Shana Laurie de Hernandez

School of Accounting and Finance Fellowship Honourees

Shana Laurie de Hernandez, BMath '97, MAcc '98, CA, CPA

Shana Laurie de Hernandez graduated from the University of Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance, earning a Bachelor of Mathematics degree followed by a Master of Accounting in 1998. She went on to obtain her Chartered Accountant designation in 1999 and her U.S. Certified Public Accountant designation in 2001.

Upon graduation, Shana returned to Pricewaterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), where she had been employed during her co-op terms. She worked in Toronto specializing in financial services. In 1999, Shana joined the PricewaterhouseCoopers practice in Cuba, working in the telephone and airline industries. She was also able to continue working on developing a Masters of Accountancy program at the University of Havana, the subject of her Masters Thesis.

In 2001, Shana moved to Amsterdam to begin what was anticipated to be a two year international exchange with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Eight years later, she is very much still enjoying living and working in the Netherlands. Shana’s career at PricewaterhouseCoopers has been primarily focused on the consumer industrial products industry and, in particular, the consumer foods industry. Her client portfolio has ranged from small operating companies and subsidiaries to large public international billion-dollar companies with significant presence/operations in the Netherlands. Shana has also played a key role as a Sarbanes Oxley expert in the Dutch firm, working with foreign private issuers and large US subsidiaries in their readiness efforts and working with the US firm’s National Office to evaluate deficiencies in 2005. In 2007 Shana was promoted to Director.

In September 2009, Shana accepted a position in the Dutch firm’s National Office. She is now the Audit Methodology Implementation Leader and Assurance Learning and Education Leader. She is responsible for designing and implementing PwC’s audit transformation program within the Dutch firm. This includes evaluating and redesigning current curriculum for the Assurance practice to ensure the transfer of certain skills while enhancing audit relevance within the Dutch environment. She is also responsible for developing a communication strategy, change management and implementation strategy to disseminate new technology, audit approach updates and training to the Dutch practice. She very much enjoys the learning and research involved in developing innovative programs to provide the practice with tools needed to address the changing requirements and expectations of our clients, the industry and our regulators.

Shana is married to Jose Hernandez, also a 1998 U of W Masters of Accounting graduate and a 2009 Fellowship Honouree. Shana is a strong supporter of work life balance and works part-time (4 days per week). Her greatest joy comes from spending time with her two young children, Bianca 3 and Mateo 18 months, helping them learn and grow.