Charting a Purpose-Driven Path in Accounting

Hailey Lamb-Nielubowicz is thriving in her dream accounting job at Providence Health and Services. It’s a role that aligns with her leadership strengths and aspirations. Looking back, she can trace the path that brought her here: deliberate decisions, investments in herself, and pursuing a long-held professional goal.

But the road to Providence wasn’t linear. It included a cross-country move, a commitment to transforming her career, and going back to school to earn a Master of Professional Accounting at the Foster School of Business in Seattle.

Lamb-Nielubowicz (MPAcc 2022) has a clear message for others considering the master’s program, especially those thinking outside the public accounting track. “Pursuing the master’s in accounting is 100% worth it,” she affirms. “It is one of the most strategic investments you can make in yourself, especially if you’re looking to lead. It can open doors you didn’t know were possible.”

Today, she leads a 10-person accounting team at Providence, thanks to a combination of strategic planning, academic depth, and clarity of purpose. 

Choosing a different path in healthcare accounting

Throughout the master’s in accounting program, Lamb-Nielubowicz focused on building a career aligned with her values. While many of her classmates prepared for careers at Big Four firms, she knew that path wasn’t for her.

“Most people who graduate from the master’s in professional accounting go into the audit field, which was less appealing for me. I didn’t want to work in public accounting,” she recalls. “I knew I could build a fulfilling career another way. I wanted to lead, and I wanted a mission I believed in.”

During the program, an internship at Providence Health and Services solidified that belief. Providence is a not-for-profit health system with 51 hospitals and more than 800 non-acute facilities on the West Coast. The Foster School made a connection that placed her with the organization’s chief accounting officer, Jim Martin.

“It was a short 10-week internship, but I loved my experience at Providence,” she says. “Their mission aligned with my values. People cared about each other. It felt right.”

Patience pays off

Lamb-Nielubowicz completed her final quarter after the internship and eventually received a full-time offer from Providence. A combination of persistence and commitment made it happen.

“Everyone else in my cohort had their job offers early on. I didn’t get mine until after graduation,” she says. “But I knew Providence was where I wanted to be. I trusted that a position would become available.”

Lamb-Nielubowicz is now a senior accounting manager at Providence’s shared services group. She oversees accounting for capital assets across Providence hospitals in seven states.

“I currently specialize in our fixed asset function,” she explains. “We capitalize and manage medical equipment, hospital facilities, and infrastructure investments, which are critical to understanding a large healthcare system’s financial health and long-term sustainability. It’s high-volume work, around 2,500 new assets annually, and every entry must be precise.”

The role challenges her technically and strategically, giving her a platform to grow professionally. “The leadership at Providence has seen me and invested in me. I’ve been promoted since coming on board, and I now have the opportunity to mentor others.”

This year, she was nominated to attend the Providence Mission Leadership Institute, a program for emerging leaders focusing on the mission and the seven Catholic health tenents. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s a space to grow and reflect on what it means to lead with purpose.”

Laying the foundation for leadership

Lamb-Nielubowicz believes her time at Foster laid the groundwork for this trajectory.

“Besides the core academic learnings, there are key skills I developed in the master’s in accounting program that I didn’t have before: building an analytical mindset, working in teams, presenting, delegating,” she says. “Those experiences helped me grow into the leader I am now.”

She also found inspiration in the classroom. One standout was Matt Van Winkle’s Advanced Financial Statement Analysis course. “He is such a great teacher. He is very personable and very experienced. We researched companies based on their financials and made investment recommendations. I picked Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid because I knew I wanted to work in healthcare.”

The backstory: a cross-country move and new opportunities

Lamb-Nielubowicz’s path to Foster and Providence wasn’t always direct, but it was always deliberate. Here’s how it unfolded.

Years earlier, she was living in South Carolina when her husband accepted a faculty role at the University of Washington Bothell. The family, including their two young children, decided to relocate to the Seattle area.  

With a background in finance and years of professional experience, Lamb-Nielubowicz set her sights on applying to the Foster School of Business’s Master of Professional Accounting (MPAcc) program. Her goal: to transform her career trajectory.

“I knew I wanted to be in leadership and management,” she shares. “And I knew that I had to get a master’s degree to do that.”

Before the move, she completed six upper-level accounting courses at Clemson University to prepare for the transition. “To apply for a master’s in accounting, there are undergraduate accounting course prerequisites,” she explains. “While we were still in South Carolina, I completed those classes. I was intentional. I wanted to be ready. I applied to Foster and was accepted.”

Why a master’s in accounting at Foster?

What drew her to Foster wasn’t just its reputation. It was the program’s structure and focus. “Foster’s excellent teaching faculty, the length of the program (nine months), and the fact that it included an internship stood out to me,” she shares.

But midway through the move, life changed again: Lamb-Nielubowicz found out she was pregnant.

“It was an incredible surprise and a huge blessing,” she recalls. “I’d planned this program for years, and now I was going to have a baby: two things I had long hoped for.”

Newly arrived in Seattle, Lamb-Nielubowicz was determined to continue. She started the program in fall 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her first quarter was remote, with everyone in her household attending or teaching classes online.

After completing the fall quarter, she paused the program for one year and took time off for a maternity break. “I stepped away for a full year, from January to the following January, and returned when our baby was one. It was what my family and I needed.”

The master’s in accounting program team, especially Adam Shinn, helped make it possible to pause the program and then return. “Earning my master’s was a dream I had for so long, and so was growing our family,” she says. “I was so thankful that Foster worked with me so I could take a meaningful break and then resume the program.”

Investing in herself and inspiring others

Lamb-Nielubowicz found solidarity among her accounting classmates, who were also juggling full lives outside school.

“There was an unspoken sense of common purpose among many of us, especially the parents,” she recalls. “We respected each other’s commitments and understood what it meant to pursue this degree while carrying busy lives outside the classroom. As a parent, dedicating time to your career growth is not easy, but each of us made it happen in our own way.”

Still, she emphasizes that being a parent didn’t define her time at Foster. Her drive to lead and to build a meaningful career was always front and center. “This was about becoming the leader I wanted to be,” she says. “I’m grateful to Foster for helping me get there.”

Lamb-Nielubowicz didn’t follow the typical accounting path. She made her own, with clarity, purpose, and a commitment to building a career that reflects her values.

“I wouldn’t change any of it,” she concludes. “I’m proud of where I am and know I earned it.”

Learn more about the Master’s in Professional Accounting here.