Christine Laurens

Christine Laurens is an accomplished global CFO, business strategist and experienced independent board director of a public company. With expertise in private and public corporate structures, Ms. Laurens combines strong business judgment and an international perspective with a foundation in strategic planning, cybersecurity and digital transformation, risks and compliance, executive compensation, change and talent management. This experience supports her work as a qualified financial expert.

Since January 2022, Ms. Laurens is the Chief Financial Officer and a partner with Spencer Stuart, a global leadership advisory firm based in Chicago, overseeing the global Finance, Compensation, and the Internal Market, serving 30 countries. She is an ex-officio member of Spencer Stuart’s board of directors. In 2019, she joined the board of Technicolor S.A., an entertainment and technology company listed on the Euronext Paris exchange (TCH, now VANTI) and was a member of the Audit and Compensation committees. Technicolor SA spun off its visual effects division in 2022 to create Technicolor Creative Studios, also listed on Euronext Paris (TCHCS). Since then, Ms. Laurens has been a member of and chaired the Talent and Remuneration committee and she currently chairs the Audit and Risk committee.

Previously, she served as the CFO and partner of Kearney, formally known as A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm, leading the global Finance, Information Technology, Real Estate, and Procurement groups serving 44 countries. During her tenure as CFO, Kearney’s earnings more than doubled thanks to her stewarding the shift in the business focus from top line to profitable growth. A trusted advisor, Ms. Laurens led strategic planning processes within matrixed environments. She also led the Finance transformation, including an ERP implementation and the creation of shared service centers. Her IT oversight balanced usability, business objectives and cybersecurity on both internal and external vulnerabilities. Her measured approach contributed to returns on investment, risk and compliance, new market entry, new ventures, and M&A. She contributed to Kearney’s impact at the World Economic Forum, writing two articles for the WEF agenda focused on workforce and cybersecurity.

In 2002, Ms. Laurens began her career with Kearney in its Paris office as Southwest Europe Finance Director, when Kearney was a subsidiary of Electronic Data System Inc. After the management buy-out, she held various positions in Finance, including VP Global Finance, Finance Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, and France Finance and Administration Director.

Before joining Kearney, Ms. Laurens was the CFO of Keyrus, a technology consultancy listed on the Euronext Growth Exchange (ALKEY). Previously, she served as Managing Director of the French subsidiary of Agency.com, a NASDAQ listed Internet services agency and the CFO of Pictoris Interactive before its sale to Agency.com. Ms. Laurens started her career with Ernst & Young as an Audit Manager in the Telecommunication and Media practice focusing on public accounting and due diligence.

Ms. Laurens, a French national who is trilingual in English, French and Spanish, is a Certified Public Accountant in France.  She earned a master’s in management (MBA equivalent) from HEC Paris, ranked by the Financial Times as the #1 European Business School.  She also earned a CEMS master’s in international management from ESADE in Barcelona, then continued her professional development with the Harvard Business School Executive Education Leading Professional Services Firms program.

Actively involved in the Alliance Française of Chicago and Friends of HEC Inc., serving as a board member for both organizations, she is a member of The Chicago Network. In 2019, she received the CFO of the Year Award from FEI International for Large Private Companies. Christine and her husband have two sons and live in Chicago.