Cynthia Dibartolo, ESQ

Cynthia DiBartolo,  ESQ. is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tigress Financial  Partners. She guides the overall strategy and direction of the firm where she  has parlayed her extensive corporate and securities experience into a new  generation of financial services firms.    In her professional life, she has 35 years of accomplishment-laden practice  working in finance. She spent more than two decades aligned with Fortune 500  companies, driving achievements in revenue growth, brand expansion and new  offerings. Her ability to set the overall vision and strategy for a company  propelled her career at Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney, Morgan Stanley,  Citigroup and Bear Stearns. Her impressive track record in sales, compliance  and risk management contributed significantly to the firms’ profitability.  Beginning her career as an institutional credit analyst with Bear Stearns,  then as an attorney on Wall Street with Merrill Lynch, Cynthia developed  excellent analytical and problem-solving skills and segued into the role of a  Compliance Director at Smith Barney.    Cynthia earned a coveted position in management within the Private Client  Group at Smith Barney. Upon the integration of Smith Barney and Citicorp, she  transitioned to the bank platform where she surpassed her margin goals with  double-digit returns by taking her sales force “beyond the transactional  cross-sell” and instilling a holistic approach to financial planning.     Cynthia is also credited as the visionary leader behind a joint venture  plan between Smith Barney and Citicorp Investment Services to develop  offerings for the Mass Affluent market segment. She then had the opportunity  to cross back into Risk Management for Citibank and leverage her business,  regulatory and legal knowledge.    In 2009, Cynthia became severely and permanently disabled, after battling  head and neck cancer, precluding her from continuing in her esteemed  corporate career.  In 2011, she founded  Tigress Financial Partners, the nations first and only disabled and  woman-owned financial services firm.   Tigress is a fully licensed investment bank, broker dealer and  registered investment advisor dedicated to the principles of diversity and  inclusion and providing a supportive platform for talented disabled financial  services professionals. Tigress offers Proprietary Research, Investment  Banking, Sales & Trading, Capital Markets, Asset Management and Wealth  Management services.    Cynthia was profiled by Forbes in their CEO Series in an article entitled  “A Tigress in a Shark Tank”. Forbes described Cynthia as "one tenacious  Tigress…her father’s words inspired her to pick herself up from tragedy and  to launch the nation's only disabled and woman-owned financial services firm.  Both the woman and her story are unique, amazing and forcefully  inspiring."    Cynthia is a recognized voice with respect to advancing equality of  opportunity in the financial services sector. She serves as Chairperson of  the Rainbow PUSH Coalition Steering Committee for Financial Services, under  the appointment of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. She is the Founder &  Chairperson of the Diversity Broker-Dealer & Asset Management Coalition,  an advocacy and thought leadership group that strives for best practices in  diversity and inclusion on behalf of all certified Minority,Veteran and Woman  Broker-Dealers & Asset Managers. She serves as Chairperson of the Greater  New York Chamber of Commerce, an organization that provides valuable services  to over 30,000 business and civic leaders who represent the backbone of the  Greater New York business community. She was selected to the Executive Task  Force for The Wall Street Journal: Women in the Economy, a select group of  200 influential CEOs, luminaries and subject-matter experts, chosen to create  a business-based, action plan to address making better use of female talent  to promote economic growth. She is currently Vice President of the Women's  Syndicate Association.    Cynthia was a Business Leader to the White House Business Council for the  Obama Administration. For the past several years, she shared the panel at the  Comptrollers Summit with along with New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli,  and New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer to discuss advancing diversity  and inclusion in financial services.   Cynthia served as a Business Leader for Governor Cuomo’s Ten  Points-Women’s Initiative, which aims to break down barriers to women's full  participation in society and create a positive and sustainable meritocracy in  business.    She served as the leading business advocate for the NYC and NYS Minimum  Wage Increase speaking before the Governor and members of the Senate, as well  as, the Mayor of New York City. As part of her mission, Cynthia provided  Testimony to the Independent Democratic Conference of New York State on the  issue of Campaign Finance Reform.    Cynthia has written numerous op-ed articles that have been published in the  NY TIMES, NY Times Digest and TIMES UNION on “Campaign Finance Reform”,  “Providing Access to Capital for Small Business", “Increasing Minimum  Wage” “Pregnant Workers Fairness Act” and “Women’s Equality”. Cynthia  testified before House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Representative  Carolyn Maloney on Paid Family Medical Insurance Leave. She participated  along with Senator Kristen Gillibrand in the Women’s Economic Empowerment  Summit. Cynthia provided testimony before a Congressional Briefing hosted by  Senator Robert Casey, Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Congressman Jerry Nadler on  Making Pregnancy Discrimination a Thing of the Past: The Pregnancy  Discrimination Act at 35 & the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, as well as,  providing testimony to the Independent Democratic Conference of the New York  State Senate Hearing on “Restoring the Voters’ Trust in New York State Government”.  She was also selected to serve on the Small Business Majority Summit at the  White House. Cynthia also testified at the White House on Campaign Finance  Reform before the White House Office of Public Engagement and participated in  the White House Leadership Summit along with Valarie Jarrett, Senior Advisor  to the President and Ambassador Robert Holleyman, Deputy United States Trade  Representative with respect to International Trade Policy.    She was former Counsel to Eaton & Van Winkle, LLP and is currently on  the Board of Consultors for Villanova University, Charles Widger School of  Law. In 1980, Cynthia was named a Congressional Nominee to West Point  Military Academy. She attended Wagner College where she was given an Academic  Scholarship, graduating with Honors with a Bachelor of Arts in Political  Science and Theatre and went on to earn a Juris Doctorate from Villanova  University, School of Law. She holds FINRA Series SIE, 7, 24, 63 and 99. She  was admitted to the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut State Bars.    (646) 780-8889    cdibartolo@tigressfp.com