Spotlight on Ariel Boverman, Nominating Committee Chair

May 22, 2025

Building and retaining leadership and a pipeline for the future


Ariel Boverman is a human resources (HR) professional who has used her expertise to guide executives though organizational change at top firms including Marsh and McLennan, PwC, EY and Wells Fargo Advisors. She represents the Nominating Committee on the FWA’s board, and previously, she served on the board of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In her free time, Ariel loves engaging with diverse people and cultures and being a tourist in her own city. 


Sherree DeCovny, co-chair of the FWA’s Marketing & Strategic Communications Committee, spoke with Ariel about her background and her role in helping the FWA ensure sustainability through strong leadership.

Sherree: What’s your professional background, and why you chose to go down that path?

 

Ariel: Originally, I wanted to be a lawyer, so I studied political science at Queens College, City University of New York. I was recruited to the Student Faculty Disciplinary Committee, and I was a student senator for four years. I also lobbied in Albany, set policy and participated in panels to hire some senior leaders at Queens College.

 

However, I took a class called “Personnel,” and I fell in love with HR. I like helping people, and that was the focus of HR at the time. Nowadays, HR is all about organizational change, employee engagement, manager, leader effectiveness and risk management.

 

I’m a continuous learner, so I earned an MS in Human Resource Management and Labor Relations at New York Institute of Technology School of Management. In addition, I recently earned a Diploma in Transformational Coaching from NYU’s School of Human Capital Management, and a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Certificate from University of South Florida, MUMA School of Business.

 

As a young human resources professional, totally engrossed in my job, I knew that if I didn’t develop a network and keep my skills fresh, I would have a problem later on in my career. I joined the New York Chapter of the SHRM and was an active participant for 18 years. I met many people through the multiple functions I performed at that organization. I was voted to the board and ran the Global Human Resources Director Group for 15 years. I organized five thought leadership events a year for 15 years for the most senior global HR professionals in New York. I also served as president-elect for one year.


Currently, I’m on a career break for elder care, but I’m constantly sharpening my knowledge and skills – especially in AI and employment law – so I’m ready to go back into the workforce. As a volunteer, I apply my experience and skills to add value to the FWA’s programs. I also co-lead a weekly executive roundtable with more than 100 executives, facilitating job search and career discussions. This is crucial during these challenging times, helping executives pivot their functional roles and industries.

 

Sherree: How long have you been a member of the FWA, and what was your leadership journey with the organization?

 

Ariel: I’m starting my fourth year as an FWA member, but it feels much longer because I’ve done so much. I joined the organization when I worked at Wells Fargo Advisors, which was a President’s Circle member of the FWA. My first role was to co-lead the Back2Business program, which was designed to help women return to the workforce after a career break. I also joined the Membership Committee because I have a lot of experience in membership and engagement.

 

Within about a year, I had a conversation with several FWA leaders, who thought I would be good candidate for the board. I expressed interest in the Nominating Committee because it focuses on talent and succession planning – a very important HR function. I was elected to the board, and I’ve served as chair of that committee for the last two years. I’m also co-lead for the Pacesetters Leadership Development program.

 

I’m excited by my work at the FWA because I’ve led a team that has contributed to building and retaining our leadership and a pipeline for the future. Putting processes in place to ensure that we’re getting the right leadership is very dear to my heart.

 

Sherree: What skills and expertise do you need to be an FWA board member?

 

Ariel: First, you have to be committed to the FWA’s mission and membership. You need to come to meetings with ideas and be prepared to discuss issues and make decisions. Being a good board member is about building trust and relationships. If you say you’re going to do something, you need to actually do it. You’re expected to contribute your skills, experience and connections to further the FWA’s mission. Finally, you need to be an ambassador for the organization to expand our membership and endowment.

 

Sherree: How did you benefit from your FWA experience, both personally and in your career?

 

Ariel: I’m giving back by contributing my HR experience and skills to a community of female leaders currently working in financial services as well as younger women who aspire to have a career in the industry.

 

In addition, the FWA has enabled me to enhance my leadership skills, especially motivating unpaid professionals to accomplish shared goals for a nonprofit.

 

Sherree: The world has changed a lot over the last few years. What are the FWA’s biggest opportunities?

 

Ariel: The FWA is planning to roll out many new initiatives over the next few months to refresh our programs and activities, as well as enhance our leadership and culture. We embrace innovation to lead change in finance, leadership and women’s advancement.

 

Sherree: What career advice do you have for our current and prospective members? How can the FWA help them achieve their goals?

 

Ariel: Make time to build your network both internally at your company and externally. Join the FWA, volunteer on committees and take leadership roles. The FWA needs volunteers who are passionate, dedicated and want to help us grow.

