Announcing the Planful Champions Club

We’ve worked with thousands of FP&A professionals over the years, at our customers and partners, and also internally, with the Finance experts who design and build our solutions and ensure the success of our ecosystem. Over time we’ve seen how those who proactively learn and explore Planful, and work to deeply understand and share its capabilities, become valuable agents of success within their organizations. Unsurprisingly, they’re also frequently looked to for guidance on FP&A matters, and they always seem to be quick to volunteer for new opportunities, to attend professional events, and ultimately advance in their careers. 

Today, we’re excited to give them the recognition that they deserve with the launch of the Planful Champions Club. The Champions Club is an exclusive program that lets our ecosystem’s best and brightest promote their skills and expertise to colleagues, peers, and others in the FP&A community. With this launch, we’re excited to celebrate the inaugural members of the Planful Champions Club who were nominated and selected across Planful customers, partners, and employees.

The inaugural cohort of Planful Champions Club members hail from Planful customers and partners, and some are Planful employees. Each member has access to the program’s exclusive benefits, powerful network, and valuable skills certifications. And, it’s made up of people like you, people like Steve Barrios, SVP, Global FP&A at Prologis, Stacy Brown, Principal at UHY Consulting, and Diane Seers, Senior Implementation Consultant at Planful.

Exclusive Benefits of the Planful Champions Club

The Planful Champions Club gives Planful experts and advocates a way to promote their skills and experience to their colleagues and networks. Membership certifies exceptional technical proficiency on the Planful platform or enthusiastic advocacy for Planful solutions and our ecosystem. 

We’ve designed the Planful Champions Club so these, well, champions, can easily connect with peers, expand their Planful and FP&A knowledge base, and accelerate their own careers. They also get exclusive access to Planful executives and product leaders, and VIP access to Planful Perform 2021 and other Planful events.

Here’s just a sample of the benefits available to Planful Champions Club members:

• Invitations to private networking, educational, and professional development events.
• Streamlined and sneak-peek access to training materials and Planful Academy courses to further develop in-demand skills and experience.
• Access to a powerful, private network of Planful experts to share expertise, ask questions, and build relationships.
• Digital badges and certificates to call out your accomplishments, find new opportunities, expand your network, and more.
• VIP access to Planful online and in-person events, including Planful Perform 2021.
• Customized Planful Champions Club attire, accessories, and other goodies.

What It Takes To Join the Planful Champions Club

The exclusive Planful Champion Club requires members to demonstrate their technical expertise of the Planful platform or their advocacy for the value of Planful and how our platform helps FP&A teams do more, faster. Members can join based on their advocacy work, technical skills, or a combination of both, and must complete a selection of Planful certifications to be eligible for the program.

Membership in the Planful Club can be achieved through completion of a variety of activities. 

Planful customers must complete 4 of the activities below:

• Answer Engage Community questions (5)
• Complete Planful Academy certifications (2)
• Participate in a case study (written or video)
• Speak on the Being Planful Podcast
• Speak at Planful event (webinar, user group, etc)
• Reference calls (3)
• Refer someone to Planful
• Write online reviews for Planful (3)

Planful partners must complete all of the activities below:

• Complete Planful Academy certifications (4), 3 need a passing score of at least 90%
• Provide a customer for a case study
• Speak at Planful event (webinar, user group, etc)

Planful employees must complete 4 certifications, along with 1 additional activity below:

• Complete Planful Academy certifications (4), 3 need a passing score of at least 90%
• Provide referenceable customers (2)
• Participate in live demo/webinar/or similar
• Answer Community questions (6)

Planful Champions Club membership is open to current employees of any Planful customer or partner, and current Planful employees. New members will be welcomed into the Club bi-annually, starting with Planful Perform 2021. Planful certifications achieved after January 2021 will count towards Club membership. 

Start tracking your activities towards Champions Club membership today.
Planful customers click here.  
Planful partners click here.
Planful employees click here.
Questions? Send us a note: championsclub@planful.com. 

Meet the Inaugural Champions Club Members

Meet the inaugural members of the Planful Champions Club below.

Planful Customers

• Glenn Snyder Head of FP&A Global Growth Holdings
• Faith Nobile, Finance Manager, Abbott
• Niru Irukulla, Manager of Corporate FP&A, Align Technology
• John Hillebrand, SVP of Finance, Catholic Order of Foresters
• Jessica Kirchmaier, Sr Financial Analyst, Finance Systems, Ellucian
• Anthony Reitzel, Controller, Condado Tacos
• Peggy Walsh, Sr. Accountant, ACS OpCo, LLC
• Kushal Dalal, Sr Business Intelligence Analyst, PROS Holdings Inc
• Chris Abrille, Director of FP&A, Automobile Protection Corp (DBA EasyCare) 
• Robby LeBourveau, Director of Finance, Pro Mach
• Missy Little, Assistant Director, Office of Budget & Financial Planning, University of Notre Dame
• Angel Woodard, IT Controller & Sr. Manager, Kiewit Corporation
• Lisa Payne, Financial Reporting Manager, Metal Exchange Corp
• Josh Ezagui, Vice President of Finance, Trintech
• Christina Strohman, Manager, Financial Systems, Horizon Therapeutics
• Sarah Alford, Director, Corporate Accounting, Federated Co-operatives Limited
• Paul Loasby, EPM Systems & Reporting Manager, Alltech
• Linda Kroll, Associate VP for Finance, University of Notre Dame
• Kelly Wills, Manager, Accounting (Systems), CC Industries, Inc
• Earl Kiesel, Executive Director, Corp Finance & Financial Operations, Daiichi Sankyo, Inc
• Minden Dickson, FInancial Planning & Analysis, Hunt Companies, Inc
• Bryan Rucinski, Corporate Lead Accountant, La-Z-Boy, Inc
• Allen Mitchell, FP&A Manager, La-Z-Boy, Inc
• Marcela Vos, Sr Analyst, Finance Process Optimization, Vail Resorts
• Susan Phillips, VP Finance, American Express
• Barbara Schroeck, Finance Manager, Specialized Bicycle Components
• Steve Barrios, Senior Vice President, Global FP&A, Prologis
• Brad Tingey, Corporate VP of Finance, Golden State Foods
• Kathy Swartz, Finance Manager, BeechNut Nutrition
• David Marino, Controller & Associate VP, Temple University
• Ryan St Arnold, VP of Finance, Lube Tech

Planful Employees

• Ben Page, Solution Consulting Director, Planful
• Diane Seers, Sr. Implementation Consultant, Planful
• Will Leonard, Solution Architect, Planful
• Andrew Von Eschen, Sr. Solution Consultant, Planful
• Tommy James, Strategic Customer Care Technical Advisor, Planful
• Ashok Chalasani, Director of Technology Governance, Planful

Planful Partners

• Scott Schaefer, Managing Consultant, i2 Advantage Consulting
• Rafael Farias, Director of Advanced Solutions (XP&A), Keen Vision
• Stacy Brown, Principal , UHY
• Jim French, Founder and CFO, IFI Professionals
• Rob Carloni, EVP,  Planful Practice, Bakerfield Solutions
• Naveed Salman, Managing Director, Cogenics
• Erik Leavell, Director, FP&A, Cogenics
• Pete Dwyer, Managing Partner, Top Down CPM
• Morris Treadway, Principal, Finance Strategy & Transformation, KPMG
• Aneela Juned, Planful Solution Architect & Implementation Consultant, ANI Financial Services
• Cash Collins, Solution Architect, CFO Solutions