Voice of Experience: Denise Menelly, Shared Service Operations Executive, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Welcome to The Glass Hammer’s “Women in Tech” month! We will be celebrating successful women in technology all month long!

With 30 years of experience in financial services now, Menelly got her start early when she was selected to participate in a management intern program at Bankers Trust. Here, Menelly realized that she always tended to gravitate toward situations where problem solving skills were critical. She added, “This solidified my interest in developing business solutions and bolstered my tolerance for digging into the level of detail required to create large scale solutions.” Menelly spent twelve years at Banker’s Trust and gradually increased her responsibilities by working on bigger and bigger projects for numerous departments across the bank.

At this point in Menelly’s career, Citibank had taken an interest in her and her work and asked her to come run their operations center and manage about 1,500 employees. Menelly declined the offer because she was pregnant at the time, but Citibank continued to knock on her door and express their interest until Menelly finally agreed to come in for an interview when she was 8 ½ months pregnant.

“They told me they would hold the position for me during my maternity leave,” Menelly said, “so in the span of about six weeks I had a new job, a new baby, and my husband and I had to find a new place to live!”

According to Menelly, moving to Citi was the beginning of a very exciting time in her career where she was starting to expand globally by managing teams all over the world and traveling extensively. “It was also at this time that I founded the Women’s Council at Citi with a number of my female colleagues in order to encourage more women in leadership,” Menelly added.

When Bank of America approached Menelly, she was very intrigued because the bank was investing in and growing the businesses she was familiar with, including investments in technology to bring automation to certain processes. “This opportunity was a really nice mixture of everything I really liked to do. I get to work with really smart people, execute change, be creative, and work with wonderful clients,” she added.

Currently, in her role within Shared Services, Menelly spends a lot of time thinking of ways to simplify and improve processes. “These two facets are at the core of innovation across the entire banking industry,” she noted.

Changing the Landscape for Women in Tech

“I have always been passionate about helping women advance and the only way to do this effectively is to approach the issues from multiple angles,” Menelly explained. She emphasized the importance of having leadership that is devoted to diversity as well as companywide programs in place to emphasize the policies and culture of the organization. Lastly, she said, there needs to be a focus on the women in the organization to ensure their growth and success within the firm.

“It has been a rewarding experience,” said Menelly, “to work with so many people at Bank of America who are committed to diversity, and I think as a result we are seeing a positive impact from our efforts.” One example is the bank now retains the vast majority of its female technologists, with only a 3% voluntary annual turnover rate.

According to Menelly, the idea that women and technology are mutually exclusive is a false perception that girls are exposed to at an early age. This stereotype can discourage girls who show interest in technical subjects at a young age from continuing to pursue these avenues, Menelly added. “From an industry perspective, this has a huge impact on the pipeline of women in tech, which is not as full as we would like to see it,” she explained.

The role unconscious bias plays in preventing women from entering and staying in technical fields is another major force behind the pipeline problem, Menelly noted. “We need to encourage more education about this and give people the tools to explore and identify their own biases in the workplace.”

For women in technology, the benefit of mentoring and sponsorship cannot be emphasized enough, especially since women tend to be outnumbered. “To combat this, we need to create work environments where women have access to the support from others in the organization to make them feel comfortable and receive advice and counsel,” Menelly explained.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Menelly serves on the board for the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) and Bank of America sponsors their Award for Aspirations in Computing, which recognizes outstanding technology high school students for their computing-related achievements and interests. “I was so inspired by the connection these young women have with each other and how supportive they are of one another,” Menelly said.

She continued, “Having this type of support resonates throughout a woman’s entire career, especially during the mid-career years where you might need a little extra support and encouragement to progress to the next level.”

Menelly advises women at every career level to seek out those colleagues that inspire them and can provide them with honest and constructive feedback. “Become the person who constantly wants to learn and grow, but also allow yourself to be open to feedback,” she continued. “When I first started out in my career, I was one of those people who did not spend enough time forging important relationships, but I was lucky enough to have people who encouraged me to network and make connections.”

It is very rewarding to get involved and give back to future female leaders in technology, Menelly said, and she hopes that more strong women in senior positions reach out and reach back to usher in the next generation of talented women.

To that end, Menelly heads the Women in Technology & Operations group at Bank of America. The group currently has 15 chapters in five countries with more than 3,700 members across the world. “In order to attract more women and retain them, companies need a comprehensive set of programs to ensure ongoing engagement,” Menelly explained.

Outside the Office

In addition to Menelly’s active role in women’s career advancement within her organization and community, she also participates in the Global Ambassador’s Program via the Vital Voices organization. “Through this program, we partner senior women across many industries with women in developing countries who are passionate about making a difference in their own local communities,” she explained.

For nearly a year, Menelly has partnered with a Palestinian woman who started her own company where she connects employees with companies needing specific services. “We have spent numerous Saturday mornings together via Skype working on business plans, talent plans, and utilizing some of my career skills to give her business advice,” Menelly said. “It has been an incredibly rewarding experience.”

By Michelle Hendelman