
Beyond the Balance Sheet: Creating Trust-Based Leadership with Oregon State University CBO Carla Hoʻā
From CBO Speaks by NACUBO
February 6, 2026 · 41 min · Season 12 · Episode 7
About this episode
Carla Hoʻā discusses the evolution of the CBO role and the importance of trust-based leadership in higher education.
Carla Hoʻā is vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. In this episode, Hoʻā joins host Melissa Farley to talk about building organizational resilience, leading through complexity, and transforming higher education through relationship-centered leadership. "The role of the CBO has changed over time... moving from a more transactional leadership to a strategic level of leadership," Hoʻā says. She emphasizes that modern higher education finance leaders must be catalysts who get out of their offices to find paths forward for their organizations. "We cannot be passive leaders in this space. We have to be catalysts for our organizations." Join us for a conversation with Hoʻā as she discusses navigating institutional scale, implementing AI in administrative systems, building trust through shared governance, and creating lasting organizational impact through people-centered leadership. Links Check out NACUBO's other podcasts! Career Conversations NACUBO in Brief
People in this episode
Host: Melissa Farley
Guest: Carla Hoʻā
Topics covered
- trust-based leadership
- organizational resilience
- relationship-centered leadership
- higher education finance
- shared governance
- AI in administrative systems
Keywords
- CBO
- leadership
- higher education
- organizational impact
- finance leaders
- AI
- trust
- governance
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Oregon State University
Places: Corvallis, Oregon
More episodes of CBO Speaks
- I Can Do Hard Things: Resilience, Leadership, and the Long Game with New England College of Optometry CBO Rich Kelley · May 1, 2026 · 40 min
- Relationships Are the Strategy: Building Career and Institution with Vassar College CBO Bryan Swarthout · April 3, 2026 · 42 min
- The Office of 'Let's Figure It Out': Transforming Financial Leadership with Wofford College CBO Chris Gardner · January 23, 2026 · 38 min
- Students First, Always: A Leadership Journey with Lafayette College CBO Audra Kahr · November 21, 2025 · 44 min
- The Heart of Higher Ed Finance: Building Trust-Based Teams with Brooklyn College CBO Alan Gilbert · November 7, 2025 · 49 min
- The Modern CBO: Expanding Beyond Finance with Forsyth Technical Community College CBO Kizzy Lea · October 24, 2025 · 40 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the CBO Speaks podcast page.