Julie Scott is the President, CEO and founder of CTS Impact and has over 20 years of diverse business integration experience in finance, information technology and management operations. Along with the CTS Impact team, she advises CTS Impact clients on a wide array of business and systems integration issues including business process improvement, software selection, design & implementation, corporate compliance, mergers & acquisitions, and organizational change. In addition, she assists emerging growth companies with strategic transactions including IPO-readiness.
Professional Background
Prior to founding CTS, Julie served as Director of Professional Services for a national professional services firm, Parson Group, ranked as the Inc. 500 #1 Fastest Growing Private Company during her five-year tenure. Previously, Julie served as the Corporate Controller for Crate & Barrel, a multi-national retailer where she managed financial operations, reporting, planning, financial systems, strategic analysis, and launch of its private-label credit card program.
Previously, she served as Director of Corporate Financial Reporting for Montgomery Ward, which encompassed SEC reporting and investor relations. She began her career as an Auditor with Grant Thornton, focused on SEC registrants in the manufacturing, distribution, higher education and retail sectors.
Education and Certifications
Julie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy from the University of Illinois Gies College of Business at Urbana-Champaign, cum laude. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and the Illinois CPA Society.
Community Focus
In tandem with her commitment to her staff and clients, Julie is deeply committed to making a social impact in her own community and beyond. She is involved in a wide array of charitable organizations both in partnership with CTS and independently.
Currently, Julie serves as a Board member and Immediate Past President of the University of Illinois Gies College of Business Alumni Association, consisting of over 70,000 alumni worldwide. She also serves in a dual role on the Board of Directors for the University of Illinois Alumni Association, where she sits on the Operations Committee. Through their family foundation, Julie and her husband established a scholarship program in entrepreneurship at the University of Illinois.
In addition, Julie serves as Director Emeritus for the YWCA of Chicago, whose mission is the empowerment of women and elimination of racism, where she currently advises the Development Committee. As a very active board member of the YWCA, she has served on the Executive Committee as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee, and previously as Chair of the Audit Committee chair and member of the Programs and Advocacy Committee of the YWCA board.
Julie also serves on the Audit Committee of the United Way. In addition, Julie was appointed to the St. Ignatius College Prep Board of Trustees where she is Chair of the Finance Committee and also a Member of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee.
She has been an active mentor and donor for the LINK Unlimited Scholars program, to promote college success readiness for high school students in underserved communities.
During its formation, Julie served with Arzu, a social business enterprise established to educate and train Afghan women for sustainable poverty alleviation and empowerment.
In 2021, Julie received the Outstanding Entrepreneur award from the YWCA in recognition of her innovative business model, as well as her commitment to social impact.
Julie is also a member of The Chicago Network, where she is Chair of the Entrepreneurs and Mid-Sized Companies Committee, the Economic Club of Chicago, Executives Club, Chicago Finance Exchange and International Women’s Forum.
Beth Stone is Vice President, Strategic Engagement and Practice Lead, Financial Services for CTS Impact. With her diverse business integration experience in management operations, finance, capital markets and compliance audit, Beth consults with financial services and other CTS clients on issues encompassing business process improvement, asset management, compliance, software selection and conversion, acquisition integration, financial operations, human resource & payroll operations, and reporting.
Professional Background
With her diverse industry experience, Beth previously served as First Vice President, Capital Markets Operations for First Chicago and subsequently Banc One (now JP Morgan Chase). With a focus on Capital Markets products such as fixed-income trading and interest rate derivatives, she was responsible for Operations, Accounting and Systems in corporate, government and municipal debt instruments, while overseeing the execution, settlement and accounting for the underlying transactions.
In conjunction with this role, Beth managed operations in Chicago, New York and London responsible for the settlement and pricing of exchanged, traded and over-the-counter interest rate, equity, and commodity derivative contracts.
For emerging markets such as Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Poland, she managed teams responsible for operations, risk management and new product development focusing on debt conversions and over-the-counter options. Prior to her involvement with Capital Markets operations, Beth served as Vice President, Commercial Loan Operations for First Chicago, focused on supporting complex financing structures, servicing the agent loan portfolio and FAS 91 compliance.
Initially, Beth joined First Chicago as an Internal Auditor with progressive responsibilities through Assistant Vice President, Internal audit. Beth began her career on the Audit Staff at Arthur Andersen, where she specialized in the financial services industry.
Education and Certifications
She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and Accounting from St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and has held Series 7 and 24 licenses.
Community Focus
In her commitment to higher education, Beth is an active member of the Bates College Parent Advisory Council.
Greg Allen is the Systems and IT Security Lead for CTS Impact. Since joining the firm in 2002, Greg leverages his strong project management and business analysis skills, coupled with his IT and financial operations experience, to assist CTS clients with full life-cycle software selection, design and implementation programs, as well as acquisition integration and business transformation initiatives.
