Berklee Announces Gail Wilson as Vice President of Finance

Gail Wilson has been named Berklee’s new vice president of finance, a role she began on September 30. Wilson will lead Berklee’s budgeting, controller’s office, financial reporting, and campus business services, overseeing the Finance Department and managing operating and capital budgets. 

Reporting to interim CFO John Case and collaborating with senior leadership, she will focus on implementing best practices, creating efficient and effective financial operations, and driving innovation and change for the institution across the areas of strategic leadership and management, budgeting and reporting, accounting and financial operations, and campus business services.

Wilson brings more than 30 years of finance management and leadership experience, in addition to a proven track record in identifying opportunities and implementing creative solutions in higher education, nonprofit, and industry settings. She comes to Berklee from Babson College, where she served for 10 years in the finance department and was most recently the associate vice president of treasury management/controller.

“We are so fortunate to have Gail Wilson joining us at Berklee as vice president of finance,” said David Bogen, Berklee’s interim president and provost. “Gail brings decades of experience in finance management and leadership and a proven track record of developing systems, processes, and expert teams to address the needs of contemporary higher education institutions. I look forward to working with her to drive innovation across Berklee’s financial operations.” 

At Babson, Wilson directed the institution’s accounting, treasury, audit, payroll, and procurement, with a goal of maximizing return on financial assets; oversaw budget and planning; developed Workday Adaptive Budget modeling improvements; and participated in the implementation of Workday HCM, Workday Financials, and Workday Student. She successfully guided her teams through the COVID-19 pandemic, forecasting annual budgets, delivering clean audited financials, improving treasury management functions, and overseeing internal audits. She also enhanced financial processes, reduced expenses, and increased revenues and cash flow.

Prior to Babson, Wilson owned and managed GW Accounting Solutions, a consulting business in Quincy, Massachusetts, that provided CFO, controller, and accounting services to start-up and growth companies in the private, nonprofit, and public sectors throughout New England. Her work at GW Accounting involved developing and implementing processes and controls, budget forecasting, financial software implementations, managing internal and external audits, ensuring tax compliance, overseeing treasury management, and creating internal reports for senior leadership and board members.

She previously served as corporate controller at Techmar Communications; accounting manager at Network Plus, Inc; and controller/general manager at Citizens Enterprise Corporation/NEChoice, LLC. Wilson holds a Master of Science in management and a Bachelor of Science in business administration, summa cum laude, from Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts.