Avid Modjtabai
Senior EVP, Head of Consumer Lending, Wells Fargo
In more ways than one, "diversity" has been a watchword in Avid Modjtabai's career. During her 20 years at Wells Fargo, she has been involved in and often the head of consumer deposits, technology and operations, Internet services, and human resources.
As head of consumer lending since 2011, Modjtabai oversees everything from auto loans to mortgages to credit cards. Her 70,000-plus team members serve more than 33 million households.
The consumer lending industry has undergone significant reform in recent years, but Modjtabai's group has delivered solid results under a multiyear strategy to transform the business into a growth engine. That's saying something, given that Wells is already the nation's largest mortgage lender and services one in five U.S. home loans. Wells also became the No. 1 auto lender in 2013, with a 6% market share.
Modjtabai says diversity is a competitive advantage and necessary to reflect Wells' customer base. She personally inspects the candidate pool for key senior-level roles to ensure diversity in the selection process. In 2013, her group increased ethnic diversity by 6% across the top four management levels, and the ratio of female leaders increased by 5%
