Wanda Felton

Wanda Felton is former Vice Chairman and First Vice President of the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank).  Nominated to the position by President Obama in April 2011 and unanimously confirmed by the U.S Senate, Wanda was nominated in June 2013 for a second term. During her tenure, she voted on approximately $25 billion of financings, spanning global markets and industries. In addition, she traveled extensively to promote the President's National Export Initiative and commercial engagement between the United States and sub-Saharan Africa. Wanda began her career at Ex-Im Bank and returned after a career on Wall Street where, for 15 years, she focused on private equity, providing portfolio management advice to institutional investors, and raising capital. During this time, she directed a significant amount of capital to small and mid-sized companies and helped expand access to capital to companies owned by women and minorities. Wanda was also at the forefront of bringing U.S. institutional capital to post-apartheid South Africa. Other career milestones include the launch of two global emerging markets funds that steered more than $3.5 billion to emerging markets.  She currently serves on the board of The Greenbrier Companies and has served on the boards of numerous philanthropic and arts organizations.

Role: Trustee
Elected to the Board: December 2017
Class Term: 2021
Term Limit: 2025

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.