Lauren Giaimo’s lifelong connection to Yale inspires her work today. Learn how her journey, values, and leadership support Yale’s mission.
From roots to leadership
Lauren Giaimo felt connected to Yale University long before she ever started working here. Her dad spent four decades on campus, including 30 years as an HVAC specialist at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Through his job in Local 35, Giaimo attended college with help from the Child Scholarship Plan, and she was one of the first members when Yale Health opened its doors.
Prior to her current role in Finance Operations, she held positions in human resources, operations, and started her career as an auditor at the “Big Six” accounting firm Arthur Andersen, where she earned her CPA.
Title: Senior Director, Finance Operations and Special Advisor to the Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Years in Current Position: Five
Started at Yale: 2009
Did you ever imagine yourself in your current role?
No, I never imagined this! I’ve approached my career to always being open to new and interesting possibilities and exploring where I could develop. Joining a big accounting firm right out of college really helped me understand business and customers, and I’ve had wonderful mentors who helped me along the way.
There are so many ecosystems around the university, and each one has something different and unique to offer which will help you grow as a professional and understand Yale a little bit better. If you keep an open mind, embrace opportunities, and build relationships, you can make an impact and have a rewarding career. And I’m a huge proponent of lateral moves: my current position would not have been possible without one.
What is your favorite part of your job?
I have so many favorite parts, especially working with such a terrific team, and I get so much satisfaction out of the culture work we do. Several years ago, it became clear that we did not have the culture that we wanted to have in Central Finance, and at first, we didn’t know how to address it. We brought in outside experts to help us, and along the way it became a passion of mine. Leading the implementation of some of our culture deliverables is an important part of my role as special advisor to the Vice President for Finance.
Changing culture feels like a huge mountain to climb. It is a massive undertaking, but one that has tremendous reward. In the beginning, the staff — rightfully so — were skeptical. It was clear that Central Finance couldn’t do what some organizations do, which is invite people to a meeting or two and then host a party and declare, “It’s fine now. We fixed it.”
The Central Finance leadership team is committed to bringing belief, candor, transparency, and the willingness to put in the work to close identified gaps. It’s not easy, but the office is an outstanding example of the ability to change culture when you consistently prioritize it.
We are launching our annual culture survey soon, and around the office we like to say that facts are friendly, and feedback is a gift. The survey data gives us direction, helps us set priorities (also known as Culture Shaping Action Plans), and tracks our progress over time.
Culture is not a destination; it is an ongoing journey. We’ve made significant changes, tweaks, and updates over the years, including incorporating elements of the culture work into our Central Finance new employee orientation. We consistently think about how the decisions we make impact our desired culture, and if our actions match our words. There’s always something to work on, and, just as important, lots to celebrate.
How do you see your role connecting to Yale’s mission?
Every person’s role at Yale connects to the mission, and in my current role, I’m engaging with the Finance community and making sure they have the information, training, and tools they need to be successful and do their jobs seamlessly.
Part of how we do that is by providing an outstanding onboarding experience for new staff. A highlight of this process is Finance Foundations, a suite of seven training courses that goes beyond tactical information to provide a foundation in a wide range of topics, from an overview of the finance function to internal controls to fraud detection. We want staff to understand Central Finance, the people, and the work starting on Day 1. And of course, we encourage any staff member who has a career or an interest in finance at Yale to take some or all the training available through Workday Learning.
Yale is a large and complex place. For example, last fiscal year the Finance Support Center (FSC) received 45,000 inquiries; we had just under 10,000 combined staff take finance training courses in Workday learning; and we successfully onboarded over 40 staff, including interns, transfers, and new hires. Overseeing these areas helps me think about how everything fits together and what improvements we can make.
What is the best career advice you have received or would like to share?
When I started in my current leadership role, CFO Stephen Murphy passed along some really good advice that riffs on Stephen R. Covey, who wrote “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” He said that as you’re building a career, the job is about doing the work right, but as a senior leader, it’s about doing the right work.
You can’t just stay in the weeds after making the transition. Instead, you should make sure you’re delegating growth opportunities to your team and helping them up to their next strategic level. This isn’t always easy to do, and I actively work on it. There is always something you learn or work on to improve as a leader and colleague. Always ask for feedback. As I previously mentioned, it is a gift.
I fully believe in taking the work seriously, but not taking yourself too seriously. We’re all facing an incredibly challenging time at Yale right now, but I think we can still find time to have fun and engage with our teams in ways that make sense.
How does Central Finance innovate to simplify work across the university?
We are always asking, “How can we make this better or simpler?” There has been tremendous activity around the OneFinance strategic initiative, which enhances everything from compliance monitoring to standard operating procedures to training. And I have the great pleasure of assembling and working with our training team, which is building a suite of learning modules tailored to staff needs and development.
The North Star guides us to simplify and standardize financial services to make life easier for everyone doing this work, whether they are in Central Finance or in a business office on campus. We want to give staff better tools, remove barriers they encounter, and implement stronger internal controls, so that they can accomplish their tasks quickly, accurately, and easily. As participants in our North Star case studies, Central Finance staff consistently identify problems and pursue solutions that can save hours of work or save the university money, and I think the new integrated source-to-pay model could really change the game for us in terms of simplification and savings.
It takes time to adopt new tools and adapt to new processes, and we are just beginning to see the potential long-term payoff of the North Star work. Embracing change can also be considered “culture work,” so I’m looking forward to seeing all the great efforts come to fruition and finding ways for my team and I to be part of the positive momentum.
