Proformative Announces 2012 CFO Dimensions™ Awards for Excellence

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Proformative, the premier knowledge-sharing community for chief financial officers and corporate finance leaders, has announced its 2012 CFO Dimensions™ Awards for Excellence.  Sandra W. Callahan at TECO Energy, Inc.; Saul Gates at Coinstar, Inc.; and John Pindred at Family Christian Stores, Inc. were recognized at the closing dinner of the CFO Dimensions conference last night for their outstanding leadership of finance organizations.

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"The CFO Dimensions Awards for Excellence celebrate the accomplishments of great finance leaders and organizations that drive great companies," said John Kogan, chief executive officer of Proformative.   "We asked finance professionals to nominate candidates who exemplify thought leadership in finance, accounting, treasury and related disciplines and then an independent panel of corporate finance professionals made the final selection."

Sandra W. Callahan, senior vice president of finance and accounting and chief financial officer at TECO Energy, Inc. earned the Visionary Finance Leader Award for leading her organization to new heights of effectiveness with technology.  She is responsible for all corporate and operational accounting functions, corporate taxes, investor relations, corporate finance and risk oversight.  Under her leadership, TECO completely redesigned and implemented a new financial system, overhauled the supply chain process, including inventory, warehouse management and procurement functions, and upgraded its HR system.  Callahan joined TECO Energy from public accounting in 1988 as the director of internal audit and served in several corporate finance positions including vice president of treasury and risk management before being named chief financial officer in 2009.  Callahan earned a Bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Baltimore and became a licensed Certified Public Accountant in 1981.

Saul Gates, senior vice president of finance and chief accounting officer at Coinstar, Inc. was recognized for leading the Most Effective Finance Organization to the highest levels of performance.  While leading the redesign of Coinstar's financial and information technology infrastructure to a shared-service environment, Gates also led the financial aspects of initiatives to divest under-performing businesses in order to divert capital toward new venture businesses to drive top line growth.    Gates joined Coinstar in May 2010 and is currently responsible for accounting, financial planning and analysis, and investor relations.  Prior to Coinstar, he held various roles at Microsoft Corporation including treasury controller; director, financial compliance; and director, corporate financial planning and analysis. Prior to that, he served as a senior manager in audit and business advisory services at PricewaterhouseCoopers.  Gates earned a Bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Washington.

John Pindred, chief financial officer and chief administrative officer at Family Christian Stores, Inc. received the Leading by Giving Award as a result of his leadership and stewardship of The James Fund, the company's 501(c)(3) foundation.  The James Fund serves orphans and widows in thirty countries throughout the world by providing quality of life improvements, operating support and adoption assistance.  Pindred joined Family Christian Stores in 2004 and his responsibilities include finance, legal, real estate and construction, supply chain, information technology, store services and loss prevention.  Immediately prior to joining the company, he was vice president and treasurer at ShopKo Stores, Inc. and also held financial and operating roles of progressive responsibility at Service Merchandise Company, Koch Industries and Magma Copper Company.  Pindred earned a Bachelor's degree in engineering from Queen's University, Kingston, Canada, and an MBA from the University of Arizona.  He is a CFA Charterholder.

The September 18 CFO Dimensions conference focused on the most pressing issues for CFOs in today's increasingly complex and demanding environment.   The core themes of the conference were the CFO's new role in driving corporate growth, driving career success, understanding enterprise risk management (ERM) from all angles and using all available tools and best practices. 

About Proformative

Proformative is the largest and fastest-growing online community and resource for senior level corporate finance, accounting, treasury and related leaders.  Proformative (www.proformative.com) connects the world's corporate finance leaders to provide instant advice and insights on the tough financial and strategic challenges they face every day. Proformative is the first online professional network specifically designed to help corporate finance professionals be successful in their jobs and careers. Proformative has more than 400,000 corporate finance and business professionals in its fast growing network. Proformative is headquartered in Silicon Valley, CA.

SOURCE Proformative