CSUN alumna and Director of Administrative Services Edith Winterhalter. Photo by David J. Hawkins.
California State University, Northridge alumna and Director of Administrative Services Edith Winterhalter has been honored as one of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World. She will receive the “Behind the Scenes Leader” award from the Filipina Women’s Network, at the 14th Annual Filipina Leadership Global Summit on Oct. 25-29 in Toronto.
Winterhalter will be recognized as one of 100 women of Philippine ancestry who are changing the face of leadership in the global workplace, and have reached a high rank for outstanding work in their respective fields.
“The Filipina Women’s Network is focused on increasing the awareness of Filipino women, their power as leaders and policy makers at all levels in every sector of the economy, and they are really big on women mentoring, which they call ‘femtoring.’ I like that it allows members to pay it forward by ‘femtoring’ younger women,” said Winterhalter ’03 (Accountancy), M.A. ’10 (Educational Administration), Ed.D. ’16 (Educational Leadership).
Winterhalter is the director of administrative services in the Division of Administration and Finance at CSUN. She also serves as the chair of the International Society of Filipinos in Finance and Accounting (ISFFA), but award recognition is a new experience, she said.
“I feel like I now have a responsibility,” Winterhalter said. “It’s really big, and I’m still not internalizing [the award], to be honest. I’m now [under] a bigger microscope and have to be more socially responsible on a larger scale.”
The volunteer organization she chairs, ISFFA, has U.S. chapters in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. A national executive board member of the organization nominated her for the award.
“Our mission is helping young professionals and students break into the industry of finance and accounting,” Winterhalter said. “We started with Filipinos, but [now] anyone is welcome to join. We have students, emerging professionals and those who are new to the U.S. who need help in networking opportunities — as well as career and leadership training.”
Winterhalter has worked at CSUN for 20 years. She started as a staff member in the Department of Kinesiology in 2000, when she was an accounting undergraduate student. After a brief stint working for a forensic accounting firm following her 2003 graduation, she returned to CSUN in 2004 as a budget analyst in academic resources. She worked her way up to become director of administrative services in the Division of Administration and Finance in 2014.
CSUN is the institution that allowed her to grow and learn as much as possible, she said.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to hold a terminal degree, a doctorate, and it’s also the concept of continued learning,” Winterhalter said. “You always need to learn something new. You need to continuously improve yourself, and one of those things is to attain an advanced degree.”
Her family is continuing the Matador legacy. Her husband, John ’09 (Systems/Operations Management), and eldest son, Kurt ’16 (Music), attended CSUN. Her second-oldest son, Sean, is in his second year at the university studying computer information technology.
“CSUN is my home, and I tell everyone I’m homegrown. I got my degrees here, I work here and my family has gone here,” she said. “CSUN is our life. … I’m truly grateful for the opportunities this institution has given me. CSUN sees your abilities, regardless of who you are.”