Thasunda Brown Duckett took over as CEO of TIAA in May, making her one of two Black women leading Coins2Day 500 companies, a fact that is not lost on her.
“I know that we have to operate with intentionality if we want to get to five, to 10, to 50,” Duckett said at the Coins2Day Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C. She claimed that her own success was in large part due to a program called Inroads, which helped her find her way.
“Being intentional about supporting programs, I think, is key. Being intentional about receiving the power of the sisterhood, because it’s not always easy as you move up. And lastly, knowing that allyship matters,” she said.
Duckett also expressed gratitude for the progress her appointment represents.
“It has not escaped me that it was the janitors and the cooks that entered corporate America that have melanin like me. It does not escape me that there were so many hidden figures in corporate America, smart women, smart minorities that provided an outsize contribution but knew they structurally had no shot to ascend.”
The opportunity to lead TIAA, an organization that was founded by Andrew Carnegie so that teachers could generate savings to retire, is a personal one for Duckett. Her mother was an educator, and her father worked as a stock handler in a warehouse, and their path to retirement was not so simple.
“After I graduated from college, I went to visit Mom and Dad, and we got on the subject of retirement, and I asked my dad to see his statement,” she shared. “To be a daughter, to have to tell your father that he does not have enough to retire…having to tell Otis Brown that immediately he has to max out his 401(k), immediately he has to do everything that he can to catch up.”
Duckett joined TIAA from JPMorgan Chase, where she was CEO of Chase consumer banking. Before that, she was the CEO of Chase auto financing. She was also previously an executive at Fannie Mae.
“Every single day, I get to think about who I serve…and why I serve, thinking about what I went through with my father. That’s a full circle moment, and I’m just incredibly privileged to lead this company,” she said.
Duckett also shared her philosophy on life, comparing it to a diversified portfolio. She said she always felt as if she was losing on the work/life balance front because of the demands of her career, so she started thinking about it like an investment strategy.
“Here’s what I do,” she explained. “I write down everything that matters. I’m an executive, I’m a mother, I’m a philanthropist. I’m a daughter, sister, friend, and we allocate. Because the truth is we do not have 150%, it’s only 100%. So you have to allocate.”
She went on to explain that for each of those allocations, bring 100% to the time allocated for that priority, and you can enjoy and over-perform in life.
“What I know to be true is that starting a job at TIAA as CEO I’ve had to allocate more to work. When my children are needing me I know I have to reallocate more to the children…I just think we can all have a great life if you’re intentional about what you put in your portfolio.”
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