The Orchestrator
Scaling people and moving parts into one working whole.
Thasunda Brown Duckett reads as The Orchestrator because coordination is the substance of her job, not a byproduct of it. TIAA exists to manage complex financial relationships for millions of not-for-profit workers, and she leads it by connecting people, mission, and process with unusual fluency.
“Telling them how awesome they were. I remember one of the gentlemen looked at me and he was like, You're welcome, we got you. And I just think that's important because that's Otis Brown. My dad worked in a warehouse and he's brilliant. He didn't go to college, but he's brilliant and he taught me so much.”
“I want my children to breathe just like you want your children to breathe. You know, I want a full opportunity just like you want a full opportunity. And then we do the work. And I do think that if we work on ourselves and do it with kindness and do it with the love of curiosity, then it's us that become the people in positions of power.”
“Yeah, it's such a great question because I absolutely loved my prior role. I love the company, the people. I felt like I still had a lot of runway. But I also believe in the art of possibility. And I believe in getting uncomfortable. And clearly, if there was a word to describe 2020, it was uncomfortability.”
“And so, my point is mentorship is all around you, it's in the history books that you read. It's in the observations of the youth. It's in senior leaders as well.”
The David Rubenstein Show: “Thasunda Brown Duckett”
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