Former Network Rail and NHS director to lead the start of CIMA’s Centenary in 2019

4^th June, London – Steven Swientozielskyj FCMA, CGMA, will serve as the 85th President of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the world’s leading management accountancy professional association.

Swientozielskyj was elected to the volunteer position by CIMA members at its Annual General Meeting today and he will serve a one-year term. His presidential year will also see him lead the start of CIMA’s Centenary Year marking 1919-2019.

During his presidential year, he will support CIMA members and students around the world by promoting the value that ACMA, FCMA and CGMA qualified management accountants bring to businesses, other organisations and the public at large.

As President, he is responsible for overseeing the global governance of CIMA, and promoting management accounting. He is also Deputy Chairman of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the global organisation representing 667,000 members and students from CIMA and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).

On his new appointment, Swientozielskyj said: “It is an honour to become CIMA President in this landmark year. We live in a time of rapid innovation and disruption. This uncertainty, however, is a great opportunity for management accountants to apply their professionalism, skills and agility in creating value for organisations.”

He added: “My Presidential year is going to be a special one as CIMA celebrates its 100^th birthday during my term in office. It is a great time to reflect on our heritage, but also, importantly, to focus on the future of the profession. This coming year will see the introduction of some great new initiatives and insight into the future of finance. Building on 100 years of heritage, we are in an excellent position to support and enable our members and students to ‘go beyond’ in this digital future.”

Educated at Manchester Metropolitan University and with an MBA from Cranfield Business School, he qualified as a CIMA associate in 1980 and became a fellow in 1985. He started his professional career in the automotive industry before moving to the rail industry where he gained recognition for creating a world-class shared services operation.

Swientozielskyj is an experienced executive, specialising in operational transformation across a broad spectrum of organisations in the private, public and consultancy sectors. He has worked in the UK, US, France, Germany, and Holland. His achievements in shared services and business partnering have led to research being done on this by Loughborough University, CIMA and the Hackett Group.

He is author of Business Partnering – A Practical Handbook (Routledge), has worked as a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and held a position as a UK National Health Service (NHS) non-executive director. He also lectures and speaks at conferences internationally.

Other appointments ratified at the CIMA AGM, held in London on 1 June:

• 2017-18 CIMA President David Stanford FCMA, CGMA became immediate Past President
• Amal Ratnayake FCMA, CGMA was elected as Deputy President
• Nick Jackson FCMA, CGMA was elected Vice President