Effective September 18, 2018, Ascension named two new members to its Board of Directors: Kristi Savacool and Mike Zychinski.
“Ascension is blessed to add such experienced and dedicated leaders as Kristi Savacool and Mike Zychinski to our Board of Directors, and we look forward to them sharing their experience, expertise and guidance as we continue to transform to best meet the evolving needs of those we are privileged to serve,” said Anthony R. Tersigni, EdD, FACHE, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ascension.
Kristi Savacool is an accomplished senior executive with diverse experience across industries, functions and regions. For 23 years, her professional career was spent mainly in information technology, with large-scale executive positions at Boeing, including Chief Information Officer for half of the company, the Commercial Air Plane Group. In 2001, still at Boeing, she shifted to working in Shared Services. This eventually led to her recruitment to Hewitt Associates as the Senior Vice President of Global Business Services and Technology. With Aon Hewitt, she grew to be the CEO of its $4.3 billion-revenue global human resources solutions business. As a result, she brings deep expertise in information technology, exposure to a large scale, best-in-class global corporation at the highest levels in Boeing, and CEO experience for a complex, global, professional services business focused on human resources solutions.
Ms. Savacool holds a Master of Science degree in industrial management. She has supported social causes throughout her career and she has a strong affinity to the mission of caring for those who are poor and underserved.
Ms. Savacool serves on the Board of Trustees of DePaul University, Chicago, and the Board of Directors of TrueBlue, a provider of workforce solutions. In addition, she has served on boards of community-oriented organizations, including one in Chicago dedicated to educating underprivileged children. She also served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for Lake County Illinois, and on the board of the United Way of King County, Washington.
Mike Zychinski, CPA, is a senior executive and financial expert with 40 years of extensive client service and management experience with Deloitte, a $14 billion enterprise, from which he retired in 2016.
Mr. Zychinski’s Catholic faith was an important part of his upbringing as he attended Catholic schools through college. He finished college in three years, graduating as the top accounting student at Saint Louis University and one of the top five accounting students in the state of Missouri. He continued at SLU to complete his Master’s in Business Administration.
Mr. Zychinski’s early career focus was on audit, eventually rising to the level of partner at Touche-Ross (later renamed Deloitte), and in 2000 he was asked to serve as Managing Partner of the firm’s St. Louis office.
In 2008, Mr. Zychinski took on the global Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer role, which was particularly important at that time as the U.S. dealt with a financial crisis and recession. He served on the Strategic Risk Committee of the firm, addressing emerging issues and developing mitigation strategies, and his responsibilities included all programs relating to ethics, personal independence, licensing, continuing education, political activity and anti-corruption, among others. Such programs covered more than 70,000 personnel, including in the U.S. and ventures in India, Mexico and Germany.
Mr. Zychinski also has more than 30 years of governance experience, serving on 20 not-for-profit and advisory boards. He currently serves on the Board and Finance Committee of Catholic Charities of St. Louis and on the Board, Audit and Governance committees of the St. Louis Art Museum. Other organizations he has served include Junior Achievement of Mississippi Valley and, the St. Louis Symphony. He was a Founding Sponsor and Advisory Board Member of the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership.
Mr. Zychinski has been recognized by Saint Louis University as an Outstanding Alumnus, and he was recognized for his contributions in the field of Ethics and Compliance by the University of Illinois.
