(PINELLAS COUNTY, FL) – On May 31, 2023, more than 300 gathered at the Hilton Tampa Downtown to celebrate the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 2023 CFO of the Year honorees.
Twenty Tampa Bay financial executives working in various industries 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,” TBBJ editors said. “These CFOs go beyond the job parameters to help their businesses thrive.”
Another cause for celebration is that the majority of this year’s award winners were female leaders. This tracks national trends: In 2022, 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 (2022 Crist Kolder Volatility Report).
Among those industry-leading female professionals is the Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB) of Pinellas County’s own CFO, Laura Krueger Brock.
Brock was honored by the Tampa Bay Business Journal as CFO of the Year for her 40+ years of leadership and service. Her acute understanding of government auditing, accounting, budgets, and forecasts, coupled with her nonprofit and board experience, made her a natural fit as JWB’s CFO.
Under her leadership, JWB received our first-ever Florida Government Finance Officer’s Association Award in Financial Reporting Excellence – a designation JWB has now received for three years in a row. During the pandemic, Brock led the way to keep the doors open and staff employed for JWB’s funded agencies, and afterward, an annualized forecasted $7.9M to help stabilize their workforces.
Last year, she led a monumental funding opportunity for new, strategically aligned programs. This resulted in $6.5M in new dollars invested by JWB to address the unmet needs of Pinellas County children and families.
Moreover, Brock is a staunch advocate and mentor for her staff, and a leader and role model among her peers. Plus, service to her community is equally important. Throughout her life, Brock has taken great pleasure in finding opportunities to use her God-given skills and acquired knowledge to give back to both her community and to her profession.
Learn more about how JWB has been putting Pinellas County children first for more than 75 years at https://www.jwbpinellas.org/about/