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Turkish-born financial executive Mesude Cingilli has been named CFO of the Year by the Minneapolis–St. Paul Business Journal, earning recognition for a career that bridges public finance, private enterprise, and community-based economic growth.
The award honors chief financial officers (CFOs) and senior financial executives who demonstrate outstanding leadership in financial management, strategic planning, and organizational impact within the Twin Cities business community.
The award was given in recognition of her focus on social impact, her ability to balance public funding, private grants, and community investments, and her work in building the financial infrastructure for inclusive growth.
Regarding the award, Cingilli said the honor belonged to the collective efforts of her teams and mentors rather than to individual achievement. "Finance isn’t just about numbers," she said. "It’s about people, collaboration, and building institutions that can sustain their mission."
She also noted that long-term strategy and sound financial structure must work together, emphasizing that "no organization can deliver on its purpose without a strong fiscal foundation."
A graduate of Middle East Technical University’s Department of Business Administration, Cingilli began her career at Türkiye’s Development Bank and Yatirim Bank. Seeking a deeper understanding of financial systems, she earned a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.
After relocating to the United States, she briefly worked as a project manager at Target Corporation before joining the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in 2002. Over the next two decades, she held key roles in financial strategy, budgeting, and risk analysis.
Cingilli was appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA) in 2024. The Minnesota-based organization focuses on improving access to finance for minority-owned small businesses—particularly those led by Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American entrepreneurs.
Under her financial leadership, MEDA has expanded programs that channel public funding, private grants, and community investments toward underrepresented business owners, reinforcing the nonprofit’s mission to narrow opportunity gaps in the U.S. economy.
She has led more than 20 process-improvement projects, generating an estimated $50 million in savings across various organizations. Her approach to efficiency and governance is backed by professional credentials, including Six Sigma Yellow Belt and Process Improvement Professional certifications from the University of Minnesota, business-focused patronlardunyasi.com reported.
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