Nancy Ancowitz prepares senior leaders and rising talent for high-stakes presentations, meetings, and interviews where crisp communication shapes outcomes. As a career strategist and trusted advisor, she partners with clients and graduate students to prepare for consequential leadership moments.
Wall Street: Marketing, Self Knowledge, Results
Nancy started her Wall Street career at Citibank, where she put the client at the center of every message. Tech forward, she was commended for marketing initiatives that attracted multinational corporate clients. She later served as a vice president at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where her cross-border marketing efforts earned recognition for measurable impact.
A Defining Lens
Along the way, taking a personality assessment deepened her understanding of her own introversion and sharpened her collaboration across working styles. That lens became a defining thread for her: helping professionals increase visibility, speak with authority, and think clearly under pressure without trying to reshape their personality. For the past few years, she has been integrating AI into her teaching and coaching with transparency and discipline, modeling how technology can sharpen thinking without replacing judgment.
Communication Author and Strategist
Nancy is the author of Zoom to Success: Present Like a Pro , Business Writing: Say More With Less , and Self-Promotion for Introverts®. Her writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal , The New York Times , and Psychology Today. In Zoom to Success: Present Like a Pro , she examines how capable professionals lose impact on screen and how to communicate with clarity under pressure. In Business Writing: Say More With Less , she argues for precision and restraint. In Self-Promotion for Introverts® , an early and widely recognized book focused on visibility and career advancement for introverts, she challenged the assumption that success requires a personality overhaul and offered practical strategies for networking, public speaking, interviews, and professional branding.
Finance Talent Development at NYU
Currently at New York University, she serves as a career director for the M.S. in Mathematics in Finance program at the Courant Institute. She also teaches graduate business communication. Her students secure roles in quantitative finance, fintech, and data science, and she prepares them to articulate ideas crisply with confidence.
Entrepreneurial Roots
Earlier in her career, Nancy built a jewelry design business and secured major retail clients, including Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Henri Bendel. Her designs appeared on the cover of Glamour. Running her own company sharpened her instinct for audience and market realities, skills she later brought to marketing leadership roles at Citibank and JPMorgan.
FWA: Mentorship and Career Momentum
Nancy joined the Financial Women’s Association in 2011. She has delivered multiple FWA talks on business communication and career advancement, with particular insight for introverts, and has mentored members through career transitions and leadership growth, including
through the Pacesetters program. Her work supports FWA’s commitment to advancing leadership and accelerating professional
success across the financial sector.
Whether preparing a senior executive for a client presentation or coaching a graduate student before an interview, Nancy brings disciplined preparation and improvisational agility to high-stakes exchanges. She helps clients perform without becoming performative, so they stand steadier, think faster, and come through as unmistakably themselves. She scaffolds the work so every word and gesture carries intention and advances the conversation.
On a personal note, she is the joyful human companion to a deaf Boxer-mix rescue dog, has completed two New York Marathons, and follows a plant-based diet for the wellbeing of the Earth, the animals, and herself.
New Paragraph
Discover More FWA Voices
Explore the recently-released features below, or click here to view the full collection of FWA Voices.
Lily Klebanoff Blake
Lily Klebanoff Blake has over 20 years of experience working in emerging markets. Currently, she is the President of Klebanoff International, a business consultancy focused on the countries of the Former Soviet Union and China. Prior to that, Lily was the Executive Director of the American Medical Consortium, which facilitated entry of Fortune 500 companies (Colgate-Palmolive, Hewlett Packard, Pfizer, and Amoco) into the Soviet market.
Laura Smith Dunaief
After building a successful 20-year career in retail and wholesale financial services, Laura Smith Dunaief made a bold pivot. In 2003, she launched CareerCraft, a consultancy focused on helping organizations strengthen leadership, communication, change management, and relationship-building skills.
Nancy Ancovitz
Nancy Ancowitz prepares senior leaders and rising talent for high-stakes presentations, meetings, and interviews where crisp communication shapes outcomes. As a career strategist and trusted advisor, she partners with clients and graduate students to prepare for consequential leadership moments.
