Banking in the Bay Area feat. Danielle Conkling ‘09

Owl Have You Know

While most high school graduates spend the summer hanging out with friends or working at local amusement parks, Danielle Conkling was interning in downtown San Francisco with the PR and events team at Robertson Stephens. And she’s been working in the banking industry ever since.

Danielle is the director of corporate social responsibility and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and serves as the ESG program lead for Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Her unique role at SVB combines her passion for giving back to the community with her extensive experience in advising entrepreneurs and leaders in the innovation economy. Based in Menlo Park, California, her leadership of ESG efforts advances the sustainability and ethical impact of the company’s investments and operations.

Giving back both on and off the job, Danielle is a regional board advisory member of BUILD, which provides entrepreneurial experience to young people in under-resourced communities, and of Girls Leadership, a nonprofit organization whose workshops and training programs equip young girls to develop the power of their voices.

She chats with host Scott Gale ‘19 discuss her start in the world of finance and banking, getting acclimated to Houston and its weather as an out-of-towner, the future of ESG, and her travels with her family.

Read more about how Rice Business ranks #6 for best MBA for finance (Princeton Review).

Episode Quotes:

Reducing costs and creating efficiencies through ESG investments

31:21 - The investments in ESG actually allow companies to also reduce costs and create efficiencies over time. But again, that takes time. And a lot of it's new. So, there's that time that you need to kind of build it and then roll out and implement a lot of this work. And then, to realize the benefits also takes time. You know, I think most companies are just beginning that work right now.

On what she really learned at Rice

15:37 - I learned a lot about how to think and how to develop leadership skills and strategies in business beyond the more tactical work that you do. I realized that so much of the MBA program for me was really learning from my friends and my professors.

Maintaining friendships with cohort for years after leaving

14:56 - When we graduated, having those relationships where we all went off and reconnecting, how many years later and still having that commonality and that relationship to one another, and really those memories is, I think it's really special. For me, that's really what I got out of it.

On being pregnant in the final months of her program

18:58 - I was able to graduate. And my son, who's now 13 and a half, was able to be there for my Rice graduation. I don't know if that makes him like an honorary owl or something, but he was in my belly and my classmates and my professors were so amazing about the whole thing.

Show Links:

• Transcript

Guest Profile:

• Danielle Conkling on LinkedIn

Listen to OWL entrepreneurs Hassan Panahi, Taylor Ann Adams, and Delaney Berman in this episode titled "Giving Entrepreneurs the Tools to Change the World" here: https://business.rice.edu/owlhaveyouknow-season-3-episode-19