Executive Connections mentors

Jacqualine focuses on developing leadership teams and governance systems for privately-held, entrepreneurial companies in Australia, China and the United States. She also brings experience as co-founder of a successful start-up firm offering shareholder value based management services that became an affiliate of Stern Stewart & Co, the EVA company.

After that business was acquired, Jacqualine spent 15 years as a principal and partner in EY's New York, Stockholm and Melbourne offices. Specializing in B2B global account growth and enterprise risk management, she led client-based initiatives which resulted in strategies that achieved the firm’s largest global accounts. Jacqualine began her consulting career working with Fortune 100 communications, media and technology companies on performance improvement programs.

In the nonprofit sector, Jacqualine's focus is on increasing access to educational opportunities for high-potential candidates from unconventional backgrounds. She serves as Treasurer with the American Australian Association; and her strategy and governance projects include work with the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, the Juilliard School and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

John has led worldwide operations and business process innovation for financial services companies. Over the course of his career, he made the discipline of enterprise shared services a key asset at American Express (Amex). John brings broad intelligence gained from growing organizations and teams in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. John was last Executive Vice President, Enterprise Transformation at Amex. In this role, he identified $400M in annualized revenue and OpEx savings in three years and reduced spend through technology expansions.

Immediately prior, John served as Executive Vice President, Global Business Services, leading strategy and operations across 42 markets. During his tenure, 3,000 employees delivered smooth day-to-day operations for real estate, enterprise automation, supply management, customer fulfillment, internal consulting, and sales enablement.

Previously John was Senior Vice President, Global Servicing Network (GSN). There, he spearheaded deployment of robotics process automation for GSN’s $2B cost base and generated $10M annually of benefits to the wider team. John also addressed persistent friction in the merchant experience by digitizing much of the operations, creating well-received customer-facing options, and making the platform available in 22 markets.

In 2010, John helped found the GBS group, a strategic decision that made Amex an early adopter of this enterprise-wide shared services model. He then led the global finance operations as Senior Vice President, Global Financial Operations, Global Business Services Group.

Outside Amex, John chaired the GBS Council at The Conference Board, an industry think tank. His community work includes the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, the nonprofit UMOM New Day Center, and Junior Achievement of Arizona. In 2018, the Phoenix Business Journal named him to a list of Phoenix’s “Most Admired Leaders.”

John holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Exeter in Exeter, UK. He is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Arizona and a Chartered Accountant of England and Wales. He is a fanatical skier, terrible golfer, and travels extensively with his wife, Suzanna.

Craig is currently devoted to philanthropic goals and giving back, performing functions such as mentoring and teaching students, establishing new and creative programs to benefit the global society and guiding newly formed organizations or those looking to transform their business to unforeseen levels of success. He has accomplished this by utilizing 30+ years of career experience as an international business expert specializing in business process and support functions, software development, information/network system solutions, contact centers and management consulting as the foundation for supporting and helping others.

Craig has launched several new divisions and turn-arounds of struggling entities from large multi-national companies to start-ups and firms personally founded. He has generated several billion dollars of global business and managed operations on six continents with 10,000+ employees.

Craig’s first primary role set the stage for consistently holding positions for things that previously had not been done before. Working for IBM, he was selling and supporting office system products to mid and large sized organizations throughout a multi-state region, all while supporting his family and still attending college full time. Craig currently spends his time as an Executive in Residence, Professional Teaching Associate and a volunteer at Arizona State University.

He has participated in the development of newly launched programs, spoken at many public forums, participated in numerous events, recruited new students, is a public address announcer for Sun Devil Athletics and much more. Craig is a graduate of Bentley University with degrees in Computer Information Systems and Management, is an avid sports fan and especially with two of his children being ASU graduates considers himself a Sun Devil through and through.

As a Senior Vice President at Wells Fargo, Kal Subramanian leads a team of Delivery and Change Management professionals who are passionate about Product Management and Agile delivery.

Kal is a veteran professional in the financial services industry having served in various capacities for the past 32 years. Starting with a brief career on Wall Street as an Investment Banker, Kal moved from New York to California for an extensive stint in Management Consulting that included Ernst & Young, Cap Gemini and DMR Group. Kal has really spent the rest of his career to date transforming Technology at American Express and Consumer Banking at Wells Fargo. Kal's key strengths and subject matter expertise are in Business, Finance, Technology, Leadership and Consulting. Kal is a champion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Wells Fargo.

He spends his time outside of work engaging and promoting various cultural events such as Indian Classical music & dance; Hindu religious events; Middle and High School Science Bowl competitions; International Travel and Vegetarian lifestyle while taking care of his elderly parents. His son is a Masters student in Germany while his daughter works for a consulting company in New York City.

As a C-level executive, advisor, and board member with more than 30 years of business experience, Lawrence has guided organizations through complex restructurings, acquisitions, corporate development activities and capital transactions totaling over $20 billion. His experience spans start-ups to private companies to publicly traded companies and includes diverse companies and industries – such as Grand Casinos, Mesaba Airlines, Mercedes Homes, Zounds Hearing and Odyssey Capital Group. He possesses an extensive knowledge of finance, strategy and operations and has developed strategic, financial, operating and turnaround strategies across multiple industries including casino gaming, hospitality, manufacturing, aviation, real estate, retail, and healthcare.

