52 treasury & risk November 2009 treasuryandrisk.com

While the ill winds of the financial crisis pummeled the global economy, women execu-

tives seem to have held fast, losing little ground in their steady climb to the C-suite of

the enterprise hierarchy. Data from research firm Catalyst shows that 15.7% of corporate

officers were women last year, almost unchanged from the level in 2007. The gap be-

tween women’s and men’s wages is holding steady as well, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Re-

search, which found full-time female employees earned 77.1% of what full-time male employees did in 2008,

versus 77.8% in 2007. Perhaps new opportunities engendered by the recovery will provide a needed boost in

women’s somewhat stalled progress. Surely, as this list once again proves, there is no shortage of female tal-

ent in finance departments. And while 61% of the women surveyed by Treasury & Risk say women executives

do face a glass ceiling in corporate America, 30% describe their own career prospects as very good or excel-

lent, and another 35% say their prospects are good.

High Hopes

treasuryandrisk.com November 2009 treasury & risk 53

Janet Yeomans

Treasurer, 3MYeomans started her career at 3M as its pension

fund manager, and is in her second stint as treasur-

er, after an interlude spent running the diversified

manufacturer’s mergers and acquisitions team.

Laurie Meissner

Global controller and senior vice president, AonMeissner’s expertise in accounting, reporting and

controls is facilitating Aon’s ability to make the best

decisions. Before joining Aon, she served as chief

accounting officer at Motorola.

Melissa Hall

Senior vice president of finance, AssurantHall has been an important contributor to the specialty

insurer’s financial and tax strategies since signing on

as its director of taxation in 1994. She’s also respon-

sible for the tax aspects of Assurant’s enterprise risk

management program.

Danielle Cupps

Director of corporate development, BoeingSince 2006, Cupps has led the aircraft manufac-

turer’s acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures,

including its purchases of Digital Receiver Technol-

ogy, Vought Aircraft Industries’ South Carolina

manufacturing plant and half of Global Aeronautica.

Virginia Seggerman

Controller and vice president, CDW Seggerman has focused on improving the technol-

ogy product and services provider’s working capital

management, controlling its costs and enhancing

travel and entertainment expense management.

Patricia Yarrington

CFO and vice president, ChevronYarrington served in managerial and finance posi-

tions at the oil giant, including stints as vice presi-

dent for policy and public affairs and president of

Chevron Canada, before being named CFO this year.

Mary Campbell

Global head of cash and trade operations, Deutsche BankAs head of the team handling the processing of all

major currencies, Campbell implemented the SEPA

and Target 2 models, put in place new global pay-

ments platforms and developed effective organiza-

tional responses to the recent market turmoil.

Lynn Good

CFO and group executive, Duke EnergyWhen Good was named to the top finance spot at

Duke Energy in June, the company cited the “lead-

ership and vision” she had shown in her previous

role as president of its commercial businesses.

Amid the Crisis

Janet Yeomans Laurie Meissner Melissa Hall Danielle Cupps Virginia Seggerman

[Women] have a tendency, whether they are metrics-driven or not, to look at all the possibilities for things to be more efficient and think more out of the box. Maybe

there’s a place for our detail orientation and philosophy to work to our advantage in this current economic environment. —INTEL’S CULBERTSON

54 treasury & risk November 2009 treasuryandrisk.com

Donna Inch

Finance director, customer service division, FordInch has P&L controllership responsibilities for the

sales, distribution and logistics for service parts

throughout North America. She also plays a big role

in the car company’s campus recruiting.

Sabrina Simmons

CFO and executive vice president, GapSimmons has worked to improve the retail chain’s

fiscal discipline. Her team’s decision in 2002 to

build the Gap’s cash reserves served the company

well in last year’s downturn. Simmons has also

worked to improve the Gap’s merchandise margins.

Ronni Horrillo

Assistant treasurer, GoogleSince joining Google in 2003, Horrillo has worked

on the technology company’s 2004 initial public

offering, the development of its transferable stock

option program and its option exchange program.

Deb Thomas

CFO, HasbroThomas served as the toy company’s head of cor-

porate finance and as its controller before she was

named to the top finance position this year.

