5 Trailblazing Leaders in Finance

In honor of Black History Month, we will shine a light on a few of many transformative Black leaders that blazed new pathways in the field of finance. Each of these Americans achieved success through their work in banking and finance, often overcoming significant barriers along the way, and created new pathways that enabled other innovators to follow. 

Maggie Lena Walker: The First Woman and First Black Woman to Found a Bank in the United States

In 1903, Maggie Lena Walker established St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in the majority-Black community of Jackson Ward in Richmond, Virginia. Born to a formerly enslaved mother and abolitionist father in the segregated Jim Crow South, Walker became both the first woman and first Black woman to charter a bank in the United States, an achievement that positioned her as one of the nation’s most prominent business leaders.¹ By 1927, Walker was profiled on the cover of Forbes with the headline The Savings Savior: Banker Maggie L. Walker Preaches Financial Freedom for Women.

Walker’s bank thrived by extending financial services and loan capital to Black residents who had previously been excluded. Deposits at St. Luke Penny Savings Bank grew from $9,000 to a total of $170,000 in just three years.² By 1920, the bank had issued over 600 mortgage loans, contributing to a significant increase in Black home ownership in Jackson Ward.³  Black entrepreneurship and culture flourished in the community, which came to be referred to as both “Black Wall Street” and “Harlem of the South.”⁴ In 1930 St. Luke Penny Savings Bank merged with two other Black-owned banks to form the Consolidated Bank and Trust Company. Until its purchase by Abigail Adams National Bancorp in 2005, Consolidated Bank and Trust remained the longest operating Black-owned bank in the US. 

 

Richard R. Wright Founder of the First Black-owned Trust Company and First Professional Organization for Black Leaders in Finance 

Major Richard Robert Wright, Sr. was born enslaved in 1855 in Georgia, a decade before the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. After emancipation, Wright pursued his education in Atlanta and went on to earn a master’s degree from Atlanta University. He served as a major in the U.S. Army—becoming the highest-ranking Black officer during the Spanish–American War—before returning home to build a thriving career in academia. He eventually served as a college president and co-founded an academic organization to support Black scholars.⁵

At the age of 67, Wright studied banking at the Wharton School of Business. He then founded Citizens and Southern Bank and Trust Company—the only Black-owned bank in the North and the first Black-owned trust company in the United States. Among his many accomplishments, Wright co-founded the first professional organization for African Americans in finance, now known as the National Bankers Association, in 1927.⁷ The organization continues Wright’s legacy by supporting banks owned and operated by people of color and by women, offering policy advocacy, educational programs, strategic partnerships, and opportunities for collaboration.⁸

Wright is also credited with initiating National Freedom Day, which he championed until President Harry Truman issued an official proclamation in 1948. Observed every February 1, it commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. by honoring the day Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment in 1865.⁹  

 

Norman McGhee Sr.: Founder of the First Black-owned Brokerage firm in the United States

Norman L. McGhee Senior was already a successful attorney and real estate dealer when he founded the first Black-owned brokerage firm in the United States to be licensed by the National Association of Securities Dealers.¹⁰

Born in Georgia in 1897, McGhee worked as a railway porter to pay for his undergraduate education at Howard University.¹¹ With a vision to give other Black Americans access to the opportunities to build wealth through investing in the stock market, McGhee founded McGhee & Co. in 1952. 

McGhee’s brokerage firm found success by serving the Black community in Cleveland. He went on to create Everyman’s Fund in 1966, a mutual fund focused on investing in blue-chip stocks.¹² 

 

Lilla St. John: First Black Woman to Become a Licensed Financial Advisor in the United States

In 1953, at just 25 years old, Lilla St. John passed the New York Stock Exchange licensing examination for financial advisors, making her the first Black woman in the United States to do so.

The news of St. John’s accomplishment was published in national news articles, including an issue of Jet Magazine from 1953 which noted that she had only studied for two months before passing the examination.¹⁴

St. John went on to become a licensed investment counselor at Oppenheimer & Company, paving the way for other Black women in the finance industry.¹⁵ 

 

Travers J. Bell Jr.: Founder of the First Black-owned Investment Bank on the New York Stock Exchange 

In 1971, Travers J. Bell founded Daniels & Bell, the first Black-owned investment firm to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.¹⁶ Born in 1941 on Chicago’s South Side and raised in the Ida B Wells public housing projects, Bell began his career as a messenger at Dempsey Tegler & Company and eventually worked his way up to Vice President before leaving to found his own firm.¹⁷ Daniels & Bell grew successful by focusing on underwriting securities for emerging Black-owned businesses. By 1982, Bell noted in a New York Times interview, ”We’ve probably underwritten as many Black companies as the Small Business Administration, but with private capital instead.”¹⁸ Daniels & Bell amassed a net worth of over $15 million before Bell’s untimely death from a heart attack in 1988. At the time of his passing, Bell was serving as chairman of the New York district of the Securities Industry Association—further proof of his trailblazing role in an industry that had long excluded Black investors and financiers.

Honoring Their Legacy

At Veris, we remain committed to fostering a more inclusive economy and expanding access to financial opportunities. We honor these innovators and their enduring legacy. Through their efforts, they not only transformed communities but also opened doors for new generations of professionals and entrepreneurs who continue to reshape the financial landscape today. We envision a world in which all individuals, regardless of their identity or background, have equal access to capital, credit, financial services, and other tools necessary to build and scale successful businesses, achieve financial independence, and create lasting wealth.