Emma May Hershey

Emma Hershey joined the Clearbrook executive team 6 years ago as Vice President of Finance. Prior to that, she was at Little City Foundation for 14 years serving in the capacity of Controller, and the Auditorium Theatre for 6 years as Accounting Manager.  She has served as the co-chair of the CFO committee for the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities (IARF) for the past 5 years.  

As a financial leader in the not-for-profit arena for more than 25 years, with most of those years at organizations that serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Emma is very passionate about her role.  Since coming to Clearbrook, she has provided increased visibility to financial data at all levels of the organization.  During her 6 years, she has created and implemented a budgeting process that involves multiple levels of organizational leaders and staff resulting in a truly collaborative plan for the future of Clearbrook.  This has provided better understanding of the state of the organization and the impact of decisions made as well as greater accountability among all staff members.  Creating accurate budgets has allowed Clearbrook to make a greater investment in reserves and capital, creating a more secure future for the organization. 

Emma has also worked to provide the Board of Directors and board committees with a clear understanding of the financials so their decisions can be made based on real time, accurate data.  During her tenure at Clearbrook, she has expanded the use of technology to achieve improved reporting and internal controls, as well as shortening the month end closing process to allow management to make decisions and pivot as necessary.  This was most evident during COVID when Clearbrook was able to navigate working remotely without any loss in accounting controls.  Emma ensured Clearbrook received the funding necessary to maintain operations, putting the safety of staff and our individuals first and foremost.

Emma holds an MBA in Accounting from the University of Illinois graduating Summa Cum Laude.  This was an unexpected career direction as her undergraduate degree was from SUNY Cortland having majored in Theatre and Spanish Literature.  Emma is the proud mother of three incredible young men, none of whom have chosen accounting as their future trajectory, though it’s still possible…see above.