A Message from the FWA President

June 5, 2024

Dear FWA Community,


I’m excited to start the new FWA fiscal year with you! Earlier this week at our Annual Meeting, I reflected on my journey as the 59th president of the FWA. Since I was elected, so much has changed in my life, my family's lives, and undoubtedly in the lives of every FWA member. Throughout it all, my prime focus has been rebuilding and reenergizing this wonderful organization.


The Financial Women’s Association engaged me in mentorship early on, and it was through that invitation that I learned I could be a voice to help others. As a first-generation college student myself, like many of our FWA mentees, I learned many things from trial and error. I kept thinking, what if I could help others avoid the pitfalls I experienced? The seed of the FWA was planted.


My focus on our education programs continues. This year, we're expanding efforts to recruit dedicated mentors for our programs, as well as fundraising initiatives that make real impact to support the next generation, including our Dollars for Scholars campaign. I urge you all to support this worthy cause that provides scholarships, one-on-one mentoring, and professional development to deserving young women. I'm also proud to share that my Seton Hall University mentee, Bianca Sanchez, recently graduated! She and all of our graduating mentees have bright futures ahead of them.


My goal is to enhance the FWA by ensuring we continue to provide relevant content, dynamic speakers, and a mix of in-person and virtual events. Throughout this year, we’ll be engaging with more senior/high profile leaders, relaunching ‘Transition Tuesdays’ and other career reflection events, and listening to all of YOUR ideas to move the FWA forward – the door is always open!


Last month at our 2024 International Business Conference (IBC), we were honored to receive a warm welcome from the US Ambassador to Greece, many Greek government officials, esteemed Greek business leaders, investment professionals, and of course, my favorite chef - Chef Maria Loi. The experience was an exceptional master class on the Greek economy and business landscape.


For our next IBC we are heading to FRANCE in March 2025! Stay tuned for more details in the weeks ahead! Let us make my next and last year as president of the FWA one of growth and new opportunities. Join us on this journey!


Sincerely,
Annette Stewart
FWA President (2023-25)

Announcing Our 2026 Private Sector Woman of the Year

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The FWA is pleased to share that Stephanie Ruhle will be honored as the 2026 Private Sector Woman of the Year at the FWA's 70th Anniversary Gala on October 8, 2026. Stephanie Ruhle is the host of MS NOW’s Money Power Politics with Stephanie Ruhle and serves as MS NOW’s Senior Business Analyst, appearing across all linear, digital, and social platforms. Ruhle is known for her business acumen, hard-hitting style, original reporting, and for bringing humanity to her news coverage. She is also the co-host of the live, weekly Q&A show, “ Velshi & Ruhle: Full Disclosure ,” part of the MS NOW Membership. Ruhle has interviewed leaders in politics, business, entertainment, and sports ranging from President Biden to Stephen Curry, from Jamie Dimon to Jamie Lee Curtis. As a Wall Street veteran, she is known for bringing her business acumen and hard-hitting style to high-profile interviews, for her original reporting, and for bringing humanity into her news coverage.

Introducing Our Gala Emcee

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We are pleased to announce Steve Liesman, CNBC’s senior economics reporter, as emcee of the FWA's 70th Anniversary Gala on October 8, 2026. As CNBC’s senior economics reporter, Steve Liesman reports on all aspects of the economy, including the Federal Reserve and major economic indicators. He appears on “ Squawk Box ” (M-F, 6 AM-9 AM ET), as well as other CNBC programs throughout the business day. Liesman joined CNBC from The Wall Street Journal , where he served as a senior economics reporter covering monetary policy, international economics, academic research, and productivity. At the Journal , Liesman previously worked as an energy reporter and Moscow bureau chief. He won an Emmy for his coverage of the financial crisis and was a member of the reporting team recognized with a Pulitzer Prize for stories chronicling the crash of the Russian financial markets.

Announcing Our 2026 Male Ally of the Year

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 The FWA is pleased to share that Jonathan Dambrot will be honored as the 2026 Male Ally of the Year at the FWA's 70th Anniversary Gala on October 8, 2026. Jonathan Dambrot is CEO and Co-Founder of Cranium AI, the independent end-to-end platform for enterprise AI security and governance. He has built a category leader once before — and is doing it again for the AI era. Before Cranium, Jonathan grew Prevalent from a startup into a Gartner- and Forrester-recognized leader in third-party risk management, through its 2016 sale to Insight Partners. As a Partner at KPMG, he led third-party security globally, launched the firm's AI security services, and incubated Cranium inside KPMG Studio — spinning it out of stealth in April 2023 on a simple thesis: every SaaS application is now an AI application, so every SaaS risk is now an AI risk.

Announcing Our 2026 Lifetime Public Service Honoree

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The FWA is pleased to share that Carolyn Maloney will be honored with the 2026 Lifetime Public Service award at the FWA's 70th Anniversary Gala on October 8, 2026. We look forward to introducing additional honorees in the weeks ahead.
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