Regional banks

Wolverton has been accumulating responsibility and influence at Synovus in recent years and is the highest ranking woman at the company.

The success of Erminia "Ernie" Johannson's United Way campaign is a testament to her skills as a leader and motivator and goes a long way toward explaining why BMO Financial CEO Darryl White keeps giving her bigger and more important jobs.

Tepid loan demand, falling interest rates and heightened competition from nonbank lenders are just some of the headwinds facing commercial lenders these days, but Ardalan believes MUFG can expand its credit appetite without compromising safety and soundness.

First Republic Bank has been understandably mum about who might replace founder and Chief Executive James Herbert when he retires in two years, but Hafize Gaye Erkan, its 39-year-old president, is considered a leading candidate.

Nandita Bakhshi, CEO of Bank of the West, has pushed the bank's environmental commitments further, including $1 billion in clean energy financing over the next five years.

Three years into the turnaround plan at CIT Group, Ellen Alemany continues to remake the commercial finance company she inherited into more of a traditional bank. The purchase of Mutual of Omaha Bank is another step toward that goal.

As head of commercial banking at PNC Financial Services Group, Stephanie Novosel knows full well that competition for loans is intense and that to win business banks need to add value that goes beyond offering competitive loan terms.

In her role as head of virtual channels at Citizens Financial Group, Beth Johnson is relentlessly focused on making banking simpler for consumers.

Amy Brady, KeyCorp's chief information officer, is keen to spread the word to potential employees about tech opportunities in Cleveland.

Di Gangi has already seen tremendous success in running small and medium business lending, but this year she stretched even further. Among other things, she spearheaded the launch of WE Source, an online tool that helps women entrepreneurs with insights into funding, networking, strategy and other business essentials.