Leadership

Nicole West, PresidentNicole West Headshot 1

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A tech savvy, growth-oriented executive and board member who has brought strategic leadership for over 25 years to publicly traded, private, and emerging global companies. She has a proven track record of enhancing shareholder value through client centric growth initiatives (both organic and M&A), leveraging technology and data to drive innovation, improving EBITDA margins through capital efficient and scalable operations, conducting pivot and turnaround strategies,  and developing talent and great places to work.  Her broad industry experience includes financial services, technology products and services, energy, and higher education/ed tech.

Ms. West’s extensive experience includes

  • Analysis & Resilience Center for Systemic Risk, as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, scaled a coalition of the largest US institutions designed to protect the nation’s economic and national security by mitigating systemic risk to the financial and energy sectors critical infrastructure from cyber and emerging risks.
  • Zeal Capital Partners, as Executive in Residence, FinTech, launched a venture capital firm with leading LP’s (Google, Paypal, Bank of America).
  • Founded Washington DC CEO FinTech Roundtable – 9 firms have raised over $1B in capital with 3 unicorns (1 exited to Rocket Companies for $1.2B).
  • Legg Mason, as Managing Director in the office of the Chairman and CEO worked with the Board of Directors to turn around Legg Mason – a 100+ year old global asset management firm with approximately $700 billion in assets under management with clients and operations in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
  • Capital One, as Chief Operating Officer for Capital One Federal Savings Bank and Chief of Staff for Global Financial Services transformed the organization from losing millions annually to delivering $300+ million in earnings. This US/European organization was a growth accelerator for mature businesses and an incubator for new digital businesses.
  • Freddie Mac, as Managing Director headed Strategic Operational Infrastructure for the Fixed Income Securities Trading and Servicing groups – created well managed, regulatory compliant operations supporting a $15 billion trading portfolio generating 30% margins.
  • As one of the first 15 employees at Perot Systems, helped to build the company from a start up to a profitable $300 million revenue generating consulting firm with more than 3,000 associates.
  • Co-founded, Luminous Group, LLC, accelerating the rapid transformation of the digital economy focused on Blockchain based technologies.