Cecille Zacarias

Director, Financial Planning

Cecille joined Turnaround in 2011 and current serves as the organization’s Director, Financial Planning and Analysis. In this role, she facilitates planning and budget building processes that maximize utilization of resources to pursue Turnaround goals. She also provides financial insights to inform strategic planning and data driven decision-making.

Cecille came to Turnaround with over 20 years of experience as a development professional, primarily in microfinance. She was the Chief Financial Officer at Women’s World Banking, a global microfinance network where she provided strategic leadership across the functions of finance, human resources, IT and office administration. There Cecille built significant global experience, providing technical assistance in financial planning to staff around the world. She also built Women’s World Banking’s organizational effectiveness practice, designing tools and facilitating processes for partner institutions to enable them to achieve high standards in leadership and organizational change, middle management development and human resources development.

Cecille holds an MBA from the Asian Institute of Management and an undergraduate degree in physics from the University of the Philippines.

Who is your hero?

My son Joshua is my hero – waging a daily battle against the adversities brought about by autism with ingenuity, bravery and resilience.

What is the greatest invention of all time?

Next to the wheel – it has to be the safety pin – rescuing me from all kinds of emergencies and potential disasters! And people continue to discover new uses for it every day.