Women in the COO Community
Promoting the cause of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Our diversity, equity and inclusion programme strives to support the underrepresented by leveraging the influence and good will of the female global COO community.
Armstrong Wolfe’s Women in the COO Community (WCOOC) initiative has been running since 2017. Now well-established in New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore, (soon in Toronto) we have members from over thirty different organisations.
Our commitment to this initiative was born out of the privileged position we have in accessing the COO community through our global forums.
Led by Armstrong Wolfe, a series of cross-industry forums and leadership evenings will take place throughout 2022.
Goals of WCOOC:
Inspiring Women
To inspire women in Financial Services to have no limit to their aspirations.
Educate Women
To educate women on business management and the COO role as career destinations.
Networking Opportunities
To establish exclusive and confidential networking opportunities with peers.
Address Common Challenges
To enable a cross-industry business dialogue to address common challenges.
Latest WCOOC Past Events Content
Content from most recent WCOOC events can be found below, follow the link for more.
Personal Branding - How to Build a Powerful Brand in Order to Advance Your Career 15th February 2022 - EMEA/ APAC Speaker: Cressida Hamilton, Executive Coach, Armstrong Wolfe Guest Speaker: John Currie, COO, Asia Pacific, Singapore, Scotiabank...
The Essential Coaching Techniques You Need to be a More Effective Leader Speakers: Cressida Hamilton, Executive Coach, Armstrong Wolfe and Andrew De Groot, Executive Coach Full session presentation/ slides available here
Your Network is your Networth- Navigating Careers as Women in Capital Markets Informal Conversation between WCOOC (Women in the COO Community) and WIL (Women in Leadership Foundation). Panel: Lesley Bodnar, Managing Director and Head of Global...
Driving WCOOC Forward

Gwen Wilcox
COO, Armstrong Wolfe and Global Lead, WCOOC
WCOOC Steering Committee
Steering Committee from global banks supporting WCOOC and its Dnl initiatives

Pascale Moreau
Global COO of Markets, Business, Transformation and Oversight, Societe Generale

Penny Tunbridge
Head of Chairman’s Office, Credit Suisse

Sietske Kalse
Managing Director, COO and Head of Business Development, Citi

Suzy White
Global COO Markets & Securities Services, HSBC

Gordon Grant
Global Head of Futures, Clearing and FX Prime Brokerage Operations, Citi

John Currie
Vice President and Head Global Wholesale Operations Asia Pacific, Singapore, Scotiabank
WCOOC Ambassadors

Erica Benjamin
Global Head of Wealth Operations, Bank of Montreal (New York)

Kimberly Ong
EMEA and Asia COO Asset Management Solutions, J.P. Morgan Asset Management

Jason Brus
Global Chief of Staff, Equities, Nomura (New York)

Rich Evans
Head of Prime, CEX.IO (London)

Helen Hughes-Green
Managing Director, Citi ICG Business Controls (London)

Piers Murray
Managing Partner, AWA (New York)

Joe Norena
COO, Builder ai (New York)

Fatema Bookwala
Managing Director, COO Markets and Securities Services, HSBC (Singapore)

David Ornstein
COO, Baton Systems (New York)

Alexandra Stanton
AVS Corporate Culture Consultancy (London)

Ronald Taylor
US Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Natixis AM (New York)

Wade Younger
Managing Partner (USA)

David Sharratt
COO Asia, Commerzbank
Career Coaches

Kate Hutchins
UK Practice Head, Career Management

Miia Lankinen
WCOOC Head & Career Management, Asia

Cressida Hamilton
Executive Coach to the COO Community

Armstrong Wolfe are proud signatories of the Women in Finance Charter.
Despite being called ‘Women in the COO Community’, our mission is to promote all talent regardless of gender, race or socioeconomic background to leadership positions, and we are appreciative of the fact that best practice and true change must be a holistic effort and involve all members of the community. To improve D&I in the workplace, we have a strong board of ambassadors who contribute to our purpose of providing opportunities and the cause of leadership for all women and underrepresented groups across financial services.
Our career coaches and ambassadors consist of males and females (45% female, 55% male) to help accelerate this change across the wider Financial Services industry.
Armstrong Wolfe’s senior management is 33% female, with the WCOOC management (Armstrong Wolfe employees) being 100% female.
iCOOC Membership
Our membership is one degree of separation from the executive. They are the ambassadors of conduct and the ‘COO’ a trademark for innovation, execution and ethical behaviour. They are uniquely positioned to transform financial services, add value to the society of nations and support the global economy.
iCOOC’s mission is to help them meet this challenge by working better together to build a brighter future for all.