DETROIT — Suzanne Shank, President and CEO of Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. L.L.C. in Detroit, has been named the National Association of Securities Professionals prestigious Maynard H. Jackson award recipient. She was presented with the honor on June 26, 2013 at a luncheon of 500 securities industry leaders at the NASP’s annual Pension and Financial Services conference in New York City.
NASP is the nation’s premier non-profit organization advocating for women and people of color in the financial services industry. Each year, the National Association of Securities Professionals’ honors the financial services industry’s most esteemed members with the organization’s highest awards at its Annual Pension and Financial Services Conference. The Maynard Jackson award honors the financial service professional who best exemplifies entrepreneurial achievement, community service, and high moral standards.
Orim Graves, executive director of the National Association of Securities Professionals said, “Once Suzanne hit Wall Street she was determined to succeed and to do it in the right way, exemplifying the traits held by Maynard Jackson. In a world where the term role model is thrown around frivolously, Suzanne is the very definition of the word, a guidepost to all who strive for excellence, professionalism, and success.”
Maynard Jackson served as the first African American mayor of Atlanta (Terms in office: 1974-1982 and 1990-1994). He led the expansion of Georgia’s Hartsfield Airport and reformed the city of Atlanta’s police department. Jackson supported affirmative action and in 1990 founded the Maynard Jackson Youth Foundation Inc, a leadership program for disadvantaged kids. He later served as CEO of Jackson Securities.
Suzanne Shank co-founded the municipal finance firm Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. L.L.C. with Muriel Siebert and Napoleon Brandford in 1996 and continues to serve as President and CEO. The firm plays a key role in arranging financing for important public infrastructure projects including highways, bridges, water and sewer systems, airports, and schools. Since its founding, 18 years ago, SBSCO has underwritten more than $1 trillion in public financing transactions.
“I am humbled to receive this award for doing something I love to do and to be recognized by this esteemed organization and the industry that we all serve,” said Shank. “I was always in awe of Maynard Jackson and his accomplishments as mayor. His inspiration lives on and it is because of Jackson’s leadership and tenacity to uplift minority businesses that SBSCO even exists. I am grateful for the recognition from the NASP Board and the honor of joining a distinguished group of previous honorees.”
Shank has been named to NBC’s the Grio’s100 list which honors African American leaders; she has been recognized by U.S. Banker magazine as one of the top 25 Women in Finance; by Essence Magazine in their Power List; by Black Enterprise as one of the “50 Most Influential Black Women in Business” and one of the “75 Most Powerful Blacks on Wall Street;” and was selected by the Wharton School of Business from among 100,00 graduates as one of its “125 Influential People and Ideas.”
