The Most Powerful Women in Banking

This year, KeyCorp executed the second-largest bank acquisition by deal value since the financial crisis and announced a groundbreaking commitment to do $16.5 billion of lending to low- and moderate-income communities across several states. Chairman and CEO Beth Mooney also purposely raised the visibility of other executives at her company, to bring more diversity of thought into the company’s decision-making process. But Mooney doesn't see an end to her days of trailblazing yet.

Inspiring others is what motivates Thasunda Duckett to keep taking on challenging new assignments.

Even before it closed its acquisition of FirstMerit, Huntington Bancshares made sure it locked up FirstMerit Vice Chairman and Michigan market Chief Executive Sandy Pierce.

The last two years have been transformative ones for Howard Bank in Ellicott City, Md., and much of the credit goes to Mary Ann Scully, its chairman, president and chief executive.

An analytical mind; a drive to improve; a sense of humility; a leadership gene. Nandita Bakhshi identified these four traits as key in her move up to CEO.