Missouri Foundation for Health has hired Jill Nowak as its chief financial officer. Nowak, a certified public accountant, will lead the finance and administration team, which includes grants management, information technology, facilities, accounting, and human resources. She will begin in her new job at MFH on May 16, 2016.
In this key leadership role at the Foundation, Nowak will be involved in all investment management processes and will oversee a large endowment, working closely with the outsourced chief investment office with duties such as evaluating portfolio performance reports, communicating results/suggestions to the Foundation’s investment committee, and auditing fund performance.
Prior to joining MFH, Nowak worked for the American Association of Orthodontists in St. Louis as the director of finance and administration, a position she held since 2006. While there, Nowak collaborated with leadership to revise financial and investment policies to enhance cash flow and net assets. In 2007, she joined the Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontics as their executive director and held both positions congruently. Nowak has also served as the business manager at Visitation Academy and St. Joseph Institute of the Deaf, where she implemented endowment, investment, and financial aid policies and procedures, while managing all financial, salary and benefits administration, human resources, and building maintenance functions.
Nowak will be a member of the Foundation’s senior management team, reporting directly to CEO Robert Hughes. “We are looking forward to Jill joining the Foundation and bringing her vast knowledge, experience, and expertise to our team,” said Hughes. “Sound investment practices and strategies will allow us to continue to succeed in our mission and meet our goals as an organization; we believe that Jill is the person to help us remain on that path.”
Nowak is active in her community with organizations such as the Women’s Foundation of St. Louis, where she is the president; the Dramatic License Productions professional theater group as the treasurer; and is a member of the Global Fund for Women and Women’s Funding Network. She earned a BBA in accounting and business law and a BA in French and English from Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, MI.
