The Latest from Women in Banking

Kelly Coffey, who was recognized as one of American Banker's most powerful women in 2018, will succeed Russell Goldsmith as CEO of City National, a Los Angeles-based unit of Royal Bank of Canada, on Feb. 1.

Goldman Sachs’ Heidi Cruz takes some flak for comments she made in an interview about her other job — as the wife of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. Goldman's Dina Powell turns down a chance to be the next Nikki Haley. And a lawsuit against the American Bankers Association calls it a “boy’s club.”

The gap in attitudes and outlook on gender inclusion is wide enough that women and men in financial services often have entirely different takes on gender in the workforce, with men much more likely to have an outsized positive view on progress in gender inclusion.

Despite obstacles that keep women from being equally represented in the boardroom, there are steps they can take to close the gap.

"He hasn't missed any of our diversity and inclusion councils in 10 years. It starts with him and trickles down," said Sheri Bronstein, the bank's global human resources executive.

Promoting diversity must go beyond putting women in the C-suite. It’s about creating products and practices that help support and elevate those who tend to be overlooked.

Financial institutions can take a few easy steps to ensure their leadership is more representative of their customer base, including looking outside of the industry for talent. Women and people of color are not that hard to find.

Women in the pipeline get some attention from a room full of top banking industry executives celebrating the Most Powerful Women rankings. California is the first to impose a quota requiring companies to increase the number of women on boards, and the Fortune 500’s newest female CEO starts today.

Several female executives accepted leadership roles throughout the industry and in regulatory roles during the past month.

Käthe Anchel is expected to help push Umpqua’s recent focus on what it calls the “human-digital” banking experience.