Member login
American Financial Services Association

Credit Where Credit Is Due: Celebrating Women in Consumer Finance

Credit Where Credit Is Due: Celebrating Women in Consumer Finance

March is Women’s History Month, when we celebrate the women who’ve shaped our industry, as well as our communities and our country.  

  • Abigail Adams is credited with being the first woman investor. In addition to making investments with her family’s money, she ran the farm and the family finances while her husband, John, was off arguing with Alexander Hamilton. 
  • How about Hetty Green, the woman known as the “Witch of Wall Street”? Born in Massachusetts, her family owned one of the largest whaling fleets. At one time she was estimated to be the wealthiest person in the world.  
  • And of course, we can’t have a list of women and finance without mentioning Maggie Walker, the first African American woman to charter a bank in the United States. 
  • Louise M. Weiser was the first woman to head a major financial-news organization, taking over the presidency of Dow Jones & Company in 1967. Fortune nicknamed her “The Duchess of Dow Jones,” and she was a champion of financial literacy for women. 
  • Muriel Siebert was known as the “First Woman of Finance,” becoming the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange in 1967. She later served as New York State’s first female Superintendent of Banking. 
  • Mary Ellen Pleasant was a fascinating figure from the mid-1800s, who built a financial empire in San Francisco through shrewd real estate and lending investments. She used her wealth to fund abolitionist causes, including reportedly helping finance John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry. She’s sometimes called the “Mother of Civil Rights in California.” 
  • Lucy Scarcella was one of the first hires by A.P. Giannini, the founder of Bank of America, to work for his women’s banking division in 1921, which was staffed by 17 women bankers to help women receive start-up capital, loans and investment advice.  

And a little closer to home, we recognize these AFSA members: 

  • AFSA’s first woman Board Chair was Nancy Donovan. Nancy held senior positions with Dean Witter and Morgan Stanley, where she was responsible for creating, designing and launching the Discover Card in 1986. She would go on to serve as president and chief operating officer of Morgan Stanley Credit Corporation, restructuring it from a small auto financing operation into a full-service mortgage lender five times its original size, generating $5 billion in mortgages. 
  • The first woman president of an indirect auto finance company was Donna Zarcone with Harley Davidson Financial Services. She led the formation of Eaglemark Savings Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of HDFS, and served as its Chair and President. Currently, Betty Jotanovic is the President of Auto Relationships at Santander, Cathy O’Callaghan is the President & CEO of Ford Credit, Kristin Karwat is the CEO at Gateway Financial Solutions, Leslie Wims Morris is the CEO of Chase Auto, Mary Leigh Phillips is the CEO of Bridgecrest, and Susan Sheffield is the President & CEO of GM Financial. 
  • On the installment lending side, Susan Bridges took over as chair of Security Group in 1989. Heidi Bolton is currently the President of Security Financial. Ginger Barrett (formerly Herring) became the president of 1st Franklin Financial Corporation in 2001 and the CEO in 2015. Mary McDowell rose through a series of increasingly senior roles at CitiFinancial, becoming the CEO in 2007. Under her leadership, what is now OneMain became the largest personal consumer finance lender in the United States. Sheri Wilford, is the President of LPI Loans and chairs AFSA’s Independents Section. 
  • In addition to Donovan, Zarcone, Barrett, and McDowell have all chaired the association. AFSA’s other woman Board Chair was Carol Knorr with GMAC Financial Services. She started as a credit clerk with GMAC in 1966 and concluded her career as the VP of Marketing and Development. AFSA’s Chair-elect is Rochelle McClanahan, COO of Brundage Management Company. 

In consumer finance today, women are leading at every level, running operations, driving innovation, and navigating some of the most complex regulatory challenges our industry has ever faced. And they’re doing it while mentoring the next generation coming up behind them.   

At AFSA, we see that leadership every day among our member companies. Women in vehicle finance and consumer lending are expanding access to credit, strengthening compliance cultures, and building teams that reflect the customers we serve. And in AFSA’s Women’s Leadership Council we see both leadership and mentorship in action.   

Is there a woman who helped shaped your financial experiences that you’d like to celebrate? Share it and tag us on LinkedIn @American Financial Services Association  and X @AFSA_DC.  

March 3rd, 2026

Recent Posts

Archives