byline: Joan Tupponce

Barbara Willis, CEO of Hampton Roads Community Health Center, refers to Michel Bilé, CPA, as the nonprofit’s “Super Man.” He came to the organization’s rescue after its controller resigned just a few weeks before the end of a fiscal year.

Initially brought onboard as a consultant during a crisis, Bilé quickly became the nonprofit clinic’s full-time CFO. “Under his leadership, the organization’s financial position has been strengthened and continues to grow,” Willis says. “Once he had full control of our fiscal year-end financial audits, we have not received any ‘going concerns’ or ‘management letters’ from our accounting firm auditors.”

The 23-year-old center, which provides medical, dental and behavioral health services in Portsmouth and Norfolk, has not missed any federal reporting deadlines and “has been able to recapture reimbursement dollars that were due to us,” Willis adds.

Born in Ivory Coast, Bilé grew up in Ghana.  He is a graduate of Old Dominion University, with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and operations management and a master’s in business administration.

Before joining the health-care center in 2014, Bilé had worked for Northrop Grumman and Amerigroup, a subsidiary of giant health insurer Anthem.

He enjoys working on what-if types of financial analysis. “I like getting the data and breaking it down for decision making,” he says. “Numbers tell you a whole lot. You can get the facts from numbers.”

Since Bilé became its CFO, the health-care center has been able to upgrade its equipment and facilities while recording a surplus in each of the past three fiscal years. The surplus rose from $196,983 in fiscal year 2015 to $690, 927 last year.

“His quest to improve all areas in which he is involved is evident, and he never gives up in spite of not having enough hours in the day or enough people to do the work,” says Brennan Peterson, director of finance at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. “He perseveres.”

In approaching any problem, Bilé has a calm demeanor, Willis says. “He does not like to rush into making a decision. He will listen, observe, analyze, and then he will speak to what he recommends to be the right course of action.”

Bilé says he looks for ways to propel the organization to the next level. “When I first came and saw the way the financials were in terms of profit and loss, it was a challenge, and I never back away from challenges,” he says.

Nonetheless, Bilé acknowledges he faced a learning curve in moving from a large corporation to a nonprofit. “I had to school myself quickly.”

Willis says Bilé has become a mentor to his staff. “He makes himself available to teach them so that they can be the best at what they do,” she says. “He meets regularly with his direct reports to make sure they are OK on the job or in their personal lives. He is the champion for the less fortunate.”

John Waters, manager at the accounting firm Wall, Einhorn & Chernitzer, also has observed Bilé interact with health-care center employees. “His leadership and critical thinking skills draw people to him,”

Waters says. “Michel is able to listen, understand and provide suggestions and feedback, making him a valuable resource to the center.”

Away from work, Bilé is a big soccer fan who has served as coach, referee and youth athletic association officer.

“I grew up playing soccer. Now my four sons all play soccer,” he says. “My 13- year-old is one of the top soccer players in the state of Virginia.”

Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia Inc., an organization that combats discrimination, was facing a fiscal cliff when Andrew Haugh was hired in 2011.

“When he first came in, we were relying too heavily on our affiliated endowment,” says Heather Crislip, CEO of the nonprofit, which is known by its acronym, HOME. “We needed to diversify.”

HOME was drawing 15 percent each year from its endowment, the Virginia Equal Housing Foundation. Haugh, a CPA, calculated that, continued withdrawals at that percentage would leave the endowment depleted in six years, jeopardizing HOME’s longevity.

“He took a good look at the money, and we have been able to dramatically reduce the amount we rely on from the endowment,” Crislip says. “He’s been meticulous in looking at expenses and getting them down.”

Haugh’s biggest challenge was regaining the trust of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which had cut off Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) funding to HOME in 2003. FHIP provides grants to organizations like HOME that assist people who believe they have been victims of discrimination.

To restart FHIP funding, Haugh had to get HOME’s finances in order. “We reduced our indirect cost rate by over 10 percent and our general and administrative support to under 5 percent [of total expenses], implemented a spending policy for the endowment and maintained a clean audit opinion for three consecutive years,” he says. “We also met with HUD officials to discuss our new leadership team’s experience in enforcement and government contracting.”

HOME was awarded a FHIP grant in 2012 and has received funding each year since. This January, for example, HOME got a $900,000 private enforcement initiative grant as well as a $125,000 grant for education and outreach.

Haugh joined HOME after serving as finance manager at Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services Inc. He has more than 30 years of nonprofit government contracting and leadership experience.

Haugh’s greatest strength is an ability to balance HOME’s financial challenges with the continued pursuit of its mission, says Angela Cain, partner at the public accounting firm Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP. 

