North American Finance Executive Summit

Gary Ennis is the CFO/Finance Director for Google Cloud Americas, overseeing the North America and Latin America Go-to-Market teams. He is responsible for spearheading revenue growth and P&L performance, driving optimal deals for both Google and its customers, and ensuring the development of a sustainable business model for the long term.

Gary’s team is responsible for a wide range of financial activities, including business insights, forecasting, long-range planning, P&L optimization, cost management, growth strategies, compliance, deal-making, pipeline management, and customer investments.

Gary is passionate about leveraging Google’s cutting-edge technology and utilizes AI daily to enhance productivity. He is a strong advocate for the importance of storytelling in finance, emphasizing its role in driving action and facilitating understanding.

With several years of experience in scaling cloud businesses, Gary has played a key role in Google Cloud’s growth, moving from an annual run rate of $23 billion to $45 billion, and its transition from a loss-making entity to one with high-teens operating margins. During his tenure at Microsoft, he supported the Enterprise team in shifting from legacy on-premise solutions to establishing Office 365 and Azure as global powerhouses.

In his previous role at Microsoft, Gary led the Revenue and Gross Margin Team, overseeing current analytics, forward-looking forecasting and planning, and collaborating with investor relations to develop a comprehensive earnings narrative, including guidance for Wall Street. The team analyzed the company’s financial results, P&L, business insights, strategic planning, Bookings & RPO, forecasting, external guidance to Wall Street, gross margin trends, resource allocation, board of directors’ materials, partnership with Investor relations, quarterly earnings, and external KPIs.

Earlier in his career at Microsoft, Gary led the Enterprise sales & marketing finance team, driving financial strategy for sales & marketing, and served as the controller of the Ireland sales subsidiary. Prior to Microsoft, he was the CFO of a Dublin-based tech startup called Buytel and began his career with KPMG. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Trinity College Dublin and is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CPA).

Dr. Elmar-Marius Licharz, Chief Financial Officer for Volkswagen North American Region and Volkswagen Group of America, oversees the development and implementation of the financial strategy for Volkswagen Group of America.

Elmar joined Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg, Germany, in 2005, and most recently served in the position of Head of Digital Finance. Prior to joining Volkswagen AG, Elmar worked for McKinsey & Company, Inc. where he was responsible for national and international projects in the pharmaceutical, aerospace and automotive industries.

Elmar earned his PhD at the University of Kassel.

Lavanya Chandrashekar was appointed Chief Financial Officer and a Director of Diageo plc in July 2021.

Previous Diageo roles

• Chief Financial Officer, Diageo North America and Global Head of Investor Relations

Previous relevant experience

• Vice President Finance, Global Cost Leadership and Supply Chain – Mondelez International
• Various senior finance roles – Mondelez International (across North America, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa)
• Various senior finance roles – Procter & Gamble (across India, Asia Pacific, Europe and North America)

Dumi Martinez is the CFO of Mars Global Services (MGS), the global business services division of Mars, Incorporated. As CFO, Dumi oversees all strategic financial initiatives across Mars, including integration services, global portfolio management, and business development. His leadership is instrumental in actualizing the MGS OGSM and the success of the MGS finance team and its business partners. Dumi started his career at Mars in 2020 as the CFO of KIND and subsequently assumed the role of Global CFO, Health and Wellness, overseeing finance and strategy of this new division within Mars Snacking, which, under his leadership, reached $1.1 billion in sales across North America, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and Asia in 2022. During his tenure, Dumi played a pivotal role in the integration of acquisitions such as KIND North America, Nature’s Bakery, and TrüFrü. Before joining Mars, he served as the CFO for Essity’s Professional Hygiene and Americas business units. Dumi earned his degrees in international management from Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico. Dumi is passionate about spending time with his family, coaching and mentorship, and travel. To date, he’s traveled to 67 countries (and counting)!

Cameron Read is the Chief Financial Officer, United States and Canada of Marriott International, Inc. He is responsible for leading all controller functions, operations finance, business analysis, feasibility, asset management, and reporting for the region’s 6,000+ properties.

