As controller she served as a trustee of CalPERS and CalSTRS, which together comprise the largest pool of retirement assets in the world, for eight years.

Among the program innovations as State Controller: the postcard tax return (the first in the nation); the Unclaimed Property Program, a national online searchable database, returning $2 billion to US residents; the California Y2K Financial Network, a multi-finance industry task force, created to successfully execute the rollover of all State financial systems, and the Citizen's Report Card, honored with a prestigious national achievement award for seven years for transparency in government financial reporting.

She served as Chair of the Corporate Directors Center at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and on faculty in the Executive MBA Program (2004-2011).

She was on faculty at UCLA Anderson School of Management and Founder/Chair of the Center for Finance and Real Estate.

Connell is currently Founder and CEO of an early-stage tech company[3] and has been an investment banker in New York City and Los Angeles.