Top Women in Finance 2014

Finance and Commerce Staff//November 21, 2014//

Finance and Commerce Staff//November 21, 2014//

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For a number of the 50 Top Women in Finance honorees of 2014, it was a year of firsts.

Denise Doll-Kiefer, chief financial officer of Minneapolis-based Salo LLC, became the first inductee into Finance & Commerce’s Top Women in Finance Hall of Fame. Among her many accomplishments, the three-time Top Women in Finance honoree this year helped lead the acquisition of a Chicago company to expand the finance, accounting and human resources staffing agency.

First-time honoree Jen Helm became the first woman to lead the Minnesota Commercial Association of Realtors. “I never really thought of it as being the female face, but if that’s what helps to get more women in the business, I’m all for it,” says Helm, director of brokerage services at Bloomington-based Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq.

Finance & Commerce, a daily business newspaper, launched the Top Women in Finance honors in 2001, and eight women were in the first class. The honors – and an event that now attracts several hundred attendees — recognize the outstanding efforts of women in Minnesota who are making noteworthy contributions to their professions, their communities and society at large. Honorees are selected by Finance & Commerce staff.

Three of the women in this year’s class are two-time honorees and are now in the Circle of Excellence. The 2014 honorees include business owners, chief executive officers, chief financial officers, presidents, vice presidents, partners in accounting firms and law firms, and financial advisers – just to name a few. Some honorees started as entry-level bank tellers and climbed the ladder through hard work in fields that have been male-dominated. Now that these women are in positions of power, many are helping other women rise in their organizations by serving as their mentors and guides.

This is my fifth year editing the profiles of our Top Women in Finance honorees. Each year, I come away impressed by so many women making an impact on their professions and communities.

—Casey Selix

Top Women in Finance

Tara Arndt | Redpath and Company, Ltd

Terri Banaszewski | Sunrise Banks

Nichol Beckstrand | Sunrise Banks

Carmen Borgeson | Braun Intertec Corporation

Kim Brustuen | CFA Society of Minnesota

Mary Bujold | Maxfield Research Inc.

Amanda Barhite Carter | Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC

Diana Chance | McGladrey LLP

Linda Cross | First American Title Insurance Company

Suzy Danner | PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP