Founder, CEO, Strategic Advisor, Award Winning Author and Inspirational Speaker

Valerie Irick Rainford is more than a trailblazing executive; she's a beacon of resilience and leadership. With a remarkable career spanning over 30 years in financial services, Valerie has shattered glass ceilings and inspired countless professionals along the way.

Trailblazer at FRBNY: Valerie's inspiring journey began at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she became the youngest officer and the first African-American female Senior Vice President.

Pioneer at JPMorgan Chase: During her 12 years at JPMorgan Chase, particularly through the financial crisis, Valerie led groundbreaking initiatives, most notably the Advancing Black Leaders strategy, which increased global black executive leadership by over 50% in just three years.

Founder of Elloree Talent Strategies: Valerie now channels her expertise into Elloree Talent Strategies, a consultancy firm focused on Advancing Equity and Diverse Talent.

Bestselling Author & Inspirational Speaker: Beyond her consultancy, Valerie is a bestselling author and highly sought-after speaker on topics such as Success, Resilient Leadership, and Advancing Equity.

Profiled in Best-Selling Leadership Book

PROVOKE: How Leaders Shape the Future By Overcoming Fatal Human Flaws

Valerie Irick Rainford is one of three provocateurs profiled in this BESTSELLING leadership book by Geoff Tuff & Steven Goldbach.

The best leaders have conviction to act–even in the face of uncertainty–in order to “provoke” the future they desire. They are able to identify important inflection points earlier than others and then use actions to shape trends to their advantage rather wait for the change to arrive.

From the national bestselling authors who brought you Detonate: Why- and how- corporations must blow up best practices (and bring a beginner’s mind) to survive authors Geoff Tuff and Steven Goldbach explain why we act the way we do when faced with uncertainty and provide tools to do things differently. Rooted at the intersection between business and behavioral economics, Provoke is applicable to decisions in business, but also across many different aspects of the human experience, teaching people how to provoke as a mechanism to create a better future.

Find it on Amazon.