Q3 2023

Honor an outstanding woman professional by nominating her for one of WIP's two annual awards. Criteria are as follows:

Joanne Hickman Dodd Award

• Member of WIP
• ~5-10 years of investment industry experience
• Making outsized contributions to her team, firm, and community
• Exhibiting leadership qualities
• Fostering a diverse and inclusive culture

Distinguished Woman Investment Professional Award

• Well established in her career
• Disrupting the investment industry
• Truly blazing the trail for the next generation of women
• Fostering a diverse and inclusive culture

Submit your nomination here. Contact info@wipchicago.org with any questions.

WIP COFFEE ROULETTE is For You! 

Coffee Roulette provides 20 minutes of randomized, casual, one-on-one networking with WIP members and guests. WIPs’ Café @ Zoom will resume in September at 10:00 AM CT and continue on the first Friday of each month!

Sign-up is easy! Register once here. After registering, a webpage will appear with a link to add the complete event series to your Outlook/Google/iCal calendar. Stop by WIPs’ Café @ Zoom as often as you like. We look forward to seeing your favorite brew and you!

Click here to read a Coffee Roulette success story.

Joanna Herrick

Chief Growth Officer, TorreBlanc

I’ve been a member of WIP for over a year and currently volunteer on the Events Committee. From the first event I attended, I’ve been continuously surprised at how welcoming and supportive this group is. Unlike much of our organization, while deep into my career, I’m fairly new to the investment management industry. At WIP, I’ve found women who encourage my learning and growth while seeing value in the transferable skills I bring from my former industries. I find WIP to live up to its mission in every encounter I have and I’m so grateful to have found this organization. As a Chief Growth Officer, networking and building community is key to my every day, and you can’t build vast communities without being fully inclusive of the resources in your industry.

TorreBlanc is a certified Minority Business Enterprise, and diversity and inclusion are inherent to our culture. TorreBlanc’s corporate team is 66% minority, 33% LGBTQ, and 33% female, and our consultants are 24% female and 62% minorities. This gives us the opportunity to insert diverse resources into operations and technology teams globally. Our company goals align well with WIP, and getting involved as a Silver Sponsor and committee member has provided me with yet another channel for supporting this mission. In addition to WIP, I’m also a member of TMA and participating in the Women in Finance Academy at the University of Illinois Champaign campus as a guest speaker for the upcoming year. I’m in the Loop every day and always excited to get to know more women in our industry; WIP is also in need of more volunteers for our Events Committee, so come help us spread the fun and networking! Email me or visit our website to learn more.

Become a WIP member.

Volunteer on a WIP Committee.

WIP Jobs Board

Did you know that the WIP jobs board constantly offers new jobs posted from various investment organizations? Our LinkedIn series will continue to highlight positions on a weekly basis.

You can submit a no-charge, 30-day job posting by emailing info@wipchicago.org.

How has your career evolved? What have been the most notable successes and challenges?

As I reflect on my career, my work has evolved over time from research assistant exclusively covering semiconductor companies to building a deeper understanding of not just technology but how technology is utilized by all industries and consumers. This journey has afforded me the opportunity to meet so many leading thinkers around the world – a privilege I could never have imagined. Of course, there have been challenges along the way as the industry can be insular amongst engineers. But breaking down the barriers to facilitate discussions, trust and ultimately long-lasting business relationships has been the reward for me and our team at Jennison.

How important is corporate culture, particularly within your area of expertise? 

Corporate culture to me is absolutely critical in technology. Technology is constantly evolving and with it teams must be nimble to respond. At first, compensation was the biggest variable in retaining key talent in most technology companies and stock options were especially important. However, this has evolved over time to include more lifestyle benefits. For women and men, I see the appeal and importance of these benefits.

How has your educational background helped you in your career?

As a student, I was always interested in a variety of subjects. Creative writing, philosophy, mathematics and literature fascinated me. As I started my career, I think this innate sense of curiosity laid the early foundation for success as my mind had no preconceived notions as to how to analyze a company or an industry. The value of listening is something I learned early on and continues to serve me well. As one of my teachers once advised, if you listen carefully enough, you will learn everything you need to know.

What are your professional priorities for 2023 and beyond?

In terms of priorities for 2023 and beyond, my targets are ambitious. I have been fortunate to be a key team member in the short- and long-term outperformance at Jennison and I intend to work hard to keep our outperformance intact. In order to achieve this goal, it is essential to dive deeper to understand just how quickly and profitably key new areas of growth such as robotics, supercomputing, artificial intelligence and autonomous driving will evolve in the coming years. We need to continue to build our customer base and demonstrate our strengths to both existing and potential Jennison clients. It will also be important to continue to build our own bench and assume a mentoring role to the next generation. And of course, my commitment to my sons and family is most important to me.

What are you looking forward to outside of work?

Summer 2023! Spare time is always with my young boys and family playing tennis, walking with our dogs, dancing after dinner, and eating a lot! Having said all this, I think you will find me mostly working as I am very excited about the opportunities for Jennison and have FOMO! 

WIP Sponsors - Save the Date!

All sponsors are invited to our exclusive sponsor event.

Click here for a list of all WIP sponsors.

We are beyond grateful for our valued sponsors who support diversity initiatives promoting the advancement, recruitment, and retention of women in the investment industry and related fields.