About Financial Women’s Association of New York
FWA connects a vibrant community of dynamic financial professionals and proactive institutions focused on development and empowerment of all women in the financial industry. With a rich history of working with top women and men in the industry, and numerous corporate, government and academic partners, FWA is ideally positioned to address the challenges facing women today. Our vision is a world in which all have equitable access, representation and recognition across all levels of the financial community.
FWA puts action behind its words by: Furthering knowledge with outstanding programs that explore social concerns, technology, and financial and economic issues. Expanding horizons through international conferences and regular briefings with government officials and industry leaders. Contributing to our communities: FWA members and corporate and institutional partners are deeply committed to building the next generation’s diverse talent pipeline. Since 1986 hundreds of young women have benefited from the mentorship, college and career readiness, leadership training, cultural and community service engagement and scholarship funding provided by the FWA.
Within the financial services industry, the FWA provides a public forum for examining important contemporary issues in business, finance, governmental policy and civic affairs.
New York
Leadership
Annette Stewart, FWA President 2023-2025
Annette received her undergraduate degree from Texas State University and completed her Juris Doctorate at the University of Iowa College of Law where she participated in the University of Iowa’s international law program in France and London. She is also a graduate of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business Executive Program for her MBA. Annette has close to 20 years of experience working on Wall Street, including companies such as Citadel, Goldman Sachs, Markit, PwC and is currently a Senior Director at Royal Bank of Canada. Read more…
Annette has spent her career focused on derivatives regulation, front-to-back trading process, overall firm process improvement, project management, legal trade confirmations & currently working on risk & regulatory initiatives that affect the Cloud environment. Overall, Annette has enjoyed new learning opportunities and has grown her career through her love for learning and collaboration.
Annette volunteers on the Board for the FWA, serves on the University of Iowa College of Law Foundation Board & participates as an advisor for several non-profit organizations which includes Sigma Kappa. Annette enjoys free time with her husband, Jeff Fausey, and daughter Paige.
Albana Theka, FWA President-Elect, President 2025-2027
Albana Theka is a Sr. Director of Data and Analytics at New York City Health and Hospitals and leads the Financial Sustainability Analytics Center of Excellence. In this role she partners with Executive leaders in the areas of Finance, Human Resources, Facility Development, Managed Care, Patient Growth and Metroplus to lead the delivery of data products and solutions that impact financial decisions and outcomes. Read more…
Prior to joining New York City Health and Hospitals, Albana spent 12 years in finance, operations, and strategy leadership roles at NYU Langone Health and led their financial analytics for multi-million-dollar budgets. Before making a transition to Healthcare, Albana also spent 5 years at Ridgewood Savings Bank, a New York City based retail bank. Albana is a champion for women in finance and is a Board member and President-Elect for the Financial Women’s Association, a non-profit organization that promotes the professional development and advancement of all women across the financial community. She was previously the Chair of the Membership and Engagement Committee Albana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from St. Francis College and an Executive MBA from St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn NY. Albana’s hobbies are singing and traveling with her family.
Hermina “Nina” Batson, FWA Immediate Past President 2023-2025
Nina Batson has been an active Financial Women’s Association (FWA) member since 2009. Before serving as FWA President from 2021~2023, Nina was the FWA’s President-Elect, Executive Vice President, Vice President of Engagement and Resources Division, and Membership Chair for several years. Read more…
Nina is a Director and the Global Head of Internal Audit Regulatory Engagement at Barclays. With over 30 years of banking and finance experience, she has worked for MUFG, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, and JPMorgan Chase. Her extensive background includes commercial paper conduit financing, compliance, tax operations, accounting, risk management, regulatory
reporting, syndications, conduit administration, supply chain finance, audit-related aspects, and all types of securitization execution. Crain’s New York Business recognized Nina as a 2022 Notable Black Leader. She is also a recipient of the Markets Choice Awards’ Women in Finance: Excellence in Social Responsibility Award, and most recently, Nina has been recognized by CIO Views Magazine as one of the 10 Most Successful Black Businesswomen Making a Difference in 2023. Nina holds Series 79 and 63 certifications and received a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Certificate in Accounting from Hofstra University.
