Top CFOs is pleased to announce The Top 25 CFOs of San Diego for 2024. San Diego employs more than 1.5 million people with industries like business and finance, transportation, and healthcare leading the way. The area also has an unemployment rate lower than the state of California, making it an attractive environment for companies and investors alike. This year’s awardees reflect the array of industries in the San Diego area and its reach into new markets.
Among this year’s awardees is Brian Miliate, Chief Financial Officer of Baker Electric, a company that is working on electrical solutions involving renewable energy resources. We also recognize Johanna Mylet, Chief Financial Officer of Poseida Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that develops cell and gene therapies to treat cancers and rare diseases. We also honor Derrick Walsh, the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Axos Bank, who has notable experience working with SEC and reporting regulations.
This year’s awardees have played an important role in contributing towards the growth of San Diego’s economy. Please join us in recognizing the accomplishments of The Top 25 CFOs of San Diego for 2024.
1. Joe Busky
Chief Financial Officer, QuidelOrtho
Joe Busky joined QuidelOrtho in 2022 and currently serves as its Chief Financial Officer. QuidelOrtho is a world leader in in vitro diagnostics, responsible for developing and manufacturing tools to help with understanding data and formulating actionable solutions. The company offers industry-leading expertise in immunoassay and molecular testing, clinical chemistry, and transfusion medicine, resulting in fast, accurate, and reliable diagnostics.
Previously, Busky was a chief financial officer at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics before the company was acquired by Quidel Corp. in 2022. Before that, he served as an EVP and chief financial officer at Vyaire Medical. He also previously worked with Price Waterhouse LLP as a senior manager. Busky earned an MBA and a bachelor’s in accounting/business from Loyola University Maryland.
2. Jeff Buchheister
Chief Financial Officer, Cetera Financial Group
Jeff Buchheister is the Chief Financial Officer of Cetera Financial Group. The company offers financial professionals and institutions support and services to grow, scale, or transition with a merger, sale, investment, or succession plan. It serves independent financial advisors, tax professionals, licensed administrators, large enterprises, as well as institutions, such as banks and credit unions, providing an established and repeatable blueprint for scalable growth. More than 12,000 financial professionals and their teams oversee over $475 billion in assets under administration and $190 billion in assets under management.
Prior to working at Cetera, Buchheister served as executive vice president and chief accounting officer for LPL Financial. During his 13 years with the company, he held a series of leadership roles at the corporate and business levels. He also served as a board member and audit committee chairman for the Private Trust Company, a subsidiary of LPL Financial. Buchheister received a bachelor’s degree in business economics from the University of California, Riverside, and completed the leadership development program at Harvard Business School.
3. Matt Abernethy
Chief Financial Officer, Neurocrine Biosciences
Matthew Abernethy is the Chief Financial Officer at Neurocrine Biosciences, a neuroscience-focused biopharmaceutical company. The company works on discovering and developing treatments for patients with under-addressed neurological, neuroendocrine, and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Abernethy has 15 years of experience in financial and investor relations segments of the healthcare industry, leading corporate finance activities and commercial supply chain operations as well as information technology and investor relations functions. Abernethy joined Neurocrine after working for Zimmer Biomet, where he held various positions from 2009 to 2017 including vice president, investor relations and treasurer, and vice president of finance. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from Grace College and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
4. Lynette Wilkerson
Chief Financial Officer, Freedom Forever
Lynette Wilkerson is the Chief Financial Officer of Freedom Forever, a residential solar installation company working with solar sales companies across the industry. The company, which started in 2011, helps dealer partners with premium offerings and a 25-year production guarantee, providing homeowners with peace of mind when investing in solar energy. The Freedom Forever headquarters are in Temecula, CA and Las Vegas, NV.
Previously, Wilkerson was a controller at J&W Lumber and was CFO at Vanguard Industries, Inc. She also worked with Tony Robbins Productions, Inc. as CFO. Wilkerson holds a bachelor’s degree as well as an MBA with an emphasis in accounting and psychology. She has served as a volunteer mentor in financial education programs in local high school and college work-study programs. She currently serves on the financial advisory board of an organization that serves U.S. military personnel.
