Valerie Rainford is head of advancing black leaders & diversity advancement strategies at JPMorgan Chase. In partnership with the firm’s operating committee and the head of talent management & diversity, she executes the strategy to attract, hire, retain and advance top black talent at all levels of the organization. 

While maintaining a primary focus on the black community, Valerie takes best practices from the foundational work done to promote leadership and advancement — such as sourcing, campus strategies, and external relations — to other diverse communities in the firm. As a member of the Human Resource Operating Committee and Black Executive Forum, she partners with senior leaders to ensure that critical initiatives are aligned with overall talent management and diversity strategies.

Valerie brings to the role more than 30 years of career experience. Previously, she served f21 years at the Federal Reserve Bank and was the first African American woman to hold a senior vice resident at the firm.

A published author, she penned an award-winning memoir “Until the Brighter Tomorrow: One Woman’s Courageous Climb from the Projects to the Podium.” She is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, a founding member of the Black Women for Black Girls Giving Circle, and co-founder and board chair of Black Women of Influence.

Valerie received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Fordham University.