Financial executives are an integral part of companies large and small. They also play a critical role in nonprofit organizations.

With a nod to her outstanding financial leadership and contributions to Benilde-St. Margaret’s School in St. Louis Park, Natalie Ramier, the high school’s chief financial officer, was named a 2019 CFO of the Year by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal in the nonprofit category.

Natalie Ramier

In a program the publication began in 2007, nominees last year were assessed by a panel of financial executives who took into account their contributions to the company or organization and the community.

Ramier was recognized at a November luncheon and profiled in a special issue of the Business Journal.

“Natalie is creative, driven by the educational mission, intelligent, positive, strategic, results-oriented and willing to take on anything,” said Adam Ehrmantraut, BSM president. “She is an absolute gem.”

A former auditor and finance director in the Minneapolis office of RSM McGladrey, Ramier joined BSM in 2011. “I felt a calling to work in the nonprofit field and was very excited to be joining a Catholic educational institution,” she said.

“My father was a high school math teacher and coach; he loved his job, and I wanted to experience that passion and ability to contribute to a community as he had,” she added.

At BSM, Ramier heads all areas relating to school finances, including budgeting, strategic projections, banking and investment. She’s also responsible for technology, human resources and facilities.

With the help of donors, Ramier led a large-scale construction project at BSM last year and is in the midst of another.

“We were able to open three new science classrooms and an atrium space for our students that is filled with natural light,” Ramier said.

Another project in the works is a collaboration center, where students will work in an environment similar to today’s modern workplace.

Ramier also takes pride in developing BSM’s long-term, rolling six-year budget process and corresponding facilities plan. Outside of her financial role, she prays with a small group of senior girls once a week and mentors a student who was recently accepted into Stanford University.

“My daughter currently attends Benilde, and I love the car ride home each day,” Ramier said. “Hearing about her day brings home what a wonderful, Christ-centered education we are providing to our students.”