5. Beth Hougen
EVP of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Ionis Pharmaceuticals
Beth Hougen began her career 32 years ago and currently serves as the EVP of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, which develops medication for patients with serious diseases. Ionis currently has five medications on the market and works in the fields of neurology, cardiology, and other areas of high patient need. The company is a pioneer in RNA-targeted medicines as well as new approaches in gene editing.
Before joining Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Hougen worked with Molecular Biosystems, Inc. as CFO. She received her MBA from the University of San Diego and a bachelor’s degree from Franklin and Marshall College.
6. Briana Elvaiah
Chief Financial Officer, Cortica
Briana Elvaiah is the Chief Financial Officer of Cortica and has more than 12 years of financial leadership experience, including working in healthcare services and healthcare technology. Cortica, which is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, utilizes unsupervised learning methods to recognize and analyze digital images and video. Elvaiah is responsible for Cortica’s finances, revenue cycle management, and human resources functions.
Before joining Cortica, Elvaiah served as CFO at Correctional Medical Group Companies, Inc. (CMGC), a national provider of medical, mental health, and dental services to inmates in county jails. She also previously served as executive vice president of Finance and Revenue Cycle at Vericare Management, Inc., a leading provider of mental health services for seniors. Elvaiah earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of San Diego.
7. Brandon Stanford
Chief Financial Officer, Eastridge Workforce Solutions
Brandon Stanford is the current Chief Financial Officer at Eastridge Workforce Solutions. The company is an employee-owned provider of full-service talent acquisition and management solutions for companies. Eastridge drives talent acquisition, cost reduction, compliance, and visibility for companies that use its workforce ecosystem in five core services: professional recruiting, volume recruiting, payrolling, managed service provider and vendor management systems, and recruitment process outsourcing.
Stanford previously served as the vice president of corporate finance at Search Optics, the director of corporate finance and global treasurer at Callaway Golf, and the senior manager of corporate finance at RCN. He has an MBA from the University of Maryland - Robert H. Smith School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University - Marriott School of Business. He is certified by the Association for Financial Professionals as a Certified Treasury Professional.
8. Nikki Thurman
Chief Financial Officer, Breg
Nikki Thurman is the Chief Financial Officer of Breg, which makes orthopedic bracing and devices for millions of patients annually. Founded in 1989, Breg is based in Carlsbad, CA, and is a company of Water Street Healthcare Partners, a strategic investor focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. Thurman is a Certified Public Accountant with 10 years of experience in public accounting and more than seven years working in the life sciences and medical device industries.
Before joining Breg in 2020, she worked as a financial controller for Breg as well as Prometheus Biosciences, Inc., and served as the senior manager of assurance services at RSM. She holds a bachelor’s degree as well as a master’s in accounting and finance from the University of San Diego.
9. Brian Miliate
Chief Financial Officer, Baker Electric
Brian Miliate began his professional career 24 years ago and currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Baker Electric. The company is known in southern California for its innovative and comprehensive portfolio of electrical contracting and renewables solutions, and Miliate has been with Baker Electric for more than 18 years.
Miliate’s past roles include controller at Bioceutix, Inc., vice president of operations at Tasty Food Products, Inc., and general manager at Baker Electric Solar. He graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelor’s in business administration.
10. John McCauley
Chief Financial Officer, Calendly
John McCauley is the Chief Financial Officer at Calendly, which produces online appointment scheduling software. The software helps clients schedule meetings for individuals and teams and has more than 20 million users around the world.
McCauley previously served as CFO at Seismic and vice president of finance at Agentology Inc. He was also the chief executive officer at Flexline Fitness. Additionally, McCauley lectured at San Diego State University. He has a master’s degree in accountancy from San Diego State University and a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from the University of San Diego.
11. Pat Dillon
Chief Financial Officer, Flock Freight
Pat Dillon has more than 19 years of business experience and currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Flock Freight, a logistics company working to make supply chains more efficient. The company matches locations, schedules, and compatible shipments to find the best options to pool freight at scale among billions of possible combinations. Flock Freight’s solutions move fuller trucks on optimized routes, helping to reduce carbon emissions by up to 40 percent compared to traditional methods.
