The Celero Commerce executive team created the Michael P. Duffy Leadership Award as a way to honor those who exemplify our highest organizational values: respect, excellence, communication, intention, performance, user experience, and simple, disruptive solutions. It is with great pride that we announce the 2021 first quarter recipient of this award: Kim Henley, Director of Merchant Accounting.
Kim Henley joined our team following Celero’s acquisition of TransNational Payments last year. She joined TransNational in 2017 after spending the previous 10 years in finance and settlement operations at one of the nation’s largest payment processors. The technical aspects of merchant settlement are complex, but Kim has the experience and knowledge to lead our organization through this period of significant growth. What sets her apart is a rare ability to make complicated processes seem simple, even to those who lack her technical background. Kim has established herself as a valuable partner to cross-functional leaders throughout Celero, and we’re extremely thankful to have her on our team.
“To lead accounting for an ever-growing number of merchant partners would be a daunting task for many, but not Kim,” said Chief Financial Officer Troy Wilkerson. “She quickly settled into the role of team leader and set a shining example of a hardworking and performance-driven manager.”
The Michael P. Duffy Leadership Award is named in honor of the late fintech leader Michael Duffy, who served as mentor to many of Celero’s leaders early in their careers. The peer-nominated award is given to those who embody the very best that Celero can be, guided by values like selflessness and teamwork.
“Kim Henley has all the qualities of a natural-born leader,” said CEO Kevin Jones. “I admire her ability to lead the team through times of rapid-fire growth, always doing so with a great deal of genuine care and humility.”
Kim will be invited to join past Duffy Award winners at the company’s first Leadership Summit, scheduled for summer 2021 at the Celero headquarters in Nashville. This annual event brings together leaders across the organization to talk strategy, industry trends, and our market position while celebrating all that we have accomplished together in three short years as an organization. This year’s summit will include all Duffy award recipients in 2020, as well as the top 10 percent of performers in other departments. There has even been talk of some exciting Nashville entertainment at the event.
Kim’s name will be engraved on a commemorative Duffy Award plaque to follow in the tradition of 2020 winners Nicole Becher, Abigail Lucier, Karo Torosyan, Spencer Ellis, Kristia Poppe, and Lea Telonis.
“Kim seized opportunities to improve financial and settlement operations within our finance team, and remained driven to impact our business in selfless and positive ways,” said Troy Wilkerson. “She routinely jumps in to problem-solve and teach whenever possible, and is positioning our team to support Celero’s growth in a scalable and efficient way.”
The next Duffy Award winner will be named this summer.