D CEO revealed the winners of the 2024 Financial Executive Awards at a private event Tuesday night at On the Levee in the Dallas Design District. The program, presented in partnership with the Association for Corporate Growth Dallas-Fort Worth, Financial Executives International, and TXCPA Dallas, celebrates CFOs and other financial players who play critical roles within their companies.
With a turbulent economic landscape in recent years, these leaders have been challenged with discovering new opportunities, thinking outside the box, and facing the realities of an uncertain future.
All finalists are recognized in the May issue of D CEO. Winners are selected by a panel of esteemed industry judges. This year’s panel included: Sharon Adams of Thomas Edwards Group; Jennifer Cuello of EisnerAmper; Ray Estep of Estep Growth Partners; Jay Smith of Jefferson Wells; and Austin Waugh of First Liberty Institute.
Be on the lookout for a photo recap and additional reports in the weeks to come.
Financial Executive Awards 2024 Honorees
Emerging Leader in Finance
Cameron Lessard of Thryv
Cameron Lessard of Thryv played an instrumental role in the company’s first secondary offer and a $700 million refinance to fund a significant international acquisition. Because of that, corporate treasury was added to Lessard’s growing list of responsibilities before being promoted to assistant vice president of investor relations and treasury. After Thyrv went public in 2020, Lessard brought in five top software analysts while creating and expanding relationships with institutional ownership and investors.
Finalists
Kimberly Casarez-Haro of Goodwill North Central Texas
Lane Duncan of Cyber Defense Labs
Landon Timms of AllerVie Health
Outstanding Public Consultant
Chanel Christoff Davis of Davis Davis & Harmon
Davis Davis & Harmon founder and CEO Chanel Christoff Davis leads the largest woman- and minority-owned practice in its field since founding the firm in 2001. Bringing her expertise in audit defense and sales tax fund recovery to the table has helped recover more than $100 million annually for the firm’s clients. Beyond the work done in the office, Davis hosts the ‘Follow The Leader’ podcast where she shares her expertise and experiences to help mentor the next generation of women entrepreneurs.
Finalists
Mark Brown of VIP Management Consulting
Matthew Edwards of VIP Management Consulting
Outstanding Public Accountant
Jennifer Norris of Saville CPAs & Advisors
Recently named partner at Saville CPAs & Advisors, Jennifer Norris joined the firm in 2019 after it merged with B&J Financial Services. Today she serves as the CFO in Client Accounting Services. Norris has helped grow the CAS 2.0 model at Saville and handled strategic planning, cash management, and daily accounting services.
Finalists
John Baines of John E. Baines
Alyssa G. Martin of Weaver
Michael Nesta of KPMG
Outstanding Internal Auditor
Vic Summers of Parkland Health
With over 35 years of tenure, Vic Summers serves as the senior vice president and CAE Internal Audit Services. With plans to retire later this year, his contributions to risk management and direct oversight of the audit team has helped grow Parkland Health.
Finalists
Danielle Okland of Texas Capital
Saumil Patel of Globe Life
John Wauson of Weaver
Outstanding Innovator in Finance
Daniel S. Hoverman of Texas Capital
As the head of corporate and investment banking for Texas Capital, Daniel Hoverman helped the firm land multiple groundbreaking transactions, including launching its ETF and funds management business. With over 20 years of legal and financial experience, Hoverman has led the investment banking team to trade $70 billion in securities, close $3.5 billion in sell-side M&A advisory transactions, and underwrite $2.3 billion in securities.
Finalists
David Bornowski of YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas
Rory McCrady of JPS Health Network
Outstanding Public Service
Mehran Assadi of National Life Group
Chairman, CEO, and president of National Life Group Mehran Assadi, who has held the post since 2009, oversaw the charitable foundation’s fundraiser that saw it raise over $70,000 for Parkland Health’s pediatric behavioral health program with its “Do Good Fest” in 2023. National Life brought in over $817,000 across 525 charities in 2023.
Finalists
Meg Campbell, Formerly of TXCPA-Dallas
Eric Holleman of Conexus SG
Kathryn Loo of Private Directors Association Dallas-Fort Worth
Outstanding CAO, Controller or Treasurer: Private Company
Angela Monschke Hutson of Baylor Scott & White
With 30 years of tenure with Baylor Scott & White, Angela Monschke Hutson serves as the chief accounting officer and senior vice president. Over the last 18 months, she has led three new teams and led the redesign of BSWH’s tax operating model to increase scalability and efficiency. Hutson’s expertise was at the forefront during the execution of a $500 million bond offering while also mangining audits for 15 system entities and joint ventures.
Finalists
Christy Philen of MCR Hotels
Outstanding CAO, Controller or Treasurer: Public Company
Sandra Schneider of ZimVie
Sandra Schneider was recruited to her current role as chief accounting officer with ZimVie by a former supervisor where she established all reporting for a large spin-off. Following that spin-off in 2022, Schneider zeroed in on her new goals for 2023 that included improving analytics and evaluating technology solutions.
