Donna Sims Wilson is the president of Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors, L.P., a $6 billion investment management firm in its 28th year of operation. Wilson is responsible for business development, marketing and client relations. She also works in conjunction with the chairman and CEO on new product development and short and long-term strategies for the firm. She serves on the firm’s executive committee, investment policy committee and the board of directors.
Wilson has 30 years of financial service experience, including formerly serving as executive vice president of Castle Oak Securities, L.P. a leading New York-based boutique investment bank where she also served on the management committee of the firm. Previously, she was president of M.R. Beal & Company and was a founder and managing director of Loop Capital Markets. Wilson was a vice president at Bear Stearns where she sold mortgage-backed securities and started her career as an analyst in corporate finance at Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb.
Wilson currently serves as chair of the board of the National Association of Securities Professionals, a trade organization of minorities and women who work on Wall Street. She is a member of the board of directors of the Greater Houston Partnership and the United Way of Houston. She is also a member of the Economic Club of Chicago. Wilson is a past chair of the board of the Kohl Children’s Museum of Greater Chicago, a former member of the board of trustees of the John G. Shedd Aquarium and a former member of the board of directors of the CFA Society of Chicago.
Wilson has received numerous industry awards including the 2012 Women of Wall Street Industry Trailblazer Award by Traders Magazine and the Joyce Johnson Award by The National Association of Securities Professionals. She was named One of the Most Powerful Women in Business by Black Enterprise Magazine and an Influential Black Woman in Business by The Network Journal. Wilson was also a Chicago United 2009 Business Leader of Color. She is a frequent speaker at financial service industry events, has testified before the U.S. Congress on laws relating to diversity and has often moderated issue forum “Brain Trusts” for the Congressional Black Caucus. She has spearheaded the enactment of legislation that increased business opportunities for minority- and women-owned financial services firms and appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box and C-SPAN discussing issues of diversity and inclusion in the business of the economic recovery.
Wilson received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Yale University.
Donna Sims Wilson
President
Smith Graham Investment Advisors
600 Travis, Suite 6900
Houston, TX 77002
713-292-2108
https://smithgraham.com/
dswilson@smithgraham.com