Mr. Read’s Marriott International career began in 2005. He served in roles of increasing responsibility in the Corporate & Development Finance and Global Asset Management disciplines of the company until 2012. In 2012, Cameron relocated to London, where he created the Asset Management and Business Analysis team and held the position of Vice President, Asset Management & Analysis. In 2016, Mr. Read served as Chief Financial Officer for Marriott’s Europe division, and in 2019, the Middle East and Africa regions were added to his responsibilities. He relocated back to the company’s headquarters to assume his current position in 2022.

Mr. Read holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Duke University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

Jill is North America CFO for LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, a $80 Billion global luxury goods company. She is responsible for partnering with the North America CEO and leadership team on all financial and strategic objectives supporting the $20 Billion region and serves as a main connection point to global headquarters. She leads a team of professionals in Accounting, FP&A, Tax, Treasury, Risk, IT, and Procurement in managing the regional P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow performance.

Jill has significant experience in financial management including sales and marketing finance, corporate financial planning, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain finance and investor relations. In her last role before joining LVMH, Jill was Senior Vice President, Corporate Financial Planning & Analysis for Viacom. She joined Viacom after several years at Johnson & Johnson. Jill also worked for H.J. Heinz, Delta Air Lines and TRW.

Jill holds a MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from Yale University. She is on the Board of Directors of The Toro Company and is a member of the Executive Leadership Council.

Chad Heaton is VP of Finance for Meta Platforms, a role he’s held since 2014. In this role, he leads the Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) sector at Meta. He joined the company in 2010 as Manager of Platform Analytics. Prior to Meta, Heaton was a VP at Morgan Stanley Technology Investment Banking. Before that, he served as a Technology Investment Banking Associate at Deutsche Bank. Earlier in his career, Heaton worked in consulting at Avanade, PwC, and Andersen Consulting. He earned a degree in Economics at the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Chryssa C. Halley is Fannie Mae’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In this role she reports to the Chief Executive Officer, is a member of the Management Committee, Enterprise Risk Committee, Climate Committee, and co-chair of the firm’s Asset and Liability Committee and Capital Committee. She is responsible for Fannie Mae’s financial management, climate strategy, enterprise modeling and enterprise strategic planning.

Previously, Ms. Halley served as Fannie Mae’s Senior Vice President and Controller. Since joining Fannie Mae in 2006, she has held a variety of positions including Senior Vice President and Deputy Controller; Vice President and Assistant Controller for Capital Markets and Operations; Vice President for Tax, Debt and Derivatives, and Securities Accounting; and Vice President for Corporate Tax.

Before joining Fannie Mae, Ms. Halley was a Director of Accounting for the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, and was Senior Director, Debt and Derivative Reporting at Freddie Mac. She is a licensed certified public accountant in Maryland.

Ms. Halley has a Bachelor of Arts in economics from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Guru brings wide-ranging global finance and leadership experience across different businesses and countries.  He has a strong track record of enabling business turnaround and expansion and driving functional transformation. Guru has worked with Bayer in a range of roles over the past 20 years. He recently served as Chief Financial Officer of AskBio from March 2021 to July 2023. He was previously the Global Finance Lead for the Oncology franchise from January 2020 until February 2021; CFO of the North American business at Bayer Consumer Health from 2016 to 2019; and CFO of the Bayer Medical Care Division from 2013 to 2016. Prior to that, he held various finance roles in Germany (Berlin, Wuppertal); Italy; Japan; and Berkeley, California. Before Bayer, his career was focused on finance, audit, and accounting roles at various companies, including Siemens, Citibank, and PWC.

Guru holds an Executive Master of Business Administration degree from INSEAD, France, and a bachelor’s degree in commerce with emphasis in accounting and tax from St. Xavier’s College, India. He is an Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) and Graduate Cost and Works Accountant (Grad CWA), both internationally recognized professional accounting degrees.

Melissa Leonard currently serves as the Senior Vice President and Corporate Treasurer at Merck, overseeing the company’s capital structure, cash management, investments, and risk management since February 2018. Previous roles at Merck include Vice President of Manufacturing Finance and Associate Vice President for various finance functions, where responsibilities spanned across manufacturing, marketing, and financial transition management during the Organon spin. Prior to their tenure at Merck, Melissa held significant finance leadership positions at MSD, including Associate Vice President for Finance in Europe and Canada, and Executive Director for the UK & Ireland. Melissa holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University.