Kickstarter CFO Cindy Wilson and CEO Everett Taylor
Cindy Wilson says she never worked for a Black female CFO during the first 20 years of her financial career. “In many cases, she’s not even a woman,” she says of the executives she’s seen looking up the ladder in her previous jobs.
The current Lyft vice president and EY and Cox Automotive alumna was named chief financial officer on Kickstarter on July 12, where she will not only take on the role herself but will also report directly to the CEO. Everett Taylor, he’s also black. The pair will be one of the few black CEO and CFO pairs at a major brand, a combination that could send a powerful message about diversity.
“This shows that growing companies can thrive with diverse leadership teams,” Wilson said. forbes In an exclusive interview. She says she was drawn to Kickstarter’s mission of helping creators fund their projects and to working for her CEO, the first Black person in her career. “Sometimes you have to see it happen to know it’s possible.”
Having Black executives in both the CFO and CEO roles (considered the most powerful positions in many companies) is especially rare at large companies and high-profile brands later naming After Dave Bozeman became president of transportation company CH Richardson, there are now only nine black CEOs among the top 500 companies by revenue, and only one of those companies has a black chief financial officer. W. Dave Dowrich became TIAA’s CFO in 2021 after CEO Sassunda Brown Duckett was appointed to head TIAA.
Kickstarter is much smaller (according to a spokesperson, the company did not disclose employee numbers or revenue), but adds another example that could help normalize more diverse top leadership teams. be done. “My prayer is that this issue will not be an issue and will no longer be an issue,” said Michael, president and CEO of the Executive Leadership Council, an advocacy group for Black business owners.・Heiter says:
Although more companies have appointed black CFOs in recent years, they are still relatively rare. Executive search firm Crist Kolder Associates found Among integrated companies included in the S&P 500 stock index luck Of the 500, there are 675 active CFOs, but in 2022 only 18 will be black, up from a high of 20 in 2021.
Taylor said it’s even rarer for Black women to hold top positions in the financial industry. “You don’t see a lot of Black women CFOs at the helm of household names or larger technology companies or brands,” he says. Of Kickstarter’s eight top executives, five are women and five are people of color, the company said.
Taylor said Wilson, who will be taking the CFO role that Kickstarter has been recruiting for several years, was able to outdo many of the candidates he interviewed on the strength of his resume and experience with the platform that connects sellers. It is said that there was a line in the sand. He says this is especially important as Kickstarter launches its first new line of business. pledge management and digital marketing Tools creators can use during and after their fundraising campaign. He was also attracted to her “empathy and high emotional intelligence,” Taylor says. [who] is below the number. ”
Both are important in companies that become known HR practices such as four-day work weeks and union contracts may give some finance leaders pause. Unlike Mr. Wilson, who calls himself a “people-first CFO,” “I’m not,” she says. “When I think about psychological safety, I like the idea of a four-day workweek, given that more and more employees are working remotely. I love the idea.”
