked in several markets.”

“The mentor has to be genuinely interested in the success of the mentee,” McCullough says. “And there has to be that kind of personal connection.”

For more information on the CFO Leadership Council’s mentoring program, you can email McCullough at jack@cfolc.com.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Big deal

"In the face of volatility, CFOs—and their organizations—adapt," a new report by McKinsey & Company, finds finance leaders plan to keep their organizations moving forward, despite their growing concern over volatility and inflation.

A key finding: The majority of CFOs surveyed (72%) said they increase their own participation in decision-making on business operational practices to manage volatility, followed by 64% who cited increasing the frequency of cash flow analysis and short-term budgeting. Just 18% cited increasing the frequency of risk committee meetings and designating a colleague to focus on risk management as the most helpful practices (13%).

Another key finding: Despite generally low M&A activity, CFOs report that they are nearly twice as likely to spend much of their time on M&A activities, including post-merger integrations, McKinsey found.

Going deeper

Some of the biggest names in U.S. banking collaborated this past November on a proof of concept (PoC) that tested a version of the Regulated Liability Network (RLN) for a regulated digital settlement platform of U.S. dollars. The findings were released on July 6. Citi published an assessment that explains the key findings. "While today’s traditional payment systems function effectively, there is still friction in transactions as it relates to speed, cost, off-hours availability and the settlement process," according to Citi. "The RLN PoC explored the potential of shared ledger technology to address these frictions in support of safe and efficient payments."

Leaderboard

Jill Griebenow was promoted to EVP, CFO, and treasurer of Cboe Global Markets, Inc., a derivatives and securities exchange network, effective July 10. Griebenow succeeds Brian Schell who will be departing the company to pursue a new professional opportunity. Griebenow has been with Cboe for 12 years, serving as chief accounting officer since 2018, a role she will also continue to hold. Before that, she was CFO of Cboe's European operations, charged with managing the company's overseas financial arm, as well as overseeing the human resources and administrative functions in Europe.

Vincent Zahn was named EVP and CFO for Seminole Gaming and Hard Rock International. Zahn has more than a decade of experience in roles at public gaming entertainment companies. He began his career in the financial sector on Wall Street, as an equity analyst covering casino gaming and hospitality companies at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Following his tenure on Wall Street, Zahn served as the VP and treasurer of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. In his most recent public company role, Zahn served as SVP and treasurer for Wynn Resorts, Limited from 2019 to 2022.

Overheard

"Gen Zers and millennials want to take part in driving change through their individual work—and they are more likely to stay in their current organization when they feel empowered to do so."

—Elizabeth Faber, Deloitte’s global chief people and purpose officer, writes in a Fortune opinion piece on the findings of Deloitte's annual Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey. The research has "revealed a consistent theme: Young employees want their employers’ values to be aligned with their own," Faber writes.