Tena Thwaites
Tena Thwaites is a senior accounting professional with over 25 years of experience in non-profit organizations, public accounting, and for-profit companies. Tena excels at quickly sizing up situations and solves open-ended ambiguous problems with innovative solutions. She can generate multiple new solutions to complex problems as well as modify existing solutions to meet the demands of the moment. Tena has consistently been recognized as someone who values process and system efficiency, producing real, tangible results and applies critical thinking skills that enable her to thoroughly evaluate and draw conclusions from large amounts of data.
Beginning her career with Coors Brewing Company, Tena gained extensive experience in preparing accurate, useful, and timely financial reports, implementing internal controls through system development and leverage, and working directly with C-level leaders to deliver solutions and reporting that enabled management to make decisions critical to the IT, manufacturing, and general and administrative functions of the company.
Tena continued her career by working in the public accounting arena for Price Waterhouse Coopers as a Senior Auditor. Her public accounting experience enabled Tena to become an expert in identifying and implementing needed internal controls and preparing for and working with outside audit teams to produce audit results that are consistently comment and issue free. She has since gained extensive experience partnering with outside service providers to prepare 1099 tax forms, annual reports and relevant grant reporting.
Tena’s most recent experiences have been in the non-profit sector where she has held roles such as Controller and Director of Financial Operations at both small and large non-profit organizations. Preparing transparent financial statements and thoughtful analysis that meets the needs of decision makers at all levels of organizations (staff, leadership, Board of Directors, donors) is her specialty. She uses the stories that the numbers and KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) tell to enable better decision making at all levels.
Tena has effectively executed tasks herself and managed teams that perform donation tracking and reporting, A/P, A/R, general ledger, and payroll functions. She is known for being a strong leader who effectively leads, supports, and collaborates with team members.
Tena is a Colorado native and has enjoyed serving as a mentor to teen mothers and their families and as a volunteer on many non-profit Boards of Directors. When she is not focused on non-profit work, Tena enjoys doing something creative, taking a walk outdoors and spending time with her family.
