Special Program Root Tag

Motivation isn't a problem for Carrie Tolstedt. "As I go to my office each day, I pass by a stagecoach in our lobby" — a powerful reminder, she says, of Wells Fargo's stability, based on a century and a half of zeroing in on what people want from a bank.

In more ways than one, "diversity" has been a watchword in Avid Modjtabai's career.

To say Cathy Bessant has a big job would be an understatement. She leads a business unit comparable in size and budget to some of the largest corporations in the country, and her responsibilities grew further in April when the unit absorbed Bank of America's consumer and mortgage-servicing operations.

The businesses Mary Walworth Navarro leads generate nearly half of Huntington's total revenue.

Barbara Yastine has helped take Ally Bank from its origins as the troubled GMAC Bank to a rapidly growing and profitable online banking franchise.

When Dorothy Savarese says, without a trace of hyperbole, "I now have the perfect job," it's hard not to believe her. And it isn't just because her relatively small Massachusetts bank — $2.5 billion in assets — regularly outperforms its much larger competitors.

It's because of people like Diane Reyes that multinational companies are able to transact smoothly and safely with one another.

The card business is facing intense scrutiny and regulatory pressure, but Eileen Serra is turning those challenges into opportunities to improve.

As head of strategy and marketing at Bank of America, Anne Finucane is responsible for protecting the company's image.

LeeAnne Linderman says that the 16 years she spent working in department stores prepared her well for a career in banking.

CEO Melanie Dressel has set an ambitious goal for herself as she engineers this expansion: to remain personally involved with each one of its branches.

The wholesale world has gotten bigger for Leslie Godridge, who has headed U.S. Bancorp's corporate and institutional banking since 2007.

So it makes sense that Scotiabank's Alberta Cefis is dedicated to breaking down barriers in her professional and philanthropic efforts.

Maria Coyne has spent the better part of the last two years reorganizing KeyBank's sprawling branch network and various aspects of its retail and small-business lines.

As head of Wells Fargo's eastern region, Laura Schulte oversees more than a third of the bank's footprint.

Michelle Van Dyke is respected throughout Fifth Third Bancorp for her ability to drive results and develop talent.

Royal Bank of Canada has ranked among the best-performing banking companies in North America over the last couple of years and ex-CEO Gord Nixon says that Janice Fukakusa, its chief financial officer and chief administrative officer, deserves much of the credit for its recent success.

Andrea Smith joined Bank of America in 1988 and was named global head of human resources four years ago, reporting directly to CEO Brian Moynihan.

The focus in corporate banking is more emphatically on the word "global" since Anne Clarke Wolff became head of the unit in 2011.

Talk to Jane Haskin about the responsibilities that go into being CEO of First Bethany Bank & Trust and you get a microcosm of the business of banking: one part account officer, one part technology advocate, one part head of operations.