On Thursday, the American Association of Teachers’ Insurance and Annuities, TIAA, announced longtime executive director Thasunda Brown Duckett as its next CEO. When Duckett takes on her new role on May 1, she will become the second black woman to currently lead a Fortune 500 company, accompanying Walgreens, the new CEO Rosalind Brewer on the list.
“I am so grateful for all the shoulders I stand,” said Duckett, who is currently CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, in an Instagram post. In addition to thanking his Chase colleagues for their support, Duckett also thanked his family and friends, saying, “You create the space for me to live for my own purpose.”
Born in Rochester, New York and raised in Texas, Duckett was open about how her humble upbringing led her to a career in finance.
“When you know what it’s like to look in the fridge and see only baking soda or know what it’s like to turn off your lights, personal finances are important,” she told The New York Times in 2019.
As CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, a role he has held since 2016, Duckett has worked tirelessly to educate others about the importance of financial literacy, but also to diversify the talent pipeline that enters the field. In her role, she served as the executive sponsor of JPMorgan Chase’s Advancing Black Pathways program, an initiative focused on helping black Americans close the gaps in historical achievement in wealth, education, and career opportunities. She also served as the leader of the bank’s Women on the Move initiative committee, which works to provide financial education to women, as well as career and business opportunities.
Prior to his current role, Duckett, who holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston and an MBA from Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University, was CEO of Chase Auto Finance, SVP for Emerging Markets and Affordable Lending and SVP in home loans. Prior to joining Chase in 2004, she began her career with Fannie Mae in 1996, helping with affordable housing initiatives for people of color.
As the new CEO of TIAA, Duckett will not only be the second black woman to currently run a Fortune 500 company, but will also be the fourth black woman in history to serve as CEO of Fortune 500. Ursula Burns was the first to hold Xerox CEO from 2009 to 2016. And Mary Winston was second when she served as interim CEO at Bed Bath & Beyond in 2019, before being replaced by permanent CEO Mark Tritton.
Duckett will succeed current TIAA CEO Roger W. Ferguson Jr., who was just one of five black CEOs in the Fortune 500 before Brewer’s announcement earlier this year. TIAA is the first company in the history of Fortune 500 to have two black CEOs behind it.
Reflecting on her journey and the personal experiences she faced along the way, Duckett says she immediately thought of her father when he first accepted her new role.
“I often think of the day my father asked me to help him plan his retirement and I had to tell him, ‘Dad, your pension is not enough,'” she said in a statement. Duckett’s father, she says, worked at a Xerox warehouse in New Jersey before losing his job and moving his family to Texas. Her mother, she says, worked as a teacher. “Now, thanks to his work and sacrifices and the support of many others who have guided me throughout my life and career, I am blessed to join TIAA, which has paid over $ 500 billion in living income and other benefits from its establishment in 1918. “
Check it out: Walgreens’ new CEO, Roz Brewer, is biased in the C-suite: “When you’re a black woman, you’re wrong.”
Do not miss: The best credit cards for construction credit in 2021