Gail Snowden

We were on our way to an interview with Gail Snowden, Vice President of Fleet Boston, and were nervous as ever to meet this top ranking corporate official. We stepped into the Fleet Boston building and were amazed by the high level of security. On the elevator, we felt our ears pop, almost like a ride in an amusement park. With relief, we stepped out onto the soft carpet of the 25th floor. The extravagance of the offices and corridors and expensiveness of the decor and furniture left a lasting impression on us.

Only a few minutes after we were directed to a conference room, Gail Snowden entered the room. We each introduced ourselves and began the interview soon after. Gail was well spoken and eloquent. As she answered our questions, her story unfolded before us.

Gail Snowden grew up in Roxbury, where she was brought up by community activist parents. As a child, Gail looked up to her mother and grandmother. Her mother was a feminist and took Gail to meetings where women were leaders. Gail misses the "sense of community" and cohesiveness her neighborhood gave her. As social workers, her parents started Freedom House , an organization devoted to promoting the long- term, sustainable economic and social development of Boston's communities of color, in 1949. As a child, she spent time in Freedom House taking in the experiences and ideas of her parents. She met remarkable people, such as Martin Luther King Jr. Gail left her "exciting" childhood with feelings of wanting to give back to the community.

Gail received a scholarship and attended a private girls school in Littleton, New Hampshire, Latin School. As the only black person in this school, Gail felt lonely, but also felt she had to prove herself as a person of color and give a good representation of African Americans. However, she did not let her loneliness get the best of her; she got involved and took on leadership roles in school. Her experiences would prepare her for the road that lie ahead.

Gail's aspiration was to become a social worker like her parents and take over Freedom House. She attended Radcliffe College, majoring in Sociology. While there, she met someone special and married him her senior year. Her husband got drafted and was required to go to Germany. At this point, Gail wanted to be a housewife and live with her husband in Germany. As a lesson, her father sent her to Germany for two weeks. At the end of this trip, Gail did not like the life of a soldier's wife. After she graduated college, she lived in Germany with her husband for one year. For the next five years, Gail supported her family while her husband went back to school. On November 12, 1968, Gail started her job at what was then known as the First National Bank of Boston, which her father helped her get. In 1973, Gail had a daughter, and only took 3 months off to care for her baby. Her job did not give the convenience of having a family and working at the same time.

Knowing she had avoided math and using quantitative skills in college, Gail went back to school, Simmons College, in order to gain analytical skills. She knew this would help her achieve more in life.

Gail's own desire to be successful, competitive, a leader, and "have power," influenced her to move so far in life. She took charge of her own career; Gail moved up the ladder from being a lending officer to working in Human Resources. She wanted a job which helped more women and people of color have positions. Six years later, she became the head of the Loan Officer Development Program. She was the first woman of color to have such a job. She describes herself as being a "risk-taker" when in 1990 she went to the head of the bank to request being part of a program which gave back to communities. This was when she was appointed the Head of Fleet Community Bank, a job where she could give back to communities such as the one she had grew up in. One of the many jobs, Gail is responsible for now is to run the Community Reinvestment Act, which provides business for all communities and banking services to all bank branches. When asked about her achievements, Gail told us that raising a daughter successfully was her greatest achievement along with running Fleet Community Bank.

As to whether her job involves science at all, she answers that it involves analysis and math. She deals with a lot of management science and statistical analysis. Gail regrets avoiding math and science when she was younger, because she now knows that she could have gotten where she is now faster if she had such skills. She says that math and science are important for one's background. As for her goals, Gail never thought she would reach such a high position, but she continues to set goals for herself such as running foundations and being on external boards. She believes that there are still challenges to be met regarding racism and sexism. In her closing words, Gail taught us that not being great at one thing does not mean you will not be successful in life, it just means that you have to work harder for your goals. Meeting Gail was inspiring and motivating and as we left we all thought about working towards our goals as her words echoed in our heads, "The world has so much potential."