Many of the 15 executives selected for our Most Powerful Women in Banking: Next list are in roles that took on outsize importance in a year punctuated by a global pandemic, economic free fall and widespread protests over police brutality and racial inequality.

In her role as senior vice president of credit for municipal and corporate bonds, Urtz is overseeing a redesign of FHN's primary website for fixed-income transactions.

Gage is essentially charged with implementing executives’ vision into practical changes at the Dallas-based company.

Younger is an executive director on BBVA's loan syndication team.

At the brokerage and wealth management arm of Ally Financial, Bell leads the team responsible for shaping the insight on investing and the global markets that is shared with customers.

The head of government guaranteed lending at WSFS, Caruso aims to parlay the bank's success with Paycheck Protection Program lending to better serve early-stage small businesses.

As chief credit officer, Horton oversaw the bank's certification as a Small Business Administration lender and participation in the Paycheck Protection Program.

Khan, who began her banking career as a part-time teller, heads the bank's retail operations in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin.

The bank's managing director of human resources says her overall goal is "to build a culture of encouragement."

Stubbs moved from Ohio to Texas last year to open PNC's first customer care center in the Lone Star State. Then the pandemic hit.

Garrison was promoted to head of human resources operations in October 2019, putting her at the forefront of the bank’s effort to respond to the pandemic.

“If I see something that needs to be fixed, I tend to just gravitate toward it,” said Ratliff, U.S. Bank's head of disputes and prepaid operations.

Within her first week at City National Bank in 2018, Dodd was working on her first deal — and the first deal for the aerospace and defense group that she was brought in to help launch

Ta is aiming to reduce turnover at Wells Fargo Advisors by revamping the succession planning program.

An Ogan-led effort to overhaul the bank's retail strategy yielded a better-than-expected increase in consumer and business deposits and improvements in cross-selling.

Reissman joined Seacoast in 2014 and led several departments before being promoted to chief marketing officer last year.

The mobile banking and paperless habits bank customers picked up during the pandemic are here to stay, and financial institutions are working to strengthen their digital offerings, speakers at an American Banker conference said.

Sells, American Banker's Digital Banker of the Year for 2020, says he will help the New York fintech startup create digital currency products for banks.

Montecito Bank in California began streamlining originations after a natural disaster decimated its community in 2018. The move paid off when the COVID-19 crisis hit and the bank had to quickly step up efforts to help clients.

Webster Bank and Customers Bank are among the lenders that have turned to alternative data sources and automated loan reviews to assess business customers' ability to weather the coronavirus pandemic.