15 Women Shaping the Investor Relations and Capital Markets Industry

Rebecca (Diaz) Gardy—Senior Vice President and Chief Investor Relations Officer at Campbell’s—has been at the company for the past three years. She joined the team after spending just under two years as Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, Public Relations and Corporate Communications for GreenSky, Inc., a financial technology company. Prior to, she was the IRO for SecureWorks, a Dell Technologies company, and Senior Director of Global Investor Relations at Nike, Inc. 

She is the Founder of Finance Women of Campbell—an Employee Resource Group focused on developing future leaders and creating a powerful community of women within the finance organization. Rebecca also leads a Mentoring Circle for the Enterprise Women Inclusion Network, is a Business Advisor for Campbell’s Latino Employee Resource Group, and is a mentor for the Women of Campbell.

Sarah Jakeway—Vice President of Investor Relations at Mastercard—has been responsible for overseeing the company’s finance activities since February of 2022. She works closely with the President of Mastercard Canada to drive strategic growth and sits on the leadership teams for Canada and North America Finance. Since joining Mastercard in 2011, Sarah has held several roles with increasing levels of responsibility within North America Markets and Corporate Finance. 

Sarah is a recipient of 2 Mastercard CFO awards and is an active volunteer, fundraiser and a passionate Mentor in topics around being your own personal finance champion, career development, and life as a career mother.

Since April of 2020, Catherine Buan has led the IR program at Asana—a project management software company. She was previously at Lyft where she helped guide the company through their IPO roadshow. Over the past several years she has built the success that is Asana’s IR strategy and process.

Catherine has over twenty years of experience managing equity strategy for leaders in high growth technology, and extensive experience managing financing events, as well as enhancing institutional investor relationships. 
She is also on the Board of Directors for various volunteer organizations such as the American Red Cross, the Asian Pacific Fund, PhilDev, and Beyond the Book. 

For the past three years, Cindi Buckwalter has been the Vice President of Corporate Communications for Hudson—one of the largest and most recognizable travel retailers in North America. She has also been a Board Member, Vice President – Partnerships at the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) New York Chapter since 2019.

With over 20 years of  extensive experience in IR and corporate communications, Cindi has combined her experience in both investment banking and strategic communications expertise. This, in turn, has led to her success in building and maintaining strong relationships with both the buy-side and sell-side communities.

Prior to joining the Hudson team, Cindi led as Head of Investor Relations for Minerals Technologies Inc. She previously also served as Senior Vice President, Investor Relations for Cablevision, as well as the Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications for Scientific Games.

Cindi is a Board Member for the Turtle Bay Association, as well as a volunteer for the visually impaired with Associated Blind.

Ana Raman has been the Senior Manager of IR at Shopify for the past five years, and has been a key part in building and scaling the function for the multi-billion-dollar, large cap company. Throughout her tenure, she has helped the C-Suite navigate the business as a publicly traded company through her award-winning, end-to-end IR strategies.

Ana frequently meets with the Wall Street and Bay Street investor communities, presenting to buy side investors at conferences and non-deal roadshows, and has onboarded well over a dozen sell side analysts as they initiated company coverage. Ana has also been a conference panelist and presenter at the NIRI and Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI), on which she sits on the Board of Directors.

Since October of 2011, Rupal Bhansali has been the chief investment officer and portfolio manager of Ariel Investments—a global asset management firm. She is among the 2% of female portfolio managers to solely manage a mutual fund in the US and is a frequent guest on Bloomberg, CNBC, Yahoo Finance and Fox Business News. Rupal is also a sought after speaker at conferences hosted by the CFA Institute, Morningstar, and Schwab. 

Prior to joining Ariel, Rupal spent 10 years at MacKay Shields and five years at Oppenheimer Capital in senior leadership and portfolio management roles. She is the author of “Non-Consensus Investing,” and received the North American Industry Leadership Award from 100 Women in Finance in 2019. In 2020, 2021 and 2022, she was featured on Barron’s “100 Most Influential Women in US Finance” list.

Emily Portney is the CEO of BNY Mellon’s Asset Servicing business, which provides custody, fund services, and data and platform solutions to asset owners, traditional and alternative investment managers, insurance companies, banks and broker-dealers.  Previously, she was BNY Mellon’s CFO for almost three years, responsible for the company’s global financial strategy and finance functions. Prior to, Emily led the global client relationship, sales and service teams for Asset Servicing and oversaw its business in the Americas. She is a proud member of BNY Mellon’s Executive Committee, and continuously advocates for talent development, with an emphasis on diversity.  

Before joining BNY Mellon, Emily was CFO for Barclays International, and began her career with J.P. Morgan, holding various leadership roles in her 20 plus years with the company. She is currently a board director of MarketAxess Holdings, and is the founder of an undergraduate scholarship award at her alma mater, Duke University, designated specifically for students who are in need of financial aid.

Since March of 2021, Jane Fraser has been the Chief Executive Officer of Citi—the world’s most global bank which serves millions of consumers and businesses across 95 countries. 

As Citi’s first female CEO in history, she leads 200,000 employees globally, and is also the first-ever woman to run a major Wall Street bank. Throughout her almost 19 years with the company, Jane has vast experience across Citi’s consumer and institutional businesses and, in many ways, has helped to shape Citi into the company it is today. 

Outside of being a CEO, Jane is an active member of boards that shape economic policies. She currently serves as a Board Member for the Business Roundtable and the Council on Foreign Relations. She is Vice Chair for the Partnership for New York City and a member of Harvard Business School’s Board of Dean’s Advisors, the Stanford Global Advisory Board and the Economic Club of New York.

