DawnMarie Montgomery is a senior executive whose career has been defined by a single, steady conviction: community relations and engagement are not adjacent to business strategy—they are the strategy. Across more than two decades inside highly regulated financial institutions, she has built a reputation for translating community insight into measurable business and social impact, advising C-suite leaders, and forging cross-sector partnerships at firms including Thrivent, UBS Wealth Management USA, TD Bank, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, and Merrill Lynch.

Most recently, as Director of Distribution & Operations Inclusive Culture at Thrivent—a $160B+ not-for-profit financial services organization serving more than two million clients nationwide—DawnMarie led enterprise inclusive culture strategy across the company’s two largest divisions. She stewarded a $1M budget, designed market-level community and stakeholder engagement strategies that grew reach by 21%, and built cross-sector partnerships spanning nonprofit, faith-based, and professional organizations to deepen the firm’s community investment outcomes.

At UBS Wealth Management USA, she was appointed by the President & CEO to the UBS Americas DE&I Council, where she shaped firm-wide policy in a globally matrixed organization of more than 70,000 employees and oversaw a sizable field-engagement budget that lifted advisor engagement by 13%. Earlier in her career as U.S. Diversity Lead and Senior Sales Manager at TD Bank, she built community relationships and stakeholder networks across the Eastern Seaboard that directly drove business outcomes—connecting financial products and services to underserved communities, expanding a $535M deposit base by 20%, and earning DiversityInc Top 50 recognition. She also achieved President’s Club at Lakeland Bank and served as a Financial Advisor and Certified Financial Manager at Merrill Lynch.

Community engagement is not a chapter of DawnMarie’s life—it is the through-line. She is a Charter Member of The Pierians, Inc. (Metro NY Chapter); a Lifetime Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., serving on the National Heritage & Archives Committee and previously chairing Eastern Region Founders Day and Collegiate Connection initiatives; and a longtime member, former Recording Secretary, and former board member of The Moles National Organization and current longtime board member of the Violet Torch Foundation. She has served on the LIMRA Diverse Markets Committee, the Black Wealth Summit Advisory Board, the New Jersey Institute of Technology College of Science & Liberal Arts Board, and the Newark Workforce Investment Board, for which she was the Secretary of the board—each role an extension of the same belief that institutions and communities thrive when they invest in one another.

DawnMarie holds a Master of Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a Bachelor of Science from Xavier University of Louisiana. She has earned executive education credentials from Tulane University (MBA Certificate), Cornell University, and the University of South Florida MUMA College of Business. A graduate of BergenLEADS (Class of 2020), she previously held FINRA Series 24, 7, 65, 63, and 6 licenses, as well as Life & Health.

Above all, DawnMarie is the proud mother of two beautiful daughters and a lifelong believer that leadership is most powerful when it lifts others. Whether at the head of a boardroom table or a community gathering, she brings the same conviction: that meaningful impact begins with listening, is sustained by partnership, and is ultimately measured by the doors we open for those who follow.

EDUCATION

• Master of Science, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Bachelor of Science, Xavier University of Louisiana

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION & CONTINUOUS LEARNING

• MBA Certificate, Tulane University
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Cornell University
• Inclusion & Ethical Leadership, University of South Florida, MUMA College of Business
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, University of South Florida, MUMA College of Business

PRIOR LICENSES & REGISTRATIONS (INACTIVE): S24, S7, S65, S63, S6, Life & Health

COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP & BOARD SERVICE

• The Pierians, Inc. (Charter Member, Metro NY Chapter) 2026 to Present
• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Lifetime Member since 1991 (National Heritage & Archives Committee)  2023 to Present
• The Moles National Organization (Board, former Recording Secretary)  2019 to Present
• Violet Torch Foundation (Board) 2014-2016, 2019 to Present
• LIMRA Diverse Markets Committee (DMC) 2023 to 2026
• Black Wealth Summit (Advisory Board) 2022 to 2024
• Bergen LEADS (Class of 2020) 2019 to 2020
• New Jersey Institute of Technology, College of Science & Liberal Arts (Board Member) 2011 to 2017
• Newark Workforce Investment Board (former Secretary) 2011 to 2016

• Financial Services, Wealth Management
• Inclusive Culture
• Talent, People
• Community Relations/Engagement

• UBS, Wealth Management USA: Appointed by the President & CEO to UBS Americas DE&I Council, served as a strategic voice shaping firm-wide policies and enterprise priorities at the highest levels.
• Lakeland Bank: Achieved President’s Club in 2018.
• TD Bank: Earned WOW! Quartile, a top-quartile recognition. and Recognized DiversityInc’s Top 50 list.