Voice of Experience: Sheree Stomberg, Head of O&T Administration, Global Operations & Technology Chief Administrative Office, Citi

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Sheree Stomberg, Head of O&T Administration at Citi‘s Global Operations and Technology Chief Administrative Office has dedicated her life to “three pillars:” her work, her family, and her philanthropy. She works as a change agent – as an O&T expert, a dedicated advocate for women’s networks, and fighting global hunger.

“Play full out and make sure you love what you do,” she says. “Follow your passion. If you choose this industry, make sure it’s you passion.”

Working as a Change Agent in O&T

“I have a broadly diverse career path in Financial Services,” Stomberg explained. She began her career in a UBS training program dealing with corporate finance for the oil and gas industry, then becoming senior credit policy officer, then Head of Strategic Planning for the Americas, and finally, Head of Operations and Head of Technology for North America.

“The management committee wanted to bring in someone who was not a tech person, but who understood business,” she explained. Stomberg approached her position with an eye to function and strategy.

“It was a very steep learning curve for the first two to three years,” she said. Her first assignment was to take on a failed tech implementation at the bank. “ People couldn’t do deals because of the tech. I had thirty days to fix it, or it would be ripped out,” she said. “So I called up Bill Gates, head of a new tech company named Microsoft. He came out with a team, and looked at me and said, ‘we have some really cool tech and we’re going to fix this.’ And that was my first week on the job.”

After thirteen years, Stomberg moved to Citi, to head the Citi Markets and Banking Program Management Office. After Y2K, she became Global Head of Technology for the Cash Management and Trade division in the Global Transaction Services business. In 2005, she became Head of Global Wealth Management Operations and Technology.

Under her leadership, Citi built out a $1 billion cash and trade platform. “It was a competitive advantage for Citi,” she explained. “Business increased by multiples.”

Last month, Stomberg took on a new role as Head of O&T Administration at Citi’s Global Operations and Technology Chief Administrative Office. “Now is a great time,” she said. “Operations and Technology were managed in various organizational silos. Only in the last year have O&T converged under a central umbrella. I’m looking forward to being a central change agent at the core and driving strategy from this standpoint. ”

Stomberg believes one of the biggest issues facing the industry is regulatory reform. She says, “This has been a tough two years on Wall Street and everywhere.” said Stomberg. “There are a lot of important reputational issues the industry is facing. As someone involved in the industry my entire career, it’s important to me to reestablish that reputation.”

She continued, “There are regulatory reform ideas which are productive. It’s important we consider any unintended regulatory consequences as well.”

Making Accomplishments Visible

Stomberg was instrumental in co-founding three of Citi’s women’s councils. “I co-founded the first one about a decade ago,” she said. “They have a tremendous positive impact. We started the council as a catalyst for the advancement and retention of women.”

She explained, “The workforce is about fifty-fifty [men and women] starting out. But at the managing director level, only fifteen to twenty percent are women.” She pointed out that there are several reasons for this: communication style, political savvy, networking, and visibility.

One program Stomberg has helped implement is focused on developing high potential women. By providing women at the mid-management level with training and high visibility projects, the women are able to develop skills, improve communication styles, and become more visible to hiring managers. “It provides 360 degree feedback. The goal is for the majority of the women who go through the program, in twelve months, to be in bigger jobs, and of course, retained at Citi.” She continued, “It’s been a highly successful program – and it’s also very fulfilling.”

Stomberg explained that visibility is key to career advancement – and that many women need to work on communication and networking to achieve success.

“Doing a great job is not enough,” Stomberg said. “It’s important to be out there networking. Be connected.” She explained, “Being highly capable and doing a great job is a prerequisite.” She continued, “20 years ago the challenges to women in this industry were very overt. The industry has gotten better with time, and I haven’t experienced any barriers here at Citi. But,” she continued, “there are challenges that are not overt – cultural differences. This is still a very male dominated world. We need to play full out so we’re visible, and communicate accomplishments as assertively as men do.”

She recommends that women go beyond their comfort zone. “It’s not about being comfortable,” she said.

Living the Art of the Possible

“Work/life balance is all in the eye of the beholder,” Stomberg said. “For every person it’s a different equation. I definitely think it can be achieved.”

“People say you can’t have it all, but I feel I do have it all. I have a rich and rewarding family life – a husband and three daughters – and I’m able to pursue philanthropic interests, and have a rich and interesting worklife.” She continued, “Your everyday choices might be different in how you balance the equation. In terms of steps, I choose to live in the city so I’m close to work – that’s a choice, my commute is under 15 minutes – I usually cut off work at 6:30 or 7:00 and resume after the children are in bed if necessary.”

Stomberg’s approach to work/life balance is influenced by her grandfather’s life. “He lived life with no regrets – he was very active into his 90s. He lived the art of the possible,” she said. “When he was 65 he suffered a heart attack. The doctor said he must live a life without physical exertion, not eat food that was too hot or drink things that were too cold… he looked at the list and tore it up. The doctor said he wouldn’t live 5 years.”

She continued, “When he was in his 70s, we went mountain climbing in Alaska together. And when he was 75 he went back to tell the doctor about it.”

“I’m not advising people to discredit medical advice,” she joked. “But he always looked for how to move life forward. That’s what I mean about living the life of the possible.”

Philanthropy – Responsibility as Power

“My other advice is that I operate as if I am 100 percent responsible. It’s not about reality or right or wrong. If I have no responsibility, then I have no power. I find that this way, I make the most progress, the most momentum, and inspire the most people to open up and do the same.”

Stomberg’s belief in taking responsibility is reflected in her work to fight hunger. “Besides my husband and three daughters, my big passion is something called the Hunger Project. I’m on the Global Board.”

She explained, “Six or seven years ago I was on a business trip to India, in downtown Mumbai being driven in a car. I saw a boy standing between skyscrapers, stark naked, emaciated – he was dying in the street. And we drove by and nobody was doing anything. And then we drove by a slum, with people living together on a garbage dump – people were begging for money. By this time I had tears streaming down my face – and the driver said, ‘don’t open the windows; we’ll be deluged.’ When I came home, I felt powerless.”

She continued, “20,000 people are dying every single day of hunger – it’s not like a natural disaster. It’s never in the news. So I started researching organizations that made a truly sustainable, leverageable difference in people’s lives. Multiple paths led me to the Hunger Project.”

Stomberg explained that the Hunger Project works to empower people to end their own hunger. “I took my oldest daughter, who was eleven years old at the time, to Bangladesh. And you could tell which villages had worked with the Hunger Project and which hadn’t. It was in the posture of the people, their presence. They work to keep their girls in school, to abolish child marriage, to take action to clean up their land, build enterprises, and lobby their local governments to make new laws.”

She continued, “This is my life’s work, along with raising my family and my career at Citi.”