Last March Fairfield Dolan presented the Dean’s Executive Forum, titled “Developing CFOs and Beyond” with guest speaker Sandy Cockrell. Cockrell is an accomplished strategy, financial executive, and certified public accountant. He is broadly recognized for his deep expertise on all matters that CFOs and finance functions face and is a frequent contributor to news and television organizations including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, CNBC, Fox Business Network, and Yahoo Finance.

During the forum Cockrell discussed several frameworks that are effective for C-Suite executives and other professionals in government and academia to optimize performance and effectiveness. Specifically, he covered the paradigms of time, talent, and relationships and the Four Faces of an executive. Cockrell currently serves as the executive vice president and CFO of Flipt, LLC, a digital healthcare solutions platform company and previously served as the Global Leader of Deloitte’s CFO program.

The forum took place before an in-person audience of Dolan students and over 100 attendees joined the event via Zoom webinar. In addition to the in-depth discussion on CFO and executive pathways, Cockrell provided recommendations to students interested in C-Suite careers and shared insights from his own professional journey. When asked what he would have pursued more of during his time in college, Cockrell stressed the growing importance of data analytics, global exposure, and pursuing both business and liberal arts coursework.

“Being able to apply other coursework that ultimately will connect back into a career, and training yourself to look at a situation in a much broader way, is incredibly important,” he shared.

Following the forum, students participated in an exclusive Q&A session with Cockrell. The event was co-moderated by Dean Zhan Li, DBA and Valeria Martinez, PhD, associate professor of finance.