The Most Powerful Women in Banking 2024

September 24, 2024 6:30 AM

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Despite the persistent economic challenges of the past year for banks and financial institutions, three longtime The Most Powerful Women in Banking honorees have reasons to celebrate.

Marianne Lake, who previously shared the CEO position of consumer and community banking at JPMorgan with Jennifer Piepszak, is now the sole head of this business line. Piepszak, on the other hand, was elevated to co-CEO of the commercial and investment bank.

Gunjan Kedia, vice chair of wealth, corporate and commercial and institutional banking at U.S. Bank, was promoted to president of its parent company, U.S. Bancorp. The promotion has some industry experts speculating that Kedia might be in line to be named as the next CEO of U.S. Bancorp, the fifth-largest bank in the country.

Check out this year's list of The Most Powerful Women in Banking and learn more about their accomplishments and their paths to success.

Also check out:

The Most Powerful Women in Finance

The Most Powerful Women to Watch

Top Teams

Jane Fraser

CEO
Citigroup

From the start of her tenure as CEO of Citigroup, Jane Fraser has warned that turning around one of the largest, most-complex banks in the world would be neither a quick nor direct journey.

So when regulators scolded the bank in July for not moving faster to fix risk management-related issues — and levied more fines against the New York bank as a punishment — Fraser owned up to the slow progress and doubled down on a commitment to fix the problems, no matter the cost.

Learn more about Fraser's plans for Citi.

Marianne Lake

CEO of Consumer and Community Banking
JPMorgan Chase

Marianne Lake made some bold predictions this year about regulations threatening the profitability of all banks. As CEO of consumer and community banking at JPMorgan Chase, she warned investors about the cumulative impact that new rules capping overdraft and credit card late fees, plus increased bank capital requirements, could have on credit costs.

Learn more about Lake's strategic moves.

Jennifer Piepszak

Co-CEO of the Commercial and Investment Bank
JPMorgan Chase

For Jennifer Piepszak, co-CEO of the commercial and investment bank at JPMorgan Chase, emotional intelligence is what separates leaders from mere managers.

"We talk a lot about the importance of curiosity at JPMorgan Chase; we usually assume this refers to technical curiosity," said Piepszak, whose division has 90,000 employees in more than 60 countries. But EQ "becomes increasingly important as you start to manage people and take on clients."

Discover more about what EQ means to Piepszak.

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Gunjan Kedia

President
U.S. Bancorp

For days following Gunjan Kedia's promotion in early May to president of U.S. Bancorp, a steady stream of congratulatory notes and well wishes poured in from the different facets of her life.

The emails and LinkedIn notes, as well as some handwritten letters, came from both current employees and former colleagues, including folks who worked with Kedia during the years she spent at State Street, Bank of New York and the consulting firm McKinsey. They came from schools she attended, boards she sits on, industry associations and partners of U.S. Bancorp. They came from family, friends and other connections she's made over 30 years.

Learn more about Kedia's rise to the top at U.S Bancorp.

Holly O'Neill

President of Retail Banking
Bank of America

Holly O'Neill, president of retail banking at Bank of America, credits one of her most significant career decisions to research about women taking risks.

When she was the chief operating officer for the Charlotte, North Carolina, company's private wealth management business, O'Neill was offered the chief client care officer job at the retail bank. At the time, she was also mulling over a presentation she had seen about research that showed women are less apt to take career risks than men.

Find out more about O'Neill's thoughts on risk taking.

Wendy Stewart

President of Global Commercial Banking
Bank of America

Wendy Stewart, president of global commercial banking for Bank of America, attributes the record increase in new client relationships in her division last year to relationship building and being well-positioned during the 2023 banking crisis.

"It's a relationship-based business. You don't come in and provide one solution and then you're out the door," said Stewart, who leads 1,500 employees in the commercial banking division. "Those deep relationships are crucial for us to continue to grow with our clients and add new ones."

Learn more about Stewart's approach to client relationships.

Stacey Friedman

General Counsel and Executive Vice President
JPMorgan Chase

Stacey Friedman, general counsel for JPMorgan Chase, plans to have the company's entire legal department equipped with artificial intelligence by year end, though she realizes that the tool's capabilities are limited.

"It's not going to do deep thinking for quite some time," Friedman said of the bank's generative AI tool. "It's not great if you need absolute precision. It's pretty good at summarizing. It's pretty good at finding. It's pretty good at comparing. That's kind of it."

Learn more about Friedman's thoughts on using A.I. at JPMorgan.

Kate Danella

Head of the Consumer Banking Group
Regions Bank

Kate Danella, head of the consumer banking group at Regions Bank, said she sees an opportunity for her bank to reach consumers who have concerns about the state of the economy.

