A partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City since 1997, Pam Fornero credits much of her success to hard work, knowing herself and voicing her interests.

The 1985 Robins School graduate began her career at Manufacturers Hanover Bank in New York. She joined Coopers & Lybrand in 1987 (Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand merged in 1999), where she worked in the Capital Markets group. Twenty years later, she still sits in that practice, an audit partner for SEC clients, hedge funds and Broker-Dealer and Banking clients helping them with initial public offerings, acquisitions and divestitures, internal control reviews and performing annual audits. In addition, Fornero is the Human Resources Partner in the NY Banking and Capital Markets Practice - a practice of approximately 325 partners and staff. Fornero enjoys helping her clients and mentoring staff members, and she has recruited several Robins School graduates to join her team.

A mother of three, Fornero says her position is somewhat unique in the industry because she has worked a reduced schedule since becoming a mom nine years ago. During busy season, she works full time; the balance of the year, she works four days a week with flexibility worked into her schedule. It is important for Fornero to be able to provide quality service to her clients and quality time to her staff while ensuring she has the time necessary to actively participate in the lives of her children. She is also actively involved in her community.

“Accounting professor Joe Ben Hoyle inspired me to do my best. He taught me the value of being organized and being prepared, and how to have and express a point of view. This has made all the difference in my career,” she explains.

“I love mentoring and I truly enjoy coaching our staff. In the future, firms will need to continue to put themselves in each others shoes to determine what motivates their employees in order to coach and mentor happy, productive contributors to the firm. For me, it has been all about finding a work/life fit and being flexible."

Why a career in public accounting? “Accounting is such a dynamic career and these are exciting times. There is so much to learn, it seems every 10 years a new cycle of products and issues emerge," explains Fornero. "With an accounting expertise, you have many career options, both domestically and internationally. You can open your own business. You can work for a local or regional firm, or you can join one of the Big 4.”

When she is not working, Fornero enjoys spending time with her husband, Robert Kulesh, whom she met at Columbia University while working towards her MBA, and their children, Jack, Patrick and Katie. They enjoy traveling, golf, tennis and socializing with friends. In the balance sheet of life, Pam Fornero has many assets and few liabilities.