Minneapolis-based KPMG executive Laura Newinski is now one of the Big Four accounting firm's top leaders nationally as she embarks on a five-year term as deputy chairwoman of KPMG in the United States.
Newinski is responsible for the development of the U.S. firm's strategy and execution of its priorities. She also is chief operating officer for KPMG's Americas region. She most recently served as vice chair of operations, where she was in charge of technology and financial matters and oversaw operations.
Newinski said she was looking forward to leading the firm through what she sees as "a period of tremendous growth in our business but also growth opportunities for our [35,000-plus] people."
With KPMG's headquarters in New York, Newinski splits time between her office there, her Minneapolis office and an office at her family's home in Bloomington. She expects to be on the road 80% of the time meeting clients and employees in the firm's 80-plus offices around the country.
Newinski's term as deputy chair began July 1, along with that of Paul Knopp, elected to a five-year term as KPMG's new chairman and chief executive. They have launched a new strategic approach to advancing inclusion and diversity, Accelerate 2025, that aims for the firm and its leaders "to look more like America than we do today in the next five years," Newinski said.
Newinski joined KPMG's Minneapolis office in 1988 and was named a partner in 1997. She has an accounting degree from the University of Iowa and a master's of business taxation degree from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.
Q: What are your priorities as KPMG'S deputy chair and chief operating officer?
A: Growth and trust. That is, growth in terms of the firm but growth in terms of opportunity for our people and trust being the trust of our people, our community and the public that we serve as a public accounting firm. Trust is at the absolute center of everything that we do.
Q: How is the firm pursuing that growth?
A: Our people and our culture differentiate us from our competition and provide us the opportunity to lead with our values, to win in this market with all of the changes going on. The change that's underway and the help that companies need navigating that change is the place that we see growth opportunities. We are focusing that growth on locking in on sustainable growth by building stronger client relationships.
Q: What accomplishments are you most proud of in your career at KPMG?
A: The first and most unique is the opportunity around our KPMG Lakehouse, our learning and development center that we opened this year in Orlando. The opportunity was to vision this, to draw the picture of how we were going to differentiate ourselves, invest in our people and create a collaborative and innovative environment and then design and build and open the center, which is nearly a million square feet. … The other is every single year there is this unbelievably proud time when we're making new partners. I find the most pride is in facilitating the opening of a door and the creating of a career and the opportunity that we provide when we bring our new class of partners in.
Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in Lake Elmo. His e-mail is todd_nelson@mac.com.
