On the Clock to Advance DEI

Cassie is a Senior Manager in EY's Wealth and Asset Management Consulting practice, where she works with leading global asset management firms on large-scale transformation initiatives aimed at navigating an evolving industry landscape. She helps asset managers enact strategic and sustainable change through harnessing the power of innovation to improve alpha generation and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Prior to joining EY, Cassie worked in fixed income investment management and private equity. She has experience in social entrepreneurship and finding creative ways to expand social impact within traditional finance.

Cassie holds a BSc in Business Administration from Northeastern University with special focus on Finance and Entrepreneurship and is also currently serving as co-chair of the Nicsa Diversity Project North America Benchmarking Committee.

Deidra Jenkins is a Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer-Americas at Northern Trust. She is responsible for the development, execution and leadership of the regional strategy for the Americas and collaboration with the Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer – APAC and EMEA.  Her primary areas of focus includes collaboration on people representation, talent acquisition, retention, and development;  creating, deploying and managing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives for employees throughout the Americas region; and ensuring all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are directly aligned with the core strategic imperatives of the organization.

Prior to becoming Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer-Americas, Deidra was the Director of Supplier Diversity in the Global Procurement Group.  She was responsible for expanding the company’s business opportunities and strengthening corporate partnerships with diverse businesses.  Deidra began her career with Northern Trust in 1989 and has over 32 years of experience as a banking professional with expertise in global operations, client servicing, product management, and change management.   

Ms. Jenkins serves on a number of diversity, equity and inclusion advisory committees and industry groups including the Women Investment Professionals (WIP) Advisory Council, The Bank Administration Institute DEI Roundtable, This Can Happen Editorial Advisory Board,  Chicago United, and a panelist regularly on the topic of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Justine Phoenix is Head of Diversity Project North America and Vice President of Distribution & Broker Dealer Engagement at Nicsa. Justine joined Nicsa with over 30 years of experience in asset management and intermediary distribution in the areas of relationship and client management, business development and operations. In her current role, Justine is responsible for building and enhancing Nicsa programs that engage and support distribution and BD executives. Before joining Nicsa, she was Vice President, Senior Relationship Manager at Fidelity Investments. In this role, she was head of relationship management for Fidelity FundsNetwork® and was responsible for overseeing all functions related to managing relationships with over 600 asset managers. Prior to joining Fidelity Investments, Justine was Director of Operations for the Investment Company Institute (ICI). In her role, she was responsible for all activities associated with mutual fund operations and distribution, including the Transfer Agent Advisory Committee and the Broker Dealer Advisory Committee. She also held leadership roles at Massachusetts Financial Services and Boston Financial Data Services prior to joining the ICI.

J. Womack serves as the Managing Director of Investment Products & Personalization for Independent Advisor Solutions by SEI. In this role, he is responsible for product and service strategy, and oversight of the broad portfolio of investment solutions available through Independent Advisor Solutions by SEI. Prior to joining SEI, J. worked as Head of Investment Strategy and Chief Administrative Officer for Capital Preferences, Ltd., where he was responsible for day-to-day operations and the development of quantitative methods that integrated behavioral finance with investment strategy and financial planning.

J. graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Southern California, and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.