Woman Leader of the Day | Tanya Sanders
AFSA is proud to celebrate the crucial role female executives play throughout the financial services industry. From regional firms to national installment lenders to global vehicle finance companies, women leaders are shaping the future of our industry. During Women’s History Month, AFSA is highlighting some of the outstanding leaders in our industry.
Tanya Sanders
Executive Vice President, Head of Wells Fargo Auto Consumer Lending
Wells Fargo & Company
Tanya Sanders brings more than 20 years of financial services experience to her role as Head of Wells Fargo Auto, a division of Wells Fargo Consumer Lending. Wells Fargo Auto is a leading indirect auto lender offering consumers vehicle financing through a network of approximately 11,000 dealers nationwide. With a loan portfolio of over $57 billion, we serve more than 3 million consumers’ auto financing needs.
Among the leadership positions within Wells Fargo Tanya has served as the Head of Auto Transformation, leading the business’ innovative work in developing product strategy, agile transformation, digital capacities, strategic partnerships, customer experience and insights. Prior to that, she was the Head of Retail Underwriting and Fulfillment, responsible for improving the customer experience and consistency delivered by Wells Fargo Auto’s underwriting, funding and aftermarket teams.
Before joining Wells Fargo, Tanya was the managing director of Business Operations for Chase Auto, overseeing shared services operations for retail and private label auto originations. She has also held progressive roles at Bank of America and General Electric in auto, small business, business banking and consumer finance businesses. Over the course of her career, she has earned experience in sales, strategy and business development, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate audit.
She received her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University and her MBA from the University of Florida. She also completed her Six Sigma Black Belt Certification.
Tanya champions Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), serving as the executive sponsor for Wells Fargo’s Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of PRIDE and the former co-chair for Consumer Lending’s DEI Council. She is also chairs the American Financial Services Association’s Women’s Leadership Council. Tanya is a thought leader in the industry and was recognized as an Executive to watch in 2022 by Auto Finance News and in 2020 was named Auto Finance Executive of the Year by Cherokee Media.
Tanya is based in Irving, Texas.
We asked Tanya what advice she’d give to her younger self, knowing what she knows now.
Your career will be a marathon, not a race. Train, train, train and then have confidence that all of your training will help you through the rough spots.
March 1st, 2022