 

Volunteer leadership provides valuable experience to help sharpen your skills and expand your professional network that advance your career and shape the FWA’s future. Many of these positions offer off-the-job-training for on-the-job-growth. Stretch in a collaborative environment, and be prepared for the next level. 

Global Capital Leadership: Rethinking Strategy in an Uncertain World

May 14, 2026
By Sherree DeCovny Back in 1785, Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” The line still resonates today: even the most carefully constructed plans can be disrupted. What ultimately determines success is not perfect foresight, but adaptability and the ability to pivot when conditions change. That lesson was brought into sharp focus for this year’s International Business Conference. Originally planned for the UAE in April, the event had to be completely reimagined when conflict with Iran escalated in February. Months of preparation were set aside, and the format was rebuilt in a matter of weeks. The result was a hybrid approach: a virtual lunch panel on May 5, followed by a half-day in-person gathering in New York City on May 6 — hosted at Akin in partnership with ABANA.co, with hospitality from HE Amna Almheiri and the UAE Consulate in NY — bringing together nearly 100 participants.

Financial Literacy Isn’t Just About Money - It’s About Possibility

April 30, 2026
By Robert Brown The student stayed behind after the workshop. While others filtered out, she walked up quietly and asked for an extra set of materials. Not for herself, but for her mother, who didn’t speak English. She wanted to take the lesson home. That moment says more about financial literacy than any definition ever could. For many young people, the question isn’t just Can I afford this? It’s Do I understand how money works at all? And more importantly, Can I use that knowledge to shape my future? That gap between access and understanding is where confidence is either built or lost. The reality is, most students are never taught these skills in a meaningful way in school. And for many, this is the first time anyone has explained it in a way that actually sticks.

When the World Shifts, You Shift with It

April 23, 2026
For months, FWA Executive Director Alissa Desmarais and I had been building toward something incredible: a six-day International Business Conference in the UAE, complex and high-stakes, the kind of undertaking that requires you to hold a hundred things in your head at once while also holding your team together, your partners together, and yourself together. The FWA has more than 40 years of experience organizing international conferences around the world; what we were doing was not new. But as we stepped into our new roles as the conference organizers, with the support of a great IBC committee, this one felt different. More meaningful, because it was ours. We were proud of what we were creating. And then the world changed around us. I won’t pretend the decision to pivot was easy, because it wasn’t. There is a particular kind of grief that comes not from losing something you already had, but from letting go of something you had worked so hard to build and had not yet gotten to experience. We had to look at the geopolitical reality of the region, at what was happening, at what we could not control, and make a call. The kind of call that no planning document prepares you for. We chose to pivot. On May 5th and 6th, FWA will host the Global Capital and Leadership Forum in New York. A virtual lunch panel, followed by an in-person morning program at Akin, right in the heart of the city. Smaller in scale, yes. But not smaller in purpose. We kept the questions we had always meant to explore: how shifting alliances and energy transitions are redrawing the map of global capital, what resilient leadership looks like in a world that will not hold still, how women are shaping the future of finance across cultures and geographies. Her Excellency Amna Almheiri, Consul General of the United Arab Emirates in New York, will close our forum. The relationship did not end when our plans changed. The dialogue did not stop. It just found a different room. What I have learned from this experience is something I keep coming back to: a pivot is not the opposite of commitment. Done with clarity and care, it is one of commitment’s truest expressions, because it means you care more about the mission than about being right about how you planned to serve it. It means you can look at the people who gave months of real effort to a plan that changed and help them see that nothing they did was wasted, because it wasn’t. It means you can let go of the version of success you had pictured and trust that a different shape can carry the same substance. I think about the women in this community who have had to do this in their own careers and lives. Who had to walk away from something they had built toward for years, not because they failed but because the world shifted and they were honest enough to shift with it. That takes courage. It takes the kind of steadiness that is very easy to admire from the outside and very hard to practice from the inside. The forum is still taking shape. The work continues. And I am proud of what we are making, not in spite of how we got here, but because of it.

SAVE THE DATE: Global Capital & Leadership Forum

April 9, 2026
The MENA Capital Landscape: Risk, Resilience & the Road Ahead May 5–6, 2026 Join the Financial Women's Association for a timely conversation on sovereign capital, energy transition, AI, and the geopolitical forces reshaping global finance. When our UAE trip was cancelled, we immediately looked for ways to bring the experience to our community here in NYC - this forum captures the spirit, substance, and strategic importance of that journey. Registration details coming soon - save the date on your calendar now! Virtual Lunch Panel · Tuesday, May 5 In-Person Morning Program in New York City · Wednesday, May 6 One registration. Two experiences. One conversation.
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