On Thursday, the Association of Insurance and Annuities of Teachers of America, TIAA, announced longtime executive Thasunda Brown Duckett as the 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 ’new CEO Rosalind Brewer to the list.
“I have a lot of gratitude for all the shoulders I have,” Duckett, who currently serves as CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, said in an Instagram post. In addition to thanking the support of his Chase teammates, Duckett also thanked his family and friends, saying, “Create the space for my purpose to live.”
Born in Rochester, New York and raised in Texas, Duckett has been 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 just see baking soda, or you know what it’s like to turn off the lights, personal finances are important,” he told the New York Times in 2019.
As CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, a role he has held since 2016, Duckett has worked tirelessly not only to educate others about the importance of financial literacy, but also to diversify the line of talent entering the field. In his role, he acted as executive sponsor of JPMorgan Chase’s Advancing Black Pathways program, an initiative focused on helping black Americans close the historical gaps in their wealth, education, and career opportunities. She was also the committee head of the bank’s Women in the Move initiative which works to provide financial education to women, as well as career and business opportunities.
Prior to her current role, Duckett, a graduate of the University of Houston and an MBA from the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University, was the CEO of Chase Auto Finance, vice president for emerging markets and affordable lending, and SVP to lending. for the home. Before joining Chase in 2004, she began her career at Fannie Mae in 1996, helping to lead affordable housing initiatives for people of color.
As the new CEO of TIAA, Duckett will not only be the second black woman to currently lead a Fortune 500 company, but she will also be the fourth black woman in history to serve as CEO of 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 was interim CEO of 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 Fortune 500 CEOs before Brewer’s announcement earlier this year. TIAA is the first company in Fortune 500 history to have two consecutive black executives.
Reflecting on his journey and the personal experiences he has faced along the way, Duckett says he immediately thought of his father when he first accepted his new role.
“I often think about the day my father asked me to help him plan his retirement and I had to tell him, ‘Father, your pension is not enough,'” she said in a statement. Duckett’s father worked at a Xerox warehouse in New Jersey before losing his job and moving his family to Texas. His mother, he says, worked as a school teacher. ” and with 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 revenue and other benefits since its foundation in 1918. “
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