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2009 Event

DC Area CFOs honored at 2009 Nonprofit CFO of the Year Awards Luncheon

(WASHINGTON, DC) - Three area executives were honored at the 2009 Nonprofit CFO of the Year Awards Luncheon, hosted by Tate & Tryon and West, Lane & Schlager at the Mayflower Hotel on December 15, 2009.

The fourth annual awards ceremony honored financial executives in the Washington, D.C. area for their contributions in exceptional leadership, operational excellence, and a commitment to promoting improved accountability and financial reporting practices.

The Rising Star Award was presented to Alexis George, CPA, Chief Financial Officer of the Bob Woodruff Foundation. George was nominated by Liz Quist, CPA, EA, a financial consultant for the Bob Woodruff Foundation.“Alexis took the helm of the Bob Woodruff Foundation’s daily operations as Chief Financial Officer just months after the organization was created,” Quist wrote. “Since then, she has worn just about every hat that a manager of a growing not-for-profit can possibly wear. She has excelled as a leader and a role model, and created a strong financial framework for the organization’s first successful year of operations.

The Bob Woodruff Foundation provides resources and support to service members, veterans and their families to successfully reintegrate into their communities so they may thrive physically, psychologically, socially and economically.

“In 2008, Alexis oversaw the distribution of $3.4 million in program spending, impacting an estimated 516,000 service members, veterans, family members and support personnel.,” said Quist. “By holding 2008 administrative expenses to 7% of total annual expenses she shows our donors that she takes pride in her obligation of stewardship and using donor funds efficiently.”

The Innovator of the Year Award was presented to Christopher Liedel, Executive Vice President and CFO of the National Geographic Society. Liedel was nominated by Eve Corbin of Arent Fox, LLP.

“Chris utilizes the strengths of his 300+ staff to effectively manage finance, information services, systems and technology, distribution and facilities management, manufacturing, photographic processing, and the operating infrastructure, wrote Corbin. “He manages National Geographic’s $1 billion investment portfolio, generating average annual returns of 14% over the last five years, while initiating a new legal structure for NGS with the IRS for maximizing the expansion of taxable activities, and increasing the organization access to liquidity four-fold over the past 15 months.

“Chris’ innovative thinking facilitated partnerships to create non-traditional business models for research and development to build a culture of innovation, of ideas and the structures to fund them, including the sweeping NGS-NPR multimedia project, “Climate Connection;” MyNatGeo.com, an interactive website geared to Gen Y, and JourneyStreams.com, a language arts product that develops storytelling in the classroom through the use of digital tools.”

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Moira Fathy Baker, Associate Executive Director of Operations, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the National Science Teachers Association. Baker was nominated by Francis Q. Eberle, the association’s Executive Director. Since 1996, Baker has served as CFO and has been instrumental in the growth and prosperity of the NSTA.

“Initially her task was clear,” said Eberle. “Improve internal controls, budgeting, reporting and turn around NSTA’s operating losses. NSTA had no uniform and consistent system of accumulating and reporting of project costs.”

Her role in the organization’s health and operations, however, became so much more. In 1998, she took on the additional responsibility of Chief Operating Officer. She worked with staff to implement a new IT structure, including association management software, a new accounting software platform, an e-commerce interface and an automated HR system. She refinanced the NSTA headquarters using tax-exempt bond financing, which has reduced interest expenses by several million dollars.

“Moira’s latest project is her most ambitious yet,” said Eberle. “She is leading a team of developers, architects and engineers to create a new green headquarters building on an underutilized plot of land adjacent to the NSTA’s current site. Her goal is to develop a LEED Platinum building, embracing innovative technologies in sustainable design. The John Glenn Center will launch a new vision for the country in science education.”

Nominations were reviewed and evaluated by an independent judging panel comprised of:

  • Chief Judge Andrew S. Lang, CPA, President of Lang CPA Consulting, LLC
  • Donald T. Williamson, Director, Kogod School of Business Graduate Taxation Program, and Accounting Department Chair, American University’s Kogod School of Business
  • Harvey J. Berger, Retired partner, Not-for-Profit Tax Services, Grant Thornton LLP
  • Kathy McKinless, CPA, consultant for the Archdiocese of Washington
  • Richard Newman, Esp. Partner, Arent Fox

The event was held in conjunction with the Greater Washington Society of CPAs 2009 Not-for- Profit Organization Symposium, and featured keynote speaker The Honorable David M. Walker, President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Prior to his current position, Dave served as the seventh Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) from 1998 to 2008, spanning both Democratic and Republican administrations. Sponsors of the event include Anybill, Arent Fox, Chevy Chase Bank, Convergent Wealth Advisors, HBW Group, OTJ Architects, Robert Half, Senoda, Inc., Syscom Services and Washington Workplace.

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