Witad Awards 2023: Trailblazer (lifetime achievement) award—Jo-Anne Moran, BNY Mellon
BNY Mellon’s Jo-Anne Moran wins the highest profile category of this year’s Women in Technology and Data Awards, joining an illustrious group of outstanding women as recipients of the trailblazer of the year award. This category is traditionally awarded to a woman who has contributed significantly to the industry, the firms she has worked for and her colleagues over an extended period. Moran certainly fits the bill: She has spent more than five decades working in the wider financial services industry and is currently global head of technology change integration for global operations and technology at BNY Mellon.
Like many men and woman working in the industry, Moran’s career journey can best be described as serendipitous. “The one thing I am most proud of is the actual roadmap of my career,” Moran says. “I started out as a bank teller and then a branch manager before starting my technology career. I ran cash vaults, global markets, infrastructure and then risk. Now, I’m in more of a governance role.”
Undaunted
Moran is candid about her lack of intimate industry knowledge when embarking on her capital markets career, although she was undaunted, instead seeking advice and help if and when she needed it. “When I went into global markets, I had to look up the term ‘derivative’ in the dictionary,” she says. “For me, it’s more about being willing to learn and asking for help. I remember speaking with a woman before taking on a new role in a domain that I didn’t really understand. I had to ask her how an FX transaction works. I was actually going to run the middle office and I had no idea how to settle a trade. So, part of what I am proud of is showing that roadmap and being okay with having learned lessons and being able to share those lessons with other people starting their careers.”
Moran played a prominent role in the firm’s Covid-19 response in the early days of the pandemic in the US. She explains that one of the lessons she learned during her career was how to get things done … and quickly. It was this blend of decisiveness and pragmatism that proved invaluable during a time of unprecedented uncertainly. “With Covid, there was a sense of urgency, but then it became more about creating a team of experts that was going to put together a plan to run the bank from home, get everybody safe and out of the office,” she explains. “It really became about connecting the dots: We needed infrastructure, inventory, what technology capabilities they had at home, and what new capabilities we needed to get to them. We partnered with our resiliency, infrastructure and finance teams to deliver a working model within 24 hours. We were able to safely transition 95% of the workforce to work-from-home status in under 14 days. It became about protecting our people.”
Paying it forward
When asked about whether she has had the opportunity to “pay it forward” and act as a mentor or role model for other women within BNY Mellon, Moran pauses momentarily and then recounts a situation where she used a mix of her influence within the business and her pragmatism to retain the services of two valuable women. “About eight years ago, there were two very senior women looking for their next role within the business,” she says. “One had gone into program management and wanted to come back into technology, but nobody would bring her in because she was too senior, and her technology skills weren’t adequate.”
Moran explains that the other woman was in a similar place but was looking for a slightly different role. She decided to take both of them onto her team. “After I got to know one of the women, I consulted with a few of my peers who agreed to teach her the technology skills needed to get her back into a more technical roll,” she says. “She’s now the CDO of a large bank. I believe that if women can figure out how to pay it forward, that’s exactly what we should be doing—finding opportunities for others and helping them, whether it’s as a role model or just providing feedback.”
Past winners on this category include Mona Eldam, Morgan Stanley (2022); Linda Coffman, SmartStream Technologies (2021); Barb O’Malley, Northern Trust (2020), Cathy Bessant, Bank of America (2019); and Debra Walton, Refinitiv (2018).
Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.
To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@waterstechnology.com or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.waterstechnology.com/subscribe
You are currently unable to print this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (point 2.4), printing is limited to a single copy.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (clause 2.4), an Authorised User may only make one copy of the materials for their own personal use. You must also comply with the restrictions in clause 2.5.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
More on Awards & Rankings
Waters Rankings 2024 winner’s interview: S&P Global Market Intelligence
S&P Global Market Intelligence won two categories in this year’s Waters Rankings: Best enterprise data management (EDM) system provider and Best reporting system provider, which is the subject of this interview.
Sell-Side Technology Awards 2024 winner’s interview: Broadridge
In this year’s Sell-Side Technology Awards, Broadridge Financial Technology won Best outsourcing provider to the sell side thanks to its hugely successful business process outsourcing offering
Waters Rankings 2024: Best market risk solution provider (highly commended)—FactSet
Product/service: FactSet Multi Asset Class Risk Solutions
Waters Rankings 2024: Best portfolio management system provider (highly commended)—FactSet
Product/service: FactSet PM Hub
Waters Rankings 2024 winner’s interview: IPC Systems
IPC Systems won the Best cloud infrastructure provider category in this year’s Waters Rankings. Tim Carmody, CTO of IPC, discusses his firm’s recent success in the rankings
Waters Rankings 2024 winner’s interview: Vneuron
Vneuron Risk & Compliance won the best AML compliance solution provider category in this year’s Waters Rankings.
Waters Rankings 2024 winner’s interview: Cloud9
Cloud9, part of Symphony, won Best trading floor communication system provider category in this year’s Waters Rankings.
Waters Rankings 2024 winner’s interview: AI Risk
New York-based AI Risk won the Best cyber security provider category in this year’s Waters Rankings.