Danielle Petersen joined McKnight in April 2023 as a senior accountant on the finance team. In this role, she is responsible for general accounting, financial reporting, and assisting with annual audits, budgets, and tax filings. She is excited to apply her skills as a cross-functional and strategic finance professional to McKnight’s mission-driven work for people and the planet.

Prior to joining McKnight, Danielle spent more than seven years at Allianz, most recently as the director of corporate strategy. There she worked across the finance, product development, and risk management teams to establish and maintain a $40 million strategy implementation budget, build procedures, and create processes for their Strategy team. She also worked for a year in the company’s headquarters in Munich, Germany spearheading accounting policy across many sectors and over 70 countries where Allianz operated. Earlier in her career, Danielle contributed her accounting and finance talents to the Star Tribune and Grassroots Solutions.

Danielle has a bachelor of science in business with a double major in accounting and finance from University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, and is an active volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Danielle lives in Minneapolis, where she spends most of her time with friends biking, playing frisbee, cooking, sledding, or swimming. She grew up in Minnesota, but spent her childhood summers visiting family in Germany, and she loves to travel, connect with people around the world, and learn about different cultures.