Karen Parkhill is creating a culture of continuous improvement at Comerica.

When Sandy Pierce broke into banking in the early 1980s, her street smarts gave her a decided advantage over other young loan officers. She just didn't know it at the time.

Ranjana Clark's aggressive — but safe — pursuit of deposits has allowed MUFG Union Bank to beef up its commercial lending.

Despite years of diversity initiatives, senior management teams remain overwhelmingly male. Now a growing number of women are coming around to the idea that real change starts in the boardroom.

Our top woman in finance for the third straight year, Mary Callahan Erdoes, is overseeing record growth at JPMorgan Chase's asset-management arm.

Fidelity is America's second-largest mutual fund company, behind Vanguard Group, with nearly $2 trillion in assets under management, and Abigail Johnson is now in charge of it.

In recent years Barclays' Barbara Byrne has found some atypical ways to support the careers of women. The latest is her investment in the film "Equity," which is about Wall Street and features women in the starring roles as well as behind the camera.

As it seeks to gain more market share in the fiercely competitive payments world, Discover Financial counts heavily on Diane Offereins to cultivate relationships with merchants, financial institutions and emerging players, like Apple and Samsung.

Marie Chandoha has guided Charles Schwab Investment Management to record growth by focusing on lowering fees and improving investor education.

By staying laser-focused on customer and employee retention, Margaret Keane has made sure that Synchrony Financial's split from General has gone off without a hitch.

Under Mary Mack, the nation's third-largest retail brokerage is suddenly winning high marks for customer satisfaction.

Innovation is often slow going at large financial institutions, but PNC's Charlotte McLaughlin has a knack for pushing new products through the gauntlet of project managers and committees quickly.

Candace Browning is using insight gained from her position as head of global research to help improve operations in Bank of America's largest business lines.

As one of Bessemer Trust's most senior leaders — and the highest-ranking woman in the firm's 108-year history — Rebecca Patterson does it all, from developing new products to directing marketing initiatives to setting corporate strategy to commenting on market trends for CNBC.

With a down-home — yet high-tech — approach to banking (not to mention a management team that's predominantly women), Citizens Bank of Edmond is proving that there still are advantages to being small.

The decision to leave Charles Schwab for a startup seemed crazy, especially since Carrie Dolan wasn't entirely sure, when a headhunter first called to recruit her for Lending Club, precisely what peer-to-peer lending was. But now her move looks like a good one.

A nonprofit she started in 2010 helped to earn Suni Harford a prestigious award from the U.S. Army.

Joyce Chang has made it her mission to encourage more young women to pursue careers in finance.

Katia Bouazza has built HSBC's Latin American franchise into an investment banking powerhouse.

Since Julie Monaco became Citigroup's global head of public-sector corporate and investment banking in 2013, she has reoriented the $1.8 billion business to focus on clients, rather than products.