Edith Cooper is one of the nation’s leading Black business executives, having spent 30 years on Wall Street. She is a co-founder of Medley, a membership-based community for personal and professional growth that launched in September 2020. Prior to, Edith was the first Black woman to make partner at Goldman Sachs where she headed its human capital department for a decade.

Edith also serves on several public company boards, including Amazon, PepsiCo, and EQT Partners, and nonprofit boards, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Mount Sinai Hospital.

Since February of 2021, Lara Zink has served as the President and CEO of Women in Capital Markets (WCM)—the largest network of female professionals in Canadian finance, with initiatives that impact the careers of countless female students and professionals across the country. She is an accomplished capital markets leader with over two decades of experience in global public equities, driving competitive advantage as a top-ranked relationship manager. 

Prior to joining WCM, Lara spent 18 months in venture capital. She is also an angel investor and a mentor at NEXT Canada, a startup accelerator that accelerates the growth trajectory of aspiring and scaling entrepreneurs with education, mentorship, funding, and access to Canada’s strongest entrepreneurial network.

From 1995 to 2019, Lara worked at RBC Capital Markets selling North American and European equity research and investment banking products to many of Canada’s largest institutional investors. As a lead partner in RBC Women’s Leadership ETF, she has been a strong advocate for ED&I throughout her career and has extensive volunteer experience for social impact. Lara has also been an active mentor to junior women and men throughout her career. 

Lara is a Governor on the University of Toronto Governing Council, and sits on two Foundation boards, the CAMH Campaign Cabinet, and is a volunteer and newly appointed board member for the Special Olympics.

Emily Mohr most recently was the Vice President of Investor Relations at Sloane & Company—an industry-leading strategic communications firm—bringing eight years of in-house IR experience to the role. 

Emily has been a member of NIRI NY since 2016 and is the current NIRI Nextgen President. She was also included in NIRI’s 2020 class of its “40 Under 40” recognition program, which honors the most talented young individuals in the investor relations community.  

In her spare time, Emily is an active member of the nonprofit world. She is currently a Junior Committee of the New England Society, a Ball Committee and Junior Committee of the Quadrille Ball, a Board Member of the University of Glasgow Alumni Association, and a Junior Chair of the Viennese Opera Ball.

As CEO and Founder of High Touch Investor Relations since 2009, Laura Kiernan brings more than two decades of experience as an investor relations, finance and accounting expert to the firm. She is also the CEO & Founder of Raising Millions, the go-to community for early-stage founders seeking to scale, fundraise, and grow their businesses through financial education.

Laura is also a Board Member of NIRI, New York, and has served as VP Programs and Sponsorship for the chapter, as well as on the NIRI National Advocacy Agenda (Washington DC Ambassador), and the IRC Examination Development Committee. 

Laura has worked in IR for several Fortune 500 and Russell 2000 companies, including Harry Winston Diamond Corporation (acquired by Swatch at 3x the purchase price), Philip Morris International (Altria), Playtex Products (acquired by Energizer at 3x valuation when hired), and Revlon (where she helped refinance $2B in distressed debt).

She is a Guest Lecturer in Finance, Investments, and Investor Relations at Northeastern University and Fordham Gabelli School of Management. Laura is also an advocate for the Arts, including her longtime involvement with the New York City Ballet. As a career professional and mother, Laura is passionate about mentoring youth and promoting the advancement of women and girls with her involvement in several charities.

Karen Couldrey—Managing Director at Scotiabank Global Banking and Markets—has been on the sell-side for over 15 years and has spent the last 11 working at Scotiabank. She is recognized as the Head of Global Corporate Access, and is a mentor in the Global Banking and Markets Program.

Karen previously spent time as a cash equity sales trader at UBS Securities Canada in Toronto and Boston. Before moving to equity trading, she worked in equity research covering Canadian mining companies, and with the M&A team in Investment Banking, both also at UBS. 

Karen is a proud recipient of the 2023 Women in Capital Markets (WCM) Executive Leaders Award.

Virginia Morgan, Senior Director, Investor Relations and ESG at Lithium Americas Corp since April of 2021—specializes in communicating corporate strategies and delivering key messages to a wide range of stakeholders, from Indigenous communities to Wall Street. 

Her professional experience of over 20 years includes roles in IR, ESG and Communications, most recently with just under three years at Capstone Mining, four years with Goldcorp, and five years with Avalon Rare Metals. 

Her work earned Capstone a nomination for Best Overall Investor Relations 2020 (Small Cap) by IR Magazine Canada, and while at Goldcorp, she contributed towards multiple CPA Canada Awards including Excellence in Corporate and Sustainability Reporting and Electronic Disclosure.

Deb Wasser is the current VP of Investor Relations for Etsy, Inc.—the global marketplace for unique and creative goods. Since joining in April of 2018 to lead a three-person IR team, she now oversees all of the company’s interactions with Wall Street. Deb has helped Etsy to improve its earnings call content, host its first-ever investor day, ramp up governance engagement, increase sell-side coverage and buy-side engagement, revamp the IR website, and file its first 10K incorporating integrated social impact reporting.

Prior to Etsy, Deb led Edelman’s IR practice in the U.S. from January 2015 to April 2018. Prior to joining Edelman, she was Senior Vice President, IR and Corporate Communications, for Veeco Instruments for over 15 years. 

Deb was the recipient of the IR Magazine Award for “Best IRO,” Small Cap Company; was top-Ranked sector “Institutional Investor” IRO, and was appointed to the NIRI Senior Roundtable. She is also a board member of NIRI as well as its New York Chapter, and is one of more than 135 IR practitioners globally who have received the IRC certification.