It appears that summer is now in full force, and as the earnings season comes to a close, CFOs can finally find a moment to unwind. Nevertheless, before we embark on our beach retreat, we have some noteworthy updates regarding recent changes in CFO positions.
CFO Pros on the Move May 2023
Valerie Lightfoot | Xwell
Travel health and wellness services provider Xwell appointed Valerie Lightfoot as CFO, effective June 12. Prior to joining Xwell, Lightfoot served as CFO at Green River Spirits, a spirit manufacturer, Belimed, a medical device supplier, and Alliant Credit Union. Lightfoot replaces Omar Haynes, who has been serving as the interim CFO since June 2022. Haynes will resume his previous position as Vice President of Finance and Treasury.
Kapil Agrawal | Outschool
Kapil Agrawal has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer of Outschool, an online learning platform. Previously, Agrawal served as the interim CFO at Poshmark, an online marketplace, where he played a key role in overseeing its successful initial public offering in 2021. Agrawal brings a wealth of experience, having held positions such as the Global Head of Pricing at Uber and the Head of Business Strategy at Capital One.
Helen Johnson | Appen
Helen Johnson, formerly the CFO of North America at Insight, a technology company, has been appointed as the chief financial officer of Appen, an artificial intelligence company. Prior to her tenure at Insight, where she served for almost 14 years, Johnson held the position of senior vice president and treasurer at eFunds, a provider of electronic payments and risk management solutions. Kevin Levine, the previous CFO of Appen, will continue to support the company in an advisory capacity until September 2023.
Anna Manz | Nestlé
Taking over the CFO chair at Nestlé will be Anna Manz, currently CFO and board member at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). She replaces François-Xavier Roger, who is stepping down to pursue new career opportunities. In addition to her role as CFO, she will also become an executive vice president on Nestlé's board, as stated in a Nestlé press release.
David Black | Proterra
David Black, formerly the CFO of BWX Technologies, a supplier of nuclear components and fuel to the U.S. government, has been named the Chief Financial Officer of Proterra, a manufacturer of zero-emission electric transit vehicles. Prior to this role, Black served as a special adviser to the CEO of BWX Technologies. Black takes over from Karina Padilla, who resigned from her position on May 15 and will continue to work with the company as a non-executive officer employee until June 2.
Graeme Pitkethly | Unilever Pitkethly
Following a nine-year tenure as the finance chief and over twenty years on the board, Graeme Pitkethly, the CFO of Unilever Plc, has announced he will depart the company in May of next year. Unilever has announced its intention to conduct both internal and external searches to find a suitable replacement for the position, although no decision has been made yet. An executive shakeup is not new for Unilever, who just welcomed aboard CEO Hein Schumacher in January.
Zane Rowe | Workday
HR software maker Workday, appointed Zane Rowe as finance chief, effective June 12. Previously, Rowe held the position of interim CEO at VMware for a duration of four months in 2021. Prior to his time at VMware, Rowe served as CFO of EMC and United Airlines, as well as leading North America sales at Apple. Rowe is taking over from Barbara Larson, who has decided to step down and dedicate more time to her family.
Sumita Pandit | Radian Group
Sumita Pandit has been named the new chief financial officer of Radian Group, a mortgage insurance company. She took on this role after joining the company in March 2023 as their inaugural chief growth officer, having previously served as the chief operating officer at the financial technology firm dLocal. Prior to that, Pandit held various managing director positions at J.P. Morgan, including the position of global head of fintech investment banking.
Tom Hitselberger | Treliant
Consulting firm Treliant named Tom Hitselberger as CFO. Hitselberger brings extensive experience to the role, having previously served as the CFO of diamond manufacturer WD Lab Grown Diamonds and consulting company Promontory. Prior to these positions, he held notable roles such as vice president of finance and operations at Presidio Networked Solutions and director of financial planning and analysis at Digex. Hitselberger takes over from Sandy Sloyer, who has been serving as the interim CFO for the past 18 months.
Andre Fernandez | WeWork
WeWork CFO Andre Fernandez is following CEO Sandeep Mathrani out the door at the coworking provider. Fernandez is resigning right at his first anniversary and is the third CFO to leave the company in the last four years. Before joining the workspace provider, Fernandez was chief financial officer of enterprise software provider NCR. Kurt Wehner, WeWork’s chief accounting officer, will take over as finance chief.
Chris Wheaton | RealNetworks
RealNetworks, the digital media company, appointed Chris Wheaton as its president, chief operating officer (COO), and chief financial officer (CFO). Prior to this role, Wheaton served as the COO and CFO at Bsquare, a device management company, for a period of four years. Before that, he held concurrent positions as COO and CFO at EnerG2 Technologies and Pacific Science Center.
Joyce Liu | TripleLift
Joyce Liu has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of ad tech platform TripleLift. Previously, Liu held the position of CFO at Politico and spent 12 years at CEB, a research and advisory company, where she served as the Head of Global Finance. Prior to that, she held roles such as Vice President of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) at US Foods, Director of FP&A at Marriott International, and Senior Financial Analyst at Yum Brands.