Kathryn Winters

Corporate controller and vice president, HoneywellBefore being appointed controller this year, Winters

improved Honeywell’s processes for the reporting

and analysis of revenue, working capital and other

metrics in her previous position as vice president of

business analysis and planning.

Leslie Culbertson

Director of finance and vice president, IntelAs head of Intel’s finance and accounting function,

Culbertson oversees about 2,300 employees in 30

countries. Earlier in her career at Intel, she developed

its Sarbanes-Oxley controls processes.

Denise Ramos

CFO and senior vice president, ITTRamos helps set ITT’s strategic direction in addition

to overseeing financial management. Before joining

ITT, she was treasurer at Yum and CFO at KFC, and

spent 21 years at Atlantic Richfield.

Carolyn Handlon

Global treasurer and executive vice president, Marriott InternationalThe third-party financing Handlon arranged for

owners of Marriott hotels has contributed to the

five-fold increase in the chain’s rooms. She has

overseen more than $8 billion in borrowings and

also developed a multibillion hedging program.

Vanessa Wittman

CFO and executive vice president, MMC Wittman steered MMC through last year’s turbu-

lence by raising capital to strengthen the balance

sheet. She’s also working to break down walls

between the finance groups at MMC’s units.

Marta Stewart

Treasurer and vice president, Norfolk SouthernStewart, who joined the railroad in 1983, brings her

comprehensive knowledge of its finances and of the

ilroad industry to her position as treasurer.

Patricia Yarrington Mary Campbell Lynn Good Donna Inch Sabrina Simmons

Ronni Horrillo Deb Thomas Kathryn Winters Leslie Culbertson Denise Ramos

One of the things that

women really do need to do is encourage the women below them and

help them to understand the

difficulties around negotiating the

corporate environment. It’s developing that

talent and that pipeline at their own companies.

—PFIZER’S CANGIALOSI

treasuryandrisk.com November 2009 treasury & risk 55

Carolyn Handlon Vanessa Wittman Marta Stewart Tessa Hilado Loretta Cangialosi

Mary Ann Sigler Janice Fukakusa Laura Wright Cindy Wang Robin Forbis

Tessa Hilado

Treasurer and senior vice president, PepsiCoWhen Hilado joined PepsiCo earlier this year, the

company cited her 20 years of finance expertise. She

previously served as treasurer at Schering-Plough

and assistant treasurer at General Motors.

Loretta Cangialosi

Controller and senior vice president, Pfizer

In Cangialosi’s 10 years as controller, she has

promoted the role of continuous improvement and

set the direction for the standardization of Pfizer’s

processes and systems worldwide. Most recently she

led the finance integration planning for its pending

acquisition of Wyeth.

Mary Ann Sigler

CFO, Platinum EquitySigler is responsible for the capital that’s deployed

in each of the investments of Platinum, which was

one of the most active private equity firms in the

first half of this year.

Janice Fukakusa

CFO and chief administrative officer, RBC

In her role heading both finance and administration

for Canada’s largest bank, Fukakusa is one of the

executives responsible for setting RBC’s strategic

direction at the same time she oversees its day-to-

day operating activities.

Laura Wright

CFO and senior vice president, finance, Southwest AirlinesWright led the team that implemented the fuel

hedging program that helped Southwest save on

fuel costs earlier in this decade. As its CFO since

2004, she has kept the airline growing through a

rocky period for the industry.

Cindy Wang

Global co-head, treasury systems and operations, Toyota Financial ServicesSince arriving at TFS in 2005, Wang has reworked its

enterprise cash management practices, including

moving the auto lender from no straight-through

processing to 100% straight-through processing

and implementing a centralized model for banking

relationships.

Robin Forbis

Senior vice president, global finance transformation, Wal-Mart StoresForbis heads a team that is transforming the retailer’s

finance function by implementing new processes and

systems in Wal-Mart’s units around the globe. Earlier,

as part of the U.S. finance group, she enhanced daily

P&L forecasting.

The recession has required all finance professionals to step up their game

and I have not seen a gender differential in what that entails. If you’re good at your job, regardless of whether you’re a man or a woman,

you’re going to look at opportunities to step up.

—MMC’S WITTMAN