Jill Castilla knows what success looks like.

Castilla took the helm as CEO of Edmond, Oklahoma-based Citizens Bank of Edmond in 2009, when the bank was reeling from the still-unfolding global financial crisis. In the intervening years, Castilla has not only turned the bank back from the brink of failure, but also expanded its size and profile into a stable and successful bank with more than $416 million of assets.

But success can be defined in a number of different ways, Castilla said, and many of the ways that bankers traditionally measure success may not capture some of the initiatives that make a difference for customers. As a privately-owned and primarily employee-owned business, Castilla faces less pressure for quarterly earnings results than many of her publicly-traded peers, which she says helps her focus less on short-term profits and more on long-term goals, such as securing inexpensive deposits to make loans. The bank’s core deposits grew 35% between November 2023 and May of this year.

Jodi Richard is vice chair and chief risk officer of U.S. Bancorp, a well-respected financial services holding company with  businesses across the United States, Canada and Europe. U.S. Bancorp is headquartered in Minneapolis and is the parent  company of U.S. Bank, which is the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States. U.S. Bancorp is also the parent  company of Elavon, a leader in the payment processing industry. Jodi oversees all aspects of the company’s risk  management activities, including operational risk, fraud risk, credit risk, market risk, model risk, compliance, AML/BSA,  independent risk review and regulatory services. She became vice chair and chief risk officer in 2018 and is a member of  the company’s Managing Committee, the highest-ranking executives within the organization.  

Jodi’s financial career spans nearly 30 years. She joined U.S. Bancorp in 2014 as executive vice president and chief  operational risk officer, managing the company’s operational risk management activities.  

Before joining U.S. Bancorp, Jodi was executive vice president and head of operational risk and internal control for HSBC  North America. She was there for 11 years, serving in enterprise risk roles including head of risk governance and  administration and director of regulatory compliance.  

Jodi also spent 12 years at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), where she served as national bank  examiner, specializing in retail credit and credit card bank supervision. Between two periods with the OCC, she was chief  compliance officer for Sears National Bank. 

Jodi serves on the boards of Fairview Health Services, Junior Achievement USA and the ProSight Financial  Association/Risk Management Association. She is a frequent speaker at risk industry events. 

Jodi is a graduate of the Leading Women’s Executive program. She was named to American Banker’s Most Powerful to  Watch list in 2025 and to its Most Powerful Women in Banking and Finance in 2024. She was part of American Banker’s  Most Powerful Women in Banking Top Team Award in 2013, 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2022 and was recognized in 2021  

for outstanding achievements. She was named Best Technology Executive in 2017 by Waters Technology. In 2017, U.S.  Bank was named Operational Risk Bank of the Year by Risk.net. 

Jodi holds a bachelor of arts degree in finance from the University of Northern Iowa.

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.”

Tasnim re-joined Citi in October 2021 to lead Citi Commercial Bank (CCB), a key business area for the bank. CCB provides full scale banking products and services to mid-sized companies across the globe delivering tailored solutions to this exciting and fast-growing client base. Commercial Banking clients represent a significant global growth opportunity as their needs closely align with Citi’s core value proposition that enables clients to grow cross-border by leveraging sophisticated platforms and solutions. Tasnim is executing on an ambitious growth strategy to capture the mid-market opportunity with an emphasis on talent investment, digital transformation, and expansion into new markets.

Most recently, Tasnim was the UK Corporate Bank Head at Barclays plc where she focused on growing target segments, building solutions, enhancing client experience and developing talent. Tasnim implemented National Industry verticals to serve corporate clients and set-up a Public Sector business to drive growth through industry specific insights and solutions. Tasnim played a leading role in the deployment of the UK Covid-19 Government Loan Schemes and was a strong voice for financial services during the pandemic.

Prior to Barclays, Tasnim was Head of Commercial Banking in Europe, Middle East and Africa at Citi where she led Citi’s expansion of the business in the region, including launching into new markets and driving innovation and digitization. During her more than 20-year career at Citi, Tasnim held various roles in Investment Banking, Corporate and Commercial Banking as well as Senior Regional Management.

Earlier in her career, Tasnim worked at JP Morgan and Commercial Union; and she is a Chartered Management Accountant. Tasnim is passionate about equality in the workplace especially for women and has led several diversity initiatives and chaired various Committees across her career in banking. In 2023, Tasnim was honored as the number one woman to ‘Watch’ in the American Banker’s Most Powerful Women lists and in 2024 she was also recognized on the publication’s Most Powerful Women in Banking list. Additionally in 2023 and 2024, Tasnim was included in Financial News’ 100 Women in Finance list, recognizing leading women across European financial services.

Additionally, Tasnim is a member of the Board of Directors of Foro Holdings Inc, a Fintech based in Charlotte, North Carolina; a Governor of Central Foundation Girls’ School in London and a Trustee of Developments in Literacy UK, a charity with a focus on girls’ education.

Tasnim graduated from Kings College London with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Management.

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.

Tammy LoCascio is Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for First Horizon Corporation. LoCascio is responsible for technology, operations, data and business transformation functions as well as many of the company’s counter-cyclical and national businesses (FHN Financial, Mortgage Warehouse Lending, Correspondent Banking, Franchise Finance and Mortgage).

