Mihaela Popa-Simil has been with the Foundation since 2006, as our Chief Financial Officer, before being promoted to Vice President of Finance and Operations in 2016. She provides day-to-day executive management of the LANL Foundation.
Mihaela is a volunteer examiner for Quality New Mexico focusing on helping entities around the state improve operational effectiveness. In 2017, she joined the Board of Directors of Quality New Mexico. She is a graduate of Leadership Los Alamos, an organization dedicated to the development of informed leaders. Leadership Los Alamos supports leaders deepen their knowledge of the community as well as regional issues.
Prior to joining the LANL Foundation, Mihaela provided a full range of business accounting services to major public and private companies. She worked as a CPA in Romania, working as a Financial Controller for New Holland Ltd., Senior Consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd., and KPMG Ltd. She served as Vice President of Finance of the Project Management Institute, Otowi Bridge Chapter and IT&T SIG.
Mihaela received her master’s degree in business administration from the College of Santa Fe and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Romanian Academy in Bucharest, with a thesis in European Union green taxes system.