Thasunda Duckett, CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, a division of JPMorgan Chase, has joined an exclusive club with her recent appointment to NIKE‘s board of directors. As such, she has become the only African American female C-suite executive to serve on the board of the $34.3 billion athletic footwear and apparel producer as well as a future member of the BLACK ENTERPRISE Registry of Corporate Directors, which identifies blacks among the corporate governance ranks of the nation’s largest publicly traded companies.
“Thasunda’s expertise in leading digital and physical transformation in retail banking will be invaluable in helping Nike further deepen consumer relationships,” Mark Parker, NIKE Chairman and CEO said in a released statement. “She is a dynamic and forward-thinking leader, and we are delighted that she has joined the board.”
Serving on its Corporate Responsibility, Sustainability and Governance Committee, Duckett joins three other African American members of NIKE’s board of directors: Registry members Peter B. Henry, Dean Emeritus of New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and William R. Berkley Professor of Economics and Finance; John R. Thompson Jr., former head coach of Georgetown University’s basketball team and current board member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches; and John W. Rogers Jr., Chairman, Chief Investment Officer and Co-CEO of Ariel Investments L.L.C. (No. 1 on the BE ASSET MANAGERS List with $11.6 billion in assets under management).
By enlisting her for NIKE’s board of directors, the company gains access to the acumen of a business and financial dynamo dedicated to the development of platforms that promote financial health, wealth building, and economic inclusion. Duckett, 46, has oversight of a banking network with more than $800 billion in deposits and investments, 5,000-plus branches, 18,000 ATMs and 50,000 employees—including a phalanx of financial advisers—to meet the needs of over 23 million households throughout the country.
Prior to her current role, she was CEO of Chase Auto Finance, one of the top providers of auto financing with a portfolio of more than $80 billion in assets and relationships with 75% of U.S. franchised automotive dealers. Under her leadership, the division moved from No. 27 in the JD Power Dealer Financing Satisfaction Survey to the leader in Prime and Non-Prime. She expanded its dealer partnerships and launched Chase Auto Direct, its latest direct-to-consumer business.
One of her major thrusts has been her role as executive sponsor of the institution’s Advancing Black Pathways program to drive prosperity for African Americans while addressing nagging racial and economic barriers to wealth creation. To achieve this end, she has created partnerships with a range of influential companies, organizations, and leaders. “Opportunity is not distributed equally, but we all know that talent is. Being black and really focusing on this initiative, it really rings true,” she told BE earlier this year. “We know that the economic wealth gap facing black Americans is stark. We also know [about] the business gap, in terms of people of color owning businesses at the same rate as whites. That outcome would mean or result in 9 million more jobs and $300 billion in worker income. So Advancing Black Pathways is really focusing on expanding economic opportunity for black Americans.”
Due to her myriad of accomplishments, the graduate of University of Houston and Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, Duckett has been included on BLACK ENTERPRISE’s 300 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America and Most Powerful Women in Corporate America rosters, respectively.
