Beyond the Balance Sheet: Creating Trust-Based Leadership with Oregon State University CBO Carla Hoʻā

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

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