Understanding Financials is a Boardroom Essential

Kimberly Valentine-Poska

Principal - Mergers & Acquisitions: Healthcare, Life Sciences, Technology, and Real Estate Global Capital Markets 

Kimberly is a qualified financial executive with over twenty-five years of global experience as an investment banker, entrepreneur, Partner for Deloitte, and board director. Known for successfully leading mergers and acquisitions, she has provided integrative financial oversight for middle-market & Fortune 500 corporations. Currently, Kimberly runs the Healthcare and Technology practice for Global Capital Markets, Inc., (“GCMI”) an investment banking firm based in Irvine, California and Toronto, Canada.

Prior to GCMI, Kimberly was a Partner at Deloitte, an international professional services firm and the largest accounting firm in the world. At Deloitte she managed the investment banking group in Southern California where she assisted domestic and international companies with mergers and acquisitions, Initial Public Offerings (IPO), and debt & equity capital funding.

Kimberly focused in the areas of Technology, Healthcare, and Real Estate.

Kimberly earned her MBA from Harvard Business School. She was the Valedictorian of her class at the University of Southern California, graduating summa cum laude with a BS and an emphasis in finance and economics. She is registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory

Authority, Inc. with Series 63, 65, 79 & 82, and holds an active California Real Estate Broker’s license. Kimberly has served on both For Profit and Non-Profit Boards for the past 15 years in the roles of Finance, Audit, Strategy, Governance, and Social Responsibility.

Lori Smith

Assistant Dean of Graduate Programs and Associate Professor of Accounting at the University of Southern California

Lori is an expert in financial accounting and reporting, internal control, and auditing with more than 35 years of experience in both public accounting and as a company executive.
She is currently the Assistant Dean of Graduate Programs and Associate Professor of Accounting at the University of Southern California. She leads strategic development and curriculum for the masters of accounting and business taxation programs and teaches at both the masters and undergraduate accounting level where her course focus is financial reporting, financial statement analysis and ethics.

Prior to joining USC, Lori was an assurance and advisory partner for Deloitte & Touche, a global professional services firm. As a lead client service partner, she delivered effective audit and consulting services to both public and privately held firms ranging in size from small, family-owned businesses to multi-national corporations. Additionally, she served as team leader for multiple external peer reviews and internal practice reviews.

Earlier in her career, Lori was Director of Accounting for Bergen Brunswig, then a Fortune-500 public company. In this role she was responsible for the accounting and reporting for the nationwide pharmaceutical and medical supply distribution company. She led the reengineering of the Company’s organizational structure and internal control policies for corporate, regional and divisional accounting, financial reporting and finance departments; managed the design and implementation of financial planning and reporting systems; and directed consolidation and integration of acquired companies.
Lori served for seven years as the Executive Director for the Forum of Corporate Directors, an organization focused on enhancing board room effectiveness by creating a forum for collaboration among directors, executives, and advisors to the board.

Lori served on the Board of Directors for the American Cancer Society, California Division for
10 years. Her leadership roles included Chair of the Board, Secretary/Treasurer, Audit Committee
Chair, and Stewardship Chair. She also served as a resource member to the Audit Committee for
the American Cancer Society, Inc.