The CFO'S Perspective

The People Behind the Numbers: Meet Rebecca Alderfer

At CFO Selections, we may work in numbers… but we’re in the business of people. Because behind every financial report is a person making hard decisions, and behind every engagement is a human-to-human connection. In this series, we’re shining a light on those stories — introducing the consultants who guide our clients forward and the leaders who bring those numbers to life.


When Connection Is the Strategy

Ask Rebecca Alderfer what she loves most about her role, and she doesn’t mention policy (even after two decades working at the intersection of strategy, social impact, and public policy). What lights her up is connection, forging new partnerships, linking strategies across silos, and aligning people around shared goals.

“It’s really that chessboard,” Rebecca says. “How can we all support each other? Where can we leverage resources and opportunities that already exist? How do we grow the platform together, so that everyone benefits?”

That mindset has defined her career from the White House to the frontlines of maternal health in Colorado. As CEO of the Colorado Perinatal Care Quality Collaborative (CPCQC), she’s no longer advising from the sidelines. She’s leading the charge, helping the organization grow from a startup into a statewide force for improving maternal and infant health.

Topics: Governance Non Profit Organizations Success Stories Planning Leadership Growth This is Us Change Management Transition Company Spotlight Strategy client spotlight

Spotlight on Preventing Waste: Leanpath – Pioneering Food Waste Reduction Technology

Editor’s Note: We are fortunate to have many exceptional clients. From time to time, we include “Company Spotlight” posts in our blog to express our gratitude and appreciation for the awesome work they do and the accomplishments they achieve. Enjoy!

Leanpath understands that what gets measured gets managed, and what gets managed gets improved.

Traditionally, food waste in high-production kitchens was “invisible.” It would be thrown away throughout the day with no one aware of its accumulated weight and cost. Food waste needed to be measured so kitchens could manage it and improve it. So, they could finally “see” it. But how to make that tracking easy? Leanpath CEO Andrew Shakman asked that question 16 years ago.

The answer was a technology suite introduced in 2004 that, today, represents a complete food waste prevention platform consisting of in-kitchen tracking devices, analytics software that crunches food waste data, and coaching programs that help kitchens understand their data and act on it to prevent food waste.

Leanpath cuts its clients’ food waste by 50% or more. Since 2014 alone, working with thousands of kitchens across 40 countries--with clients including Google, IKEA, Aramark and Sodexo--Leanpath has empowered culinary teams to prevent over 55 million pounds of food from being wasted.

Topics: Success Story client spotlight