​Tune into our free webinar on the 2nd of May to find out what it takes to excel in the world’s most rewarding industry.

With the help of our expert panel, we’ll delve into the various aspects of transitioning, including how to translate your military skills, financial industry trends, education, and certification pathways, and how to avoid common challenges during your transition process.

With a focus on empowerment and support, this session aims to foster a supportive community where veterans can connect, learn from each other's experiences, and access mentorship and career development resources. Ultimately, we’re here to equip veterans with the tools and confidence they need to succeed in the finance industry, ensuring a smooth transition to a fulfilling career after leaving the forces.

Discussion points:

• Transition Challenges and Solutions

• Skills Translation and Development

• Career Pathways in Finance

• Networking and Community Support

• Continuous Learning and Growth

Speakers include:

• Connor Nurse - Team Lead & Chair @ Broadgate

• Anny M. Pena - Managing Director, Regional Head of Client Management @ Americas Standard Chartered Bank

• Karen M. Wrancher - Senior Lead Audit Manager @ Wells Fargo

• Ryan Powell - Vice President in Operational Resilience @ Forbright Bank

• Juan M. Vasquez - Managing Director @ State Street

Anny M. Pena
Anny joined Standard Chartered Bank in 2014. She is currently the Regional Head of Client Management for the Americas. In addition to her current role, Anny is also Co-Chair of DRIVEN, the bank’s Veteran and Disability employee resource group. Prior to joining the Bank, Anny served five years on active duty in the United States Marine Corps. She holds an MBA from Fordham University.

Karen M. Wrancher

Karen Wrancher was one of nine individuals from across the nation who was selected to participate in the highly competitive Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes (HOH) program in the Fall of 2020. It was through the HOH program she elected to enter the Wells Fargo Next Generation program in September 2020. At the end of the twelve-week program, she began her role as a Senior Lead Audit Manager. Working for Wells Fargo provided her with the opportunity to apply her soft skills such as critical thinking, team building and effective communications to execute internal audits, risk management, enterprise risk management assessments and business resiliency.

Karen grew up in New York City as the oldest of four girls born to Jamaican immigrants who became naturalized citizens. Karen began uncovering her leadership skills at an early age as the oldest of her siblings. By the time she attended Hunter College in New York as a Political Science major, she was a member of the college senate, a contributing author to both college publications: The Envoy and the Shield and served as the Commissioner of External Affairs attending conferences advocating for better educational opportunities of her fellow classmates. Growing disenchanted with life in New York, Karen made the decision to join the Army and become a paratrooper. She enlisted in the Army serving as a Private First Class and after attaining the rank of Sergeant, went to Officer Candidate School. She was commissioned as a Quartermaster (Logistics) officer. Karen served a myriad of leadership and management positions. She served in combat supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn and Operation Inherent Resolve. She was introduced to the Compliance arena when she was hand-selected to serve as the inaugural Compliance Officer to the Commanding General (CEO equivalent) of Operation Inherent Resolve supporting an 8400-person joint forces task force. Her culminating assignment was serving as the Chief of the Assistance Division, the largest division in the U.S. Army Inspector General Agency. In that role, she was manager of a team of 60 compliance officers in the Pentagon addressing 4000 complaints annually coming from the Army’s 1.3 million soldiers. She served as the principal advisor to the Army’s Chief Compliance Officer and the C-Suite level executives.

Karen has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Methodist University, a master’s degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Oklahoma and a second master’s degree in Military Strategy from the Marine Corps University. She is also a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.

Karen is still committed to issues that impact veterans and their families. She is a Lifetime Member of the Military Officers Association of America, the Association of the United States Army, and The Rocks, Incorporated, a nonprofit mentorship organization for Army officers. She served as the Rocks’ Vice President of Communications on their National Board of Directors from 2017-2021. She is a member of the Junior League of Charlotte and will serve as the Vice Chair of the Public Policy and Advocacy Committee in their 2024-2025 program year. She is also a proud member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, an international service organization.

Ryan Powell

Ryan Powell leads the Business Continuity, Incident, and Crisis Management Programs at Forbright Bank. Prior to joining Forbright, Ryan has held roles in the operational risk and resiliency space at City National Bank, Capital One, Cigna, and contracted with the U.S. Department of State. Ryan spent 5 years on Active Duty in the Army, which included two combat deployments to Iraq. Ryan earned an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), a Bachelor of Science from James Madison University (JMU/Army ROTC), and post-graduate certificate in Cybersecurity Management from The University of Virginia (UVA). Ryan currently lives outside of Richmond, VA with his wife and three kids. He enjoys spending his free time exercising, reading, and finding interesting podcasts.

Juan M. Vasquez

Juan has over ten years of experience leading programs, projects, and teams in the Information Security, Cybersecurity, IT Audit, and IT Risk and Controls domains. He has served 18 years in the Military, active and reserve. Currently, he serves as an Information Professional Officer in the United States Navy Reserve, specializing as an Information Warfare and Cyber Warfare Officer focusing on offensive and defensive naval cyber operations.

Juan specializes in Technology Risk and Controls advisory engagements. He has supported various clients and organizations in the Financial, Pharmaceutical, Manufacturing, Healthcare, and Insurance industries. Juan has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the private sector, focusing on Fintech, Biotech, Digital Health Technology, Operational Technology (OT), Digital Ledger Technology, Digital Assets Technology, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology.

Juan effectively combines technical and business acumen to execute projects and advisory engagements in technology product development, technical vetting and due diligence consulting, system security reviews, and technology risk and controls assessments with legal, regulatory, security, development, and operations teams. He has led programs, projects, and advisory engagements worldwide in various technologies such as AWS and Azure Cloud, Private and Public Blockchain, Digital Assets Platforms, Connected Medical Devices, SCADA and PLC OT Devices, AI Applications with Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DL), and Foundation Models.

Juan holds multiple degrees, including a Master of Cyber Forensics and Security from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). A Bachelor of Science in Information Security and Risk Management, Management of Information Systems, and Finance from Lewis University. In addition to his formal education, he holds multiple certifications, including a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), and a CompTIA Security + certification.

Juan resides in Chicago, IL. He enjoys spending time with his partner Bianca, his son Emiliano, and his daughter Paulina. Juan also enjoys working on his Agave farm and visiting family in Jalisco and Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

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