The Latest from Women in Banking

One secret to Begonya Klumb's success is that she is constantly challenging herself.

For years, MUFG's Wendy Breuder kept taped to her computer a message she found in a fortune cookie that read, "None of the secrets of success will work unless you do." It was a reminder to Breuder that there are no shortcuts to success.

Under Jill Castilla, who became president and chief executive in early 2014, Citizens Bank of Edmond has won scores of fans — and customers — by creating and sponsoring a monthly street festival that has breathed new life into downtown Edmond.

"I would always rather have the most determined, encouraging, find-a-way person on my team than the smartest person in the room," said Liz Dukes Wolverton, Synovus Financial's chief strategy officer.

Last year, Yvette Hollingsworth Clark spearheaded an industrywide initiative to develop a so-called "Compliance Officer Bill of Rights."

When the movie "Equity" arrived in theaters — with women in the leading roles as Wall Street executives — Barbara Byrne had her name in the credits. The project is just one of the distinctive ways that Byrne, Barclays' vice chairman of investment banking, has been promoting gender diversity. She is motivated to make a difference and tries to choose projects that will have a big impact.

Meet JPMorgan Chase's new general counsel. Stacey Friedman, a tough financial litigator who also fights for social justice, is the only woman to serve as the general counsel of a systemically important U.S. bank. From crisis-era legal strategy to a recent failed grade on a living will, she embraces every challenge. But one of her proudest accomplishments is unrelated to banking: a pro bono case she helped win to stop a ban on same-sex couples adopting children.

Some bankers are proud of making it through the financial crisis. Imagine doing that while also contending with a huge personal crisis. Karen Glenn, the chief executive of a Kentucky community bank, is a single mom of twin boys. She had just made it through a major health issue with one of her sons, when the other was diagnosed with cancer.

Rosilyn Houston couldn't have known it at the time, but the year she spent caring for her toddler son while he underwent treatment for leukemia would have a profound impact on the trajectory of her career.

Dorothy Savarese draws inspiration from her ability to make a positive difference in the communities her bank serves.