Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Insights
Celebrating Black History in the Making
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Thasunda Brown Duckett
President and Chief Executive Officer, TIAA
Thasunda Brown Duckett is President and Chief Executive Officer of TIAA, a Fortune 100 provider of secure retirements and outcome-focused investment solutions to millions of people working in higher education, healthcare, and other mission-driven organizations. Duckett joined TIAA after serving as Chief Executive Officer of Chase Consumer Banking, where she oversaw a banking network with more than $600 billion in deposits and 50,000 employees. Previously, she was the CEO of Chase Auto Finance, one of the leading U.S. providers of auto financing, and National Retail Sales Executive for Chase Mortgage Banking, where she managed 4,000 mortgage bankers. Earlier in her career, she was a Director of Emerging Markets at Fannie Mae, where she led the implementation of national strategies designed to increase homeownership among Black and Hispanic Americans. She also founded the Otis and Rosie Brown Foundation in honor of her parents to recognize and reward people who use ordinary means to empower and uplift their community in extraordinary ways. She is passionate about helping communities of color close achievement gaps in wealth creation, educational outcomes, and career success.
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Rosalind Brewer
Chief Executive Officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.
Rosalind Brewer joined Walgreens Boots Alliance as Chief Executive Officer in March 2021. She also is a Director on WBA’s Board. Brewer most recently served as Chief Operating Officer and Group President at Starbucks from October 2017 to January 2021. Prior to Starbucks, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sam’s Club, a membership-only retail warehouse club and division of Walmart, Inc., from February 2012 to February 2017. Before joining Walmart, she served as President of Global Nonwovens Division for Kimberly-Clark Corporation, a global health and hygiene products company, from 2004 to 2006, and held various management positions at Kimberly-Clark beginning in 1984. She is currently ranked #6 on Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and was named one of the 25 most influential women by the Financial Times in 2021.
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Sharon Bowen
Chair of the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange
Sharon Bowen joined the Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. Board of Directors in December 2017. She serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange, our subsidiary, and serves on the boards of certain NYSE U.S. regulated exchanges. In addition, she co-chairs the NYSE Board Advisory Council. She served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from 2014 to 2017. During that time, she was a sponsor of the CFTC Market Risk Advisory Committee. She was previously confirmed by the U.S. Senate and appointed by President Obama on February 12, 2010, to serve as Vice-Chair of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). She assumed the role of Acting Chair in March 2012. Prior to her appointment to the CFTC, she was a partner in the New York office of Latham & Watkins LLP.
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Mellody Hobson
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Ariel Investment Trust
Co-CEO & President, Ariel Investments
Chair of the Board, Starbucks Corporation
As Co-CEO of Ariel Investments, Mellody Hobson is responsible for the management, strategic planning, and growth for all areas of the company outside of research and portfolio management. Additionally, she serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ariel Investment Trust—the company’s publicly traded mutual funds. Prior to being named Co-CEO, she spent nearly two decades as the firm’s President. Outside of Ariel, she is a nationally recognized voice on financial literacy. Her leadership has also been invaluable to corporate boardrooms across the nation. She currently serves as Chair of the Board of Starbucks Corporation, and is also a director of JPMorgan Chase. Her community outreach includes her role as Chairman of After School Matters, a Chicago non-profit that provides area teens with high-quality after-school and summer programs. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, The Rockefeller Foundation Board of Trustees, and serves on the executive committee of the Investment Company Institute. In 2015, Time Magazine named her one of the “100 Most Influential People” in the world.
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Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
Former CEO, TIAA
Former Vice-Chair of the Federal Reserve
Roger W. Ferguson Jr. is an American economist who served as Vice-Chair of the Federal Reserve from 1999 to 2006 and is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA). He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Alphabet, Inc. Between 2008 and 2012, Ferguson served as an economic advisor to President Obama, initially as a member of the President-elect's Transition Economic Advisory Board and subsequently as a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board and the President's Commission on Jobs and Competitiveness. Ferguson has co-authored, edited, or led study groups or commissions that have produced numerous publications, including monographs, occasional papers, study group reports, and commission reports Alan Greenspan has called Ferguson "one of the most effective Vice Chairmen in the history of the Federal Reserve."
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Tyrone Ross, Jr.