He is currently president of Taylor Strategy Group and provides strategy, financial, and restructuring consulting to companies and boards. In addition, he also provides expert witness testimony.

Lawrence currently serves on two public and two private company boards and has served on committees (Audit, Nominating and Governance, M&A, Strategic Planning, Restructuring, Finance and Compensation) of multiple companies, including two companies in Chapter 11. Lawrence is an NACD Board Leadership Fellow and NACD Directorship Certified. He was also recognized as a “Director to Watch 2020” by the Private Company Director Magazine. He is an SEC qualified financial expert, has chaired an audit committee and is a frequent panelist and article contributor on board governance and board related issues.

Lawrence is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. A native of New Orleans, he is an avid cook, woodturner, hiker, and golfer and resides in Litchfield Park, AZ.

Anna Thomasson has more than 30 years of experience driving functional excellence through talent development, process, and technology. She is known for leading effective change for businesses via strategic improvements to culture, employee performance and engagement, and succession management, all of which serve her well in her role at Willis Towers Watson — a leading global consulting organization engaging 40,000 employees and serving more than 140 countries.

In addition to being a consultant, Anna has held numerous leadership roles, including a stint as managing partner through which she grew some of the firm’s largest client relationships with prominent global brands. She has served as an advisor to seven startups, including her own pet products company.

Anna holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelor's in psychology from the University of Oregon. She currently serves as a public member of the Arizona State Bar Board of Governors, and is an active fundraiser for the local Franciscan Renewal Center. Her leisure time is spent hiking and indulging her passion for raising and training guide dogs for the blind.

Paul Tufano currently serves as the Chairman of both Teradyne, a supplier of automated test systems and robotics solutions, as well as EnerSys, a leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications. He has over forty years of experience in the technology and telecommunications industries serving in a variety of finance, operations, and executive leadership positions.

From September 2016 through his retirement in March 2019, Mr. Tufano was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Benchmark Electronics, a global provider of engineering and design services; technology solutions; and advanced manufacturing services for mission critical products in the medical; aerospace and defense; industrial; semiconductor capital equipment; computing; and telecommunications industries. He served as a member of its board of directors from February 2016 through March 2019.

Mr. Tufano served as Chief Financial Officer of the Alcatel-Lucent Group, a global provider of networking and communications technology products and services from 2008 through 2013 located in Paris. In September 2012, in addition to his Chief Financial Officer responsibilities, he was also named Chief Operating Officer.

Before joining Alcatel-Lucent, Mr. Tufano served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Solectron Corporation, an electronics manufacturing company for original equipment manufacturers, from January 2006 to October 2007 and as Interim Chief Executive Officer from February 2007 to October 2007.

Prior to joining Solectron, Mr. Tufano was President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Maxtor Corporation, a manufacturer of hard disk drives for business, consumer, and entertainment applications from February 2003 to November 2004. He was Maxtor’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from April 2001 and its Chief Financial Officer from July 1996.

From 1979 until he joined Maxtor Corporation in 1996, Mr. Tufano held management positions in finance and operations at International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), a technology and consulting company.

Mr. Tufano has been a member of the board of directors of Teradyne since March 2005. He has been a member of the board of directors of EnerSys since April 2015.

Mr. Tufano is also an Executive-In-Residence, Executive Connections Mentorship Program, W.P. Carey School of Business – Arizona State University since August 2019.

Mr. Tufano holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from St. John’s University and a Master of Business Administration in Finance, Accounting, and International Business from Columbia University.

Michael Tully currently serves as an independent director for CopperPoint Insurance Companies, a multi-line commercial insurance company with $4B in assets and $1.6B in surplus. An SEC/SOX financial expert, he is the Chairman of the Audit Committee, a member of the Human Capital Committee and is a CPA. He also serves as an independent director for National Association of Corporate Directors, serves on the Program Committee, and is the Chairman for the Arizona advisory board. He also serves as the Advisory Board Chair for OralKleen, a Series A medical device company and also serves as an advisory boards for Hammoq, a AI, machine-learning startup and Gainey Business Bancorp.

He is a former Chief Executive Officer of AAA where he led the creation of a $10B, 22-state holding company, later consolidating seven Western states resulting in one of the largest AAA's in the world with 5.5 million members, $850M in assets, and $3.5B gross revenues.

Tully's diverse experience includes executive leadership roles at two Fortune 100 Digital Equipment Corporation and Fairchild as well as roles as a startup CEO for an EXIM Bank financial service firm, Export Risk Management, and a CFO/President role PJH Brands, a high-end manufacturer of motorcycle lubricants. His experience spans managing large, complex businesses as well as working in innovative, entrepreneurial environments.

Tully currently serves as a CEO mentor for both YPO as well as the Arizona Department of Commerce. He is the managing partner of Horizon Strategic Advisors, a management-consulting firm and is a CPA and a graduate of the Harvard Business School. He received his Bachelor of Science and MBA degrees in Finance from Arizona State University. He resides in Scottsdale with his wife and two daughters (both ASU graduates!)