Finance & Administration
We provide finance, information technology, and human resources services for Facilities Management and Campus Services.
Michael Choolfaian
- Assistant Vice President, Finance and Administration.
Brandi Bonaparte
- Human Resources Director, Facilities Management
Brandi Bonaparte joined the Finance and Administration team as the Director for Human Resources. She has an Executive Master of Science in Industrial Labor Relations from Baruch College and a Bachelor's degree in Human Resources Management. Brandi joined Columbia University in 2010 as Labor Relations Coordinator, and had various labor relations roles within Columbia’s central HR department. Brandi partners with CUIMC HR as well as with Facilities leadership to advance HR initiatives and to perform day-to-day HR processes such as job postings, hiring, discipline, leave management, resolution of employee issues, and more.
Laila Ghahramani-Hands
- Director, Finance and Administration
Laila Hands serves as the director of finance and administration for CUIMC Facilities Management and Campus Services. In this role, she develops budgets and evaluates financial performance for more than 50 business portfolios while managing forecasts and revisions by closely tracking and monitoring personnel and non-personnel operating expenses.
Laila also compiles and provides ongoing, periodic, and ad hoc financial reporting to various levels of management within Facilities Management and Campus Services. She reconciles actuals to budgets, including processing ledger entries or revisions to estimates for aligning actuals and budgets. She provides analysis management of all financial activities including campus-wide utilities, which constitute the highest expense for central administrative departments at the medical center. Laila is the main liaison for Controller and Budget offices at the University to determine details of updates to estimates, provide variance analysis, record accruals, and perform monthly, quarterly and fiscal year accounting close.
Laila has close to 24 years of service at Columbia University. Before her current role, she worked in the CUIMC Budget Office and Columbia University’s Office of Internal Audit.
Wendy Jorge
- Senior Financial Operations Analyst, Finance and Administration
Since 1999, Wendy Jorge has been a devoted and essential employee of Columbia University Irving Medical Center. As Senior Financial Operations Analyst, she works closely with Capital Project Management's project managers to ensure that their daily tasks run smoothly. She is the point person for any financial capital concerns.
Wendy is passionate about her work and regularly demonstrates her devotion to ensuring the department succeeds as a whole. In 2016, the division honored her with a Giraffe Award for going above and beyond her role.
Honors
- CUMC Facilities Giraffe Award, 2016
Jahaira Lopez-Cruz
- Finance Administrative Assistant, Finance and Administration
At Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Jahaira Lopez-Cruz performs the day-to-day processing of various financial transactions, including processing and monitoring payments and ensuring that vendors and suppliers are paid within established time limits. She is also responsible for processing and following up on requisitions, purchase orders, and change orders for Capital Project Management.
Grace Morillo
- Finance and Administration Analyst, Finance and Administration
Grace Morillo joined the Finance and Administration team as a finance and administration analyst in late 2018. In this role, she assists with processing budget transactions in Columbia’s financial system, compiles reports and reconciliations, enters data, reviews results, and processes corrective entries for the department's budget portfolio. Previously, she was a bookkeeper for Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health.
Brian McNamara
- Associate Director of Capital Budgeting, Finance and Administration
Brian McNamara is associate director of capital budgeting, a dual reporting position to CUIMC Facilities Finance and Administration and the CUIMC Office of Budget and Finance. Brian works with schools and departments to formulate their plans and track closely capital funding and spending. Ultimately, Brian helps improve the efficiency and accuracy of the capital planning process.
Brian has also served in the finance office at Mailman School of Public Health.
Carmen Nava
- Finance and Administration Analyst, Finance and Administration
As a finance and administration analyst, Carmen Nava assists with processing transactions in Columbia University Irving Medical Center's financial, human resources, and payroll systems. She compiles reports and prepares reconciliations, processes data, prepares accruals files, reviews results, and processes corrective entries. Carmen is responsible for analyzing a large volume of data, budget tracking, audit research and investigation, and financial reporting. She tracks multiple types of expenses, reviews and processes utility payments, and processes vouchers. She maintains and updates multiple backup files on a daily basis.
Before joining Columbia University, Carmen worked in the real estate and property management industry. There she performed as a senior accountant and an accountant/analyst for internal audits, accounts payable, and accounts receivable.
Nathalie Padilla
- Manager of Finance & Information Systems, CUIMC Facilities Finance & Administration
Nathalie Padilla joined CUIMC Facilities Finance and Administration in March 2020 as manager of Finance and Information Systems. Serving the teams under CUIMC Facilities Management, Nathalie manages various processes/applications to facilitate purchasing, accounts payable, payroll (Kronos), parking, and Unifier. Before joining Columbia University, Nathalie worked in investment banking.
Janet Salinas-Vasquez
- Senior Procurement and Payables Analyst, Finance and Administration
As the Senior Procurement and Payables Analyst for Finance and Administration, Janet Salinas-Vasquez ensures that daily finance activities run smoothly. She processes requisitions, purchase orders, and invoices within the Engineering, Custodial, Compliance, and Parking departments of Columbia University Irving Medical Center's Facilities Management and Campus Services. She also oversees CUIMC Parking, which includes managing the parking database, inputting applications, processing monthly payroll deductions for employees, and making sure customer accounts are up to date. She played a crucial role in assisting the department's transition to the new Maximo work order system.
A dedicated and valued team member at CUIMC since 2000, Janet is known for wearing many hats and serving as the go-to person for her colleagues. In 2016, the division honored her efforts with a Giraffe Award, for going above and beyond.
Honors and Certifications
- CUMC Facilities Giraffe Award, 2016
- Notary
Daisy Wen
- Senior Analyst, Reporting Analytics, Finance and Administration
As the senior analyst, Daisy Wen is responsible for collecting data from various University and departmental systems in order to develop and generate management and operating reports for the department. This includes the transitioning of reports into PowerBI. She also helps in the maintenance, enhancement, and end user training/support for all CUIMC Facilities Management systems. Previously, Daisy has held positions at nonprofit organizations, media companies, and her university’s athletics department.