CEO and Co-Founder of Onramp Invest
Tyrone Ross Jr. is a licensed investment advisor and the CEO and Co-Founder of Onramp Invest. He is a powerful storyteller with a passion for digital assets and their ability to disrupt our current way of life. He was recognized by Investment News 40 under 40 (2019), and WealthManagement.com as a top ten advisor set to change the industry in 2019. FinancialPlanning.com named him as one of 20 people who will change wealth management in 2020. He was also recently named as Investopedia’s Top 100 financial advisors, and Think Advisor’s 2021 IA25: VIP’s Pushing Advisors Forward.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Insights
Introducing the 2023 Women Working in Wealth<sup>SM</sup> Award Winners
![WWiW 2023 ward Winners](/sites/default/files/styles/default_style/public/2023-04/cb15-wwiw2023-awardwinners.jpeg?itok=bhb3pyBq)
The Women Working in WealthSM Award was created to showcase and celebrate women who have rolled up their sleeves to advance women in financial services through mentorship, sponsorship, and advocacy. Each award winner documented concrete examples of how she removed obstacles, created allies, and executed novel solutions to gender parity.
The Women Working in WealthSM Awards are presented each year to a group of mission-driven and passionate female professionals who are making a significant impact in financial services. The 2023 group of award recipients includes:
- Natalie Baires, WMCP®, JPMorgan Chase
- Lauren Oschman, CFP®, CDFA®, Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors
- Sahar Pouyanrad, EMBA, CTFA, AEP®, CEP®, ChSNC®, PFP®, JPMorgan Chase Bank
- Raquel Tennant, CFP®, 2050 Wealth Partners
- Andi Madden Wrenn, AFC®, Zeiders
Nominations for next year’s Women Working in WealthSM Awards open in October!
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Insights
2023 Women Working in Wealth<sup>SM</sup> Summit
Over 180 women and their allies from across financial services attended the event in New York City on International Women’s Day. Presentations and discussions covered a variety of topics, ranging from education, changing perspectives, and self-care to rising interest rates and economics.
“You don’t necessarily have to be the subject matter expert. You need to have great leadership skills that are transferable.”
— Kristin Lemkau, CEO of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management
![WWiW Kristin Lemkau Speaking](/sites/default/files/styles/default_style/public/2023-04/wwiw_-_kristin_lemkau_speaking.jpeg?itok=dzpmp3wZ)
Speaking to a packed room of leaders and practitioners, CEO of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management Kristin Lemkau emphasized that employees and clients are critical to an organization’s success. “I think a person is a sum of their parts,” she said, and “you have to care about the whole person.” She also spoke about team building and stressed the importance of starting with the right people. Lemkau advised aspiring female leaders in the audience that acquiring leadership skills and focusing on organizational growth is critical to career advancement.
Our CEO, @KLemkau closed out the 2nd Annual Women Working in Wealth Summit to discuss her career and driving growth at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. @TheAmerCol pic.twitter.com/Ms0Ehrz9h5
— J.P. Morgan Wealth Management (@JPMWealth) March 16, 2023
Informed industry experts discussed the future of financial services
Presentations covered a range of topics, with insights including:
- As part of the practitioner breakout: “Catching the Philanthropy Wave with your Clients Estate Planning Essentials,” Dien Yuen, JD/LLM, CAP®, AEP®, executive director, Center for Philanthropy & Social Impact at The American College of Financial Services, reminded the audience to ask the question about philanthropy to everyone, and often, and ask business owners what’s going to happen to their business when they aren’t here. Figure out what the client is trying to do, and then figure out the tools in order to do it. These important questions all need to be addressed. She stated you can gain access via greater education and applied knowledge, and then become a “lifelong learner.”
In the practitioner breakout: “Alternative Investments Post-FTX,” panelists stated that the average individual has no access to an immediate money transfer while explaining that it’s expensive to be poor. There are still secrets around money and investments, along with deep historical roots, and panelists believe access is what drives people to gravitate toward crypto markets.
Tyrone Ross, Jr., CEO/co-founder of Turnqey Labs, urged advisors to “meet clients where they are” to guide their journey forward. He mentioned that portfolios were first derived in the 1940s and they weren’t informed by research, which can further fracture a client’s knowledge base and experience with investing. This requires making financial services accessible to more people in order to change the lens and perspective of wealth management.
Kelly Ann Winget, founder, Alternative Wealth Partners, believes it only takes one person to make a difference, and eventually mindsets shift while you uplift and mentor the next cohort of women on your heels. She challenged those in the audience to be someone to stand up in the room for what they believe. “You are here saying you want to support women, but are you a “way” maker? You have to be willing to change the narrative. When you have the power to anoint a woman to put her in power, you have to do it.” Her message was to “be the little flame within the organization” and make a way while serving as a beacon for others.