Madhumita Chakrabartti, FWA Treasurer, Finance Committee Chair
Madhumita is a passionate crusader of causes that benefit human beings and the environment. During her 30 plus year career in corporate finance she has expressed her passion and commitment by contributing her skills and expertise to a wide variety of nonprofits. Among these are the Living Legacy Project, Butterflies USA, Seeds of Peace, Amnesty International, Clearwater Sloop, Walkabout Clearwater Sloop, Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, Princeton Folk Music Society, Tribes Hill Artists Co-Operative, McCarter Theater, and the Financial Women’s Association, for which she is currently serves as Treasurer and a mentor for numerous young women at Seton Hall University. Read more…
She is the currently the VP of Finance and Operations at GreenLight Fund in Boston, MA. Madhumita holds a master’s in public accounting and a master’s in business administration in finance from Pace University, and a bachelor’s in English literature from Calcutta University. She is a graduate of the Robin Hood Foundation and CommonGood Careers’ Non-Profit Financial Management “LeaderLink” program.
Kelsey Hopkins, FWA Secretary
Kelsey Hopkins is a forensic accountant with more than seven years of experience providing litigation support to both counsel and clients on matters relating to internal accounting investigations, tax and fraud investigations, compliance and risk assessments, and audit readiness assistance. Ms. Hopkins guides her clients through large-scale investigations and proactive assessments that fortify the organization’s brand reputation and protect shareholders’ financial interests. Read more…
Currently, Ms. Hopkins is a Senior Director at FTI Consulting, a global business advisory firm and advisor to (i) 82 of the Fortune Global 100 corporations, (ii) 99 of the world’s top 100 law firms, (iii) 50 of the top 100 Private Equity International (PEI) firms, and (iv) the top 50 of the world’s bank holding companies. Ms. Hopkins has been significantly involved in project management and client-facing roles, as well as leading several New York office initiatives and assuming responsibilities for internal roles within the company such as management of the New York office budget and social functions, recruiting, staffing, and volunteer initiatives.
Ms. Hopkins holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Tennessee, as well as a M.S. in Accounting from Auburn University. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of New York and a Certified Fraud Examiner.
Jacqueline Linden, FWA Board Member, Operations Resource Committee Member, Programming Co-chair, Leaderboard Representative
Jacqueline (Jackie) is a senior financial services industry executive with over 30 years of global banking experience at Citigroup where she held key strategic leadership roles in treasury, finance, and risk management. Jackie is a recognized global leader and subject matter expert in treasury and liquidity risk management, and brings in-depth knowledge of financial products and a deep background in financial risk management governance. Read More…
Jackie has continued to leverage her financial services expertise, business acumen and strategic leadership skills as a board member for the Financial Women’s Association (FWA) of New York. At FWA she has held numerous leadership positions including serving on the nominating committee of the FWA Board, most recently as Chair, and Programming co-chair on the Leadership Council. She was previously the Head of FWA’s Business and Government Affairs Division, and co-chaired the Directorship and Corporate Governance Committee.
A strong advocate for women’s advancement, inclusion and economic empowerment, Jackie is passionate about giving back. As the FWA Programming Co-Chair and a President’s Circle relationship manager, she led many impactful programming initiatives for FWA in areas including DEI, ESG, and Fin Tech. Jackie is also an FWA Mentor to a Baruch undergraduate student and a student at the High School of Economics and Finance, and is a member of the FWA Financial Backpack Committee. She also represents the FWA on the Executive Committee of the LeaderBoard, formerly the Interorganization Network (ION), whose goal is advancing women to the Boardroom.
Jackie holds a BA in Economics from Barnard College, Columbia University and an MBA in Finance from New York University, Stern School of Business.