Finalists
Travis Stricker of Primoris Services
Most Innovative Finance Team: Private
The State Fair of Texas Accounting and Finance Team
Under the direction of CFO Lindsay Clark, the accounting and finance team for the State Fair of Texas completely overhauled the department’s procedures over the last 18 months that saw an improvement in decision making with more transparency in reporting, purchasing, and budget management. As a result, the streamlined operations have reduced month-end close time from 20 days to five days, freeing up more time for strategic initiative planning.
Most Innovative Finance Team: Public Company
AT&T Finance Team
The AT&T Finance Team led by CFO Pascal Desroches has leaned into artificial intelligence in everyday operations, thus making improvements in coding and simplifying balance sheets. Their work helped achieve a $6 billion cost transformation target, with $2 billion more in cost savings expected by 2026. The finance team’s efforts in finding solutions to help the company invest heavily in 5G and fiber, in turn growing the business.
Outstanding CFO: Small Private Company
Dinesh Parbhoo of ILE Homes
ILE Homes CFO Dinesh Parbhoo has helped lead the charge in implementing efficient systems and improving communication with third-party vendors. Because of that, Parbhoo’s colleagues have looked to him and the company’s finance team to deliver accurate and timely feedback on operations to improve turnover, manage expenses, and improve margins. Over the course of his tenure, ILE Homes saw margins improve 616 percent in 2021 and 170 percent in 2022.
Finalists
Marla Beckham of Cyber Defense Labs
Irma Gonzalez of LERMA/ Agency
Sohail Hamirani of Mohr Partners
David Stark of OpTic Gaming
Outstanding CFO: Midsize Private Company
Andrea Hulcy of Tolleson Wealth Management
After joining Tolleson Wealth Management four years ago, CFO Andrea Hulcy has implemented cloud-based ERP accounting and financial reporting, as well as a robust management reporting system that provides key financial historical and forecast data to senior leadership. Over the course of Hulcy’s tenure, revenue has ballooned around 40 percent while assets have grown even further by 86 percent.
Finalists
Jimmy Dockal of SRS Real Estate Partners
Jeff Jones of Twisted X Global Brands
Keegan Smith of Bright Realty
Brandon Standifird of U.S. Energy Development
Outstanding CFO: Nonprofit Organization
Jennifer Mitzner of Baylor Scott & White Health
Despite working through a multitude of challenges in the healthcare sector, Baylor Scott & White CFO and Executive Vice President Jennifer Mitzner was able to initiate a $2 billion capital plan to revitalize infrastructure, expand care access, and strengthen community presence in the state. Beyond that, Mitzner secured a $500 million line of credit to support the organization’s growth, leading to an expanded role to include executive responsibility for the system’s health plan and value-based care organization.
Finalists
Lindsay Clark of State Fair of Texas
Beth Edwards of Texas Trees Foundation
Amber E. Kinney of Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Larry W. McCoy of Klyde Warren Park
Anne Woods of Perot Museum of Nature and Science
Outstanding CFO: Large Private Company
Henry Moomaw of U.S. Oral Surgery Management
Henry Moomaw had several sizeable achievements in 2023 as CFO for U.S. Oral Surgery Management. Namely, Moomaw secured a $125 million credit facility roughly 18 months ago before securing an additional $150 million from its current lenders to close out 2023. Because of those advancements, the company has become the largest and fastest growing network of oral maxilofical surgeons in the U.S. In three years’ time, Moomaw oversaw revenue growth from $150 million in 2020 to $475 million in 2023.
Finalists
Jared Day of Compass Datacenters
Rudy Gonzalez of Ansira
Erik Laney of Santander Consumer USA
Elizabeth Reich of Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Outstanding CFO: Large Public Company
Anand Govind of o9 Solutions
o9 Solutions CFO Anand Govind shifted his focus to driving a culture built upon efficiency and disciplined capital employment to run the business effectively while maintaining strong growth trajectory. Govind started with a three-person finance team that has now morphed into 60 members located around the world while growing revenue 10 times over in the last four years. Govind’s capital deployment helped o9 Solutions grow its’ employee base to over 2,500 across 17 countries and increase ARR 47 percent year-over-year.
Finalists
Dylan Bramhall of Energy Transfer
Jackson Hildebrand of MB2 Dental
Austin Robertson of Rogers-O’Brian Construction
Excellence in Corporate Governance Award “Constantine ‘Connie’ Konstans Award”
Mahesh Shetty of ILE Homes
Mahesh Shetty, the founder and CEO of ILE Home and founder of the University of Texas at Dallas’ Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance, was a unanimous selection for the “Constantine ‘Connie’ Konstans Award.” Prior to founding ILE Homes, Shetty helped Encore Enterprises grow its assets by 1,000 percent over eight years, completing $1.5 billion in transactions. Shetty started ILE Homes to help individuals, families, trusts, institutions, and public and private funds invest in residential real estate. Within a few years, the company had executed about $3 billion in transactions involving over 6,500 homes. Shetty is also active in industry and community organizations, holding leadership positions from Financial Executives International and Mothers Against Drunk Driving to the U.S. Chamber India Chamber of Commerce.
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