“His ability to make decisions to maintain that balance is something I have seen and have great respect for.”

Haugh doesn’t get flustered easily, says Crislip. “He’s very steady. We were making dramatic decisions, and he was always thinking creatively in his solutions. He was always looking at the possibilities.”

In recent years, Haugh has worked with a new leadership team. “We collectively rebuilt the organization to what it is today,” he says. “We have financial stability for the next 10 years, a cohesive and experienced staff, and staffing patterns that minimize cost and maximize output.”

Compared with five years ago, HOME’s overhead has been reduced by 56 percent.  Its projected draw from its endowment has fallen 95 percent, more than $1 million, from 2011 when Haugh joined HOME.

Away from work, Haugh volunteers with Cairn Rescue USA and Pug Rescue Mid Atlantic, organizations dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of dogs. Since 2011, he has cared for three elderly Cairn terrier mix-breed dogs with special needs. He and the dogs visit a senior residential community every other week and a memory-care unit once a month. 

“It’s a little selfish on my part — the more I give, the happier I feel; it builds my self-confidence,” says Haugh. “Putting a smile on an elderly person or dog’s face makes my day.”

Peter Whitfield believes one of the most important duties of a CFO is to put people in position to succeed.

“My role is not just about getting the numbers right, it is more about ensuring that everyone who needs to understand the numbers gets that education,” says the New York native. “It is also about helping leverage finance to help produce revenue. If we can structure a lease transaction to allow the customer to afford a solution their budget may not allow in a straight purchase deal, for example, then we should get involved to make it happen.”

Whitfield says the members of his finance team are not “supposed to be just scorekeepers.” He focused on bringing value to the organization.

“Too often, entities chase the top line. If there is top line growth with little to no increase in profit, then all we achieved was working harder to get to the same place,” he says.

Whitfield joined American Systems, a government IT and engineering solutions provider, in 2015. It is one of the 100 largest employee-owned companies in the U.S. with about 1,200 employees nationwide.

Whitfield says that his greatest accomplishment to date has been helping to improve value of shares in the company’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

“As an ESOP company, we submit to a valuation process each year. A large part of the process is the development of a five-year outlook,” he says. “By providing our valuators an achievable outlook, we have gained increased credibility. That credibility factor has lowered our risk profile and contributed to the increased valuation.”

Company CEO Peter Smith sees Whitfield’s biggest strength as his concern for fellow employees, the company, its clients and the community. “He manages to balance the needs and concerns of those many constituents well, creating win-win outcomes across the board,” Smith says.

Whitfield’s financial discipline combined with a long-term strategy has “enabled us to achieve record profit and positions us well for the future,” the CEO says.

Helping others means a great deal to Whitfield. A cancer survivor, he volunteers with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night campaign and last year joined the National Capital Area Chapter’s Executive Committee. The committee is charged with growing the number of companies involved with funding a cure for cancer.

“Cancer is a stealth killer, and it is indiscriminate about who it attacks. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has funded the research that has yielded so many of today’s treatments beyond blood cancers,” he says. “If I can help raise the next dollar that will help find a cure or make someone’s fight a bit easier, then I am all in.”

Just two months after joining American Systems, Whitfield led the company’s acquisition of EM Business Holdings, a 160-person Arlington-based provider of engineering, IT and professional services.

“He not only ensured that all financial aspects of the transaction were seamless, his no-nonsense approach and easy-going demeanor helped facilitate a smooth and successful cultural integration, as well,” says Smith. “Under his financial leadership, the debt incurred from the acquisition was paid off in less than five months, resulting in increased earnings in 2016.”

Whitfield understands the market, its evolution and “its trend,” says Mark Frantz, co-founder of Blue Delta Capital Partners. “He’s a diligent tactician who ensures the numbers are locked in. He is also the consummate team player. You want him in the room when big decisions are being discussed.”

His ability to see and communicate the big picture has been instrumental in fostering a “great deal of change in a short period of time,” says Chris Carson, audit partner at Assurance Services, BDO.

Amy Martin has schooled herself on the intricacies of government contracts since joining Chantilly-based American Cyber Inc. in 2013. The woman-owned company provides IT support to the federal government.

“It’s challenging because I have been learning a new industry,” says Martin, who previously worked in construction. “I’m learning the accounting side, but I’m also learning government lingo and about government contracts. That was, and still is at times, a challenge.”

Martin appreciates the variety of tasks that her job involves. “It’s not only numbers that I work with. Because we are small, we wear many hats,” she says. “I enjoy being part of every aspect of the company. I get the opportunity to help with proposals, review contracts, etc. The variety keeps me on my toes.”

