AGLC’s Jessica .A. Oku: results, resilience and leadership

Woman of the Year – The Americas

Overall Winner

Jessica .A. Oku, AGLC

Jessica .A. Oku

Treasurer

AGLC provides trusted gaming and liquor services that benefit all Albertans. It regulates gaming, liquor and cannabis activities with a strong focus on integrity, social responsibility and economic value, while delivering efficient services through a diverse and skilled workforce.

Profile

Jessica Oku is a treasury and finance leader with more than 12 years’ experience helping businesses strengthen liquidity, reduce costs and make better strategic decisions. She has built a reputation for combining strong treasury expertise with practical leadership, innovation and a deep commitment to developing others across the profession.

Jessica .A. Oku is a treasury and finance leader with more than 12 years’ experience delivering measurable business results while helping others grow. In her treasury leadership roles, she has raised millions in capital to support expansion and investment, delivered more than US$1.3m in cost savings, reduced finance costs by 40% within six months, and recovered approximately US$700,000 in excess bank charges. Her work consistently positions treasury as a strategic discipline focused on liquidity, capital allocation, risk management and long-term sustainability.

She is also the creator of the Cashflow Prioritization Matrix^™ (CPM), a practical framework that helps organisations and finance professionals make clearer cashflow decisions. Beyond her corporate work, she has produced more than 50 treasury cheat sheets, including the widely shared Treasury Management Mega Cheat Sheet, and regularly shares practical insights through LinkedIn, webinars, the Scale Treasury podcast and three books focused on business finance literacy.

Mentoring and coaching are central to her impact. Through programmes including the Treasury & Finance Leadership Accelerator, Treasury & Finance Launchpad and Treasury Career Accelerator Challenge, she has supported more than 500 professionals to strengthen technical capability, build confidence and move into leadership. She has also contributed to community outcomes through her work as Director of Fund Development at the Women’s Health Coalition of Canada, helping support women’s health initiatives.

Her personal journey has been shaped by resilience, including profound life challenges such as child loss. She brings empathy, strength and purpose to her work, using her experience to encourage and support others navigating their own professional and personal journeys.

“I am deeply grateful and humbled for this recognition and award. It is a testament to all the hard work of consistent learning, growth, development, valuable contribution, and collaboration. It also demonstrates the value that Treasury Today Group places in women in treasury and finance, who sometimes are barely acknowledged or recognized. I hope next-generation treasury and finance professionals can aspire to consistently deliver value and invest in their professional development.”

Jessica’s leadership combines technical excellence with a strong commitment to developing others. She has shown that treasury can be more than an operational function by helping organisations make better, forward-looking financial decisions. The Cashflow Prioritization Matrix^™ is a clear example of that innovation: it translates complexity into practical action and gives businesses greater confidence in managing cash flow.

She is equally intentional about developing talent. Through coaching, mentorship and accessible learning platforms, she has created practical pathways for professionals – especially women – to build skills, gain confidence and progress into leadership roles. Her approach is rooted in application, ensuring that learning leads directly to real-world impact.

She is a compelling role model because she leads with authenticity as well as performance. Her resilience, openness and sense of purpose make her influence deeply credible, particularly for those navigating transition or underrepresentation within treasury and finance. Through direct mentorship and wider knowledge-sharing, she is helping broaden participation in the profession and create a more inclusive leadership pipeline.

Jessica combines outstanding treasury performance with sustained impact beyond her own role. She has delivered measurable results – raising millions in capital, reducing finance costs by 40%, and generating over US$1.3m in savings – while also making treasury more accessible, practical and influential for others.

Through the Cashflow Prioritization Matrix^™, her podcast, books, cheat sheets and coaching programmes, she has translated specialist expertise into tools that help professionals and businesses make better decisions. Her contribution is especially meaningful for women and underrepresented talent, as she actively creates pathways into treasury leadership through mentorship, visibility and practical support.

She stands out not only for what she has achieved, but for how she uses that achievement to create opportunity, confidence and long-term value for others. That combination of results, innovation and service makes her a deserving Woman of the Year.

Treasury Today Group’s Women in Treasury & Finance Awards celebrate exceptional talent and dedicated individuals changing their corporations from within. To find out more please visit treasurytoday.com/women-in-treasury/awards/

Women in Treasury