Val Gonzalez, CFO, The Climate Reality Project

About this episode

Val Gonzalez discusses her journey to becoming CFO of The Climate Reality Project and shares insights on leadership and purpose in the nonprofit sector.

This episode of the Think Factory Women’s Roundtable podcast features Val Gonzalez, who shares her journey from an unexpected start in accounting to becoming a global finance leader in the nonprofit space. As CFO of The Climate Reality Project, she discusses how her technical expertise, combined with curiosity and adaptability, shaped her career. Val reflects on key turning points—transitioning from individual contributor to team leader and later working on a global scale—emphasizing the importance of flexibility, listening, and applying knowledge in diverse contexts. She also highlights how her immigrant background and bilingualism became strengths, helping her navigate ambiguity and lead inclusively. The conversation also explores leadership and purpose, with Val emphasizing that great finance leaders go beyond compliance to become strategic partners who enable impact. She shares insights on financial sustainability as a daily practice, and identifies empathy, clarity, and flexibility as essential leadership traits. Offering advice to emerging women leaders, she encourages them to trust their own voice and focus on continuous growth rather than perfection. Ultimately, Val…

People in this episode

Host: The Think Factory

Guest: Val Gonzalez

Topics covered

• leadership
• finance
• nonprofit
• climate change
• women in business
• career development

Keywords

• CFO
• finance leader
• nonprofit
• climate reality
• women leaders
• career growth
• empathy
• flexibility

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Climate Reality Project

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