In her leadership breakout: “How to Get Ahead of Burnout, Read the Signs, and Assess the Risk,” author and burnout expert Cait Donovan conveyed that companies are now changing their corporate culture in as few as 3 years, immersing employees in cycles of constant change. She highlighted workplace risk factors for burnout as: workload, lack of community, lack of control/autonomy, lack of fairness, lack of recognition, and values mismatches.
Donovan emphasized that the best companies out there are practicing psychological safety, are aware of burnout risk factors, and support team members in need while she acknowledged the importance of advocating for and advancing women in the industry.
Wonderful start to the day hearing from @TheAmerColPrez and Kristi Rodriguez at the @TheAmerCol Women Working in Wealth Summit. pic.twitter.com/YUvbI34e5n
— Mary Kate Gulick (@MaryKateGulick) March 8, 2023
Staying in the struggle and the state of progress
![George Nichols Addressing the Audience](/sites/default/files/styles/default_style/public/2023-04/wwiw_-_george_addressing_the_audience.jpeg?itok=xDXeW2AR)
The American College of Financial Services President and CEO George Nichols III, CAP®, addressed the audience by invoking Frederick Douglass’s quote, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” He acknowledged the progress already achieved and left the audience with compelling questions: “How do we stay in the struggle and advance the progress? And how do we determine the voids we’re trying to fill?”
Nichols invited everyone to engage with the Center for Women in Financial Services to define the voids and meet those needs. By doing so, advisors can better focus on their clients. He believes “it cannot be about ‘what you sell,’ but rather, it has to be about ‘what they need.’”
Women Working in WealthSM Walk advocates for pay equity
Director and Chair Lindsey Lewis, MBA, ChFC®, CFP®, of the American College Center for Women in Financial Services kicked off the annual event by leading a brisk morning walk to the “Fearless Girl” statue on Wall Street. The walkers struck their best power poses with “Fearless Girl” while a placard reminded everyone why the meeting was so important, reading: We won’t overcome pay inequality for 300 years unless we do something now.
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Five Women Working in WealthSM honored for uplifting women
![WWiW Group Shot of award winners](/sites/default/files/styles/default_style/public/2023-04/wwiw_-_group_shot_of_award_winners.jpeg?itok=q0Vt1nqa)
The Center for Women in Financial Services announced a list of accomplished and dedicated women in the profession honored as this year’s Women Working in WealthSM Award recipients. Created to showcase and celebrate women who have rolled up their sleeves to advance women in financial services through mentorship, sponsorship, and advocacy, each award winner documented concrete examples of how they removed obstacles, aligned with allies, and executed novel solutions to improve gender parity. The 2023 group of award recipients includes:
- Natalie Baires, WMCP®, JPMorgan Chase
- Lauren Oschman, CFP®, CDFA®, Vestia Personal Wealth Advisors
- Sahar Pouyanrad, EMBA, CTFA, AEP®, CEP®, ChSNC®, PFP®, JPMorgan Chase Bank
- Raquel Tennant, CFP®, 2050 Wealth Partners
- Andi Madden Wrenn, AFC®, Zeiders
Speaking at the inaugural @TheAmerCol’s Women Working in Wealth Summit and Awards Ceremony last year was a POWERFUL experience. This year, I hope you'll join me, my @2050WPs & colleagues from across the country to celebrate #FinServ women! #WWW2023https://t.co/f4Rc7IcGng pic.twitter.com/ZCMG2oVA5K
— Lazetta Rainey Braxton, MBA, CFP® (she/her/hers) (@lazettabraxton) February 20, 2023
Great to be taking a deep dive into economic challenges during the closing panel at the American College’s WOMEN WORKING IN WEALTH SUMMIT, 4/7-8, NYC with Sitara Sundar and Carly Doshi, managing director, Wealth Planning @jpmorgan. @FAmagazine https://t.co/SDv3hjSB4U
— Tracey Longo (@TraceyFAMag) March 6, 2023
“Today is such a good day to change the world.”
— Hillary Fiorella, Executive Director, Center for Women in Financial Services
As a proud leader, Hillary Fiorella, executive director for the American College Center for Women in Financial Services, exuded excitement for all the women in the room working in financial services, along with their allies who play an essential role in advocating for and advancing women.
She also reminded everyone that the work is still unfinished because it “takes 30% longer for women to get promoted to the C-suite.” She pointed everyone to the Center’s research to help determine if it is more effective to stay in the same firm or to move around to different firms to receive promotions.
