Cindy Hook is an American-Australian business executive. She was the chief executive officer of Deloitte Asia Pacific from 2018 to 2022, and CEO for Deloitte Australia from 2015 to 2018, making her the first female CEO of an Australian big four professional services firm, and championed diversity and inclusion while in that role. She is the chief executive of the organising committee for the 2032 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
After graduating, Hook began her career at Deloitte in San Francisco. She joined the firm as an auditor in 1986 and was made a partner in 1998.[2]
In 2009, Hook moved to Australia and soon afterwards was appointed the managing partner for Deloitte Australia's Assurance and Advisory practice. In 2013, under Hook's leadership, the Deloitte Australia Assurance and Advisory practice won both Accounting Firm of the Year and Audit Firm of the Year in the Australian Financial Review CFO awards – the first time a firm had taken out both awards in the same year.[3]
In February 2015, she was appointed chief executive officer for Deloitte Australia, succeeding the previous CEO Giam Swiegers. With the appointment, she became the first female CEO of an Australian Big Four professional services firm.[4][5][6] During her tenure as Deloitte Australia CEO, she led the firm to four consecutive record years of 15% annual revenue growth.[7][8][9]
In September 2018, Hook was elected as the first Deloitte Asia Pacific CEO for a term of four years. In this role Hook oversaw 65,000 professionals and the firm's operations in Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and New Zealand.[8] In October 2021, she announced that she would not run for a second term in the Singapore-based CEO's role when her current term ended May 2022. She stated in an email to other partners that the decision was made for personal and professional reasons.[10]
Hook is an advocate for diversity, inclusion, and well-being. During her time as Deloitte Australia CEO, Hook introduced a Return to Work program to support people who had taken career breaks to transition back to work. She also introduced paid parental leave for fathers, and took major steps to enable the advancement of women and ensure pay equality.[2]
She also championed the LGBTI community through initiatives such as the Outstanding 50 LGBTI leaders list.[12][13]
In 2017, she was named Pride in Diversity CEO of the Year[18] for her efforts in creating an inclusive atmosphere at Deloitte and championing the LGBTI community.[12]
In 2018, Hook was named in The Australian Financial Review's annual "Power" issue as one of the top five most powerful people in consulting.[19]