Highwire's ones to watch: recognizing women in banking
At Highwire, our Financial Services practice keeps a close eye on the people and organizations that are changing the industry. We’re kicking off a brand new quarterly “Ones to Watch '' series that recognizes these leading luminaries and rising stars.
As a women-led agency, we wanted to kick off the series with a focus on women in banking – a space where a significant gender gap remains, particularly at the executive level. According to McKinsey, women make up 53% of the entry-level banking workforce, but less than one-third at the SVP and C-suite levels.
At the same time, women have made significant strides to create change and bring up other women leaders around them. In fact, if you look back about 10 years ago, only one in five executive banking roles were held by women. That means we’ve seen more than 60% growth in female executive leadership in the last decade alone.
Where we’ve also seen recent progress are the programs that banks have created to help the women they serve. There are many instances of programs to help provide access to capital, mentorship and advice for women-owned businesses. And, almost every major bank has created initiatives to help women become more confident in their abilities to manage their financial life. Many of these programs are created and led by women leaders at the banks on our "Ones to Watch" list.
To recognize some of the incredible women blazing new trails across all banking divisions – from corporate and commercial banking to diversity, equity and inclusion programs – to set a new standard for gender equity, here is our “Ones to Watch: Women in Banking” list.
Titi Cole
CEO of Legacy Franchises Citi
Titi has worn multiple different hats in her tenure at Citigroup and is now the most senior African American woman at Citigroup, a testament to all she has accomplished. She established the DEI Council and helped launch DEI and inclusive hiring training goals for 10,000 managers. (source)
Barbara R. Cottrell Managing Director of Corporate Compliance First National Bank, a subsidiary of F.N.B. Corporation
With more than 27 years of experience in financial services, Barbara has held roles in consumer compliance, change management, marketing, operations, technology and commercial banking. (source)
Kristy Fercho Senior Executive Vice President Head of Diverse Segments, Representation and Inclusion & Head of Home Lending Wells Fargo & Company
Kristy was named chair of the mortgage banker's main trade group, the first Black woman to do so in Wells Fargo’s 109-year history. She also focused on building a diverse and inclusive team throughout 2021. Today, 73% of Fercho's direct reports are from diverse backgrounds. (source)
Vachon Harper-Young Head, BMO for Zero Barriers to Business BMO Harris Bank
Vachon leads BMO's Zero Barriers to Business program, which is focused on removing systemic barriers that have prevented Black and Latinx business owners from achieving success. The program focuses on empowering these communities to thrive.
Felicia La Forgia Head of Corporate Banking U.S. Bank
Felicia is executive vice president and head of Corporate Banking at U.S. Bank, where she leads client activity in all industry, geographic, and government sectors. She is a champion of employee advancement, focusing on the promotion of women in banking and the development of junior talent, and has been recognized by American Banker as part of the U.S. Bank Most Powerful Women in Banking team. (source)
Marianne Lake Co-CEO of Consumer & Community Banking JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Marianne Lake is Co-CEO of Consumer & Community Banking (CCB) and a member of the JPMorgan Chase Operating Committee. She is jointly responsible for all of CCB, a business that serves 78 million consumers and more than five million small businesses in the United States. (source)
Karla joined Barclays in 2011 after holding numerous leadership roles for global organizations and recently became Co-Chair of Win Americas. Karla’s own experience as a woman in financial services has informed her passion for change and advancing women in leadership – and inspired her to mentor others. (source)
Kimberly Moore-Wright Chief Teammate Officer, Head of Enterprise Diversity Truist Financial Corporation
In 2021, Kimberly was able to increase the number of ethnically diverse senior leaders by 16%. She played a central role as a company communicator and policymaker during the pandemic. She oversaw the company's "Together Safely" program where Truist worked with health and safety experts to inform employees on return-to-work policies and safety protocols. (source)
Diane Morais President, Consumer & Commercial Banking Ally Bank
Last year, Diane permanently canceled both overdraft and mortgage origination fees for Ally Financial last year, always thinking of ways she can put customers first. She has 2,127 direct and indirect reports. Fifty-seven percent of these people are female; 52% are people of color. (source)
Christine Morris Senior Executive Vice President, Transformation, Enablement and Customer Experience TD Bank
As Enterprise Chair of Women at TD – the Bank's area of focus which aims to empower leadership and inspire change for women across the organization – Christine is an advocate for the support, resources and evolution that women colleagues at TD want to see. (source)
Stephanie Novosel Executive, Vice President, Head of Commercial Banking PNC
Stephanie oversaw PNC’s completion of the acquisition of BBVA's American banking business in June of 2021. She successfully navigated and motivated her team internally to help them not only survive, but thrive amid the great recession. (source)
Sandra Pierce Senior Executive Vice President, Private Client Group & Regional Banking Director and Chair of Michigan Huntington
Under Sandra’s leadership, private banking, vehicle finance and insurance delivered their best performance yet in 2021, bringing in revenue of more than $850 million and pretax, pre-provision income of $600 million. She helped transform how Huntington Bank delivers advisory services. (source)
Wendy Stewart President, Global Commercial Banking Bank of America
Wendy helps middle-market companies in the United States with revenues of US$50 million to US$2 billion across all major industries, the not-for-profit sector and educational institutions prepare for a net zero economy on carbon emissions. In addition to offering forward-looking solutions, Wendy fosters ‘Responsible Growth’ – an ethos guiding each of the bank’s divisions. (source)
Alicia leads a team of over 60 IT leaders and has helped revolutionize the digitization process at Key Bank. As a female leader in finance, she has carried forward change despite having only worked in the industry since 2016. (source)
Yvette has described herself as being someone who can create something out of nothing and can operate without structure. Each day at Citizens she champions both herself and the careers of her female colleagues forward. (source)
