Simone Grimes (she/her)

Simone Grimes is a Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Qualified Audit Committee Financial Expert with deep expertise in financial strategy, operations & execution, board service and executive leadership for large and mid-cap, high-growth, and heavily regulated companies across multiple industry sectors including: banking, insurance, real estate, housing finance, private equity, and public accounting.

Simone is an Audit Committee Financial Expert as defined by the SEC. She spent six years in public accounting holding senior leadership roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Grant Thornton, and Walker & Company LLP where she oversaw audit engagements in the financial services practice for large banks, insurance companies, private equity firms, and lending institutions. She rounded out her time in public accounting as a practice leader working with companies in high-growth sectors (real estate, consumer products and healthcare) through capital restructuring strategies including initial public offerings (IPO), debt restructuring, and mergers, acquisitions and dispositions.

Simone’s corporate board experience has included serving on two boards through complex mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and exit strategies, serving as a strategic advisor to the board through capital restructuring initiatives, serving on her company’s board as assistant treasurer, working with the boards of two large cap fortune 100 public companies to implement cybersecurity governance programs and corresponding board charters, ESG objectives and metrics, and the design of a comprehensive executive compensation program for named executive officers (NEOs).

Simone’s diverse and rich strategy and execution experience has included serving as a strategic Chief Financial Officer for Acadia Insurance, a W.R. Berkley Company (NYSE: WRB), executing strategic growth initiatives at Progressive Insurance (NYSE: PGR), leading two companies through IPO and debt restructuring strategies, and leading transformative multi-year strategies for the nation’s two largest housing finance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in her capacity as Special Advisor for the Conservatorships at the Federal housing Finance Agency. Additionally, Simone oversaw the development of a multi-year diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy and corresponding operating plans, that met organizational goals and complied with regulatory and statutory requirements.

Simone is passionate about delivering value to investors, raising capital, and growing businesses. She believes in active shareholder engagement and a proactive approach to investor relations. She led two successful multimillion-dollar M&A exit strategies in her career, most recently as the chairman of the board for Green Growth Group, Inc., a privately held company with a portfolio of sustainable agricultural and technology assets and consumer product brands. The transactions delivered ROI of 18X to investors. Post disposition, she continued to serve on the board for the acquired entity to promote value realization. She advised on post-deal integration and ensured that ESG metrics were accurately quantified and recorded for public reporting.

Simone teaches classes nationally and internationally for the Institute of Internal Auditors on a variety of corporate governance topics including Enterprise Risk Management, Ethics & Compliance, Fraud & Corruption, Accounting Standard Updates, and Cyber Security.

She holds an MBA from Cornell University, a Certificate in ESG Investments from Columbia University, is a Certified Public Accountant (Virginia), a Certified Internal Auditor and holds a Certified Corporate Director designation from the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).