Episode 79: Darlene Goins, Executive Vice President, Head of Banking Inclusion Initiative at Wells Fargo: Health Wealth, Raise Up A Community

Embrace the Pivot with Dr. Cheryl Robinson

When pivoting, leaning on your community is so important. What happens though if your community is struggling too? It’s time to change your money mindset and help raise up the community. Darlene Goins, Executive Vice President, Head of Banking Inclusion Initiative at Wells Fargo, shares the importance of health wealth and how uplifting up a communities literally change lives.

More about Darlene:

Darlene Goins is executive vice president and head of Banking Inclusion Initiative for Wells Fargo. Launched in May 2021, the initiative is Wells Fargo’s commitment to help more people who are unbanked gain access to affordable, mainstream bank accounts, with a focus on removing barriers to financial inclusion for Black and African American, Hispanic and Native American households, which account for more than half of America’s 5.9 million unbanked households*. Goins leads the overall strategy and cross-enterprise teams building out programs that support and track the progress of the initiative.

Previously, Goins served as head of Financial Health Philanthropy for the Wells Fargo Foundation, responsible for investing Wells Fargo’s resources in national nonprofit programs that open pathways to economic advancement for underserved communities. She led strategic initiatives in collaboration with nonprofits and community stakeholders designed to increase financial inclusion and access, reduce debt, drive savings and wealth-building behavior, and transform systems. Goins joined Wells Fargo in 2016 as head of Hands on Banking®, the company’s award-winning financial education and capability program thathas benefitted more than 12 million youth, adults, seniors, military andentrepreneurs.

Earlier, Goins was a scores executive at FICO, where sheled FICO® Score Open Access, a consumer credit score program that earned accolades from the Obama administration, regulators, and consumer advocacy groups, among others. She also held leadership positions at analytic-based software companies Nomis Solutions, First Data Corporation, and ALI Solutions.

A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and active community leader, Goins is based in San Francisco and currently serves on the boards of national nonprofits Prosperity Now, the BAI and the American Bankers Association Foundation, where she is vice chair. She also serves as treasurer of the San Francisco Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., and on the Marin County Priority Setting Committee. Goins was named Diversity Woman Magazine’s Class of 2023: Elite 100 Black Women Leaders in Corporate America and in 2022 one of San Francisco Business Times Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in Engineering-Economic Systems (now the Department of Management Science) from Stanford University.