‘ A unique leader’ Synchrony CEO Keane lauded as she prepares for new role
STAMFORD — Many employees at a Fortune 500 company never meet their firm’s CEO.
Dana Randell participated in a town hall meeting with her employer’s top official in the year that she joined Synchrony, the country’s largest private- label credit card provider.
Eight years later, Randell is senior vice president of marketing engagement and excellence. She attributes her career advancement in large part to a supportive and inclusive workplace environment that has been cultivated by the same CEO she met in 2012: Margaret Keane.
Now, Stamford- based Synchrony will try to sustain that culture after this week’s announcement that Keane will step down as CEO and become the company’s executive chairwoman in April. At the same time, Connecticut’s corporate community faces the imperative of developing more leaders such as Keane, the only woman among the chief executives of the 13 Connecticut- headquartered Fortune 500 firms.
“I’ve always been very proud to have a female CEO to work for,” Randell said in an interview. “Margaret has really left a legacy where there’s a strong pipeline of female leaders to reinforce and live the culture.”
Major impact
Keane, 61, has led Synchrony since its inception in 2014, when it held its initial public offering and spun off from General Electric. She previously had worked 18 years at GE Capital, leading its retail card platform.
Today, she is one of about 40 women to serve as a CEO of a Fortune 500 firm. Synchrony ranked No. 170 last year.
“It’s been the privilege of my career to lead the 16,500 dedicated employees who have built Synchrony into the company we are today,” Keane said in an emailed response to Hearst Connecticut Media. “I started my career in a call center and never could have imagined getting to this stage. So I hope that serves as an example of what women can achieve when they want big roles and have the confidence to go for them.”
Throughout Keane’s tenure, Synchrony has earned accolades for its diversity and inclusion initiatives. Among those honors, it ranked No. 5 on Fortune’s mostrecent list of the 100 best workplaces for diversity.
“When we created a standalone company, we wanted to build a strong and caring company that always lives by its values,” she said. “Together with our leadership team and all of our employees, we have done just that — and it’s really one of Synchrony’s key differentiators. Our culture and
values have become the North Star for our company and guide our actions and behaviors every day.”
In response to nationwide protests against racial inequality and injustice, Synchrony last year committed $ 5 million for related initiatives and formed a seniorlevel committee to focus on diversity and equality issues.
At the same time, the company’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has dominated Keane’s agenda. Synchrony employees have worked remotely since last March, and the organization announced last October a policy that will allow them to do so permanently.
“Through the past year, which has been one of the most challenging year I’ve ever experienced in my career, our culture has really made us stronger,” Keane said. “I’m really proud of that.”
Randell said she is impressed by Keane’s commitment to those new initiatives and ongoing ones such as the company’s annual diversity symposium, as well as her engagement with employees through forums such as “Ask Me Anything” calls.
“It would be Margaret in her home office with a cup of coffee saying, ‘ Ask me what you guys want to talk about,’” Randell said. “We talked a lot about the Black Lives Matter movement, social injustice and how to stay safe during a pandemic. That caring, hope and positivity during a time of crisis is what makes her a unique leader.”
From CEO to board leader
In her new position, Keane will lead Synchrony’s board. She is already a director on the 12- member panel, which includes three other women: Olympia Snowe, a former U. S. senator from Maine; Laurel Richie, a former president of the Women’s National Basketball Association; and Ellen Zane, former president and CEO
of Tufts Medical Center and the Floating Hospital for Children.
“I’m excited about my next chapter as executive chair of the Synchrony board, which is also one of the most diverse boards among all Fortune 200 financialservices firms,” Keane said. “There aren’t a lot of women serving as executive chair in the Fortune 500, so I think the role will be a highly visible one for women.”
She will work closely with her successor, Brian Doubles, who has served as Synchrony’s president since 2019 and previously for several years as chief financial officer.
“I’m 100 percent committed to continuing our legacy on diversity and inclusion,” Doubles said. “I’m excited to have Margaret take on the role of executive chair for us. I’ll be able to reach out and continue to get guidance from her.”
Among the 13 Connecticut- headquartered companies on the 2020 Fortune 500 list, Norwalk- based Frontier Communications is the only other that has a board chairwoman.
“Margaret is now going to be the executive chair of our board, and that’s a really momentous thing and something we need to celebrate,” Randell said. “That’s Margaret again being a trailblazer.”
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said she was disappointed that Connecticut would no longer have a female Fortune 500 CEO, but was heartened that Keane was moving into the new position.
“I believe in the future she’s going to have the platform to continue her work with making sure we have qualified and competent women leading Fortune 500 companies, both as executives and as board members,” said Bysiewicz, who is chairwoman of the Governor’s Council on Women and Girls.
Other advocates for women professionals also reacted to Keane’s announcement with a mixture of pride in her accomplishments and sadness about the end of her run as chief executive.
“I was disappointed when I heard she would be stepping down,” said Fran Pastore, CEO of the Stamford- based Women’s Business Development Council. “Synchrony is a financial- services company, and women are not typically at the forefront of that industry, so I think it’s going to be a big loss to the industry. Under her leadership, the company was very focused, directed and generous — and I hope that continues.”
More work to do
Randell said Keane has inspired her to help other women advance in their careers through initiatives such as recruiting at universities and mentoring new hires. Women comprise 63 percent of Synchrony’s workforce.
“It’s not just about benefiting from the opportunities she’s provided and the ways she’s sponsored me personally in my career,” Randell said. “It’s about helping my peers in the same place and pulling up other women.”
Outside the company, the Governor’s Council on Women and Girls is one of the groups that is tackling gender- based workplace inequalities.
In 2019, Bysiewicz and Gov. Ned Lamont invited several companies in Connecticut to join the Corporate Leadership Circle to support the council. Of the 22 CLC firms, Synchrony and nine others have signed the Paradigm for Parity pledge— a nationwide alliance of businesses that have committed to achieving gender parity in their leadership ranks during the next 10 years.
“When I reached out to the other companies, it was a big selling point to them to have a respected company like Synchrony be a part of Paradigm for Parity,” Bysiewicz said. “I feel like Margaret was instrumental in helping the Council on Women and Girls get those other companies on board.”