• Candidates must be Chief Financial Officers or equivalent in their organization.
• The minimum tenure in his or her current role is two years as of March 1, 2025.
• The candidate and his/her organization must be based in Chicagoland metropolitan area, in the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake (IL), McHenry or Will.
• All nominations must be validated and endorsed by the nominee and the nominee’s Chief Executive Officer.
• As a part of the selection process, nominees must be willing to be interviewed for 1 – 1 ½ hours.

Persons employed by:

(i) sponsoring organizations,
(ii) the Selection Committee’s employers,
(iii) organizations that employ any member of the Chicago CFO of the Year® Committee,
(iv) current members of the Board of Directors of the FEI Chicago Chapter are ineligible to be nominated.

A CFO who has received a Chicago CFO of the Year® award is not eligible for the award for a period of 10 years. However, if a Finalist does not receive an award, he or she may be re-nominated in future years.

The nomination form must include the most recent three years of audited or reviewed financial statements. (Note to privately held companies: FEI Chicago has special procedures to ensure the confidentiality of financial data. Please contact us at info@feichicago.org to discuss any concerns.)

1. A copy of the nominee’s biography in a Microsoft Word document
2. Nominee’s Headshot photo in a .jpg format
3. Provide the most recent three years of audited or reviewed financial statements, including all footnotes.
Private Companies: For privately held companies, the Chicago CFO of the Year® Committee is sensitive to private companies’ desire to keep their financial information confidential. Please do not allow the financial statement requirement to prevent a nomination. The Committee and the FEI Chicago Chapter is prepared to undertake a stringent process that will meet the confidentiality requirements of the CFO’s employer. We will arrange for a senior Committee member to discuss and develop with the candidate and his/her employer a financial statement review plan that meets the employer’s need for strict confidentiality. Please be assured that confidential information will never be compromised in this review process.
4. Chief Executive Officer’s Review in a Microsoft Word document
The Selection Committee is keenly interested in the opinion of the nominee’s Chief Executive Officer regarding the impact, skills, attributes, and demeanor of the nominee. We request that the Chief Executive Officer provide a summary of the most compelling reasons for his or her support of the Chief Financial Officer as a nominee for this award. Comments should be no longer than one page in length. Comments should be provided in a detailed conversational format, citing specific examples of achievements and accomplishments and their importance to your organization. Please do not submit a bullet point list of items, as this does not provide enough clarity and context to the Selection Committee.