Kathleen M. Naraghi is known and applauded for her expeditious leadership style. This invaluable quality has served her well as the chief operating officer and chief financial officer at WelComm, Inc., in San Diego, California, where she oversees the company’s accounting and financials and manages the critical tax documents, including 1099 forms for all employees.
Ms. Naraghi joined the company more than 20 years ago as the chief financial officer and accepted the additional challenge and role of chief operating officer in 2014. With more than 35 years of overall experience in business operations, finance, and accounting, she ascribes her ongoing success primarily to her cheerful and proactive approach to her work. Ms. Naraghi prepared for her career at Suffolk College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree, and has remained committed to her professional development, earning certification in B2B Marketing Foundations and Social Media Marketing: Strategy and Optimization through LinkedIn. In addition, she was certified by SharpSpring.
In parallel to her indispensable responsibilities at WelComm, Inc., Ms. Naraghi has been the manager of advertising sales for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power Electronics Society (PELS) since 2022. In 2024, she became the global advertising sales manager for the IEEE Electrification Magazine. Multifaceted, Ms. Naraghi has maintained membership in the Power Sources Manufacturing Association for more than a decade and has served as the co-chair of the publicity committee for APEC, the Applied Power Electronics Conference, since 2019. Having distinguished herself from others in her industry with her diverse experience, superlative work ethic, adaptability, and loyalty, she takes pride in being highly effective and thorough in all her endeavors.
Ms. Naraghi’s prowess in finance and business management started during her youth. She grew up with two siblings around their family-owned gas stations. Years later, her father would often ask her to take a vacation from her job and manage the business in his stead whenever he needed to leave town because he recognized her particular aptitude for business. Early in her career, Ms. Naraghi worked as an office manager for a company based in San Diego, California. During her brief tenure with the business, she realized that a salesperson was projecting unrealistic sales numbers, and the business was facing financial struggles as a result. To make leadership aware of this discrepancy and the threat to their business, Ms. Naraghi called a meeting with the two principal owners and presented her findings, urging them to be more careful and base their decisions on more reliable numbers. Moreover, between 1988 and 2001, she worked as an office manager and controller for multiple companies, including Foote Cone & Belding from 1988 to 1991, SKUNKWORKS from 1991 to 1996, and Appiant Technologies from 1998 to 2001.
Looking forward with great expectations, Ms. Naraghi plans to expand WelComm, Inc., by acquiring more clients and taking the business to new heights. She also will continue her marketing work with IEEE, fostering collaborations between the organization and other professional associations. As a lifelong “fixer,” she is proud of her ability to solve problems and never shies away from tackling new challenges, even if they are outside of her comfort zone or experience. A notable example of Ms. Naraghi’s adaptability and competence occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, when her daughter’s competitive dance studio was closed, making practice impossible. Ms. Naraghi took on the unpaid project of building a new studio and bringing together multiple professionals to create a space where her daughter and other competitive dancers could safely practice.
Thus far, Ms. Naraghi has enjoyed a fulfilling career, including now working to develop WelComm, Inc.’s business and serving the IEEE and PELS as a marketer. Even so, she also cherishes her free time, which she often spends traveling the world.
