On Thursday, the Association of Insurance and Annuity Teachers of America, TIAA, announced longtime executive Thasunda Brown Duckett as its next CEO. When Duckett takes up her new role on May 1, she will become the second black woman to currently lead a Fortune 500 company, following Walgreens’ new CEO Rosalind Brewer on the list.
“I am very grateful for all the shoulders I’m on,” said Duckett, who currently serves as 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 in my purpose.”
Born in Rochester, New York, and raised in Texas, Duckett has been open about how her humble education led her to a career in finance.
“When you know what it’s like to look in the fridge and just see baking soda, or you know what it’s like to have the lights off, personal finances are important,” she told The New York Times in 2019.
As CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, a role she has held since 2016, Duckett has worked tirelessly not only to educate others about the importance of financial education, but also to diversify the flow of talent entering the field. In her role, she served as executive sponsor of JPMorgan Chase’s Advancing Black Pathways program, an initiative focused on helping black Americans bridge historical achievement gaps in wealth, education and career opportunities. She also served as the committee leader for the bank’s Women on the Move initiative, which works to provide financial education for 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, senior vice president for emerging markets and affordable loans and vice senior president in real estate loans. Before joining Chase in 2004, she started her career at Fannie Mae in 1996, helping to lead popular housing initiatives for people of color.
As the new CEO of TIAA, Duckett will not only be the second black woman currently leading a Fortune 500 company, but he will also be only the fourth black woman in history to serve as CEO of the Fortune 500. Ursula Burns was the first when she served as CEO of Xerox 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 at the Fortune 500 before Brewer’s announcement earlier this year. TIAA is the first company in the history of the Fortune 500 to have two consecutive black CEOs.
Reflecting on his journey and the personal experiences he faced along the way, Duckett says he immediately thought of his father when he accepted his new role.
“I often think of the day my father asked me to help him plan his retirement and I had to say to 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 her job and moving with her family to Texas. Her mother, she says, worked as a teacher. “Now, thanks to your 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 lifetime income and other benefits since its foundation. in 1918. “
Output check: Walgreens’ new CEO, Roz Brewer, on prejudice in senior management: ‘When you’re a black woman, you make a lot of mistakes’
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