Liz McDowell is a Director with GGA Partners and an experienced executive specializing in strategic planning, corporate governance, management, operations, finance, and accounting. Liz brings a unique blend of professional services experience, professional accreditation, and private club operational experience to GGA clients. A Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA), Certified Club Manager (CCM), and seasoned private club manager with over ten years of experience operating a premier private golf club, Liz provides an impactful and valuable perspective to GGA’s full complement of service offerings from transaction advisory to strategy and operations consulting, to research and analytics services.

Liz is considered to be a dynamic leader with proven success managing strong teams of stakeholders at every level.  From the boardroom to the staff room, she has built genuine relationships and leveraged them to drive excellence.  With a visible executive presence , Liz facilitates strong communication, teamwork and collaboration with passion and joy.

In Liz’s most recent posting as the Chief Operating Officer of a premier private golf and country club, Liz oversaw a number of unusual and complex transactions, including a detailed forensic investigation, the sale of the Club’s land and buildings for $450M, and a series of complex post-sale decisions, including the transition from Non-Profit Organization to taxable corporation, and declarations of cash and stock dividends.

Liz holds an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, where she graduated with distinction as a member of the Dean’s list.  She began her career in 2004 with KPMG, LLP in what became the Consumer Markets audit practice where she earned her Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) designation.

While in public practice, Liz gained experience on the audits of major publicly-held clients in manufacturing, retail and distribution, as well as in accounting for privately-held businesses and taxation, before transitioning to provide internal financial analysis for Johnson & Johnson, Inc. as a Financial Analyst.

In 2011, Liz joined the private club sector, starting as the Financial Controller for a premier private club where her role continually expanded through to her appointment as the Chief Operating Officer.

Active across the club industry, Liz has served on a number of association and private club advisory boards and their committees.  She has delivered educational sessions and programs and been a featured speaker and panelist within the industry, and served as the subject matter expert for PGA Ontario’s “Finance Essentials for Golf Industry Leaders” course. She has also supported student CPA’s with academic mentorship through the CPA, CA designation process, and spent three seasons as an evaluator of the National CPA, CA proficiency examination, now known as the CFE.

An avid skier, cyclist, and golfer, in her spare time Liz loves being outside and active with her husband and three young children.