CFP Board Director of Diversity & Inclusion Dawn Harris connected w/ CFP Board volunteers at the #WomenWorkinginWealth Summit! From left to right, Diversity Advisory Group Member Rianka Dorsainvil, CFP® (@Rianka_D), Dawn, & Women’s Initiative Council Member Angela Ribuffo, CFP®. pic.twitter.com/YkEFuux9Qo
— CFP Board (@CFPBoard) March 8, 2023
During the Women Working in Wealth Summit held by @TheAmerCol, recruiting experts discussed how as women prefer remote work, firms need to learn how to adapt to create a more inclusive and diverse workplace. #diversity #women @ericacarnevalli https://t.co/uhjllqRsGm
— Financial Planning (@finplan) March 10, 2023
See the recap video from our event:
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Insights
The Long Game to Diversify an Industry
![DEI Disruption](/sites/default/files/styles/default_style/public/2023-04/cb15-pr2022-deidisruption.jpeg?itok=Mwjb8_Fr)
President and CEO of The American College of Financial Services, George Nichols III, acknowledges that while little overall progress has been made to-date, he remains optimistic that now remains the time for lasting change to occur.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the numbers many folks were hoping for at this point in time. But I don’t think there’s been any change in the interest or commitment from companies to say, ‘We’re really going to try to make a difference this time,” said Nichols about recruiting and retaining diverse financial professionals. While some would argue that a change in CEO sentiment has not been enough, Nichols counters that it remains a significant difference from the pre-2020 era.
“If you think about the real big push around DEI years ago, it was actually a result of court mandates. It wasn’t like someone woke up one day and said, ‘You know what? I think we need a more diverse workforce.’ It was lawsuits that were brought against companies, whether it was over wages, promotions, or other things, by Blacks or other minorities wanting a fair shot. Just imagine that I’m doing this because I’m told I have to do this, as opposed to I want to do this,” said Nichols.
Nichols views diversifying financial services as a long game, with marketplace disruption being the primary catalyst. “When you think of DEI and the progress that we’ve got to make, it is a long game that we’re going to have to play,” said Nichols “Most people think that when we talk about diversity, we just talk about Blacks. No, we’re not. We’re talking about women. We’re talking about veterans. We’re talking about Hispanics. We’re talking about the disabled.”
Since launching the American College Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality® and the Four Steps Forward initiative in 2020, Nichols has worked with hundreds of organizations and had countless conversations with CEOs regarding DEI. As a result, Nichols attributes slow-moving progress to several variables, including the speed of workplace growth, unyielding corporate cultures, and DEI not being recognized as a business imperative.
Stalled Workplace Growth
With CEOs’ renewed interest in DEI coinciding with COVID-19 and a bear market, the past two years have not been optimal for workplace growth. 59% of CEOs instituted hiring freezes due to the pandemic1, and at the close of 2022, Bloomberg published a list of Wall Street companies that announced they were cutting jobs and instituting hiring freezes to combat decreases in revenue and looming recession fears.2
“If you are saying you’re going to grow your personnel in terms of more diversity, well, either you’ve got to grow your business, or you’re actually moving people out,” explained Nichols. “For us to really look at providing numbers that I think would show that we’re making a great deal of progress, it’s going to take some time. Just think about it: less than 3% of the executives in financial services are Black. When you even look at women as financial advisors, for them to be 50% of the population, they only make up about 30% of advisors. For them to get to numbers that represent where populations are, I think we’ve got a long way to go. Let’s be realistic about what our growth can be.”
A Tale of Two Corporate Cultures
Growth in diversity may be measured by looking at the numbers, but ensuring new hires from underserved communities feel they belong, can be their authentic selves at work, and trust they will be treated equally remains a roadblock for DEI efforts. As identified in a 2021 study published by McKinsey & Company, a “trust deficit among Black workers toward their companies” remains a top 10 challenge.3
“Think about it. What we’re saying is I’m going to bring in a few people, maybe female, maybe people of color, maybe people that have a different sexual orientation, and we’re going to bring them into an organization, and we’re going to be just fine. No, you’re going to be different because you’re bringing in a different set of individuals that don’t meet what you have traditionally done,” said Nichols. Nichols recognizes organizations have been reluctant to culture change, and often leaders are ill-equipped to influence effective change management. “I don’t think companies are really talking about the change management component of this, nor are they talking about culture.”
Another misstep Nichols observed is that organizations focus on one culture when they have two. “I’ve recognized that on the cultural piece, you have to deal with the fact that there’s two cultures. There is the culture you have with the masses of your employee base, and then there’s a culture at the top.”