Kari Desai
Kari Desai is the Vice President of Product Development at CNO Financial Group, where she leads the enterprise-wide design and execution of insurance product development across the Consumer and Worksite Divisions. Since joining CNO in 2022, Kari has overseen the end-to-end creation and enhancement of products across multiple product lines and brands, shaping product roadmaps that balance market opportunity, customer needs, and cross-functional execution.
Kristel Philogene
Kristel Philogene is an accomplished business leader at BNY, located in New York, and known for leading cross-functional initiatives that enhance regulatory risk governance. She collaborates closely with senior stakeholders to design and implement scalable frameworks aimed at reducing regulatory risk while supporting efficient and reliable operational delivery. Kristel is recognized for her pragmatic, results-oriented leadership, aligning teams around measurable objectives, fostering accountability, and advancing organizational effectiveness.
Darcy Flanders
Darcy Ann Flanders is a seasoned professional in the creative services industry, renowned for her expertise in financial branding, design and communication. As an early entrepreneur her career spans over three decades, during which time she has played a pivotal role in enhancing the effectiveness of financial messaging for her clients.
Elizabeth Green
Elizabeth Green is the Director of Global Brand Value Chain for Clinique at The Estée Lauder Companies. With over 15 years of experience in the consumer goods and supply chain industries, she brings a strong passion for beauty and luxury goods to her role.
Jenn Feliberty
Jenn grew up in the family business. When most teens were invited to Quinceañera parties, she was the one organizing the contracts in Spanish & English. She realized that she could serve the business more as a financial specialist than going anywhere near the glue gun. She graduated with a BA in Psychology from Buffalo and a Masters in Finance from University of Rochester Simon Business School.
Marie-Helene Kennedy-Payen
"Serving is an honor and a vote of confidence. When we're given the opportunity to volunteer, it means others trust us to carry forward a mission that matters. We're not just filling a role, we're being entrusted with meaningful work, a privilege that reflects belief in our dedication and our ability to advance a purpose larger than ourselves."
Richard Hartman
I am Richard Hartman, a Business Consultant forged in the crucible of the Employee Benefits and Risk Management sectors, an industry leader in the vibrant realms of Food & Beverage and Hospitality. My story began in 1979, stepping into the insurance arena fresh out of college, eager to make my mark.
Hermina 'Nina' Batson
Resilience and perseverance are the two traits that have come to epitomize Hermina 'Nina' Batson, a strategic, mission-driven global executive recognized for her impressive track record in financial services and regulatory engagement. As a senior business leader, Nina possesses invaluable expertise and a distinguished background in regulatory relations, risk management, corporate finance, and successful securitization deals.
Leya Yusupov
Hi, my name is Leya Yusupov, and I am truly honored to be one of the voices of the Financial Women’s Association (FWA)! I was born in the former Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union collapsed my family immigrated to the United States as religious refugees. We left everything behind in search of freedom, opportunity, and a place where we could practice our faith openly. Our journey was not easy—we spent seven months in Austria and Italy before finally arriving in the U.S.—but we never lost hope in the American dream.
Tara Smith
Tara’s journey has been shaped by a genuine passion for people and possibility. From the earliest days of her career, she discovered that she loved helping others grow - whether that meant guiding colleagues through challenges, finding a new role, or designing programs that unlocked potential. Over the years, she has built a reputation as a trusted advisor who combines business acumen with empathy, always keeping both organizational goals and individual needs in focus.
Maria Maris
From a young woman stepping off a plane into a country she had never seen, armed only with determination and an unshakable belief in possibility, Maria C. Maris has built a career that spans continents, industries, and transformations. Today, she is a global human resources executive and transformation leader with over twenty years of experience guiding multinational organizations through change — from pre-IPO readiness to large-scale global integrations.
Albana Theka
Albana Theka is a visionary leader in data, analytics, and finance who blends her passion for technology with a proven record in healthcare finance. Raised in a small city in southern Albania, Albana arrived in the United States at the age of 17—alone, hopeful, and determined to build a brighter future. Her parents, drawing strength from a tumultuous era in Albanian history, sent her across the world on a $6,000 loan—a life-altering leap of faith.
