News > SUN welcomes new CFO to ensure bright financial outlook

SUN welcomes new CFO to ensure bright financial outlook

• Solar United Neighbors

November 4, 2024

• Ben Delman

Solar United Neighbors (SUN) helps thousands of families each year understand the financial impact going solar can have on their pocketbook. Now, SUN is looking inward to make sure the organization itself is maximizing its financial position. We’re excited to announce the hire of MacKenzie Arbogust, MBA, Ph.D, as the organization’s first Chief Financial Officer. In this role MacKenzie will reshape the finance function in the organization and build a best-in-class finance team.

“MacKenzie brings the same level of thoughtful expertise to accounting that our organization brings to helping people go solar,” said Anya Schoolman, Solar United Neighbors Executive Director. “I look forward to working with her and her team to increase our capacity, and enable us to help more people benefit from solar energy.”

MacKenzie is a seasoned nonprofit finance expert with more than 20 years’ experience in steering organizations toward their financial objectives. Her career spans a broad spectrum, including roles in private sector companies, public benefit corporations, and nonprofits. MacKenzie’s expertise encompasses financial planning, budgeting, and strategic analysis, as well as operational management and compliance.

“When I went to earn my MBA, I did so to help organizations that are making a difference,” MacKenzie said. “SUN fits this goal to a T. It creates obvious, visible change helping people save money by generating clean energy. I”m excited by the opportunity to help the organization mature.”

For MacKenzie, putting SUN in an outfit that fits means providing timely, accurate information to program managers. She is looking forward to implementing budget and reporting systems that give them data in more easily accessible formats. This will allow SUN to make sure spending is happening at the right amount in the right places, and will also enable the organization to easily provide updates to external stakeholders.

MacKenzie joins SUN at a moment of rapid growth in every level of the organization. Over the summer, SUN welcomed a new Deputy Executive Director and new VP of Marketing and Communications. The organization is also adding significant program staff as it works to implement funding from Solar for All across the country.

“When you’re a $5, $10, $15 million organization, your production is your nonprofit goal,” MacKenzie said. “You need to treat it like a business. That means you need to be making decisions based on that mission. I’m looking forward to building robust reporting tools to help the organization do just that.”