The Most Powerful Women to Watch: No. 17, Kristy Fercho, Wells Fargo

When the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action for college admissions last year, some companies pulled back from their DEI commitments. Wells Fargo did not, said Kristy Fercho, senior executive vice president and head of diverse segments, representation and inclusion at the bank.

While Wells Fargo's lawyers confirmed that the bank's diversity, equity and inclusion programs were still legally compliant, the bank also made it clear that the court decision would not affect its commitment to increase diverse representation in the company to better serve its diverse customer segments, said Fercho. "We are absolutely committed to continuing to drive this broad culture of representation. It's who we are; it's how we think; it's how we want to drive our decisions," she said. "Creating this inclusive work environment where all employees feel like they can come to work and do their best work in an environment that is fully supportive of who they are — that's good for our business, but it's also the right thing to do for the individuals."

Fercho is the first Black woman executive to report to Wells Fargo's chief executive officer, and she partners with the CEOs of the five lines of business at Wells Fargo to implement DEI principles.

"It's incredibly important that we can hire the best talent, we can look like the communities that we serve, we can build trust with our customers that we know them, we know their challenges and we're developing solutions to be able to serve their needs," she said.

While the business imperative behind Wells Fargo's DEI initiatives may seem obvious, Fercho said, part of her job is to keep reminding people within the bank about its importance, especially with some of the external noise against DEI in the current political environment.

"Some people say: 'Oh, it's the right thing to do, and that's the moral and social good, and that's why we're doing it.' And while that is true, I think what's important is to anchor people to the business reason why," she said.

Fercho said she gets excited about the task of creating financial access and financial empowerment for diverse communities — helping to close the 29-point gap in home ownership rates between whites and Blacks and the 22-point gap between whites and Hispanics, for example.

"Every day I get up and try to encourage my team: The stakes we're playing for, the work we're doing, is really, really important because we could be the difference for people getting the home that they want or the small business that they want," she said.

Prior to taking her current position, Fercho worked in mortgage banking for more than 20 years, and she usually was the only woman in the room, often the only Black person in the room and nearly always the only Black woman. That gave power to her voice, she said, a point she offers as career advice for young bankers.

"Because you're the only one in the room, people listen," she said. "If you're going to share the same view of everybody in the room, then one of us is redundant."

"I was never afraid to be the challenging voice in the room; I was never afraid to call out the elephant in the room. So I would encourage people to be able to use their voice and actually speak out, and say what they see," Fercho said.