Professional Background
Prior to CTS, Greg served as a Financial Consultant and HR manager for Parson Group, where he focused on Oil and Gas, Insurance, Higher Education and Healthcare clients. Previously, Greg was the Manager of Budgets and Financial Systems Analysis at the American Dental Association. In this role, he led the PeopleSoft financial system implementation, including report design, business process re-design and end-user support.
Greg began his career in the Higher Education industry as Manager Of Business Operations for DePaul University, where he managed the information technology operations budget. In this capacity, he also served as key liaison with business users to design and implement reporting tools and systems.
Education and Certifications
Greg earned his Bachelor of Business Administration at St. Bonaventure University and a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from DePaul University. He is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and member of ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association).
Community Focus
Greg served on the Board of Directors as President for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dad’s Association. He is also active in his local community and schools supporting various events and fund-raising activities.
Bridget Polhill is an Engagement Manager at CTS Impact. In this role, she leads program and project management for finance transformation initiatives and complex finance and accounting engagements. Leveraging her deep technical accounting background and hands-on delivery approach, Bridget partners closely with clients to drive execution, manage change, and deliver practical, high-impact solutions across the engagement lifecycle.
Professional Background
Prior to joining CTS Impact, Bridget spent nearly a decade in real estate investment management, overseeing accounting and financial reporting, including month-end close, consolidations, and audited financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Her experience includes performance return analysis, waterfall and promote calculations, capital activity management, investor reporting, tax-effected modeling, and regulatory SEC reporting.
Bridget also played a key role in finance systems and process initiatives, managing partnerships with technology providers and leading implementations and enhancements across fund management, debt management, and property accounting platforms. In addition, she co-chaired firmwide culture initiatives focused on strengthening collaboration, engagement, and effectiveness in a hybrid work environment.
Earlier in her career, Bridget worked at Deloitte, where she served public and private clients in the financial services and real estate industries. She led audit engagements, supported GAAP and IFRS financial reporting, and performed audit procedures across the full real estate lifecycle, including acquisitions, refinancings, dispositions, and IPO readiness.
Education and Certifications
Bridget earned a Master of Accounting Science with a graduate minor in Finance and a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Social Impact
Bridget is actively involved in her parish and school community, where she contributes her time and leadership in support of faith-based initiatives, education, and community engagement. She also supports philanthropic efforts focused on advancing research for type 1 diabetes and previously served on the committee for the Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) Real Estate Games in Chicago.
Team Impact
“What I love most about working at CTS is the flexibility. CTS cares about their employees and understands the importance of a balanced approach.”
“Over my 14 years with CTS Impact, I have applied my hands-on system skills to learn new systems and build my expertise with these tools, most recently in the cloud. Each project is not only challenging and interesting, but always provides a learning opportunity too.”
“I was introduced to CTS Impact by a former colleague. I was familiar with many local, national and global consulting firms, but not with CTS Impact. I was intrigued by their established c-level relationships with many local clients, and the depth of expertise of its team.”
“People that work at CTS Impact are highly motivated, self-starters, who like to get things done. Each of us comes from a different background, with unique abilities and experiences, and we have fun collaborating to solve our client’s problems on a real-time basis with innovative solutions.”
“For me, it is inspiring to work for CTS Impact because I have the opportunity to work side-by-side with our clients and to use my first-hand industry experience to help clients and to implement process improvement recommendations into real-world solutions.”
“One of the things I enjoy most about working for CTS Impact is the opportunity to work hands on directly with the client. We can collaborate with the client to develop creative and effective solutions and then have the ability to actually deliver them.”
“I joined CTS Impact as a seasoned independent consultant. I knew I loved being a consultant, and I was ready to expand my capabilities as an entrepreneur when I met Julie and became a part of the CTS Impact team. I am consistently pleased with the variety and complexity of my assignments and the caliber of clients I have worked with since joining CTS Impact.”
“At CTS, employee professional development is a core value. It is an environment that encourages learning new and evolving skills with opportunities to join different projects.”
“I really enjoy the variety of the work we do. We have a wide exposure to different clients and projects so there is always a new challenge. During my 12 years working at CTS Impact, my clients have included manufacturing, real estate, financial services, and the high tech industry, so I was able to apply my skills and experience in new ways.”
“I love working at CTS Impact because the culture values giving back and making an impact within the community, as well as with our clients.”
“As a member of the CTS Impact staff since 2009, I have not had to travel out of town. This is very important to me that I can enjoy my work during the day, but have a life after work.”
“At CTS Impact, you will experience a dynamic collaborative culture where diverse perspectives are appreciated.”
“At CTS Impact, it’s not just about the work, it’s about building relationships across our team and with our clients.”
“I have always felt valued as a member of the CTS Impact team.”
“Our friendly and professional culture, along with our willingness to roll up our sleeves, differentiates CTS Impact from traditional consulting firms, so we can cut through the noise which saves our clients time and money.”
I am continually inspired by the incredible depth of experience of our team and their passion for helping our clients and in the community, resulting in a truly rewarding employee experience for all, as well as our firm’s very high employee retention rate of our amazing staff; we must be doing something right!”