Pushing boundaries, looking for more

Lauren Conway boldly goes where no other chief financial officer has gone before.
So says her boss, UnitedHealthcare of New England CEO Stephen J. Farrell, describing Conway as a CFO who embodies the values and virtues of a true business and community leader.
“Lauren’s enviable enthusiasm and spirit make her one of the Rhode Island business community’s greatest ambassadors,” Farrell said.
Conway has been in the position for six years. Based in Warwick, she has transformed the traditional role of CFO into one that goes above and beyond the bottom line, personifying the company’s stated mission of helping people live healthier lives.
Of course, she’s still a CFO, with the duties you would expect in a company that serves 1.4 million people in New England. Conway leads the budgeting and reporting of more than 450,000 members and more than $1.1 billion in local revenue. In the last six years, she has helped expand the New England market by more than 20,000 members.
She has performed so well, in fact, that the company decided to send her back to school. It’s called the Executive Development Program.
United sends outstanding employees to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia for an intensive, six-month curriculum that broadens and enhances their skill set. The talent she developed and connections she made became invaluable for Conway, and she values and nurtures them to this day.
“The networking experience alone is something I never would have had without the program,” she said. “There were seven of us that developed a closeness that is not very common in the work environment. We still have a conference call once a quarter to stay in touch with each other’s lives,” she said.
Conway speaks of bonds that are traditional to the business she is in and some that are not. She is committed to the job and company in more ways than just bottom-line success and shared philosophy. Conway is not one to say “that’s not my job,” but just the opposite: she seeks out new areas in which to learn and lead. “I am interested in being involved in the operations of the business to the extent that I have become a COO in many respects,” Conway said. The traditional CFO duties such as budgeting, forecasting and analyzing results take up much of her workday. But Conway carves out time for more.
“I stay as organized and focused as possible so that I can lead projects, initiatives, understand plan designs, volunteer for Northeast projects [not just in New England] to improve our business from an internal and external view,” she said.
Conway not only brings her astute financial management to the table, but she is unrelenting in her desire to understand every aspect of the business. She is an integral contact for the state Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner, ensuring that United is attuned to regulatory developments and trends in Rhode Island.
She also works with the March of Dimes of Rhode Island and Women & Infants Hospital as a participant in the Executive Development Program. Conway successfully developed and launched Our Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait, a collaborative initiative that raised critical public awareness throughout Rhode Island about the importance of eliminating elective deliveries before 39 weeks.
Betsy Akins, director of the local March of Dimes office, said Conway “understands and appreciates how public/private partnerships make for good health sense as well as good business sense. She epitomizes a primary tenet of nonprofits everywhere: working for the public good.” Conway works for that public good in and out of her job. She is a board member of the Rhode Island Life & Health Insurance Guarantee Association, and is a two-time participant in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, walking nearly 80 miles overall to raise money for breast-cancer awareness.
One would expect such activities from a business leader in the community. What you might not expect is her ability to make time for something as intimate as Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ocean State.
Yes, one of the busiest CFOs in the state has time to be a Big Sister.
When her son got older she found she missed not having him around as much. With her newfound free time, Conway realized she wanted to help and mentor a child.
And she loves it. “Everything about my experience with Alejandra is rewarding,” Conway said of her Little Sister.
“I never expected what I got. She helps me as much as I help her. She is the sweetest little girl, who laughs, enjoys everything I do with her and just adds excitement to my weekend,” Conway said.
“Today is our one-year anniversary. We are getting manicures, pedicures and going out to dinner.”
Do manicures and dinner with a Little Sister lead to success in business? Perhaps, especially when seen through the prism of Conway’s ability to shrug off definitions and restrictions and dive into her career and her life with both feet.
When Farrell hired her six years ago, he made it clear that she could get by just fine by simply doing her job. Or, she could thrive by getting involved.
“He said I could step up when he is looking for a volunteer to lead an initiative, think outside the box, get involved in things that I don’t know a lot about, learn and become invaluable,” she said. “That is what I chose to do.” •