Wells Fargo named Jenny Flores as lead of its small business growth philanthropy and company veteran Darlene Goins as head of financial health philanthropy. Both will be based in San Francisco.
Flores and Goins will report to Brandee McHale, president of the Wells Fargo Foundation, who oversees Wells Fargo’s new philanthropic strategy focused on solving three societal challenges: housing affordability, financial health, and small business growth.
“As we continue to transform our philanthropy, these highly respected industry leaders will advance Wells Fargo’s commitment to unlocking economic opportunity and helping people succeed financially,” said McHale. “Supporting the growth of small business is critical to job creation, and empowering low-income households to build wealth is how we help people reach their full potential. Jenny and Darlene bring seasoned expertise and a sense of urgency to finding new solutions and driving innovation at scale in their respective areas.”
Flores will be responsible for shaping the company’s small business growth philanthropy aimed at helping entrepreneurs access capital and technical assistance to expand their impact on the economy and ability to provide jobs.
She has more than 20 years of experience overseeing philanthropic investments, employee engagement and corporate citizenship initiatives. Most recently, she was head of community affairs and corporate social responsibility at Bank of the West, where she led the company’s strategy for small business engagement and impact. Prior to Bank of the West, Flores spent a decade in community development at Citigroup and held roles at the Congress of California Seniors, Greenlining Institute and in the California State Legislature.
Goins will oversee grant-making and collaborative efforts with nonprofits to expand financial health programming that will help households maximize income through positive financial behaviors and planning designed to increase savings, reduce debt and improve credit scores.
Goins has more than 20 years of experience leading strategic initiatives that drive business and societal impact, including building long-term financial health for underserved communities. At Wells Fargo, Goins led strategy and innovation around the company’s award-winning Hands on Banking, a free, bilingual program that has provided education and resources to more than 9 million youth, adults, seniors, veterans, entrepreneurs and people with disabilities. Previously, Goins held a variety of leadership roles at credit scoring company FICO. She also held management positions at Nomis Solutions, First Data and Austin Logistics.
