Candice Holcomb ’12 and ’16
2026 School of Business Alumni of the Year
Candice Holcomb is a Certified Public Accountant, finance leader, and proud West Virginian whose work bridges financial precision with a deep sense of purpose. Currently serving as Finance Manager at 100 Degrees Consulting, she partners with nonprofits worldwide to strengthen financial systems that empower missions to thrive. But her professional roots—and her heart—remain in her home state.
As the former Chief Financial Officer of Generation West Virginia, Candice helped lead one of the state’s most innovative nonprofits dedicated to reversing the “brain drain” by helping young professionals build meaningful careers and lives in West Virginia. Under her leadership, the organization expanded programs that connected emerging talent with employers, trained West Virginians for remote tech careers, and brought broadband and digital literacy planning to 18 distressed counties across the state.
Candice’s approach to finance is defined by accessibility, transparency, and trust. She believes that “finance is a trust exercise”—a philosophy that guided her work in translating complex budgets and federal compliance into clear, actionable tools for program staff, funders, and community leaders. Her systems thinking—spanning QuickBooks automation to multi-grant forecasting—has made her a sought-after voice in nonprofit finance, earning her invitations to national panels and features in outlets like CFO.com.
Yet her impact extends far beyond spreadsheets. At Generation WV, she built financial models that were as human as they were technical—each dollar, she says, “connected to a real young person deciding whether to build their future in West Virginia.” That philosophy shaped everything from her approach to federal reporting to her role in developing new revenue models, like the Pathways to Progress conference, designed to sustain the mission while sparking statewide conversation about the future of work.
Candice’s leadership has been recognized through numerous platforms, including her selection as WVU Tech’s 2026 School of Business Alumni of the Year—a reflection not only of her professional excellence but of her devotion to her home state. She holds dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting and Business Management from WVU Tech, and she credits the university with nurturing both her analytical rigor and her belief in the power of service-led leadership.
Outside her professional life, Candice brings that same balance of precision and heart to everything she does. She’s an early riser who fuels her mornings with strong coffee and strategy sessions, a dedicated hiker in the New River Gorge National Park & Preserve (“the most beautiful place in the country,” she insists), and a self-proclaimed spreadsheet enthusiast who tracks her annual Halloween movie marathon down to the minute.
For Candice, every role she takes on—whether in a statewide nonprofit or a global consulting firm—is part of a lifelong commitment to her home. “Leading nonprofit finance isn’t just about spreadsheets,” she says. “It’s about stewarding hope. When we align dollars with community priorities, we show that finance can be both precise and purpose-driven.”