Our Mission
To encourage the finance leader community to achieve your full potential by sharing knowledge and experience.
Our mission started several years ago during a focus group with ambitious finance leaders. We listened carefully to the following challenges that nobody was dedicated towards solving:
Becoming a CFO requires you to learn many new skills that take a long time to master;
- People feel overwhelmed with tasks and are battling problems already solved by others; and
- CFOs often feel lonely at the top and would benefit from a strong collaborative peer group.
The message was clear: finance leaders require easy access to the combined knowledge and experience of the CFO community. We needed to build an independent organization fully dedicated towards helping ambitious finance leaders to achieve your full potential.
During the past few years, we have been busy creating offerings designed by your finance leader community and led by inspirational CFOs, including:
- Peer group development programs and private mentoring for aspiring or first-time CFOs;
- A huge library of online training lessons covering your CFO competency framework; and
- Collaborative events, forums and podcasts across an important range of relevant topics.
Everything we do is designed to support you in the most time-efficient manner and to help you give back to the next generation.
We hope that our mission inspires you to join our cause and to enjoy the benefits of collaborating with such a wonderful community.
GrowCFO Management
We are a fully independent management team who are focused on supporting finance leaders
Dan Wells
Founder & CEO
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Dan Wells
I have worked with finance leaders for over 20 years and love helping talented individuals to climb the career ladder. Becoming a CFO is incredibly challenging and my career aspiration is to create world-class community-led CFO training programmes and support networks. These will ensure that you will never feel lonely or unsupported in your role.
Kevin Appleby
COO & Podcast Host
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Kevin Appleby
I am a chartered accountant who has worked as a CFO and management consultant. More recently, I’ve been involved in learning and development, teaching skills linked to business and financial transformation projects. My passion is to pass on my knowledge to as many people as possible and I see GrowCFO as a great place to do this.
Catherine Clark
Lead Mentor
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Catherine Clark
I am an ex-CFO and experienced mentor. I love helping people to see your own potential more clearly and to build your confidence in order to achieve your career aspirations. My philosophy in life is to keep teaching the skills that I have learnt. I love helping people to identify and capture the opportunities presented to them.
Stuart Trood
Chair & CFO
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Stuart Trood
I have been a senior finance and business professional for over 30 years, and have performed a number of different CFO and CEO roles. Over the years, I have learned a broad set of skills that are vital to any successful CFO and my aim is to pass as many of these as possible onto the next generation of finance leaders.
Shelly Adams
Finance Team Training Director
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Shelly Adams
With extensive experience as a senior finance business partner in FMCG, I have worked in commercial, operational, and strategic roles for household brands. I ensure smooth operations and tailors programs to meet specific client needs by researching each project thoroughly.
Oliver Deacon
Course Facilitator
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Oliver Deacon
I am a former Microsoft Finance Director and qualified PCC Executive Coach, offers a modern, inspiring perspective on finance. I help teams to manage change by integrating next-generation finance skills.
Iain Dewson
Course Facilitator
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Iain Dewson
I have led global finance teams and managed a finance academy for 2,000 people across 28 countries. My firsthand experience with FBP’s positive impact led me to join as a course facilitator for GrowCFO.
Amanda Carlyle
Course Facilitator
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Amanda Carlyle
I have trained over 20,000 finance professionals in the past 15 years across various sectors and levels. Specializing in finance business partnering and coaching, I joined the team as a course facilitator.
Damian Smith
Course Facilitator
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Damian Smith
With 25 years in corporate roles within oil & gas, retail, and telecommunications, I have experience in commercial finance, HR, and legal. I have fulfilled a lifelong ambition to transition into sales and marketing.
Paula Kensington
Course Facilitator
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Paula Kensington
I have established the CFO Conversations platform, advocating for performance that benefits all stakeholders, including the environment. I emphasize a holistic approach to business outcomes.
Christian Wattig
Course Facilitator
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Christian Wattig
I am a seasoned FP&A leader with 12+ years of experience at multinational consumer goods giants and fast-growing tech startups. I am the Founder and Managing Director of FP&A Prep, I have dedicated myself to educating finance business leaders in essential FP&A skills.
Melanie Coeshott
Course Facilitator
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Melanie Coeshott
I have trained over 20,000 finance professionals in the past 15 years across various sectors and levels. Specializing in finance business partnering and coaching, I joined the team as a course facilitator.
Catherine Marks
Finance Team Training Director
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Catherine Marks
I have 20 years of experience in finance and M&A. A Fellow of the ICAEW and former Chartered Accountant at Deloitte, I have worked across various industries. I have had held key roles, including VP of Finance at Depop and FP&A leader at O2 during its merger with Virgin Media, specializing in finance transformation and exit advisories.
Adam Shilton
Course Facilitator
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Adam Shilton
I navigate the tech landscape, where poor decisions can lead to significant financial and time losses. With nearly a decade of experience, I understands the challenge of finding effective AI solutions among many subpar options. My mission is to simplify tech decision-making, helping individuals make informed choices.
Dan Stockdale
Course Facilitator
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Dan Stockdale
I am a former management consultant at PwC’s Strategy&, specialized in strategic and financial modeling. With a background as a commercial analyst and modeller, I have worked with senior management for top brands in London and Sydney. I am a CIMA member since 2010, holding a BSc in Money, Banking & Finance and an MSc in Marketing from the University of Birmingham.
Steering Committee
We are passionate about representing the community to ensure we are fully aligned with your needs
Jade De-Crescenzo
Finance Director
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Jade De-Crescenzo
Finance Director with strong experience of progressing through a finance function. I am a strong believer in peer group collaboration and getting involved in supportive development programmes.
Peter Walsh
Experienced CFO
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Peter Walsh
Experienced CFO for PE-backed firms. One Of my proudest achievements is winning a South African CFO of the Year award. I am very passionate about networking and passing down knowledge to others.
Zahir Jivraj
Portfolio CFO
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Zahir Jivraj
Portfolio CFO with over 20 years working for Fortune 500 companies. I am a strong leader who champions innovation and change, with the skills to influence people at all levels.
Mike Harding
Experienced CFO
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Mike Harding
Experienced CFO and COO for a number of Businesses, including strong experience of leading fundraising and exit events. I am very proud to play my part in helping the next generation of finance leaders.
Ruky Dissanayake
Finance Director
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Ruky Dissanayake
Senior finance leader who has performed various director roles since qualifying in a Big Four accounting firm. I love being involved in my peer groups and helping to represent their needs.
Mark Rodel-Duffy
Part-time FD
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Mark Rodel-Duffy
Part-time FD focused on supporting high growth SMEs throughout their journey. I have been privileged to help so many high growth companies, plus investors, and enjoy sharing my learnings with others.
Folake Togunloju
Finance Director
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Folake Togunloju
Finance Director for a high growth business with an impressive range of skills and career experience to date, including systems implementations. I really enjoy sharing ideas with people and collaborating with the finance leader community, which I believe is an important element of personal development.
The values that hold us true and to account
Independent
Dedicated towards finance leaders, with no ulterior motives.
Community-led
Designed by the finance leader community for your maximum benefit.
Relevant
Delivering only the most important topics in the most efficient manner.
Trustworthy
Giving honest feedback, keeping promises and respecting your privacy.
Collaborative
Sharing knowledge from inspirational CFOs & inclusive peer group programmes.
Passionate
Helping you to achieve your full potential and supporting your wellbeing.
