Karen Kost
Managing Director
Karen Kost is a Managing Director at Cornerstone Advisors and leads the Enterprise Program Management practice. A seasoned finance transformation leader and enterprise PMO specialist, Karen brings decades of experience in the financial services industry, including banking, brokerage and insurance. As a disciplined and strategic leader, Karen focuses on modernizing the Finance and IT function operating models through digital and cloud-based technologies, while navigating the organizational, regulatory, and process changes necessary to drive sustainable enterprise-wide transformation.
Before joining Cornerstone, Karen spent 20 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services (PwC) in the Finance & Technology Transformation and Enterprise PMO practices consulting with clients such as MetLife, Willis Towers Watson, American Express, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, PayPal and many others. An innovative entrepreneur, Karen also founded a successful sole proprietor consulting practice and managed multiple global finance transformation engagements for Fortune 50 clients on a full-time basis for over a decade.
Karen has led complex, multi-workstream global initiatives across Finance, Technology, Operations, and Core Business units and has successfully partnered with third-party contractors and vendors. Her consulting experience spans Finance & Accounting Operations, Mergers & Acquisitions, Enterprise Program Management, Compliance and Risk Management, ERP and Cloud Modernization, Financial Reporting Applications, and Change Management.
Recognized as a subject matter expert in project and implementation methodologies, Karen is well-versed in globally accepted frameworks such as Six Sigma, PMI's PMBOK, Agile, and Scrum. Her depth of knowledge and commitment to excellence has made her a trusted advisor and leader in enterprise transformation.
Karen earned her Bachelor of Arts in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh.