A huge congratulations to our CFO and Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Dominique Dancause, MBA, for being honored as an Outstanding CFO of 2015 by the Phoenix Business Journal.
Below is an excerpt from the feature in the Business Journal, published October 30, 2015:
"When two executives suddenly left Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest in 2014, Dominique Dancause stepped up in a major way.
The CFO worked closely with the board of directors to hire an interim CEO and set up a series of one-year goals meant to keep the organization afloat during the transition.
That year, Lutheran increased its balance sheet from $2.5 million to $3 million, paid down a line of credit with a decrease in accounts receivable, and retained more than 90 percent of the leadership staff.
Lutheran also is prepping to make a contribution to employees' 401(k) plan for the first time.
Dancause lead an initiative to make every part of the organization as financially viable and focused as possible. She acted as a partner with each division to plan rebranding, innovations and program changes. She helped some dreams become reality, but also cut programs that were not sustainable because they hurt the overall health of the organization.
Dancause also is a versatile team player. When the organization's executive director retired, she stepped in to keep the organization running, and the finance department was still ready for its annual audit when the time came. "