CFO Leadership Conference: West

Sandra Clarke

COO, Blue Shield of California

Sandra Clarke is chief financial officer and executive vice president of Healthcare Business Operations at Blue Shield of California, a nonprofit health plan with over $21 billion in annual revenue serving over 4.6 million members in the state. She oversees the company’s financial strategy, actuarial functions, and financial operations in addition to leading healthcare business operations. Clarke is also responsible for corporate development, where she plays a senior role in devising and enacting Blue Shield’s strategies to support growth and realize the company’s mission to transform health care.

She has over 25 years of experience directing worldwide financial organizations in an array of industries. Prior to joining Blue Shield, she served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of US-based pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. Clarke served as chief financial officer for Philips Healthcare’s North and South America Commercial Group and was vice president and controller of Finance at Siemens Water Technologies Group.

Clarke also serves the San Francisco Chapter of the CFO Leadership Council, and Financial Women of San Francisco. She was named by San Francisco Business Times as one of “The Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business 2019.”

Clarke actively serves on the board of trustees at Blue Shield of California Foundation, board chair of Plan Investment Fund, a mutual fund company owned by a group of Blue licensees, as well as board chair at Evio Pharmacy Solutions, and as board director and audit chair at Metromile. She holds a master’s degree in Accounting from Bentley University, a master’s degree in Healthcare Law from Seton Hall University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Maree Robertson

CFO/SVP of FREEPORT-MCMORAN

Maree E. Robertson is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. She has responsibility for Freeport’s accounting, finance and tax functions, including financial reporting, operational accounting, internal controls, financial planning and analysis, treasury and risk management. Ms. Robertson joined the company on March 1, 2022.

Prior to joining the company, she served as Chief Financial Officer, Energy and Minerals of Rio Tinto Group, a multinational metals and mining company, since 2019. Prior to joining Rio Tinto, Ms. Robertson had a 17-year career at BHP Group, a multinational natural resources company, serving in a broad range of international finance functions, including Vice President, Finance, Petroleum USA; Head of Finance, Conventional and Potash, Petroleum USA; Vice President, Finance, Potash Canada; and Vice President, Finance, Minera Escondida Ltda. Ms. Robertson joined BHP in 2002 after four years in the PricewaterhouseCoopers natural resource audit practice.

Ms. Robertson holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne and is a Chartered Accountant.

Dan Rice, US UA

President, American University Kyiv
Special Advisor to the Commander in Chief Ukraine Armed Forces

Dan is a lifelong learner with multiple degrees from West Point, Northwestern and UPenn. He is the President of the American University Kyiv, the first American accredited university in Ukraine, and Co-President of Thayer Leadership based at West Point, one of the premier leader development companies in the world. He holds three masters degrees from Kellogg/Northwestern, Medill and UPenn in business, marketing and learning. He has completed all doctoral classes in leadership at the University of Pennsylvania and is taking a leave of absence from his dissertation to focus on Ukraine. He has won four literary awards as an author and publishes, and speaks regularly, as an on air journalist.

Dan is a West Point graduate and co-author of the 4-time award winning book “West Point Leadership:Profiles of Courage” and is the authorized biographer of many of West Point’s greatest graduates including Secretary Lloyd Austin, Senator Jack Reed, General Erik Kurilla, Coach K and many others. He has published many times in the Wall Street Journal, Small Wars Journal, Newsmax and Chief Executive magazine.

In 2004 Dan voluntarily re-joined the Army as an Infantry Captain to serve a year in Iraq in the Sunni Triangle based out of downtown Tikrit at FOB Danger. His military awards include the Airborne Badge, Ranger Tab, Combat Action Badge, and Purple Heart. In April 2022 he voluntarily traveled to Ukraine to serve as the unpaid Special Advisor to the Commander in Chief Ukraine Armed Forces General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi. He travels regularly between Kyiv and Washington, DC, publishing articles and making television appearances to support the objectives of General Zaluzhnyi.

He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (lifetime member), MENSA, and is a board member of the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation. He served the U.S. Congressional Project for National Security Reform (PNSR).

Twitter: @westpointleader

Shannon Nash, Esq., CPA

CFO, Wing (an Alphabet Company)

Shannon currently serves as Chief Financial Officer at Wing a drone delivery company and subsidiary of Alphabet, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL). She serves on the Board and Audit Committee of NetScout Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NTCT), a software solutions and cybersecurity company that protects the world’s most important networks against disruptions in availability, performance and security. She is also a Board Member and Audit Chair at Lazy Dog Restaurants, one of the fastest growing restaurant companies with 41 locations in 8 states. Additionally, Shannon is on the Board of SoFi Bank, a subsidiary of SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI). She formerly served as the Lead Independent Director, Chair of the Nominating & Governance Committee, and member of the Audit Committee at UserTesting (NYSE: USER) until the company was acquired by Thoma Bravo in January 2023.

Shannon was named to the 2022 Top 50 Women Leaders in Finance list by Women We Admire and received the 2022 Global Speaker award from Women in Technology. Shannon was also featured on Accounting Today’s 2020 list of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting and named one of 2020’s Most Powerful Women in Accounting by the AICPA and CPA Practice Advisor. She received the 2021 Trailblazer Award from CalCPA.

Shannon is passionate about Board diversity and serves as a Board Advisor to Black Women on Boards, an Executive Board Member to How Women Lead, and a Mentor for Santa Clara University’s Black Corporate Board Readiness Program. She is an attorney, CPA and recognized as a Qualified Financial Expert.

Shannon holds a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. She serves on the Board of Advisors for the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce. In her free time, Shannon is a fitness junkie and teaches Zumba and U-Jam Fitness. She’s also an award-winning documentary film producer with her film, Colored My Mind, winning best short at the 2013 American Pavilion in Cannes.