INTHEBLACK July/August 2023 - Magazine - Page 30
AT A GLANCE
Darren Greentree FCPA has
been CFO of Western Sydney
University, in New South
Wales, Australia, since 2010.
Greentree was also
appointed vice‑president
finance at the university
at the beginning of 2023.
He has more than 25 years
of senior management
experience across the
private and public sector.
LEADERS AND INNOVATORS
FINANCIAL
LEADERSHIP
Western Sydney University’s Darren Greentree FCPA has evolved the CFO
role to suit the changing business environment and his own unique skill set.
Words Adam Courtenay
BORROW
Impact: Great
Leadership Changes
Everything from
the CPA Library
30 INTHEBLACK July/August 2023
If being the CFO of a large, publicly
listed corporation is seen as the apex of
financial stewardship, then the work of
Darren Greentree FCPA might offer some
food for thought.
Greentree is the CFO at Western Sydney
University (WSU) and has been with
the institution for over a decade. More
recently, he also assumed the responsibility
of vice‑president finance – but these are
just job titles, he says. His work, and the
team he leads, seem to have adapted and
diversified at the same rate and complexity
as the region of Western Sydney itself.
Over the course of Greentree’s career, the
region has become one of the country’s fastest‑
growing and most diversely populated areas.
It now boasts the third‑largest economy in
Australia, behind the central business districts
of Sydney and Melbourne, says Greentree.
His role and WSU’s mission both reflect this.
Greentree laughs as he recalls the job he
entered 13 years ago and compares it to
what he does today. In 2010, the finance
function was almost entirely back‑office
focused. Now, it is fully embedded in the
university’s decision‑making process.
What Greentree does now is not just about
accounting and cash flows – these are a given
in the job. Rather, it is about “understanding
and developing linkages between operational
activities and financial requirements through
respected business partnering”, he says.
LONG-TERM VISION
The real job of a CFO is about making a
difference – through informed financial
decisions – not just for today’s students, but
for those who will enter the university in 10,
20 or even 30 years’ time, says Greentree.
“It’s about establishing an intrinsic value
connection to what you do and sharing that
connection with those around you. But even
more importantly, it’s also about making a net
difference to the lives, careers and wellbeing
of others,” he says.
In a way, Greentree has to be a kind of
“financial soothsayer” – hypothesising the
university of tomorrow by making insightful
decisions today. There is a strong legacy
element attached.
“That’s where this really is so very
different to the standard corporate role,
where the focus, through necessity,