In addition to her duties as CFO, Martin’s responsibilities include all contract administration and human resources activities as well as developing and auditing internal processes and procedures related to its International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001, 20000 and 27001 certifications and its Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 3 services appraisal.

During her time at the company, it has expanded to 12 states and four continents. “Amy researched each state’s business and tax requirements and the myriad of laws regulating international trade,” says Laurie Winkler, the company’s chair and CEO. “She worked closely with government regulators, lawyers and accountants to obtain licenses to work in the various states as well as other countries.”

Martin, a self-described Army brat, has been interested in numbers since she was young. “I’ve always been a math girl,” says the James Madison University alum.

The CFO describes herself as a perfectionist. “That can be good and bad,” she says. “If I make a mistake, I can be hard on myself, but I do learn from my mistakes. I try and give my all to the company.”

American Cyber received SmartCEO magazine’s GovStar Award for the best emerging company in 2016 and has been named to Inc. 5000’s list of fastest growing private companies in the U.S. for the past three years.

Martin was instrumental in American Cyber being selected for participation in the Department of Defense Mentor/Protégé Program. Last year, it received the DoD’s Nunn-Perry Award, the top recognition for a protégé company.

“The best-business processes and practices she implemented five years ago have allowed us to seamlessly grow our workforce by 500 percent and our revenue by 800 percent,” says Winkler. “Amy is one of our most valued employees. She works above and beyond the norms of a CFO and thinks out of the box, which is so critical with a young, growing company.”

Martin is credited with helping American Cyber hire people with the right skills and keep employee turnover to a minimum. “When I started we had between 10 and 15 employees, and now we have 65,” she says. “Being part of that growth and hard work is what I am most proud of.”

Martin focuses on what it takes to produce the best “long-term results for the company,” says Jackie Asencio, president of C2 Essentials Inc. in Chantilly. “Amy is very forward thinking and creative in her approach to decision making, taking care to understand how her decisions will affect other aspects of the company’s operations.”

Martin’s natural appetite for learning “drives her not only to ask good questions but also to seek the possible solutions for the challenges she faces as CFO,” Asencio adds. “She has become a ‘go-to’ person for solutions.”

When Glenn Nunziata left Ernst & Young to join Smithfield Foods Inc. in 2015, the $15 billion global food company was in the early stages of a massive operational and cultural shift.

Called One Smithfield, the changeover was designed to better position the company to serve its customers.

“In one fell swoop, they integrated years of acquisitions and centralized the business,” Nunziata says. 

During the past three years, he has helped Smithfield identify opportunities for improvement, maximize efficiencies, reduce redundancies and create action plans to reach its goals.

Ken Sullivan, Smithfield’s president and CEO, “told me what attracted him was my ability to put my business head on when thinking through accounting situations and not just anchor myself in rules and regulations,” Nunziata says.

At Smithfield, he leads the company’s finance, accounting, treasury, tax, risk management, human resources and IT functions.  Nunziata also is a board member of the Smithfield Foundation, which provides scholarships to the children and grandchildren of company employees.

Nunziata say he knew he wanted a career in accounting when he applied for college at James Madison University where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. “I have always enjoyed solving problems,” he says. “Growing up, I was attracted to the type of work that needed an answer.”

In 2015, Nunziata was driving his family to Walt Disney World when he got a call asking him to join Smithfield.

“Most people don’t voluntarily leave a Big Four accounting firm,” he says. Nonetheless, “I was excited that I would be able to exit that and jump into the role of CFO of a company.”

Professionally, “this energized me,” he says. “If there was ever a time to capitalize on a decision, this was the time.”

At Smithfield, Nunziata has championed a cultural shift that focuses on continuous internal measurement and assessment. His work has helped the company achieve three consecutive years of record growth.

During his 19 years with Ernst & Young, Nunziata “played a leading role in several strategic initiatives in the areas of human resources, quality and operational improvements,” says Blake Manners, an audit partner with the accounting firm. “He received multiple accolades during his tenure with the firm.”

Nunziata exemplifies what it means to be a servant leader, Manners adds. “He is the first one to raise his hand to help a colleague or tackle a challenge facing an organization. He fosters this leadership style in others, and, by doing so, he helps an organization reach its goals while supporting individuals as they pursue their own professional development objectives.”

Smithfield is a subsidiary of Hong-Kong based WH Group Ltd., which operates in six countries. Because of its foreign ownership, maintaining an identity as a U.S. company can be challenging. The company’s headquarters remain in Smithfield, where it was founded in 1936.

“One of the toughest parts of the job is serving global stakeholders,” Nunziata says. “This is a big job. One of the things I spend a lot of time doing is trying to balance and maintain the pride of being a Virginia company with [being part of] a global entity in Hong Kong.”