Pam Finch

Strategic consultant and facilitator/owner, Red Ribbon Consulting

When the council formed in 1994, I was an auditor for a CPA firm specializing in financial institutions and nonprofits. I became a CFO at a credit union in 1996 and was there for 17 years. During that time, I spent eight years on the council’s Executive Committee.

My interests and skills shifted over time, leading to a career change in 2013 as a strategic consultant with c. myers, a company dedicated to helping credit unions understand their risks to profitability while exploring alternative courses of action. I loved working with boards and management teams across the country to link strategy with their asset/liability management.

A year ago, family circumstances led to another shift, bringing me closer to home with my work. As CEO/founder of Red Ribbon Consulting, I use my financial knowledge and strategic mindset to inspire nonprofit boards and management, particularly executive-level women, to set big, realistic goals to which they are held accountable.

Finance professionals are now relied upon as strategists. Since 2008, CEOs, boards, and other executives lean more heavily on the CFO, who in turn leans more heavily on other finance professionals. Not only do financial professionals provide and interpret meaningful data for making more informed decisions about risks to profitability, they also must invest in the growth and development of those around them to address the continued increase in intense decision-making.