Prior to this role, LoCascio served as the Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer since the merger with IBERIABANK. From 2013-2020, she also served as Executive Vice President and Director of Retail Banking and then consumer banking, responsible for the strategic direction and support of retail banking, private client, wealth management, small business, mortgage and consumer loan delivery and the contact centers. LoCascio has also previously held senior leadership roles at Regions and National City Bank.

LoCascio has received noteworthy accolades such as the Woman of Impact by the Memphis American Heart Association, as well as the American Banker Most Powerful Women in Banking Teams award in 2022 and 2024 and Most Powerful Women in Banking Individual award in 2024. She was celebrated as a Super Woman in Business in 2018 by the Memphis Business Journal.

LoCascio is active throughout Memphis and the West Tennessee community. She currently serves on the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce as an executive committee member and Chairman’s Circle participant. She is also on the executive committees of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Memphis, Memphis Riverparks Partnership and the Mid-South Minority Business Continuum. LoCascio also joined the board of directors of Jack Henry & Associates in 2024. 

LoCascio holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration-Marketing from the University of Florida.

As a technology consultant at Accenture early in her career, Jennifer Barker learned to assess her corporate clients’ wide-ranging needs and concluded that technology can resolve most, if not all, business problems. As the global head of treasury services and depositary receipts at BNY since May 2022, she continues to apply that experience, delving into clients’ treasury-related needs and providing them with the latest tech solutions.

The bank’s Digital Employee artificial intelligence agent, for example, is one of 10 AI solutions already in production. It autonomously corrects failed payments and performs other business tasks, interacts with internal systems, and communicates with employees through tools including Outlook and TEAMS. BNY estimates that another AI-enabled solution for check-processing has reduced manual efforts by an estimated 75%, while its Wire Investigation agent summarizes complex transactions and case histories to determine the best resolution actions.

Teresa Heitsenrether is the Chief Data & Analytics Officer and a member of JPMorganChase’s Operating Committee. Leading the Data & Analytics organization, she is responsible for setting data and analytics strategy and governance standards, as well as driving firmwide adoption of artificial intelligence to develop new products, enhance productivity, and improve risk management.

Heitsenrether has spent her entire career with JPMorganChase. From 2015 to 2023, she was Global Head of Securities Services, overseeing a business responsible for safekeeping, accounting, administration, and data solutions for institutional investment managers. Under her leadership, the business achieved remarkable growth, increasing revenue by over 22% and assets under custody by nearly $9 trillion. It also launched Fusion, a scalable data platform for institutional investors.

Prior to that, Heitsenrether held various leadership roles within JPMorganChase, including Global Head of Prime Brokerage, where she spearheaded international expansion and growth. She has been recognized as one of American Banker’s Most Powerful Women in Finance and named to Barron’s list of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance.

Heitsenrether holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Fordham University and a Master of Business Administration from New York University. She serves on the Advisory Board of Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business and is actively involved in JPMorganChase’s Women on the Move initiative and the NextGen Business Resource Group.

One of the biggest challenges Jennifer Smith has faced this year at Zions has been the Salt Lake City-based bank’s decision to require most employees to return to the office five days a week.  

“This directive reflected in a headline can sound so simple, yet there are often immediate favorable and unfavorable reactions,” Smith said.  

Particularly as it relates to IT employees, regional banks have hired people from all over the country to source the best talent, she said. “There are cases where we cannot find some talent locally in our markets,” she explained.

Amy Brady is a distinguished technology and operations executive who played a pivotal role in modernizing KeyBank, where she served as Chief Information Officer from March 2012- March 2026. During her tenure, Brady led KeyBank’s Technology, Operations and Services organization, overseeing more than 4,500 employees and contractors responsible for delivering innovation across digital banking, payments, servicing, and enterprise technology platforms.

 Brady also managed a multibillion-dollar technology and operations budget, balancing disciplined cost management with strategic investments in innovation. Under her leadership, KeyBank enhanced its digital banking capabilities, accelerated automation initiatives, modernized payments infrastructure, and strengthened the technology foundation needed to meet evolving client expectations and drive long-term growth.

A recognized leader in the financial services industry, Brady was consistently honored by American Banker for her contributions to banking and technology. She is particularly known for building high-performing, resilient teams and cultivating a culture focused on employee engagement, professional development, and innovation. Her leadership helped KeyBank achieve industry-leading retention levels in a highly competitive technology talent market.

Brady joined KeyBank in 2012 after a 25-year career at Bank of America, where she held a series of senior leadership roles, culminating as Chief Information Officer for enterprise technology and operations. In that role, she supported critical business functions, including finance, risk management, human resources, and marketing.

Beyond her executive responsibilities, Brady is an influential voice on technology, governance, and transformation. She serves on the Board of Directors of DuPont and is a member of its Audit and Environment, Health, Safety, and Sustainability Committees. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Case Western Reserve University, serves on the Executive Committee of the Bank Policy Institute’s Technology Division (BITS), and chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee of Playhouse Square.