Avenger of the Week | Stacey Cunningham, President and COO of the NYSE Group

Stacey Cunningham (right) at Fortune's Most Powerful Women 2017 Summit. Photo credit: Fortune Conferences [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0], via Flickr (cropped).

For the very first time in over 200 years, a woman is president of the NYSE Group. Stacey Cunningham started her career at the NYSE as a summer intern, and, as of one of only a few women among thousands of men, she worked her way up the ladder of a notoriously male-dominated industry, even after taking a brief leave to train as a chef. Upon being asked about spending so much time in workplaces dominated by men, Cunningham stated that she “never acted as though there was a question as to whether or not I should be where I was.” Her statement left us wondering: is it a coincidence that the Fearless Girl statue is being moved to face the NYSE building? We think not.

Original fearless girl @stacey_cunning is having a great week! Not only has she been named the first woman president of the @NYSE but she’s also @GenderAvenger’s #avengeroftheweek. #genderavenger https://www.genderavenger.com/blog/avenger-of-the-week-stacey-cunningham