Over 300 gathered at the Hilton Tampa Downtown on May 31 to celebrate the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 2023 CFO of the Year honorees.

Twenty financial executives from businesses across the Tampa Bay area were named CFO of the Year.

These awards recognize the top financial executives who help grow their companies and are active in the Tampa Bay economy and community. These CFOs go beyond the job parameters to help their businesses thrive. This year’s honorees come from a wide range of industries and locales.

Readers will notice a large majority of them this year are women. This tracks national trends. A 2022 Crist Kolder Volatility Report found that 16.3% of CFOs at Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies were women — a record-high increase from 6.3% in 2004 when tracking began.

View the photo gallery above for images from the event. This week’s digital edition honors these financial executives, so be sure to take a look inside.

Find all of this year’s coverage of CFO of the Year here.

View the article as originally published at https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2023/06/02/2023-cfo-of-the-year-photos.html

View the event photo album at https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2023/06/02/2023-cfo-of-the-year-photos.html

View the digital edition of the CFO Year of the Award issue at https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/digital-edition?issue_id=38291&loc=pcmod

After a decorated 40-year public accounting career, Laura Krueger Brock came out of retirement to work in her current role, which began in April 2020.

Under her leadership, she was able to keep the nonprofit’s doors open and staff employed by deploying emergency funds and working to secure government aid. She also oversaw the implementation of a Workforce Stabilization Program last year, granting funds to 55 nonprofit agencies, with a total annualized investment forecasted at $7.9 million. In fiscal year 2023, these grants are estimated to total $5.8 million.

Outside work, Krueger Brock serves on the Florida State University Department of Accounting’s Professional Advisory Board Executive Committee and has been a guest speaker at the university’s accounting classes.

She is also a member of the Rotary, where she has been an active member, past president, and assistant district governor. She is also the finance chair at St. Jerome Catholic Church, where she recently led the $1.4 million roof capital campaign.

View the article as originally published at https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2023/06/02/laura-krueger-brock-cfo-juvenile-welfare-board.html

Laura Krueger Brock is the CFO of the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County.

What inspired you to become a finance executive? I had an aptitude for math and business, and this allowed me to pursue a profession that included obtaining my CPA license and working in public accounting for 40 years. 

I was able to utilize my accounting and financial analysis skills serving my government and nonprofit clients — and my community — which ultimately provided me the opportunity to work as the CFO for Juvenile Welfare Board for the past three years. 

What technology, if any, has been introduced in the past few years that has helped the most in your job? The past few years have been a challenge for most organizations, which opened the door for many to work in a remote environment. 

I was semi-retired providing consulting services when the pandemic hit, and was able to come out of retirement to fill the void of CFO at JWB. Technology has been extremely helpful in reviewing and executing volumes of records and documents with the ability to effectively interact with others. 

These tools have enabled me to obtain timely financial information and furnish responses, provide support and supervisory responsibilities within the organization, and stay current with the accounting profession. 

What drives you to succeed? My parents were my mentors and were highly ethical people. 

They raised and educated eight children, worked hard and became successful. They showed me, through their actions and words, that if you have goals, work hard and treat people the way you want to be treated, that success will be yours.

I am a glass-half-full person and strive to be the best I can be, both on a personal and professional level. I have been a lifelong learner and believe that you can take small steps every day to accomplish your goals. Even though there may be adversity in your life, never give up; with faith, you have the strength within yourself to achieve anything.

What is your favorite book? “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey

What’s a hidden talent few people know about you? I have a twin sister, and we both were collegiate athletes (volleyball).

If you weren’t a CFO, what would you be? Growing up, I wanted to be a dental hygienist.

What was your first ever paid job? I worked in my dad’s dental office.

What’s your favorite movie of all time? “The Sound of Music”

Read the article as originally published at https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2023/05/24/laura-krueger-brock-cfo-honoree.html

On Friday, April 28th, nearly 600 Pinellas County community leaders and child advocates gathered at the St. Pete Coliseum to celebrate JWB’s annual awards luncheon with a theme of “Imagine.”

Last year, JWB celebrated its 75th anniversary, marking the milestone of our nation’s first independent board enacted to guard the rights and needs of children. And it’s hard to imagine where our county would be today had it not been for courageous leaders and citizens who had the foresight to tax themselves to invest in children’s futures.

JWB packed the room again this year to cheer on our amazing honorees:

• Our KidsFirst Cooperman-Bogue Winners who work tirelessly to strengthen the lives of children … Summer Kirk with the Pace Center for Girls, Christina Mokhtar Hassan with Suncoast Center, Johnareus Young with Clearwater Parks & Recreation, and Mary Wooding with the Florida Department of Health’s Healthy Families Pinellas program.
• Our H. Browning Spence Education Award Recipients whose stories of overcoming each earned standing ovations … Gloria Richardson, April Dempsey-Adams, and Joanna Steenberge.
• And our numerous Nominees for this year’s coveted Dillinger-McCabe “Putting Children First” Leadership Award, named in honor of two long-standing Board Members Bob Dillinger and Bernie McCabe, which was presented to Ray Hensley of the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas. His decades of leadership and dedication to young children and their families is undeniable and unmatched!