BROADCASTS.com

Back in early 2020, Gina Mastantuono had only recently stepped into the CFO role at ServiceNow when the subject of intangible assets surfaced during a company board meeting. For months, growing numbers of the company\u2019s investors had been signaling their advocacy for the company to amplify its collective conscientiousness when it came to social and environmental concerns.

Traditionally, the company had relied on its marketing and communications teams to project its corporate mind-set when it came to such issues, but a number of events during the previous 12 months had led investors and board members\u2014as well as company CEO Bill McDermott\u2014to conclude that a more codified approach had now become necessary.

\u201cThis was a pretty significant change for both me and the organization,\u201d explains Mastantuono, who notes that her list of priorities for her first 12 months as CFO suddenly began to shift in real time as the magnitude of adopting ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles became increasingly evident.\xa0

\u201cIt enabled me to make necessary changes not only within finance but also across the enterprise and externally,\u201d comments Mastantuono, who relates that the impact that she could have as a leader became clear to her when the company\u2019s vice president of treasury pitched to her the idea of ServiceNow forming a racial equity fund to help underserved communities.

Recalls Mastantuono: \u201cI was really able to drive this throughout the organization, and now we have put a $100 million fund that was fully funded into the communities that need it most.\u201d

However, what\u2019s perhaps more revealing when it comes to Mastantuono\u2019s finance leadership has been the addition of an outward-facing pitch that she regularly makes to ServiceNow customers\u2014and particularly to those attracted to similar ESG-oriented opportunities.

\u201cOur products can help our customers in their ESG journeys in a way that those of many other companies just can\u2019t. We have the ability to differentiate from a product perspective and from an ecosystem,\u201d says Mastantuono, who seldom ignores an opening to amplify ESG\u2019s growing influence.

\u201cIt is just this incredible opportunity that has allowed us to really punch quite a bit above our weight class,\u201d adds Mastantuono, who leaves us wondering whether she\u2019s speaking on behalf of the company or for CFOs at large. \u2013Jack Sweeney\xa0