Nichols advises CEOs to be intentional about cultural change themselves. “What I tell CEOs all the time is don’t go to your leadership team and say, ‘Do as I say, but don’t pay any attention to what I’m doing.’ You have an opportunity to hire people. Are you doing it? When you tell me that we should hire more, well, when you’re making the ultimate decision, are you making sure that our candidates and the person we hire are diverse? Are there positions that you can create that could be tailored to a diverse candidate?”
A Business Imperative
Nichols said he is done trying to convince CEOs of the business case for DEI, despite the research pointing to increased profit margins and employee productivity. “I’ve talked to a number of CEOs who say, ‘You know, George, I just don’t know that I can fully buy it.’ First of all, they’ll say, ‘You know what? We’ve been making money for the last 100 years. You’re telling me we will not make money unless I hire a diverse workforce? I don’t get that,’” stated Nichols.
While CEOs may overlook the strategic business case and tend to focus on the importance of DEI initiatives for employee morale, Nichols said they can no longer ignore the business imperative.
“We talk about how it’s going to be a majority-minority country in 2030. I think that is a disruption, and you’re going to have to think about how you engage in that,” said Nichols. “If you look at your workforce and you look at your consumer base, and you can’t respond to that, that’s a disruption because you’re going to have a hard time.”
Nichols said the financial services industry is ill-prepared to serve women, who are anticipated to inherit $30 trillion in Baby Boomer assets by 2030, and younger generations who grew up in diverse environments and expect the companies they work with to be equally as diverse. “If we’re transferring money to women, or if we’re transferring money to a much more diverse group of people and they’re not attracted to your organization, that’s a disruption,” said Nichols. “It’s actually not the disruption of the diversity. It’s a disruption of you failing to see what is happening in the marketplace.”
Nichols commented once CEOs start to recognize DEI as a business imperative he is hopeful initiatives will be incorporated into strategic planning and progress will quicken. “The same way you’ve improved your technology, the same way you’ve improved your profits, the same way you’ve improved your strategy, the same way you’ve improved the culture, be intentional, and that’s the way it’s going to work,” said Nichols.
Nichols is proud of the progress The College has made in two years to narrow the wealth gap and diversify the industry. Beginning with Black America, the Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality® has introduced several key initiatives including: a new consumer financial e-learning experience, Know Yourself, Grow Your WealthSM; the Black Executive Leadership Program; and the 16th annual Conference of African American Financial Professionals (CAAFP), which drew 1,000 attendees in 2022.
“In addition to being very proud and excited about the progress that we have made and the road that we’re on to make a difference in these communities, we’ve actually been recognized, which is validating the success and the progress that we’re making,” said Nichols.
The College won a 2022 WealthManagement.com Wealthies Award for Industry Research Provider for its Black Women, Trust and the Financial Services Industry study and three 2022 ThinkAdvisor LUMINARIES, including one for Community Impact in recognition of Know Yourself, Grow Your Wealth®.
“It’s pretty exciting when we feel good about what we’re doing, but there’s a recognition of an independent outside source that says, ‘Yep, we think you earned this as well,’” said Nichols.
Read this and other stories of industry disruption in the 2022 President’s Report.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Podcasts
Diversity and Inclusion in Financial Services with Sloane Ortel
Sloane Ortel is the founder of Invest Vegan, an ethics-first registered investment advisor (RIA) that manages distinctive discretionary portfolios of public equities on behalf of aligned individuals and institutions. She is also a co-host of Free Money, a podcast that aims to help investors break free from the shackles of short-term thinking. Before establishing her own firm, she joined CFA Institute’s staff as a sophomore at Fordham University and spent close to a decade helping the organization’s community of 170,000+ investment professionals adapt to a changing global landscape as a collaborator, curator, and commentator. You can also find Sloane and Invest Vegan on YouTube.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Podcasts
Growing As An Ally with George Nichols III
George serves as the 10th President and CEO of The American College of Financial Services. He joined The College after a 17-year stint at New York Life, where he held principal roles in sales, strategic initiatives, and public policy. Prior to joining New York Life, he was the State of Kentucky’s first Black insurance commissioner, leading regulation of the state’s $10 billion insurance industry through his expertise in health insurance reform and financial services integration. In 2000, he was also named the first Black president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. George has been acclaimed for his efforts to drive transformative change in diversity, equity, and inclusion in the financial services profession and elsewhere. He received his associate’s degree from Alice Lloyd College, a faith-based liberal arts school in eastern Kentucky, before earning his bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University.