Nominee: Moe Aboufares

CFO and COO
California University of Science and Medicine

Moe Aboufares is the founding CFO of the California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM). His involvement started by developing its business case when it was just a concept to setting up its operations and achieving breakeven in 2021. Among his many fiscal stewardship highlights achieved at CUSM, he secured funding for the new site and achieved the breakeven point as originally planned, without the use of contingency funds, despite disruptions made by COVID-19.

Aboufares also managed to commission the new building, relocate the university campus and scale operations for all administrative functions. Aboufares started his career in strategy consulting abroad where he worked on a myriad of projects across different industries, predominantly in the energy sector. His work involved developing a costing model for a $1.4-billion project across 120 countries, designing the shared services organization and developing a chargeback model, among other successes.