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. Well-established globally, in New York, Toronto, London, Hong Kong and Singapore, we have members from over thirty different organisations.
Our Purpose is to provide a network of COOs, senior managers and leaders, and their staff. We promote the cause of diversity, equity and inclusion for corporate success.
Our Mission:
INSPIRE
To inspire through our leadership proposition to join or become better equipped at becoming a successful COO.
SUPPORT
To support all business managers, with content and reference points, to choose the COO role as a career destination.
OPPORTUNITY
To continue the creation of opportunities through networking via our platform.
ADDRESS CHALLENGES
To address common challenges and create relevant programmes for the development of knowledge and cross-industry business dialogue.
Leadership Content

WCOOC Leadership Forum 2022 - EMEA / APAC

WCOOC Leadership Forum 2022 - EMEA / North America

WCOOC Leadership Forum 2022 - POV Article

WCOOC Leadership Forum 2020 - New York

WCOOC Leadership Forum 2020 - London

WCOOC Lunch New York 2020 - Natixis

WCOOC Leadership Forum 2020 - Asia

WCOOC Leadership Evening New York 2019 - BNP Paribas

WCOOC Leadership Evening Hong Kong 2019 - HSBC

WCOOC Leadership Evening New York 2019 - Societe Generale
Latest WCOOC Past Events Content
Content from most recent WCOOC events can be found below, follow the link for more.
Listen to our Executive Coach Cressida Hamilton discuss why setting goals is important, barriers that stop us achieving our goals, the principles of good goal setting and techniques for commitment and implementation. Listen here to find out more...
Listen to our panellists to share their views on how to manage career opportunities for growth within an organisation, motivating the workforce, empowering through exposure and L&D, and driving communication. It is also an opportunity for you...
Focusing on the benefits of coaching in our daily and work lives, this forum discussed how coaching can give us greater clarity and peace of mind during our busy schedules. Please take the time to listen to how IGNITE has been established and is...
Driving WCOOC Forward
WCOOC Steering Committee
Steering Committee from global banks supporting WCOOC and its Dnl initiatives

Rebecca Crowe
MD, Chief Operating Officer
BNY Mellon

John Currie
Chief Operating Officer, Asia Pacific
Scotiabank

Gordon Grant
Head of Asia Operations
Citi

Sietske Kalse
Managing Director, Global CAO Rates
Citi

Pascale Moreau
Global COO of Markets, Buisness, Transformation & Oversight
Societe Generale

Penelope Tunbridge
Head of Chairman’s Office
Credit Suisse

Suzy White
Global COO Markets & Securities Services
HSBC
WCOOC Ambassadors

Erica Benjamin

Fatema Bookwala
Managing Director & COO Markets and Securities Services ASEAN
HSBC

Jason Brus
Global Chief of Staff, Equities
Nomura

Rich Evans

Helen Hughes-Green
Managing Director, ICG Head of Client Conduct Risk
Citi

Stephen Miller
Chief Information Officer
Arco: Experts in Safety

Piers Murray
Managing Partner
Armstrong Wolfe Advisory

Joe Norena
COO
Builder.ai

Kimberly Ong
Director – Financial Services – Client Resilience Hub
WTW

David Ornstein
COO
Baton Systems

David Sharratt
Asia Regional CDO
Commerzbank

Alexandra Stanton

Ronald Taylor
EVP, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Natixis

Wade Younger
Managing Partner
Armstrong Wolfe Advisory

Peter Zorn
Industry Advisor – Enterprise Workforce Transformation
Armstrong Wolfe
Career Coaches

Kate Hutchins
UK Head, Career Management

Miia Lankinen
Asia Head, Career Management

Jean Balfour

Cressida Hamilton

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.
It was a pleasure for Natixis CIB to welcome such a fabulous audience of talented women from our industry in the UK, and support this unique opportunity to network among peers. Thanks Gwen C Wilcox for your very kind words and for the amazing work you dedicate to Women COOs. See you soon in Asia !