#157: Big Ten Chief Financial Officer Laura Anderson: “To be successful in a finance role, you need to be a people person”

Sport and the Growing Good

Laura Anderson is the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer at the Big Ten Conference. She draws from a rich diversity of professional and personal experiences to lead the conference through a period of rapid change.

1. Leaders who Laura has learned from. Empathy and concern for the team. Trust.

2. Her professional background. Accounting. “How to go into a place and learn everything you can about it.”

3. Working in a volatile industry. Drawing from a diverse set of career experiences.

4. Main responsibilities as CFO. Overall financial operations.

5. Big Ten’s non-profit status.

6. Big Ten as “central repository” and advocate for various services for the conference institutions.

7. Money flows through Big Ten office and to the schools. Investing the money to maximize the money even for short time periods.

8. Everyday routines. Talking “a hundred times a day” in the office with a colleague. Meetings with other senior leaders at the conference office. Conversations with campus contacts.

9. Interactions with campus athletic department CFOs. Regular individual conversations and times when everyone comes together at the Big Ten office.

10. Key phases of the year. Financial audit. 990 tax form. January budgeting and planning. March and April roll-out to governance structure.

11. Technology and AI. Data protection.

12. Communicating strategically with diverse constituents.

13. “To be successful in a finance role, you need to be a people person.”

14. Humility. Adaptability. Grit. Personality.