Over the past year, Shundrawn Thomas’ top priority has been trying to get more sleep. No wonder. Husband and father of two teenage sons, Thomas is involved in his church and active in alumni affairs at his alma mater, Florida A&M University (an HBCU), as well as in the Toigo Foundation, which fosters career advancement for underrepresented talent. He runs marathons, writes books (he’s already published four), and also has a day job, leading Northern Trust’s global asset management business. Thomas says a pivotal experience growing up on Chicago’s largely black South Side was attending a magnet high school that attracted a variety of students from all over the city. An internship at Arthur Andersen led to an accounting major in college, then to jobs at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs and an MBA from the University of Chicago, whose flexibility allowed him to work full-time and also run the company he created to publish his books.
At Chicago-based Northern Trust, Thomas has sponsored Hispanic and women leadership programs and established a program that sends trades to minority, disabled and veteran brokers. His motivation for expanding diversity and inclusion? “When you bring out the best of who people are, it’s a phenomenal thing.”
— Evan Cooper