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.

Penn Community Bank CEO Jeane Vidoni is prioritizing increasing its industrial and commercial loan volume. 

In August, the bank launched an ad campaign to attract businesses that need commercial loans. Penn Community used artificial intelligence as part of its marketing efforts to reach CFOs and other executives who are seeking loans to expand their companies.

Shifting the bank’s focus to its business customers who need commercial real estate and commercial and industrial loans will help its growth trajectory, Vidoni told the Philadelphia Business Journal. 

Kim Posnett’s career has long been on the rise at storied Goldman Sachs. So it was fitting that to mark her two decades at the firm, she ascended to even more rarefied territory: co-head of investment banking.

But before that January 2025 crowning, it was her previous role as head of global technology, media & telecommunications group that groomed her for the even bigger chair. That put her at the center of major events like Twitter’s $44 billion sale to Elon Musk, and Silver Lake’s $25 billion taking-private of Endeavor. High-stakes deals like that helped cement the firm’s status as the #1 advisory in worldwide, announced and completed M&A for the year. (Posnett is ranked on her prior role of Global Head of the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group, per American Banker’s methodology requiring that a woman be in her role for at least one full year.)

Laurie Stewart, who has led Sound Community Bank for more than 30 years, said her guiding principle as CEO is “community is our middle name.”

Her employees are a large part of Stewart’s community, and she measures her success by keeping layoffs and turnover as low as possible despite economic pressures.

“I think 2024 was a year of really needing to manage through challenging economic times, but still be honest to your culture and your commitment to your stakeholders, including the communities that we serve,” she said.

Christina Mohr is confident that her team can excel at a restructured Citigroup.

“What they’re calling simplification at Citi is really about putting clients at the center of what we do,” said Mohr, the New York company’s vice chair of M&A and investment banking. In other words, Citi is focused on what has always guided her career: “To serve clients intensively.”

As the president and CEO of Hanmi Financial Corp. in Los Angeles, California, Bonnie Lee is one of just eleven female CEOs of publicly traded financial institutions. 

Since becoming CEO in 2019, she has grown Hanmi’s total assets from $5.5 billion to $7.6 billion, an increase of 36%. She did this, she said, by strengthening the bank’s balance sheet; diversifying its loan portfolio, which was concentrated in commercial real estate when she took the helm; expanding its products and services; and closing some branches and opening others, especially as the bank expanded into Texas, Illinois, and the eastern U.S. 

As Krista Snelling entered her fourth year as president and CEO of Santa Cruz County Bank in Santa Cruz, California, the bank was on an even keel.

Snelling had joined the bank in March 2021 from Five Star Bank in Sacramento, California, where she had been chief financial officer for five years. She proceeded to build an executive team that combined local people and bankers from outside the Santa Cruz market, while making herself a fixture at area events.

Debbra Schoneman believes in the power of the “learning zone” — the space just beyond an individual’s comfort zone where growth and resilience are forged. 

It’s a mindset she adopted later in her career and serves her well in running Piper Sandler as president over the past seven years, especially during a year when market conditions have demanded both adaptability and discipline.

“If we fail to regularly challenge ourselves, our comfort zone will continue to contract,” she said. 

Liz Wolverton is executive vice president and head of consumer banking and brand experience for Synovus.

Wolverton leads the bank’s consumer banking segment, including the branch network, consumer banking products and services, and mass affluent strategy and execution. She’s responsible for the digital and client experience, advancing an aligned and measured approach to delivering a holistic, consistent and differentiated client experience.

Wolverton joined Synovus in 2003 and has held various leadership positions, including chief strategy officer, senior director of banking and director of accounting and financial analysis.

Before joining Synovus, Wolverton served as finance director for Centerplate Management in Greenville, South Carolina. She started her career in the assurance and advisory business services division of Ernst & Young in Greenville and Atlanta, Georgia.

Since 2015 Wolverton has been recognized as one of American Banker’s Most Powerful Women to Watch. This annual recognition acknowledges women for their leadership, innovation and impact on the company, industry and community. She is a recipient of the Synovus Jim Blanchard Leadership Award.

Wolverton serves on the boards of Make-A-Wish® Georgia and Columbus Museum. She is on the advisory board of the Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen Georgia Foundation.

Liz is married to Bobby Wolverton, who is the director of agronomy at Fall Line Golf Club. The recent empty nesters live in Columbus, Ga.  They spend ample time traveling to visit daughter Graham, a junior at Texas Christian University and daughter Molly, a member of the Corp of Cadets at Virgina Tech.

Cassandra McKinney has proclaimed one of her tenets for career success on her license plate for more than 20 years: WRK2PLY.

“Work hard; play hard,” said McKinney, who leads personal and small business banking for Dallas-based Comerica Bank. “I do believe in living by that because I give my all at work. But when it’s time to rest, to re-energize, to spend time with family, to invest in myself and my development, I work just as hard at that as well,” she said.