LevelUp: Scaling Mission-Driven Work Through Financial Discipline and Innovation With Aaron Wilkins

In this episode of the Level Up, Nick Araco sits down with Aaron Wilkins, Senior Vice President of Accounting, Legal, and Compliance at Human-I-T, to discuss scaling mission-driven work through financial discipline and innovation. Aaron shares how curiosity, creativity, and collaboration drive the culture at his organization. He also discusses the challenges of letting go of responsibilities for growth and why compliance and AI will be crucial for future CFOs.

Subscribe & Listen to LevelUp episodes on your favorite podcast platform!

Aaron Wilkins is the Senior Vice President of Accounting, Legal, and Compliance at Human-I-T, a nonprofit social enterprise that bridges the digital divide by providing low-cost technology, internet access, and digital literacy training to underserved communities. He has been with the organization since 2012, first serving as Chief Financial Officer before stepping into his current role in 2021. Under his leadership, Human-I-T has distributed over 523,000 devices and diverted more than 15 million pounds of e-waste from landfills, empowering individuals and nonprofits nationwide.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• [00:00] Introduction
• [5:13] Aaron Wilkins discusses his journey from volunteer to Senior VP at Human-I-T
• [13:55] Why Aaron chose a non-traditional path into finance
• [16:40] Lessons Aaron learned while helping scale Human-I-T from the ground up
• [20:24] How curiosity, creativity, and collaboration drive the culture at Human-I-T
• [22:18] The importance of letting go of responsibilities for personal and organizational growth
• [27:26] Why compliance and AI will be crucial for future CFOs and finance leaders

In this episode…

Scaling a mission-driven organization can be a delicate balance between staying true to your cause while ensuring financial sustainability and growth. How do you manage this equilibrium, especially when scaling operations and measuring impact? Is it possible to maintain your mission without sacrificing financial discipline?

According to Aaron Wilkins, a leader with extensive experience in nonprofit finance, mission-driven work requires a clear focus on both measurable outcomes and sustainable growth. He highlights that successfully scaling a nonprofit involves translating the mission into actionable strategies while ensuring sound financial systems. By maintaining a dual focus on both mission and metrics, an organization can achieve significant impact without compromising its core values.

In this episode of the Level Up, Nick Araco sits down with Aaron Wilkins, Senior Vice President of Accounting, Legal, and Compliance at Human-I-T, to discuss scaling mission-driven work through financial discipline and innovation. Aaron shares how curiosity, creativity, and collaboration drive the culture at his organization. He also discusses the challenges of letting go of responsibilities for growth and why compliance and AI will be crucial for future CFOs.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Nick Araco on LinkedIn -   / nick-araco-jr-37b834  
• CFO Alliance - https://www.thecfoalliance.org
• Aaron Wilkins on LinkedIn -   / mawilkins  
• Human-I-T - https://www.human-i-t.org/
• Gabe Middleton on LinkedIn -   / gabemiddleton  
• James Jack on LinkedIn -   / jamescfac  
• Charles Pellicane on LinkedIn -   / charlesjpellicane  
• Brandon Smith on LinkedIn -   / bsmithhit  
• Qu Chen on LinkedIn - https://bitly.cx/NJyse
• Particle.news - https://particle.news/
• TLDR - https://tldr.tech/
• MarTech - https://martech.org/
• Neat Prompts - https://neatprompts.com
• Lean Six Sigma - https://leansixsigma.org
• Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) - https://cloc.org
• “A Financially Driven Business Strategy with Jennifer Yousem, Founder of I Heart EBITDA” on the Level Up podcast - https://bitly.cx/L8YIh
• “How People-First Leadership Defines Modern CFO Success With Ilana Esterrich” on the Level Up podcast - https://bitly.cx/haDF
• “The Pathway to Financial Leadership with Peter Nesbitt, Vice President of Finance at Teampay” on the Level Up podcast - https://bitly.cx/6d86
• “How to Adapt in an Evolving Industry with Bryan Lapidus, Director of the FP&A Practice at the Association for Financial Professionals” on the Level Up podcast - https://bitly.cx/BP2B

These days, your business needs total visibility, from global shipments to tariff impacts to real-time cash flow. That’s NetSuite, by Oracle — the #1 AI Cloud ERP, trusted by over 42,000 businesses. Download the free e-book, “Navigating Global Trade: 3 Insights for Leaders” at https://netsuite.com/cfoalliance

Sponsor for this episode

Level Up is proudly brought to you by Oracle NetSuite - https://www.netsuite.com/portal/home.... — the #1 cloud ERP trusted by thousands of high-growth, finance-led companies around the world.

NetSuite gives CFOs and finance leaders real-time visibility, automation, and control across their financials, operations, and planning—so they can lead with confidence and scale with speed.

Oracle NetSuite is also a proud and long-time global partner to The CFO Alliance, supporting our shared mission of empowering finance leaders to drive strategy, build resilient teams, and deliver next-level impact.

If you’re serious about building a modern finance function that keeps pace with your business, NetSuite is your platform.

Learn more at http://www.netsuite.com