Cindy Kushner founded Women Executive Leadership, Inc. (WEL) in 1999. Cindy’s unwavering passion for empowering women for executive and board leadership is in her DNA, and the WEL community is about raising the visibility of the tremendous, qualified female talent pool. WEL, and through its strategic relationships and alliances with other thought-leaders such as Athena Alliance, Leaderboard, and Florida Women on Boards, advocates, educates, and connects women leaders. Effective October 1, 2024, as part of succession planning, Cindy is serving as Board President while preparing the President Elect for leadership in 2026.
Success comes from getting the right people on boards and in executive positions. That means ensuring more women are included in the selection process so we have the opportunity to be the best candidate.
Cindy Kushner is a seasoned board director, board chair, partner, and qualified financial expert with over 30 years of experience advising public, private, and private equity-backed companies through complex transactions, strategic transformation, and growth. A former Big 4 and Crowe LLP Partner, she is known for her ability to align strategic business objectives with sound financial frameworks. She has deep expertise in M&A due diligence and integration, IPO readiness, cross-border tax structuring, and audit support. She has advised on numerous high-stakes projects involving spin-offs, recapitalizations, reorganizations, and international compliance.
She has served on several boards, including Broward College, which serves 56,000 students annually, as a member of the board of trustees and on the Audit, Governance & Nominating Committees. She also serves on the board of WEL Florida as Founder and Chair. Prior board roles include the Financial Executives International, HFMA, and the NACD Florida Chapter. She has led and facilitated numerous board governance bootcamps and served on national committees advancing leadership.
She served as Office Managing Partner and Client Service Partner at Crowe LLP, one of the largest global advisory and accounting firms. In that role, she led a multi-million-dollar book of business while managing an office and leading 175 professionals. As Crowe’s National Healthcare Tax Practice Leader, she grew revenue from $4M to over $25M and expanded the firm’s client base to include large public companies and private equity firms and portfolio companies across healthcare, life sciences, and the consumer sectors.
Previously, she held partner roles at KPMG and Ernst & Young, where she led tax strategy, transaction services, and financial advisory work for major public companies.
Cindy holds a B.S. in Accounting and Finance, summa cum laude, from Thomas Jefferson University–Philadelphia University. She is a Certified Public Accountant and board-certified through the Athena Alliance. She has received numerous awards including Florida’s Top 500 Most Influential Business Leaders (2018–2022), the Women Executive Leadership Trailblazing Award, and multiple honors for leadership and service excellence. In her free time she is an avid global traveler, having visited over 40 countries. She enjoys new cultures, experiences, and foods and is an outdoor adventurer who hikes, kayaks, fishing, and snorkels frequently.
