The North American Finance Executive Summit is a premier gathering of industry leaders, finance executives, and experts dedicated to exploring innovative strategies, emerging trends, and best practices in the dynamic world of finance management.
NAFES gathers Chief Financial Officers, SVPs and VPs of Finance and Accounting, and Finance Executives to share insights, foster innovation, and build invaluable connections. Dive into a thoughtfully curated environment that brings together thought leaders, allowing you to explore new ideas and engage in meaningful discussions. Join the conversation at NAFES and be part of a community dedicated to pushing the limits of financial success.
Year after year, we bring to the stage today's thought leaders and innovators
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).
Gary Ennis
CFO, Google Cloud Americas
Ms. Chandrashekar joined News Corp as Chief Financial Officer in January 2025. She previously served as a Director of the Board of Diageo PLC and Chief Financial Officer of Diageo between July 2021 and September 2024, where she led the company through a period of accelerated growth and spearheaded the company’s global digital transformation program.
Prior to Diageo, she held numerous senior positions at blue chip consumer facing companies, Procter & Gamble and Mondelēz.
Ms. Chandrashekar is a graduate of Mount Carmel College and earned her Masters of Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore.
Lavanya Chandrashekar
Chief Financial Officer
News Corp
Prior to joining MARA, Salman Khan served as chief financial officer for Verb Technology Company Inc., a Nasdaq listed leading provider of interactive video-based software-as-a-service applications and an e-commerce platform. Prior to being appointed CFO, Khan held various roles at Verb including interim CFO, and executive vice president of corporate development and strategic planning. Before joining Verb, Khan served in various senior executive level positions at Occidental Petroleum Corporation and its spinoff, California Resources Corporation, including director of renewable energy, director of corporate development, director of technical accounting and financial reporting, and business division controller and chief financial officer. Khan also spent eight years at major accounting firms including Arthur Andersen, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young, where he served domestic and international clients in the technology, media, telecommunications, entertainment, and biotechnology industries. Khan holds a Master in Business Administration from the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business and is a licensed chartered certified accountant (UK).
Salman Khan
Chief Financial Officer
MARA
Cata Serna-Valencia is the GII’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) since April 2022. As GII CFO, Cata
leads the accounting team and oversees all financial operations. She works closely with the GII
board of directors and serves as an executive team member.
Cata has over 20 years of nonprofit experience in finance, accounting, and operations. She has
a proven record of success in financial analysis, project and risk management, budgeting, and
reporting. Cata resides in Arlington, VA.
Cata previously served as Vice President, Budget Strategies and Cash Treasury Management
Services for United Way Worldwide (UWW). She led a team of 13 accountants and worked
closely with the CFO and Controller for over 6 years. Cata interacted with all levels of UWW’s
leadership, business partners, and clients. She provided financial analysis and budget reports to
support business decisions and coordinated cash management and finance activity for the
UWW finance committee. Cata also has experience with grant tracking and reporting. She holds
several certifications including green belt six sigma and project management for development
(PMD I and II). Cata holds a Master of Science in Finance from Johns Hopkins University and a
Bachelor’s in Finance and International Studies from Universidad Externado de Colombia.
Cata is proud to be a woman, a Latina, and an immigrant leader who came to this country to
study and find opportunities to work.
Cata is excited to be part of the North American Finance Executive Summit 2026.
Catalina Serna-Valencia
Chief Financial Officer
Goodwill Industries International
This year we are pleased to announce that our NAFES series is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors.
Below you will find all CPE and registration information.
Each participant can earn up to 12.6 credits of the 19.6 credits available.
The North American Finance Executive Summit 2024 gathered top finance leaders to share new ideas and collaborate on solutions that inspired a collective vision for change, shaping the future of the industry.
Finance Director, L&L Products
Director FP&A, Medline
Executive Director, Enabling Functions Finance & Finance Innovation, CSL Behring
VP International Finance, New Balance
Controller, Safran Federal Systems
Senior FP&A Analyst, Meissner Corporation
CFO, Westwood Professional Services