Color Magazine Online

CM: Tell me about your job.

GG: I've been at BNY Mellon for the last six and a half years. As CFO I have responsibility for all financial issues related to the sector. That would include planning forecasting, reporting and analysis, working to insure that we don't have SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002) or audit issues in the sector as well as in the finance organizations. We also support any deals and transactions in terms of due diligence and doing a financial model that covers the transactions and also integrating those businesses. We're a vital part of the sectors that we support, and we try to really partner with them to make sure that they are making the best financial decisions based on the information we provide to them.

CM: How much money do you manage?

GG: Our sector, the assets servicing sector, has just under $4 billion in revenue. The global markets business, that I also have, has just under one billion dollars in revenue.

CM: How would you classify, in terms of the responsibility and power, controlling that kind of money?

GG: Obviously, I think it's an extremely important position within the organization. I think, with that, it carries a certain amount of influence not only in the company but also from an external standpoint. One of the things that I do, as I go about my daily business and working with my team, is make sure we are being as honest and as trustworthy as we possibly can in delivering good, solid, accurate financial information that the business can use. We try to make sure that we use the power and the influence to help the business grow, to get more profitable and create more earnings for the company, and not really use it in a way that is negative or contrary to that.

CM: You are the highest ranking African American in the company. How does that make you feel?

GG: It's mixed emotions. On the positive side, I take a certain amount of pride in what I've achieved and what I've been able to do from a career perspective, not just on my own but with a lot of help from others ... But one of the things I would like to see, not just within BNY Mellon but other companies as well, is more people who are senior and get to this level. I don't think that I'm the only person out there who is qualified to really be at this level, so I think that we've got some work to do from that perspective. I feel very excited and happy about what I've been able to achieve, but I would also like to see more people get the oppurtunity to work at this level.

CM: And how do you accomplish that? How do you go about finding people or mentoring people?

GG: I mentor people either within the organization and sometimes people seek me out. Sometimes there's a manager who sees a bright employee and thinks that I could be the right person to help them out. I also sign up for many of the mentoring programs that BNY Mellon has. We have some through finance, some through the WIN (Women's Initiative Network) network. We have some through the IMPACT Network (focuses on multi-cultural employees). I try to sign up for all of those programs so that I give people access to me from a mentoring standpoint. It's just something that has been very helpful to me in my career, providing that same opportunity to others is very important to me. Mentoring is a critical aspect of negotiating corporate America. Having somebody outside of your manager-employee relationship that you can go to, who helps you to navigate decisions, is only going to help you better your career and be a better employee. It worked for me and I can see how it has worked for some of the people I have mentored as well.

CM: How did you get into finance?

GG: I went to college in Western Mass., at Westfield State College. I knew that I wanted to be in business, but I didn't know I wanted to be an accountant or a finance professional. Being the athlete that I was, sometimes I found myself in the back of the classroom. I noticed that when I went to my accounting class I always found myself sitting in the front of the room. I really had a natural love or enjoyment for it. At night, I would have kids knocking on my door asking me how to solve this problem or that problem. I just found that it really came naturally to me. Late in my sophomore year, my Accounting 1 professor said, 'You should really think about this as a major.' After that conversation, I moved to a specific concentration in accounting and have just really been enjoying it ever since.

CM: What kind of sacrifices have you made to be the CFO?

GG: I had a councilor who I work with at Westfield State College, and he talked to me about the concept of short-term losses for long-term gains. When I was in college, there would be people who would be going to a party or an event, and what he talked about was that if you take that short-term loss, and take that extra hour to get some work done or some studying, I would still be able to make it to the party, I just might be an hour late. And that was a short-term loss but the long-term gain was that it helped me get that 98 instead of maybe that 85, and that's really something that has helped me.

I felt that same way from a career standpoint when I first started working. People might be running out right at five o'clock, while I wanted to stay and spend some extra time to learn more about the business, more about the way things work, things that might be outside the finance of the organization. But again, taking that time, that short-term loss, gave me advantages in the long-term that helped me be a little more successful.

CM: We tend to only ask women how they balance their professional life and their personal life, but it's equally as important for men. How do you do that?

GG: Planning is obviously very important. What I try to do is really make sure I am visible and I'm there for the activities. I don't really feel like that is time I can ever get back, and I've never really been willing to sacrifice that. Parents bring kids into the world, kids don't get to select their parents. The easiest thing for me to do is to always give my time. It's difficult in terms of balancing the demands of a career with trying to be visible in their life, in their activities. We take the time to make sure we are very planful and that I can get there as much as possible.

CM: What are you committed to, passionate about, outside of your work.

GG: There's really a couple of organizations I try to work with on a continuous basis. They would be NABA, the National Association of Black Accountants, also ALPFA, which is a latino professional association, and then I'm on the board of Westfield State College. I'm also a coach. I coach a youth basketball AAU program called Mass Destruction. Those are the four things that take up my time outside of what I do here at BNY Mellon. Obviously NABA and ALPFA are fantastic ways for me to reach out to the minority population and be very visible to them, to mentor, to network with them. I also learn by meeting new people and sharing different ideas, and that's very important to me. From my career standpoint, I've had people along the way who reached back to help me. I think it's very important for me to do the same for others who are navigating corporate America.

Westfield State College - as a student there I had some great experiences I had some things that I wish were different, and participating as a board of trustees at Westfield State is a very important way for me to give back. I love doing that. And I enjoyed basketball, it was something that really helped me coming up. It helped me learn how to work with others, be a good leader, be a good teammate, and that's carried through my corporate career. I enjoy giving back in that way, and I also enjoy teaching the young kids some of the skills of the game.