Prior to the CFO Leadership Awards presentation, guests were treated to a spirited discussion with visionary thought leaders in the executive finance sphere. Marsh McLennan Agency's Brian Hegarty served as moderator with a panel of three luminaries: Belva Anakwenze of Abacus Financial, Ahmer Inam of Relanto, and Linh H. Le of MINDERA Health. The panel discussed an array of topics, with a throughline of how to best leverage modern technology to achieve prudent financial management without losing the human touch that makes CFOs more than mere number-crunchers and elevates them to trusted executive leaders.

MODERATOR

Brian Hegarty

Principal, L.A. Managing Director

Marsh McLennan Agency

BRIAN HEGARTY IS THE managing director of the Los Angeles office for Marsh McLennan Agency (MMA). In addition to overseeing the firm’s rapid growth in the Los Angeles market, Brian specializes in employee benefits programs for midsize to large companies. Since joining the firm in 2008, he has worked closely with many leading Los Angeles industries such as technology, entertainment, apparel, and hospitality, among others. Focusing on enhancing the experience for both employers and employees, he is very proficient at helping organizations that are expanding operations nationally and internationally. Brian is a thought leader who was instrumental in the development of the company’s technology trust, Benefits Tech Trust.

PANELIST

Linh H. Le

CFO & COO

Mindera Health

LINH H. LE BRINGS more than two decades of experience in the healthcare space, in sectors including molecular diagnostics, infectious diseases, and medical devices. He is the CFO & COO of Mindera Health™, the developer of Mind. Px™, the first precision medicine for psoriasis. Prior to that, he served as the CFO for Predicine, a company developing genomic profiling tests for cancer diagnostics and monitoring. He served as COO at Ambry Genetics and various positions at Medtronic Diabetes Group. Linh also held leadership roles at The Walt Disney Company and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He began his career at KPMG, providing attestation services in healthcare and technology, earning his CPA designation. He was named an L.A. Times B2B Publishing CFO Honoree in 2022.

PANELIST

Belva Anakwenze

Principal & Business Manager

Abacus Financial Business Management, Inc.

BELVA ANAKWENZE IS A California native and proud founder and principal of Abacus Financial Business Management. Belva handles the financial affairs of entertainment professionals, creative corporate executives, and their closely-held businesses. This includes the facilitation and management of her clients’ accounting and bookkeeping, payroll, tax preparation, and nonprofit agencies. As the middle child of three siblings, she learned early on how to stand out and be different; her clients appreciate her ingenuity and aptness for managing financial matters.

PANELIST

Ahmer Inam

Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer

Relanto

AHMER INAM HOLDS THE position of chief data and artificial intelligence officer at Relanto, a global firm specializing in business process transformation and enterprise resiliency. With over two decades of experience, Ahmer has a proven track record of driving organizational transformation by implementing intelligent digital solutions. He also held leadership positions at Nike, PwC and Wells Fargo. His expertise extends beyond his professional roles. Ahmer also acts as a data and AI expert with the International Institute for Analytics, contributing knowledge and insights to the field. In addition, he is a founding member of the Decentralized Society Lab at MIT Media Labs, where he contributes to exploring the societal impacts of emerging technologies.