DEBORAH WRIGHT

FORMER CHAIR & CEO, CARVER BANCORP INC.

As chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Carver Federal Savings Bank, one of the nation’s largest publicly traded African American-led banks, Wright had massive impact within New York’s community of color, enabling homebuyers and business owners to gain loans to achieve their dreams. She served as president and CEO of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone prior to her tenure at Carver, leading the development and execution of an investment strategy to expand Harlem’s economy by investing a $250 million capital budget, funded by the public sector, to expand local businesses and cultural institutions. She also held the position of Commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing, Preservation and Development, where she funded the development of 21,000 affordable housing units and managed 43,000 residential properties. Always mission-driven in her work, most recently, Wright has been tapped as managing director for the Rockefeller Foundation’s U.S. Jobs & Economic Opportunity initiative. “You have to keep track of who you are,” she says, “because otherwise you get lost.”

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