Anita Sands
| Anita Sands (Dr.) | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1976 Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland |
| Residence | Toronto, Canada |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Education | Queen's University Belfast (to Ph.D.), Carnegie Mellon University |
| Home town | Sandpit, near Drogheda, Ireland |
| Spouse | Single |
Dr. Anita M. Sands (born 1976) is an Irish businesswoman, academic and speaker, resident in the United States.[1] Appointed in 2007 as the youngest ever senior vice-president at the Royal Bank of Canada, she moved in September 2008 to Citibank in New York as a Managing Director and Head of Transformation Management at Citibank,[1] leaving in April 2009. After working as a transformation consultant to several organizations, she was then appointed as Group Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer for UBS Wealth Management Americas in 2010.
A Fulbright and O'Reilly Scholar, she was a member of the Board of the Ireland Fund of Canada,[2] has been an advisor to the Toronto Board of Trade, and served with a number of other bodies. She was also invited by the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland to participate in the Global Irish Economic Forum in 2009 and again in 2011.[3]
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[edit] Life
Sands grew up near Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland, the daughter of Con and Imelda Sands. The family residence is in the small village of Sandpit, 4 miles north of Drogheda, close to Termonfeckin and Clogherhead.
[edit] Academic career
Sands attended secondary school at Our Lady's College at Greenhills, near Drogheda. She sang, played violin and piano, often at services at the local Augustinian church, during both school and college years.
She studied Physics and Applied Maths at Queen's University Belfast, achieving first class honours at undergraduate level, and then a Ph.D. in Atomic and Molecular Physics.
As one of the early beneficiaries of the O'Reilly Foundation's Scholarship Programme, and as a Fulbright Scholar, she then studied for a Masters in Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College, Pittsburgh, graduating with highest distinction, and becoming Executive Director of the university's Software Industry Center. Supported by a Sloan Foundation research fellowship, Sands was also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto.
[edit] Business career
Sands began her banking career in 2004, handling derivatives analysis at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Canada's fifth largest general bank, in Toronto, and later worked in treasury research.
She then joined the even larger Royal Bank of Canada, also based in Toronto, and was promoted to senior vice-president in late 2007, the youngest ever SVP at RBC. Sands' role was Head of Innovation and Process Design, with responsibility for innovation, research, consulting, six sigma and business process re-engineering. She also sat on the enterprise strategy and other committees, chaired the innovation council and led some of the bank's Web 2.0 initiatives.
In September 2008, she was appointed as a Managing Director, and Head of Transformation Management, at Citigroup, which she left in April 2009 subsequently returning to Toronto.
Sands has received several industry recognitions for her innovative approaches to banking. In 2008, she was named one of the “Elite 8” by Bank Systems and Technology, an award recognizing the eight most innovative executives in the NA financial services industry. She was named by Registered Rep magazine as one of 2012 “The TEN to Watch” for “orchestrating the massive undertaking of transforming, upgrading and generally reshaping the technology platform at UBS Wealth Management Americas (WMA)" [4].
In 2009, Sands worked on a study for The Ireland Funds, with the head of the Funds and a senior researcher, resulting in a joint publication "A Comparative Review of International Diaspora Studies."[2] . She was also invited by the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland to participate in the Global Irish Economic Forum in 2009 and again in 2011.[3]. It was reported that "one of the most interesting interventions" at the 2011 Global Irish Economic Forum came from sands, who "highlighted the under-representation of women during the final plenary session" [5].
In 2011, Sands was nominated as one of the “Top Forty Under Forty” and one of the “Women of Influence” within the Irish American Community [6]. She was also honored as one of the “Wall Street 50”, which recognizes the best and the brightest Irish and Irish-American leaders in finance [7]
[edit] Voluntary work and interests
Sands was a member of the board at the Ireland Fund of Canada and Women in Capital Markets. She has served as a board member of the Ireland Park Foundation (dedicated to building a Canadian memorial to Irish immigrants who fled the Great Famine), serving as a volunteer coordinator, and contributing over 30,000 dollars.
She has been a board member of Ireland-Canada Chamber of Commerce (of Toronto) and sat on a Toronto Board of Trade advisory committee on IT. She was also a board member of the Canadian internship organisation, CareerEdge and the Women in Captial Markets. Sands is currently a member of the New York Women's Forum. Other interests include piano playing and public speaking.
[edit] Sources
- Anita Sands profile and photo at the O'Reilly Foundation official site
- Anita Sands profile at the 3rd International Conference on Services and Innovation, 7-7 Nov 2007, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin
- Details of new role late 2008, approach and interests
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b LinkedIn, personal (self-written) profile: [1], checked 16 June 2009
- ^ a b Dublin, Ireland - The Ireland Funds - 2009: A Comparative Review of International Diaspora Strategies
- ^ a b Business and Leadership, 18.09.2009: Global Business Leader Due at Farmleigh Today, retrieved 10 Oct 2009
- ^ 04.08.2011: The Ten to Watch 2012, retrieved 17 Oct 2011
- ^ 13.10.2011 Irish Times: Inside the World of Business , retrieved 17 Oct 2011
- ^ Irish Central: Women of Influence, retrieved 17 Oct 2011
- ^ Irish Central: Wall Street 50, retrieved 17 Oct 2011
