HONOREE

Avedis Kechichian

VP, Finance & Facilities; CFO
University of La Verne

Avedis “Avo” Kechichian is valued and instrumental as an integral part of the University of La Verne administration. Kechichian infuses professional knowledge, decades of experience and personal attachment into his position as chief financial officer for the University of La Verne. From an immigrant undergraduate student from war-torn Lebanon to serving as CFO, the University of La Verne has benefitted from Kechichian for more than 30 years.

Kechichian’s financial stewardship has positioned the University of La Verne to be in its healthiest financial position since its inception in 1891. During the pandemic, he developed an effective approach to nimble budgeting. Due to the strong financial stewardship by Kechichian, the University was able to reinstate reductions to employee retirement contributions, award compensation for overload courses that full-time faculty taught during the pandemic, and pay every employee an Appreciation Award of at least $1,000 two years in a row.

Kechichian infuses professional knowledge, decades of experience and personal attachment into his position as chief financial officer for the University of La Verne. Where other professionals have tactically situated themselves in a strategically upward career working for multiple companies in various industries with the goal of becoming a CFO, Kechichian has committed his professional career to benefitting the University.

When Kechichian enrolled as an undergraduate student at the University, he began to lay the foundation for his commitment to dedicate his personal and professional life to the University and surrounding community. Beginning with a “student worker” position in the University library, Kechichian has consistently worked across multiple offices and positions, all related to university finance and administration. While simultaneously working to complete his advanced graduate studies at the University of La Verne, he demonstrated success in each professional position and earned his post as vice president for finance, and subsequently, the current position as chief financial officer for the University of La Verne. Kechichian repeatedly demonstrates financial leadership, business acumen and institutional stewardship.

EDUCATION/NONPROFIT FINALISTS

Andrea Blackbird

Chief Financial Officer
Venice Family Clinic

Andrea Blackbird is the chief financial officer for Venice Family Clinic, a nonprofit that delivers high-quality, comprehensive medical care plus supportive programs and services to families and individuals who might otherwise go without the care they need. At the nonprofit, she oversees the clinic’s accounting, budgeting, financial reporting and analysis, tax and audit, grants management, billing, cash flows, banking and investments.

As CFO for a nonprofit, Blackbird’s goal is to leverage all available funding opportunities to provide for the organizational growth and expanded reach of Venice Family Clinic’s services for local communities. In the past 24 months, she has explored various CARES Act and ARP Act funding opportunities for the clinic, including Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, Provider Relief Funds and CARES Act HRSA funds. Over the past eight years, she has also paid close attention to maximizing the clinic’s reimbursement rates, which has led to significant increases in patient care revenues.

Angela Manalo Lalas

EVP and CFO
Loma Linda University Health

Angela Lalas has led the finance team in securing financing for and managing the budget for Loma Linda University Health’s $1.3-billion campus transformation project, which includes the construction of the new Troesh Medical Campus that opened in August 2021, in the midst of a global pandemic. Since 2014 and during the global COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years, she has partnered with LLUH system leadership on a rigorous performance improvement journey, including revenue enhancements and cost optimization strategic initiatives which have contributed to the better-than-norm performance of the organization and affirmation of credit ratings and stable outlook for the hospitals and the university.

Lalas has also led the team and the organization through the post implementation, stabilization and optimization efforts in the transformation of the Financial Services and Supply Chain functionalities into a consolidated structure and Oracle Cloud.

Arianna Ozzanto

Chief Financial Officer
SAG-AFTRA

Arianna Ozzanto graduated with a degree in economics from USC. She began her career as a financial analyst at Princess Cruises in 1999. She also has held other corporate finance positions for Fortune 500 companies such as 20th Century Fox and WellPoint, Inc. In 2004, she made the transition to a nonprofit, accepting a position with the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).

Ozzanto was a key contributor to the integration of financial systems, policies, procedures, people and culture of SAG and AFTRA and successfully navigated the complexities of navigating a 165,000 membership organization through a global pandemic. She also serves on the board of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing both educational and economic resources to SAG-AFTRA members through workshops and assistance programs. In addition, she serves as a trustee to both the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan and the SAG Producer’s Pension Plan.