Professional

Cheryl Francis is Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Corporate Leadership Center (CLC), a partnership between major corporations and academic institutions, which advances top corporate leaders and leadership practices.  CEO Perspectives, CLC's flagship program, has been offered since 2005 with the Kellogg School of Management.  In 2009, CLC launched its second major initiative:  Leading Women Executives - a unique development experience for high potential women and their companies aimed at improving the cost/benefit trade-off for corporate executive women and their organizations.

Cheryl is a Director of three corporate boards: AON Corporation, Morningstar and HNI Corporation. She is Audit Committee Chair and member of the Compensation Committee for Morningstar; and member of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee for HNI.  Cheryl formerly served on the boards of Hewitt Associates and Lands' End. 

Cheryl was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. from 1995 to 2000. She oversaw all financial functions, including mergers and acquisitions, of this $5 billion print services company. Under her leadership, all major management processes were revamped and aligned with value-based metrics, the business portfolio and capital structure were restructured, and shared services were introduced to increase transaction processing efficiency. These initiatives led to the repurchase $1.2 billion of stock (over 21% of total), the restructuring of over $2 billion in company sales, and an improvement in return on investment to greater than 14% (vs. 10% in the early 90’s) and a return on equity greater than 23%. Cash generation from the base businesses increased more than $200 million per year, while organic revenue grew faster than industry indices.

Earlier in her career, Cheryl was Treasurer of FMC Corporation, its first woman officer, and an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Chicago Booth).

Non-Profit and Community Activities

• Cornell University Board of Trustees, Executive Committee member and Audit Committee Chair
• Chicago Booth School of Business, Advisory Council
• The Chicago Network (TCN), Board member and former chair
  • Chaired 2006 census of women board members and executives in Chicago’s top 50 companies
  • Led task force that focused on increasing the number of women on Boards
• YWCA of Metro Chicago, leading campaign, along with her husband, Zed, to create new service centers and models for the economic empowerment of Chicago’s working poor women
• Metro Chicago United Way, member of Finance Committee and founding member of its Women's Initiative

Member

• Commercial Club of Chicago
• Women Corporate Directors
• The Chicago Network

Awards/Honors

• Honored for Community Leadership by the YWCA
• Featured in Harvard Business Review, Business Week, Treasury & Risk Management and CFO magazine
  

Education

• B.S. Degree, Cornell University
• M.B.A., University of Chicago Booth School of Business.