Gina Mastantuono has overcome more than a few challenges that pervade the male-dominated technology and finance industries in rising to a leadership position at the world’s largest distribution company.
The New York native aims to help others do the same, working to close any gender and ethnicity gaps by pushing several initiatives at Irvine-based Ingram Micro Inc. with an eye toward bringing improvement to the company and the tech sector overall.
“Improving diversity is a huge area for the human relations team, but at the same time it’s not that easy to get it,” said Mastantuono, who became vice president of finance at Ingram Micro nearly three years ago and was named the winner in the Rising Star category at the Business Journal’s annual CFO of the Year Awards on Jan. 21 at Hotel Irvine (see related stories 1, 9, 12).
Mastantuono is big on mentorship programs, an avid advocate of diversity, and strives to assemble an applicant list comprised of half women and minorities for any available leadership positions at Ingram.
“I’m really a proponent in believing that the more diversity you have, the better it drives the bottom line, profitability, a better outlook and views,” she said. “The focus on hiring great talent, we think, will accelerate the role of women at Ingram.”
Thousands of employees across the globe report to Mastantuono, who has helped the company evolve from its core distribution business into higher-margin segments, such as mobile services and the cloud.
Her impact has been significant from the operations side, which includes implementing a global financial systems overhaul, to the strategic front, analyzing several acquisitions Ingram has made the last two years in its ongoing roll-up strategy.
“I’m really focused on the transformation of people, processes and systems,” said Mastantuono, who held the chief accounting officer and international chief finance officer roles at New York-based cosmetics maker Revlon Inc. before joining Ingram.
Ingram posted record revenue of $46.4 billion in 2014. Its fourth-quarter and year-end 2015 earnings report is scheduled for this month.
The year-long global implementation of Oracle’s Hyperion Financial Management software, which helps managers consolidate and report financial results while providing in-depth analysis of key performance and operational metrics, was a large-scale undertaking that had never been carried out at the 37-year-old company.
The Hyperion Planning and Forecasting software update, which also took a year to fully deploy, is designed to shorten planning, budgeting and forecasting cycles, as well as improve their accuracy.
Mastantuono said the changes, which have led to tens of millions in cost savings in Ingram’s finance department alone, added granular depth to innovation, including intangible additions of value in business insights.
The mother of two boys, ages 4 and 7, works hard to balance the rigors of global business travel and regulatory compliance with taking care of her family. She can’t attend every soccer game or school function, but makes it a priority to attend events her sons deem important.
She’s as likely to talk about her work-home balancing act as being named one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology in 2015 by the National Diversity Council when she addresses mentorship programs and forums.
“It is an interesting path to try to be chartering,” she said. “I take my career very seriously. I work hard and I show up. At the end, I’m still a mom first and a wife first.”
