How to Embrace Inclusion: The Future of Talent

Jamila Abston Mayfield is a Partner in the EY Financial Services Business Consulting practice where she provides risk, compliance, and regulatory consulting services to key wealth and asset management, private equity, hedge fund, and banking and capital markets clients. She is also the EY Financial Inclusion Leader, and she and her team assist financial services firms in developing strategies, products, and services that create access, equity, and inclusion opportunities for underserved communities.  Jamila rejoined EY from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where she served as the Assistant Regional Director for the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. In this role, Jamila served as an expert advisor for the SEC Examinations program, specializing in compliance program effectiveness, risk analytics, enterprise risk management, and cybersecurity for the asset management industry. She led and participated in hundreds of SEC Examinations and Enforcement investigations of investment advisers, investment companies, broker-dealers, transfer agents, alternative funds, and other industry participants.

Prior to the SEC, Jamila was a Manager in the EY Fraud Investigations and Dispute Services practice where she led restatements, investigations, and litigation support matters for healthcare, manufacturing, government, and technology clients.  Jamila is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF). She has a BA in Accounting from Florida A&M University, a MS in Accountancy from the University of Virginia, and an MBA in Asset Management from Yale University.  She was recently appointed to the SEC Investor Advisory Committee – a group that advises the Commission on regulatory priorities, trading strategies, fee structures, the effectiveness of disclosure, and other initiatives to protect investor interests.

Jamila is on the leadership team of the EY Black Professional Network and the EY Anti-Racism Task Force focusing on the recruitment, retention, and advancement of minorities.  She is a Lifetime Member of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) and an active member of the American Institute for Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Association for Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). Jamila also serves on the Yale School of Management’s Council for Anti-Racism and Equity (CARE) and is on the Board of Directors of Sanctuary for Families, New York’s leading service provider for domestic violence survivors.  Jamila has received numerous accolades, including the Crain’s Notable Women in Accounting and Consulting Award, the Yale Alumni Association Leadership Award, and the SEC Community Service Award, among others.

John Desmond is the Head of Investment Operations Outsourcing Service and Delivery for North America at Northern Trust. In this role, John oversees provision of middle office services to sophisticated investment management firms worldwide and plays a key role on the Global Fund Services leadership team at Northern Trust. He keenly understands the challenges faced by investment managers, and brings this experience to bear as he guides the continued growth and maturity of the Investment Operations Outsourcing business.

John joined Northern Trust in early 2014, bringing more than 25 years of financial services leadership experience spanning the investment management, mutual fund, securities and outsourcing industries. He most recently served as COO and Head of Operations and Technology at Harris Associates. In this role, he implemented the operating model necessary to support the firm’s rapid expansion plans while instituting a culture of continuous business process improvement achieving the ultimate goals of increased client service quality, productivity and scalability.

Prior to that, John served as the Director of Investment Operations at Nuveen Investments, responsible for managing the investment management and affiliated broker/dealer group middle and back operations. Previously, he has held similar roles at Deutsche Asset Management, Scudder Investments and Putnam Investments.

Sharyn Jones joined the firm in December 2021 leading our Global Talent function, which consists of both talent acquisition and talent development. She is focused on strengthening our talent profile internally and externally through hiring and developing industry-leading opportunities for learning and professional growth.

Sharyn joins us from MassMutual, where she led the talent development, learning & development, and change management teams. Prior to joining MassMutual, Sharyn was in a dual role as U.S. Head of talent management and global integration selection lead at Bayer Corporation. She led a team responsible for talent management processes, learning, change and organizational development, talent acquisition as well as diversity, equity & inclusion. Prior to joining Bayer, Sharyn supported talent management, organizational development and staffing at Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation; and she held several positions at Bank of America in executive / leadership development, talent planning, enterprise learning and organizational effectiveness.

Earlier in her career, she worked as a psychotherapist at The Yale University Child Study Center (Connecticut), where she also consulted with the New Haven school district and was a diversity trainer.

Sharyn earned a bachelor’s (of arts with a minor in Spanish) and master’s (Psychiatric Social Work) degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an additional master’s in Organizational Development, as well as her doctorate in Education/Leadership Studies from Bowling Green State University. She also held a post graduate clinical fellowship at Yale University.

Sharyn grew up across the US in her early years, as part of a military family. She considers herself a hodophile and her passport is well used. She is a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers football fan, looks forward to any activity involving family/friends and is currently learning more about her family lineage.

Tom has been Head of Global Talent Acquisition for Invesco since the 2019 merger with OppenheimerFunds, where he had served in that role since 2012.

Previously, Tom had a long career at Merrill Lynch in institutional fixed income sales and as a senior manager. From 2005 to 2009, he was Merrill’s Global Head of Talent Sourcing and Recruiting. 

Tom is a graduate of the University of Virginia and currently serves on the Alumni Advisory board for the McIntire School of Commerce at UVA.  He is Chairman Emeritus of Lime Connect, a non-profit organization whose mission is to rebrand disability through achievement and seeks to broaden career opportunities for students and professionals with disabilities.