Important Women in the Finance Industry: Stacey Cunningham

Stacey Cunningham is the 67th president of the New York Stock Exchange and the first female president to hold complete leadership of the exchange.

In 2018, for the first time ever, Stacy Cunningham made history by becoming the first female president of the New York Stock Exchange; Cunningham is not the first female president, but rather the first female president to hold total control and leadership of the exchange, without any additional oversight. After graduating from Lehigh University in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, Cunningham proceeded to intern at the NYSE. Afterward, she worked as a clerk and then as one of the few female specialists amongst approximately 1,300 men at the stock exchange. And, after working at the Nasdaq stock (she served as the director of capital markets and as the head of sales for American transactions), she rejoined the New York Stock Exchange in 2012, eventually becoming the Chief Operating Officer in 2015.

In May of 2018, Cunningham took over Thomas Farley’s role of president of the NYSE (she was then listed as one of BBC's 100 women in November of the same year). Since her appointment, Cunningham has been diligent in her work to update the NYSE’s trading opportunities, while simultaneously leading the proposal and rollout of Pillar, a technology designed to help connect exchange markets. As Wall Street continues to grow, Cunningham’s objectives are clear: establish an easier transition for private companies going public on the market, and, perhaps even more importantly, introduce more women into the world of finance.