HONOREE
Belva Anakwenze
CFO & Entertainment Business Manager
Abacus Financial Business Management
As the principal of Abacus Financial Management Group, Belva Anakwenze serves as a virtual CFO for several creatives in Los Angeles. Her clients range from entertainers and their closely held companies to large entertainment tech companies. She also serves several live music events and musicians. Some examples of Anakwenze’s current clients include Jay Ellis (HBO’s “Insecure” and Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick”) and “ET” host Kevin Frazier.
Anakwenze has made sharp pivots in the past, like when she changed her client base from professional athletes, who weren’t good at following advice, to entertainment industry talent, including actors, directors, producers and writers. For them and their closely held companies, Abacus handles the day-to-day financial affairs as well as helps them plan and invest. Today, Anakwenze’s business continues to grow in client base and employees.
In the male-dominated financial world, Anakwenze can reach her goals as a CFO by facing challenges and tough conversations head-on and speaking in everyday vernacular to ensure complete transparency and understanding of the financial climate. She also spends a great deal of her time educating youth and emerging creative entrepreneurs on financial literacy. She warns of financial pitfalls and encourages individuals to embrace the fear of financial knowledge and conversations, and stresses the importance of financial tracking, reporting, and review.
Anakwenze has also volunteered to teach basic financial literacy at schools in LAUSD. Recently she was a guest speaker for a group of grade school entrepreneurs in an online camp. Additionally, she is connected deeply to the UCLA Black Business Student Association.
Prior to starting Abacus, Anakwenze worked as a financial analyst for The Walt Disney Company, where she implemented new account reconciliation practices, saving analysts 10 man-hours per account. She has also worked as an auditor for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Anakwenze has been serving as a trusted advisor for many in the entertainment industry for more than 15 years.
PRIVATE COMPANY: SMALL FINALISTS
Matthew Bouton
Chief Financial Officer
Gatsby Chocolate
Matt Bouton brought a wealth of experience and talent during his rapid rise over the last decade at Fortune 500 companies, including Comcast and Johnson & Johnson. Bouton has taken on various financial roles from 2009 to 2017 in external reporting, general accounting, FP&A, and supply chain finance – ultimately becoming CFO at Halo Top International LLC/Gatsby Chocolate.
His entrepreneurial nature drove him to leave the corporate world and move to Los Angeles where he built and led a growing finance team at Halo Top Ice Cream, a cult-following brand that became the best-selling ice cream pint in 2017. He successfully helped increase annual revenues from $48 million in 2016 to over $250 million in 2017. Bouton and his team have spearheaded another growth strategy, expanding the firm’s offerings in the “Better for You Food & Beverage” category with the high-profile launch of Gatsby Chocolate in 2021.
Carol Jensen
Chief Financial Officer
Lancer Skincare, LLC
The bulk of Carol Jensen’s career has been in the beauty industry starting with a 15-year tenure with Murad Inc., culminating with her serving as CFO. In addition to managing all financial activities, she also managed the IT department.
Jensen was recruited in 2014 to come on board with Lancer Skincare, LLC to manage the finance, IT, operations, HR and some regulatory departments. Dr. Lancer is a renowned dermatologist in Beverly Hills and a visionary in the formulation of prestige skincare products. Despite the pandemic, Jensen was able to lead the company to an 83% increase on the top line and a 30% increase on the bottom line over the two-year period, the most successful twoyear run in the company’s history. Jensen has been able to navigate the high growth and supply chain challenges without requiring any additional capital and kept the company in good health throughout.
Jang Lee
Chief Financial Officer
Flow Finance Inc.
Jang Lee has over 20 years of experience in finance and accounting. He’s held leadership roles at numerous venture-backed companies, where he was responsible for overseeing accounting, finance, planning and investor relations.
In the last 24 months, Lee launched a fractional CFO consulting firm. Upon starting the business in early 2020, he built a client list of over 25 companies, assisting them with financial models, cash planning and raising debt and equity. He helped navigate several companies through the pandemic and raised over $100 million combined. In early 2022, he joined Flow Finance Inc. and currently serves as the company’s chief financial officer. Flow Finance is an end-to-end financial services and technology company redefining what founders should expect from their accountants. It provides personalized financial services combined with a data consolidation platform that empowers companies to unlock actionable, strategic insights, all under Lee’s financial stewardship.