While consumers are generally financially healthy, they still harbor a degree of uncertainty because they've drawn down savings due to higher interest rates and inflation, Danella said.

Learn more about how Danella helps the bank's customers.

Erminia "Ernie" Johannson

Group Head, North American Personal and Business Banking
BMO

BMO's Erminia "Ernie" Johannson said leadership requires courage, perseverance and resilience.

She led the successful integration of one of the largest U.S. banking acquisitions last year with the acquisition of Bank of the West. The deal catapulted the $1.3 trillion-asset BMO into the ranks of the top 10 banks in the U.S. by assets.

Discover how Johannson led a team to successfully integrate Bank of the West's employees and operations.

Lori Beer

Global Chief Information Officer
JPMorgan Chase

Lori Beer is known for more than her work in tech at the world's largest bank, JPMorgan Chase. She is also a champion of diversity and inclusion, particularly for women and people of color.

As global chief information officer, Beer is responsible for its global technology systems and infrastructure and manages a $17 billion budget. She oversees more than 63,000 technologists and has 18 direct reports.

Learn more about how Beer is shaping the bank's approach to technology.

Tracy Kerrins

Head of Consumer Technology and Generative AI
Wells Fargo

Tracy Kerrins focuses not only on the digital tools needed to transform the customer experience at Wells Fargo, where she is head of technology, but also the people who are making it happen.

Over the last year, Kerrins has increased the frequency of employee recognition among the global team of more than 35,000 information technology and security professionals she leads. In addition, she spearheaded the creation of a new identity for the tech team, designed to instill a sense of pride in its work. It includes visual markers that convey her team's role in leading the bank's digital transformation.

Learn more about how Kerrins is reshaping the bank's digital teams and technology.

Deborah Guild

Head of Technology
PNC Bank

Defending against financial cyber threats has often been compared to an on-going war on multiple fronts, where the battle tactics, weapons and even the adversaries keep shifting. And Deborah Guild knows this battlefield and its challenges all too well.

As the head of technology for PNC Bank, Guild has seen the growing "complexity of attacks against the sector and our customers" rapidly increase for the more than three decades that she herself has been working at the intersection of banking and technology.

See how Guild is protecting the bank against cyber threats.

Beth Johnson

Vice Chair, Chief Experience Officer
Citizens

"Chief experience officer" is the kind of job title that seems open to interpretation.

Hear her speak at The Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, October 22-23.

Beth Johnson took on the role of vice chair and chief experience officer at Citizens three years ago. For her, the job title means that she's responsible for building the Providence, Rhode Island, bank's capabilities so it can deliver excellent customer experiences in a rapidly changing banking environment. That includes digital design, data and analytics, marketing and communications and enterprise payments strategy and infrastructure.

Learn more about how Johnson is harnessing data to help the bank's clients and customers.

Amy Brady

Chief Information Officer
KeyBank

Banks were used to measuring deposit flows over the course of a week or even a month. But when depositors made a run on a couple of high-profile regional banks in early 2023, KeyBank realized it needed more of a real-time look at money going in and out.

Hear Amy Brady speak at The Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, October 22-23.

Amy Brady, the bank's chief information officer, led the team that worked with other lines of business at the bank to quickly generate the reports they were looking for. It was a feat not just of data engineering and analytical talent, but also of her efforts to build a responsive technology division, which employs more than 4,500 people.

Learn more about Brady's thoughts on leadership and teamwork.

Jennifer Smith

Executive Vice President, Chief Technology and Operations Officer
Zions Bancorp.

Just a few of Jennifer Smith's array of Zions Bancorp. duties include: Control of cybersecurity, leading deposit and payment operations, heading commercial and consumer loan operations, and supervising the customer call center.

Hear her speak at The Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, October 22-23.

But Zions chief technology and operations officer could take a moment for herself on July 14. That day marked the final implementation of a years-long project to replace the Salt Lake City lender's core banking software.

Learn more about how Smith updated Zion's core banking software.

Teresa Heitsenrether

Chief Data and Analytics Officer
JPMorgan Chase

In June 2023, Heitsenrether was named the first-ever Chief Data and Analytics Officer at JPMorgan Chase. The appointment put her in charge of the bank's new data and analytics unit, established to propel the bank's leap toward integrating generative artificial intelligence into its products and business model.

Hear her speak at The Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, October 22-23.

It also made her a direct report to Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and President and Chief Operating Officer Daniel Pinto.

Learn more about Heitsenrether's role at JPMorgan and her plans for A.I.

Jennifer Barker

Global Head of Treasury Services and Depositary Receipts
BNY

Jennifer Barker's experience living and working abroad — including nine years of her childhood when her father was in the military — have served her well for maintaining her dual roles at BNY.

