Finances FYI Presented by JPMorgan Chase
By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Thelma Ferguson, Vice Chair of Commercial Banking for JP Morgan Chase, is one of the few Black women who have successfully navigated her way to being a top tier executive in commercial banking. Ferguson has served at JPMorgan Chase for more than two decades, working with middle market clients across a wide range of industries. This breadth of experience, paired with Ferguson’s commitment and passion for the business, has made her a trusted advisor to clients and colleagues alike.
Prior to her current role, Ferguson was the Northeast Segment Head for Middle Market Banking and Specialized Industries (MMBSI) and prior to that was the Market Manager for the Metro New York market. Before joining the New York headquarters, Ferguson served as president of Kentucky, Southern Indiana and Tennessee, and was the first Black woman to be named President of any market for Commercial Banking.
In her current role, Ferguson guides strategy for front-line sales initiatives across Commercial Banking’s core client sectors and specialized industries, with a focus on building meaningful and enduring client relationships. Throughout her career and even today, Ferguson uses her leadership skills and influence to develop talent and businesses by listening, learning, and understanding the needs and motivations of her colleagues, understudies, and client base.
Many successful leaders in business take a personal investment in the long-term development of their employees and clients, they use tact and other social skills to motivate others to achieve their best and, in the process, realize results. According to Ferguson, it’s about channeling into individual motivations in the interest of furthering an organization or business’ bigger picture and overall goals.
“This role of vice chair is admittedly still continuing to morph and grow as I think through it,” says Ferguson. “But as I go around the country, I think it is important for me to be on a listening tour. I think it is important for me to understand the dynamics of where individuals are in their local markets and build upon that.”
Although Chase has a diverse portfolio of clients, Ferguson believes that some businesses are still underserved, and it is her responsibility as a leader to make sure that they receive knowledgeable advisors and the appropriate tools for success.
“Many people look at JP Morgan and see JP Morgan as this huge gargantuan organization that only thinks about large clients when in actuality a vast majority, probably eighty percent of clients, are what I would call ‘small businesses,’” says Ferguson.
“If we think about it from a diversity perspective approximately fifty percent of all our businesses are diverse in some nature, but they are underserved and they are underserved from a financial wellness perspective, they are underserved from the standpoint of having appropriate tools and understanding what those tools are to really help them to grow,” she adds. “I think that the business of expansion, the financial skills that are needed, the ability to have advisors help individuals along the way is really critical and that is that void that JP Morgan is really trying its very best to get in front of, and to serve as a leader and making sure that north star exist.”
In an effort to better serve these underserved communities, Ferguson — who spearheads the commercial banking division’s efforts to advance women, diverse and veteran-owned business initiatives — wants to expand opportunities for diverse talent and drive positive change within the financial services industry.
“Being a woman, I am very focused upon women as well and so how we actually grow our talent, how we understand what the needs of women are in the markets, how we continue to help them from a career trajectory perspective is really important,” says Ferguson.
In addition, Ferguson believes that client-based satisfaction, which is achieved by bringing together knowledgeable experts, developing relationships and providing clients a level of comfort, are essential in making a difference in communities across the country.
“Bringing the appropriate experts in to make sure we are marrying all of [our clients] needs, developing that relationship giving them that go to person [is important],” say Ferguson. “I get calls from around the country and individuals saying, ‘Thelma you guys are making a difference,’ from the perspective of community, and a difference has gotta start somewhere in order for business and community to grow and I recognize that.”
Finances FYI is presented by JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase is making a $30 billion commitment over the next five years to address some of the largest drivers of the racial wealth divide.
