Legacy 2016 Miami: 25 Most Powerful Women Issue | Page 7

MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016

AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MIA MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS GROUP TO MIAMI HERALD

BB7

PROFILES IN LEADERSHIP
By Kallan Louis

Comfortable in her Skin: FIBA’s First African American
Chair Discusses Diversity, Banking and Mentorship

While
African
American
women have
continued to
make positive
strides in the
workplace in
recent history,
there is still a
Teresa P. Foxx
way to go until
Director & General Manager
Corporate & Investment Banking leadership, in
Barclays' Miami
many major
industries such
as banking, begins to reflect the general
population. Equally as important to
obtaining these positions, is excelling at
them and opening doors for others. Teresa
Foxx, director and general manager of
Barclays’ Miami office, is the first African
American, and only the fifth woman
chairperson of the Florida International
Bankers Association (FIBA) in its 35-plus
year history.

“I think it is a tremendous
accomplishment,” said Foxx. “When you
think about an international banking
organization, you think of it being comprised
of institutions that operate all over the
globe. I’m extremely honored that they
recognized my leadership potential.”
Foxx heads a group of leaders from some
of the most powerful banking institutions in
the industry including the United States,
Latin America, Europe and the Caribbean. As
a woman in this male-saturated arena, her
physical appearance may stand out but so
do her credentials. She has been active with
FIBA for a decade and has worked at the
committee level, the board level, and now
serves as the chairperson.
One of her focuses during her
administration is trade finance. FIBA
recently held a Latin American trade finance
conference for trade associations and
financial institutions that operate in the
trade finance space. The goal of the
conference was to highlight issues the trade

finance industry is
experiencing and open up dialogue on the
impact of regulations. According to Foxx,
South Florida is a trade hub and often serves
as a bridge to Latin America for a number of
industries including banking. Therefore,
there is much interest in this area for a
number of FIBA’s member institutions.
Her job at Barclays often parallels her
role with FIBA. Her branch serves large
institutional clients primarily operating in
Latin America and Caribbean. She has
already established herself in New York
working with international banking
institutions. This includes 10 years of
experience with Barclays prior to
being selected to lead the Miami office in
2004. Like FIBA, she doesn’t feel out of place
in the male-dominated and heavily Latin
American influenced environment. Foxx is
quick to applaud the professionalism of
employees, coworkers and clients.
However, on the subject of diversity,
Foxx does think that more black and female

leadership in the industry would be a
positive. She is trying to do her part through
mentoring with groups like the Posse
Foundation, the women’s leadership
committee within FIBA, and she is a
supporter of Honeyshine.
“There’s a lot that can be said about
mentors and mentorship. Growing up in
Brooklyn, New York, I hadn’t been exposed
to any investment banking because I didn’t
know any investment bankers. But, if you
know a woman banker or an African
American woman banker, then you can get
a better understanding of the road to
success in that field from someone who
looks like you.”
Foxx explained how a diverse group of
mentors has been critical for her and she
preaches the same message to her mentees.
“I’ve tried to draw upon what I call my own
personal board of directors - people whom I
would go to for advice and guidance
depending on the situation. Sometimes you
can’t find all the answers from one person.”