Benjamin Stuelke

Benjamin Stuelke
Nationality	American
Occupation	Finance executive
Title	Chief Financial Officer
Employer	HomeStrong USA
Known for	Nonprofit financial management, internal controls
Education	M.S. Accounting, University of Connecticut School of Business B.A. Accounting, University of Redlands
Website	https://benjaminstuelke.com

Benjamin Stuelke is an American finance executive who has served as Chief Financial Officer of HomeStrong USA, a nonprofit housing organization in Southern California, since 2010. He has worked as a nonprofit chief financial officer for more than fifteen years and is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).

Early career and education

Stuelke earned a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of Redlands, completing the degree in 2004. He began his career in public accounting before moving into the private sector, a path that gave him exposure to audit and assurance work early on.

He later returned to formal study while working, earning a Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Connecticut School of Business in 2017.

Career

Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services

Stuelke served as Chief Financial Officer of Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services (NPHS) from 2008 to 2010, based in Rancho Cucamonga, California. NPHS is a Southern California nonprofit working in affordable housing and neighborhood stabilization. His work there centered on strategic financial management and external audit coordination.

The role placed him in the nonprofit housing sector during the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, a period in which Southern California carried some of the highest foreclosure concentrations in the United States and organizations in the sector expanded rapidly to meet demand.

HomeStrong USA

Stuelke became Chief Financial Officer of HomeStrong USA in July 2010 and has held the position since, a tenure of more than fifteen years. The organization is based in Upland, California.

As chief financial officer he has been responsible for the organization's financial operations, including equity financing and strategic planning. Nonprofit housing organizations of this kind typically operate with a mix of public funding, philanthropic grants and earned revenue, each carrying distinct reporting and compliance requirements. The finance function in such an organization is correspondingly more complex than headcount alone would suggest, since a single organization may simultaneously answer to federal program rules, state housing agencies, private funders and an independent auditor.

Areas of expertise

Internal controls

A significant portion of Stuelke's professional work has concerned the design of internal control systems together with the policies and procedures that support them. Internal controls are the mechanisms by which an organization safeguards its assets, ensures the accuracy of its financial reporting and demonstrates compliance to funders and auditors. In the nonprofit sector these systems carry particular weight, because organizations are accountable not only to a board but to public agencies and donors who require documented assurance that restricted funds have been used as intended.

Certified Fraud Examiner

Stuelke holds the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential. The CFE designation is administered by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and covers fraud prevention and deterrence, financial transactions and fraud schemes, investigation, and the law as it relates to fraud. The credential is commonly held by professionals working in forensic accounting, internal audit and controls design.

Cross-functional management

Stuelke has described his career as one in which he was able to cross-train across a range of business areas, producing a varied skill set and the ability to contribute outside the finance function alone. His listed areas of professional skill include accounting, strategic planning, executive management, internal controls, and the development of policies and procedures.

Nonprofit housing and foreclosure recovery

The sector in which Stuelke has spent his career concerns the acquisition, rehabilitation and resale of distressed residential property, with the objective of returning homes to owner-occupancy rather than to investor ownership. Organizations working in this area acquire foreclosed or abandoned properties, carry the cost and risk of renovation, and then sell to owner-occupant buyers, frequently at prices below what an investor purchaser would pay.

The work is capital-intensive and slower than investor-led acquisition, and the financial management involved differs substantially from conventional real estate finance. Funding is typically assembled from several sources at once, each with its own restrictions, and the organization must be able to demonstrate at any point how a given property was financed and how proceeds were applied. This reporting burden is the reason the chief financial officer role in such organizations extends well beyond conventional accounting into compliance, audit coordination and program design.

Personal life

Stuelke lives in Southern California.