Dillon previously served as the CFO at TuSimple. He also previously worked as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley and as a manager and senior consultant at Deloitte. He graduated from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business with an MBA in analytic finance and entrepreneurship, has a master’s degree in accountancy, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business.
12. Emily Brown
Chief Financial Officer, Wilshire
Emily Brown joined Wilshire in 2022 as the Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Executive Committee. Wilshire is a leading global financial services firm with around 500 leading institutional investors and financial intermediaries. The company advises on more than $1.2 trillion in assets and manages $86 billion in assets.
Brown served as senior vice president of financial planning and analysis at LPL Financial before joining Wilshire. She also spent more than 15 years at JPMorgan Chase in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility, including vice president in the consumer and business banking treasury division and vice president in the consumer banking financial planning and analysis division Brown earned both an executive MBA and an undergraduate degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting at the University of Washington Foster School of Business.
13. Brian Berning
Chief Financial Officer, Experity
Brian Berning is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Experity, after joining the company in 2022 as chief corporate development officer. Experity is a software and services company for healthcare in the U.S., providing an operating system that integrates electronic medical records, practice management, billing, teleradiology, and consulting solutions.
Before joining Experity, Berning was a managing director at Corza Health and also previously served as CFO at GreatCall and Ernst & Young as a senior associate. He earned a master’s in corporate finance from the USC Marshall School of Business and a bachelor’s from San Diego State University.
14. Mike Skelly
Chief Financial Officer, Firstup
Mike Skelly has been the Chief Financial Officer at Firstup for more than two years. The company’s intelligent communication platform is used by more than 40 percent of Fortune 100 companies to design and deliver personalized communications and gain engagement insights throughout an employee’s experience.
Skelly previously served as the CFO of AbacusNext. He was also the CFO of Trio Health and served as the CFO of UpWind Solutions, Inc. where he was responsible for managing all financial, facility, IT, and procurement operations. Skelly has a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa.
15. Johnny Ek
Chief Financial Officer, Akoya Biosciences
Johnny Ek began his professional career 23 years ago and now serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Akoya Biosciences. The company offers single-cell imaging solutions that allow researchers to phenotype cells and visualize how they organize and interact to influence disease progression and response to therapy.
Ek began his career in 2001 as a senior manager at Ernst & Young. He also worked at eBioscience before becoming CFO of specific diagnostics at bioMérieux. Ek graduated from the University of Notre Dame - Mendoza College of Business with a master’s degree in accounting and finance and a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University - Marriott School of Business.
16. Johanna Mylet
Chief Financial Officer, Poseida Therapeutics
Johanna Mylet is the Chief Financial Officer of Poseida Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing differentiated cell and gene therapies with the capacity to cure certain cancers and rare diseases. The company has a strategic collaboration with Roche to work on cell therapies for patients with hematological malignancies. Mylet has more than 10 years of experience in finance, accounting, and operational work with life science companies.
Mylet previously served as a controller at HUYA Bioscience International and an audit manager at Grant Thornton, LLP where she worked with life science companies at varying stages of their development. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Diego and is a certified public accountant.
17. Cheryl Kim
Chief Financial Officer, Hazel Health
Cheryl Kim has more than 35 years of professional experience and currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Hazel Health, which is a school-based telehealth company that partners with school districts and health plans nationally to provide mental and physical health services to K-12 students. Hazel’s diverse, culturally competent providers specialize in the health challenges of children and teens and partner with parents and school staff to make the best care decisions for students.
Before joining Hazel Health, Kim was a CFO at Perceptyx, Inc., and a CFO at Healthline Media. She also worked with PriceWaterhouseCoopers as a senior accountant. Kim graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
18. RJ Sparks
Chief Financial Officer, Semper Solaris
RJ Sparks began his professional career 23 years ago and currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Semper Solaris. The company is a residential solar power installation company. For EV owners, the company offers tailored solar installations designed to integrate with EV charging stations.
Sparks began his career in 2001 as a manager of transaction advisory services at Ernst & Young and moved on to become the CFO & COO at Eastridge Workforce Solutions before joining Semper Solaris. Sparks graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s in accounting & finance.
19. Logan Zinser
Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration, Element Biosciences
Logan Zinser is the Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration at Element Biosciences. Element Biosciences is a pioneering life science company focused on developing disruptive DNA sequencing and multiomics technology for research markets.
