Drawing on black experiences to make an impact

Women empowerment, philanthropy, being able to bring people along on the journey and shared victories are some of the core factors that have made Arlene Isaacs-Lowe so passionate about her new role as global head of corporate social responsibility and president of The Moody’s Foundation.

“It was actually a role that was developed for me because, initially, the ask was for me to be president. But given my tenure in Europe and outside the US, it was clear to me that what was going to be a long-term need for success in any company was its ability to really think about the overall environment it was operating in,” Isaacs-Lowe explained.

“Since I have a financial and operating business background, it was also clear to me that we weren’t necessarily telling the story of how our products and services really help to advance the communities that we operate in,” she added.

“There was a story to be told, but there was an expansion of that story if we were strategic around how we intersect it and what we are passionate about when we utilise the products, services and skill sets of our employees.”

Isaacs-Lowe formed part of a curated delegation of American executives who visited South Africa in the week of Madiba’s 100th birthday celebration for the Leadership For Life business summit. She spoke of the importance of black people joining hands and collaborating globally to break barriers in society aimed at holding back women.

“From a global perspective, black women have accomplished an incredible amount with little, and if we think about harnessing that power collectively I think we can be unstoppable.

“This isn’t about the US business executive telling people what to do here, it is truly learning from each other because we are probably more similar than we are different.

“But the differences in our journeys, if we can share that knowledge, we will be incredibly impactful,” she said.

The Jamaican-born philanthropist has been recognised with industry honours. The Financial Times has named her one of the Top 100 most influential black, Asian and minority ethnic leaders.

Women in Banking Finance recognised her with an award for achievement for her ability to merge business and financial acumen with a commitment to philanthropy.

Isaacs-Lowe wouldn’t have had a career in the accounting arena had it not been for her career guidance counsellor in school steering her in the right direction.

She said her family migrated to the US when she was 10 and she became the first person in her family to go to college because of the drive instilled in her to get educated.

It has always been her dream to call the shots, and this motivated her to keep studying until she was in a position where she was a decision-maker.

“I then realised that for me, at least, I felt that accountants reported on the decisions of others and I wanted to be in the decision-making seat, so I went back to school to get an MBA in finance, and I decided I would focus on real estate because that was a tangible asset class,

“Then I worked at MetLife for some time and really honed my skills there and then the entrepreneurial bug got hold of me. Myself and some colleagues left the firm to form a boutique real estate investment advisory firm.

“That was an interesting experience but one that was incredibly helpful in terms of learning what it takes to run an entire business and that really also helped to shape my career.

“After five years we were marginally successful, but we decided that we were going to sell the company and go back into corporate life and, at that point, I joined Moody’s to help them build their real estate finance rating franchise.

“That was a really great decision on my part because initially I thought I would be at the company for a couple of years, learn about capital markets, leave, and then go off to Wall Street and make real money,” she said.

However, she decided against the move because her philosophy and that of Moody’s were in alignment.

“What I actually found was the culture of the company was really aligned with my philosophical ideas about integrity and the sense of being academically robust intellectually. So I ended up building a career there.

“I’ve been at Moody’s for 20 years. This is my 20th year, but over that 20-year period I’ve had the good fortune of having eight different roles.

I started as an analyst, moved to run the commercial operations in the US, first for banking for public finance and for US financial institutions.”

She said after 20 years with the company, one of the things she appreciated was its support for her philanthropic efforts.

“Throughout my career, I’ve served on non-profit boards because, given my background and where I came from, it’s incredibly important for me to give back.

‘“I think it’s a duty for those of us who have risen to be able to provide the same kind of guidance and resources that were afforded to us.

“I often say a quote from the Bible: ‘To whom much is given, much is required’, and I truly believe that,” she said.

The Sunday Independent