Page 13 - Toluna IN Magazine - March 2020

STACEY CUNNINGHAM
Beginning her career as an intern on the New
York stock exchange 26 years ago, Stacey
Cunningham became in 2018 the first-ever woman
to head the 228-year-old financial market. That it
is a woman who oversees 2.800 companies that
trade on the New York Stock Exchange, raises
hopes that the glass ceiling may show finally
cracks on Wall Street.

When she first arrived, Cunningham recalled, the

women’s restroom on the seventh floor was inside
an old phone booth. Men, she said, had a “palatial”
bathroom next door with couches and a full-time
attendant. Cunningham sees her role in
promoting diversity in the financial services sector
that is struggling to show it has moved beyond
the clichés of Wall Street’s sexist culture.

Cunningham says that the statue of the Fearless

Girl who looks the Wall Street Bull straight in the
eyes stands as a powerful beacon, showing
women—young and old—that no dream is too big
and no ceiling is too high. “I think it’s just really
important to recognize that any time a woman
pushes the boundaries and redefines the
boundaries, she’s redefining them for everyone
else that follows her”.

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