2012 NAFE WOMEN OF EXCELLENCE - COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Linda Descano
President & CEO, Women & Co; Managing Director & Head, Digital Partnerships, Content and Social, North America Marketing, Citi

Long-time NAFE member Linda Descano works in the financial services sector at Citi, wearing two hats: she runs Women & Co., a service that gets women thinking and talking about personal finance; and she recently took on the additional position of spearheading Citi’s Digital Partnerships, North America Marketing. She has served as director and portfolio manager in the company’s Private Portfolio Group and has overseen the socially responsible investment program. But despite appearances, it’s not just money motivating Linda: it’s also helping girls and women.

She chairs the New York board of Step Up Women’s Network and serves on its national board, a group that focuses on teen girls in underserved communities, many who are first generation Americans like herself. Linda identifies with their lack of role models and recalls how when she started at Boston College, “I had less money and fewer clothes, and I felt so inadequate that I dropped out the first week, hightailing it back home and enrolling in a local school.” Not wanting girls today making her mistakes, she embraces the organization’s “high touch work helping girls come into their own as they walk into a new world beyond what their parents are familiar with.” Girls have women volunteers as mentors who advise them on everything from what to wear to what makes a good essay to career possibilities. Step Up serves nearly 700 girls nationally.

Linda also gives time to the Girl Scouts, serving on its national board. “I am passionate about  women and girls feeling good about being leaders,” says Linda, who then describes a global vision: “It’s time for us to step out of our comfort zones and stand up for women and girls in this country and across the world. We’re starting to see a coalescence happening where women leaders – from both the public and private sectors – are finding new ways to support one another. We can do so much on a personal level to fuel the change, putting our time and talent to work as mentors, sharing our experiences and insights with girls and women struggling to find their voices, their career paths, or their places in society. I’m energized by the changes I’m seeing and honored to be a part of it.” That is why Linda is a 2012 NAFE Woman of Excellence.