The Alliance Welcomes New Chief Financial Officer Kirk McLaren

Following a rigorous interview process that included senior management and senior accounting staff, Kirk McLaren was selected as the Alliance's new Chief Financial Officer.

An accomplished finance executive with 17 years' experience building successful finance and accounting operations that support growing organizations, McLaren's approach combines transforming finance into a profit center, raising subject-matter experts to higher significance, and streaming processes, which increases the efficiency of business processes by decreasing the number of administrative steps.

“We are delighted to welcome Kirk McLaren, an accomplished and dedicated senior financial professional, as our new CFO,” said Alliance President Kateri Callahan. “I am confident that Kirk's demonstrated leadership and history of accomplishments will inspire not only our Finance and Accounting Team, but also the Alliance staff at large.”

Prior to joining the Alliance, McLaren held senior positions at various nonprofits and for-profits in telecommunications, education and health care. Most recently, he guided the financial development of Envision EMI, LLC, which is the world's largest creator of leadership and life success programs for high-achieving students. McLaren won the SmartCEO Magazine SmartCPA Award in 2009 for his achievements at Envision EMI.

McLaren holds several degrees and certifications: a Masters in Business Administration and a Masters in Finance and Accounting from Devry University's Keller Graduate School, a Masters in International Relations and Economics from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, a Certificate in International Business and Trade from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Science in Management/Psychology from the University of Maryland. In addition, he is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Virginia and a Certified Treasury Professional in the United States.

Before applying his expertise to competitive growth companies, Kirk served in the U.S. Army as a behavioral science specialist during the first Gulf War. He also has taught English in Venezuela and is a proud husband and father of two sons.

When asked what he hopes to accomplish in his endeavors with the Alliance, Kirk expressed enthusiasm about working with Alliance leadership and the Finance and Accounting Team to help program leaders and managers make informed decisions through exemplary reporting and analysis. “I want to help the Alliance have greater forward-looking visibility through planning and forecasting that will help subject-matter experts focus on 'the main thing' and improve cash management,” he said.

“I aspire to make administrative and accounting processes into streamlined 'non-events' while raising the Alliance's finance and accounting staff to greater significance within the organization and achieve greater operational flexibility,” Kirk concluded.