Deepa Keswani, FWA Co-chair, DCGC
Deepa Keswani is currently the Deputy Head of Regulatory and Corporate Compliance at Intesa Sanpaolo Bank, New York Branch. Prior to that, she was a Director at ICBC, New York Branch heading their Corporate Compliance Program. From 2015 to 2018, Deepa was a senior management consultant, Principal, at Tyche Compliance Consulting, LLC and Partner and Director of Compliance Advisory Services at The Mizen Group, working with banks to support AML functions and remediation programs. Formerly, as a senior compliance executive at Commerzbank for over 10 years, she managed the New York Branch’s Compliance department for 6 years before leading an expanded AML, Anti-Fraud & Sanctions department in New York as Head of Financial Crimes after its merger with Dresdner Bank in 2009. In 2014, she took on the role of Head of Regulatory Compliance managing the Branch’s regulatory relationships and working with the authorities on the coordination, organization and management of various exams and reviews. Read More…
She has been an adjunct lecturer at Pace University since 2016, teaching compliance courses for their MBA-credentialed program Certified Compliance & Regulatory Professional (CCRP) under the aegis of the Center For Global Governance, Reporting, And Regulation at the Lubin School of Business. Deepa also speaks at seminars, conferences and panels on compliance, culture and conduct topics.
Deepa is CAMS certified and a member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and its active New York Chapter. In addition, she is a member of the Association of International Bank Audit and Compliance Professionals (AIBACP), Mid Town
Regulatory Group (MTRG) and charter member of Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists (ACSS) and its NY Chapter. She has served as a Board member of the Financial Women’s Association of New York (FWA) and a member of the Nominating Committee. Deepa has been and is currently the Co-Chair of the FWA’s Directorship and Corporate Governance Committee (DCGC) since 2019. She is also a volunteer at the New York League of Independent Bankers (NYLIB). Deepa is fluent in German and Hindi and is currently learning Italian. She has a double Master of Arts degree from the University of Toledo in Ohio and well as the University of Bombay, India.
Pawneet Abramowski, FWA Board Member, Co-chair, DCGC
Pawneet Abramowski Is a recognized Compliance and Risk Management Executive with over 25 years of comprehensive public and private sector experience, offering unparalleled knowledge in shaping the organization’s risk and compliance ecosystem to achieve strong business outcomes with a digital transformation. Read More…
In 2017, she established PARC Solutions LLC, an advisory firm with expertise in business strategy development, repositioning of products/services to align with regulatory standards. The advisory firm attains this by devising an infrastructure framework to help financial institutions and other disruptors to formulate long-term business strategies with valuable results for a durable competitive edge in the market. She has been responsible for the business’s digital transformation, approach and delivery focused on modernizing how the clients utilize technology across the organizations while balancing risk and security.
Ms. Abramowski has successfully steered businesses in managing complex regulatory challenges. In her roles as the Head of Financial Crimes Risk Management, Chief Compliance Officer, she designed and drove the execution of most significant regulatory deliverables within and across geographies, businesses, and functions. Previously, she also held Compliance leadership roles at CIT Group Inc., RBC Capital Markets & Morgan Stanley. Prior to private sector roles Ms. Abramowski spent several years in an investigative and intelligence capacity with government agencies ending with the Federal Bureau of Investigation working on global terrorism cases.
Ms. Abramowski is also an Adjunct Professor of Law/Distinguished Lecturer at Case Western Reserve University School of Law’s Financial Integrity Institute teaching and in the U.S. and globally. She is an SME trainer providing trainings to government and financial industry professionals in North America, Europe, and Middle East. She is quoted regularly as a Financial Crimes, Compliance and Risk expert in media publications on key topics and is a regular speaker in the financial services industry focusing on supporting innovation by finding a balance between risk and business growth.
Ms. Abramowski holds an MBA from Adelphi University Robert B. Willumstad School of Business and an MA in Government and Politics and BA in Public Administration from St. John’s University.
Alissa Desmarais, FWA Executive Director and COO
Alissa Desmarais is the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at the Financial Women’s Association, a non-profit organization that promotes the professional development and advancement of all women through education, mentorship, scholarships, networking, and alliances across the financial community. With 20 years of nonprofit leadership experience Alissa is a community-focused executive who accomplishes with integrity, innovation and efficiency. She has developed new programs and initiatives. Her strengths consist of management, partnership building, strategic planning, analysis and fundraising. Previous roles consist of prominent NYC institutions such as High Water Women Foundation, City Parks Foundation, The Synergos Institute and New York Public Radio.
Alissa holds a degree in US History from the University of Connecticut.