Zinser has more than 20 years of experience in finance and accounting. Before joining Element, he was the senior director of finance at Illumina, focused on commercial and marketing activities for the biotech research company. He was also with PricewaterhouseCoopers where he worked with a variety of companies in the software, semiconductor, and defense industries. Zinser earned an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
20. Derrick Walsh
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Axos Bank
Derrick Walsh joined Axos Bank in 2013 and was promoted to Chief Financial Officer in 2021. He previously served in a variety of accounting and finance positions at the company, most recently as chief accounting officer. Axos Bank operates a proprietary online banking platform, giving customers access to a range of banking products built around competitive interest rates and no-to-low fees.
Before joining Axos, Walsh led the SEC & Regulatory Reporting department at LPL Financial where he was responsible for SEC and regulatory reporting as well as various aspects of management reporting and investor relations. Before his time at LPL, Walsh was a manager in public accounting, auditing publicly traded organizations and financial institutions. Walsh has served on a variety of non-profit boards including Alzheimer’s San Diego. He graduated with bachelor’s degrees in accounting and business administration from the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond.
21. Atul Patel
Senior Vice President, Finance and Treasurer, PriceSmart
Atul Patel began his professional career 36 years ago and currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Finance and Treasurer of PriceSmart. The company owns and operates membership shopping warehouse clubs in Latin America and the Caribbean, selling merchandise and services to PriceSmart Members. PriceSmart operates 54 warehouse clubs in 12 countries and one U.S. territory.
Patel got his start in 1988 as a senior treasury dealer at ICI Finance, PLC, before becoming assistant treasurer at Saad Investments Ltd. He graduated from Swansea University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and materials science.
22. Nicole Labrosse
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Halozyme Therapeutics
Nicole Labrosse is the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Halozyme Therapeutics. She first joined the company in 2015 as senior director, financial reporting. Halozyme is a biopharmaceutical company that advises and supports biopharmaceutical partners in key aspects of new drug development while helping its partners achieve global commercial success.
Earlier in her career she worked with PwC as a senior manager, manager, and staff and manager. Labrosse earned a master’s in accounting from Bentley University, McCallum Graduate School of Business as well as a bachelor’s in corporate finance and accounting.
23. Michael Wesselhoft
Senior Vice President, Finance & Corporate Development, Boingo Wireless
Michael Wesselhoft is the Senior Vice President, Finance and Corporate Development of Boingo Wireless. Boingo Wireless designs, builds, and manages converged, neutral host public and private networks at major venues around the world. Boingo’s vast footprint of distributed antenna systems (DAS), Wi-Fi, small cells, and macro towers powers connectivity in airports, transit stations, stadiums, military bases, hospitals, commercial properties, and enterprises worldwide.
Wesselhoft has 23 years of experience and worked at Qualcomm for 18 years before joining Boingo, leading commercial operations for North America. Wesselhoft graduated from San Diego State University with an MBA in executive management and a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
24. Jeffrey Jones
VP of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Cohu
Jeffrey Jones joined Cohu’s Delta Design in 2005 as vice president finance and controller. He was named Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Cohu in 2007. Cohu is a supplier of semiconductor test and inspection handlers, micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) test modules, test contactors, and other test equipment used by semiconductor and electronics manufacturers as well as semiconductor test subcontractors.
Before joining Delta Design, Jones was a vice president for SBS Technologies, a designer and manufacturer of embedded computer products. He also served as an audit manager for Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers). Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Redlands.
25. Shuxin Zheng
Vice President of Finance, ProducePay
Shuxin Zheng is the Vice President of Finance of ProducePay. The company is working to eliminate the economic and food waste caused by the global fresh produce supply chain. Its Predictable Commerce Platform gives growers and buyers access to capital, trading, insights, and greater supply chain visibility. Zheng has expertise in finance and accounting, target operating model design, cross-functional program management, and digital-enabled transformation.
Zheng previously worked as a senior manager of management consulting at PwC and was also a consultant and deputy project lead at Compass Pro Bono. Zheng has a bachelor’s degree from North China Electric Power University and a master’s degree from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.
