Transcript:
Betsy Duke: So I started in banking as a part-time drive-through teller. I needed a job and did that, and I went to work for a start-up bank. And because it was such a small bank, there was so much work to be done that I just kept doing it and learned on the job. I actually worked in every job that there was in a community bank, and ended up as CEO of a community bank for about 10 years.
So most of what I did every day was lending to small businesses. I lent to two and in some cases even three generations of the same business, and was, you know, integral in my community. It was just a part of who I was, and and so I am, to my core, a community banker.
Then I was the first woman to chair the Virginia Bankers Association. I was the first woman to chair the American Bankers Association. So I’ve been focused on the industry and all its components and its environment for more than 30 years.
I joined the Federal Reserve Board right in the middle — right just at the beginning of the financial crisis. So I got there in August of 2008, which was the very beginning of it. I spent five years of my life fighting to be sure that we had a financial system, because it was so important to the economy. So I know how important the services that we provide are on Main Street, and I know how important they are to the full economy, and that’s what drives me.
I really hope it’s inspiring to every woman who works for Wells Fargo and to young girls who don’t work for any bank right now or don’t work for anybody right now, but to inspire them to pursue a career in finance, because I think women have added tremendously to this industry.
Tim Sloan: For today’s Town Hall we have a special guest, and that’s the chair of our Board of Directors, Betsy Duke. Betsy, could I ask you to stand?
Betsy Duke: I think Wells Fargo is getting better every single day. Part of change is recognizing what needs to change and making the right decisions about how to implement that change, and I think we are doing that. We’re on that path, and you can see it in the customer reaction. You can see it in team member engagement. You know, we still have a ways to go, but I think we’re absolutely on the right path.