Shirlene Small is Chief Financial Officer for The Kaleidoscope Group. Serving in this role since 2004, Shirlene is responsible for setting the financial direction of the organization and ensuring its economic strength and viability. She also manages accounting and treasury operations, provides financial advisement on current business operations and opportunities, and serves as the financial spokesperson and liaison to external organizations.
In addition to her responsibilities with The Kaleidoscope Group Shirlene serves as managing director of the Chicago based certified public accounting and consulting firm Emerging Business Solutions Group LLC (EBS). EBS serves emerging and high-growth businesses in the Midwest, Eastern, and Southern regions of the United States providing accounting, tax, and business advisory services. Shirlene has over twenty years of accounting, finance, and project management experience in various industries including franchising, retail, manufacturing, and consulting. She was the founder and proprietor of Small Consulting, which was the predecessor firm of EBS. Prior to undertaking her own venture, Shirlene worked for McDonald’s Corporation as manager of the McOpCo Accounting & Special Areas Group where she was responsible for supervising financial reporting processes and financial analysis for McDonald’s fifteen-hundred domestic company-owned restaurants. She also served as a project manager in McDonald’s International Accounting Group where she managed a multi-departmental systems conversation project and re-engineering projects for the International Accounting Department and its fifty-plus subsidiaries and affiliates. Additionally, Shirlene prepared reports for the International executive management team and worked with the Treasury Department in the management of foreign exchange currencies as it related to foreign investments and debt. Prior to her tenure at McDonald’s, Shirlene worked at the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand where she specialized in financial audits of manufacturing, real estate, and not-for-profit clients.
When she’s not working with clients, Shirlene enjoys working with community organizations that promote educational and economic empowerment. She has worked as a volunteer for the Martin Luther King Jr. College Fair sponsored by the Trinity United Church of Christ Higher Education Corporation. She has been a speaker and workshop leader for business training classes sponsored by The Beloved Community of St. Sabina Church and other local organizations.
Shirlene received a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from DePaul University and has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1989. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Illinois CPA Society, the National Association of Black Accountants and the Illinois Production Alliance. Shirlene also is a member of the Minority Business Enterprise Input Committee for the Chicago Minority Business Development Council.