Hear her speak at The Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, October 22-23.

Barker joined BNY in 2022 as global head of treasury services. In the first quarter of 2024, she started overseeing depositary receipts, a line of business that helps clients get listed on a stock exchange outside of their home country. The common thread between the two services is their global nature and that CFOs are the typical buyers.

See more about how Barker manages dual roles at BNY.

Tammy LoCascio

Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer
First Horizon

Since Tammy LoCascio signed on as chief operating officer at First Horizon Corp. three years ago, it hasn't exactly been a smooth ride for her, her team and her fellow executives.

The announcement–and then the termination of what would have been a $13 billion merger with TD Bank–have made overseeing the operation of this Southeast regional challenging.

Discover how LoCascio managed the challenges caused by the termination of the proposed TD Bank merger.

Megan Crespi

Chief Operating Officer
Comerica Bank

Moving Comerica's back-office employees into new digs in Farmington Hills, Michigan, was about more than just a change of scenery — it was a concrete manifestation of a recently adopted core value of making "the bigger possible."

That's the view of Megan Crespi, Comerica's chief operating officer. The new office has more natural light, sit-stand desks and 32-inch curved computer monitors, all designed with employee input.

Understand more about how Crespi helps employees navigate change and her efforts to improve the bank's operations.

Tasnim Ghiawadwala

Global Head of Commercial Bank
Citigroup

As global head of Citigroup's commercial bank, Tasnim Ghiawadwala's job is to develop and execute a growth strategy for global commercial banking – a business that has a lot of growth potential.

"It's not often that you get the mandate to really drive growth in a business area where Citi has a relatively small market share — 2% or a little less," she said. "My ambition is to double that."

Learn more about Ghiawadwala's strategies for growing the global commercial banking business.

Ellen Patterson

Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel
Wells Fargo

In 2020, less than one year into becoming Wells Fargo CEO, Charles Scharf tapped Ellen Patterson to lead the bank's legal department. The job promised to be a challenge: Well Fargo faced a mountain of federal investigations plus class action lawsuits and overall concern it could not manage risk.

Four years after coming over from TD Bank, Patterson said, "I feel really good about the progress we've made putting a number of historical matters behind us."

Learn more about Patterson's efforts to manage risk and how she leads a team of lawyers at Wells.

Jodi Richard

Vice Chair and Chief Risk Officer
U.S. Bank

Jodi Richard can handle an emergency.

She proved this during the March 2023 banking crisis, when three regional institutions — Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank — failed in five days causing global bank stock prices to plummet.

Immense pressure fell on leaders like Richard, vice chair and chief risk officer at the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest bank in the country.

See how Richard handled the fallout from the regional bank failures.

Jill Castilla

President, CEO, Vice Chairman
Citizens Bank of Edmond

Jill Castilla runs a community bank with a single physical location, but she has carved out a national profile.

Hear her speak at The Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, October 22-23.

Since 2022, Jill Castilla—CEO of Citizens Bank of Edmond in suburban Oklahoma City—has traveled quarterly to Washington as part of the Federal Reserve's Federal Advisory Council. She represents financial institutions in the central bank's Kansas City district, which includes five states and parts of two others. Castilla brings the perspective of community lenders like Citizens, a bank that employs 60 people and reports $388 million in assets.

Learn more about Castilla's push for wider implementation of FedNow to help community banks.

Hope Dmuchowski

Chief Financial Officer
First Horizon

First Horizon faced challenges in the spring of 2023, when its $13.4 billion merger agreement with TD Bank Group was called off amid concerns over regulatory approval.

Hear her speak at The Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, October 22-23.

As First Horizon's stock plummeted by 50% on the news, Chief Financial Officer Hope Dmuchowski and her team sprang into crisis management mode to reassure clients and investors that the bank was still solid. They promptly put together client presentations, investor meetings and Q&As, and they organized an Investor Day to take place in just 30 days — an event that typically takes up to eight months to plan.

Learn more about how Dmuchowski calmed investors' and clients' nerves after the TD Bank acquisition was called off.

Bridgit Chayt

Executive Vice President and Head of Treasury Management and Commercial Payments
Fifth Third

When the banking crisis of 2023 hit, Fifth Third's Bridgit Chayt and her team were put to the test. As executive vice president and head of treasury management and commercial payments, Chayt had led the team earlier in the year on an initiative to speed up the process of onboarding deposit clients.

Hear her speak at The Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, October 22-23.

On March 8, Silicon Valley Bank announced a common stock sale to raise capital – in response, its stock plunged 60% and clients sought to withdraw over $40 billion. A day after the announcement, Fifth Third received its first request for a new account

Learn more about how Chayt and her team onboarded new depositors in the wake of the three failed regional banks.