By Kevin Hunt
I’m often asked, when being introduced, when speaking to new clients or global teams, where I’m from and I proudly respond, born and bred in Odessa, Texas. While the person(s) posing the question may not have heard of Odessa, they are quick to make the connection when I mention “Friday Night Lights.”
Today, New York City is where I’ve called home for the past 17 years and where I’ve been able to navigate the fast-paced world of corporate banking, finance & technology from Midtown Manhattan to Wall Street. I attribute my journey from the caliche-based oil mecca of the West Texas Permian Basin to my parents, Elayne & Walter Hunt, and their quiet, unrelenting determination to create opportunities for their children that they themselves didn’t have growing up during the era of segregation. The education I received in the Odessa School System, I can also attribute as the kick start I needed that helped set me on my career journey as well as just being a curious kid growing up.
My parents, as teachers in Odessa’s ECISD also during segregation, pursued every option and opportunity available to them to ensure that their children had an equal opportunity to get the best education the school system had to offer so that we too, would have an equal chance to achieve success in whatever field we desired. The passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 opened the door and set the stage for my parent’s dreams to become possible. I began my schooling on the Southside of Odessa at Milam Elementary School and like most little boys, fell in love with my 1st Grade Teacher. As difficult as it was for many minorities at the time, and with the passing of the new Civil Rights Legislation, my parents made some bold moves that posed both financial and personal risk, they were able to secure a property in North East Odessa; all in the name of fulfilling their dreams for their children. My brother Daryl, a 6th grader at the time and I a 2nd grader, attended Burnett Elementary School, then on to Nimitz Junior High before finishing high school at Permian.
My brother’s dream growing up, had always been to be a football player and as the natural athlete that he was, he achieved great success during high school, university and in his professional career with the Houston Oilers. My mum often reminded me that as a little boy I was a curious kid and spoke of wanting to be a scientist. I recall my mum reminding me that “Kevin, in this life you can be anything you desire as long as you work hard.” My parents planned and worked very hard to ensure we had a pathway to attend university without financial loans to later worry about, as not all their siblings had the same opportunity to attend university as they had. After graduating from Permian, my mum suggested I enroll in a summer course at UTPB to give me something to do during the post high school summer and it was that first computer programming course that sparked my interest and curiosity in data science. While I continued taking computer classes during my course of study at the University of Houston, I had also developed an interest in writing and went on to earn a degree in Journalism. After graduating university, I was fortunate to land a job in the field of technology working for Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in Dallas TX, founded by the late and one-time presidential candidate H. Ross Perot; it was this opportunity that momentarily put my thoughts of writing career on hold but set me on a trajectory for a career in systems technology and data.
The experience at EDS taught me how to understand data, its usage as well as the internals of the systems, system components and how data is integrated, processed, and stored. I was able to further advance my career in my next role at Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco CA where I was catapulted into the world of banking and finance. I was writer by education that learned data science and now was leaning in to learn how it was applied in financial arena. My data, systems and financial experience brought forth several other opportunities in San Francisco at Charles Schwab, CSAA Insurance and the start of a consulting career that allowed me to travel the US and abroad. I was surprised to find that during my travels and working within several fortune 100 firms at the time, that I was one of a few if not the only black face on the team or in leadership; again, leading many to ask that initial question, “where I’m from”. On one occasion while working with a client in Portland, Oregon, and one of the senior managers asked if I had been in the military, based on what they deemed as my commanding presence; I laugh inside when I think it was simply a level of confidence my parents instilled in my brother and I growing up and to always show up like you own the place.
I landed my first role in New York City after two years of traveling as a consultant. The new role allowed me to further my understanding and exposure to the various financial markets trading instruments including derivatives, options, bonds etc.; it was also my first exposure to learning about trading algorithms that manage and monitor stock market trade processes, pricing, volume etc. In my first senior manager role in the New York market, I began to apply my writing skills from university to write summary reports and advisory recommendations, and soon realized that combined with my expertise in data, systems, and finance, I was able to tell/convey a compelling story (The What, The Why and The How) in writing with factual data to support my recommendations that provided enough influence to sway the decision making of many of the senior leaders and executives. The ability to consume, analyze and communicate factual data in a meaningful, informative, and compelling way, is a key contributing factor in decision making, risk assessment and regulatory management across every industry.
In a city of 8.5 million residents, I’ve been able to navigate my career from firms in Midtown Manhattan to Wall Street working and managing teams around the world while working my way from Project Management directing 1 or 2 teams into Program & Portfolio Management roles requiring me to focus on the efforts of 11, to as many as 32 teams collaborating on a large effort. My journey in New York City has allowed me the pleasure of working for some of the most well-known, premier firms such as AIG International, Allianz Global Investors, PIMCO Investors, METLIFE, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.
I joined Morgan Stanley as a Sr. Program Manager after its acquisition of E*Trade in 2020 for a great opportunity to help manage the migration of the 17 million E*Trade customer brokerage accounts valued at over $9 billion dollars onto the Morgan Stanley trading platform. However most recently, I was recruited back to Bank of America, which was my previous home for 7 years, for an even greater opportunity as a Sr. Process Design Executive to help design and implement a new Management Office where I will work to determine and define new systems, processes as well as best practices that will support the daily operations of the firms trading desk in a better, faster more efficient manner.
If it were not for my parents’ determination, inspiration, work ethic examples as well as for the dreams they had for their children to achieve and fulfill something more and/or greater than what they had achieved, I still wonder what path I would have chosen. If it were not for all the teachers in the Odessa School System and training opportunities that helped me to build the solid set of skills that has allowed me to accomplish this world of corporate banking, finance & technology, I may have never challenged my own curiosity. Lastly if it weren’t for my life partner, my loving wife who mirrors my mother’s grace, kindness, work ethic and still encourages me to this day, I may not have taken the risks to realize my full potential. I have learned throughout my career that maintaining a level of curiosity, the same curiosity that I had as a little boy, is what cultivates innovation for making things better, faster, and more efficient.
Today, I’m excited and happy to see more and more firms like Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and many other investing in programs that teach minority youth the skills in technology and data while encouraging them to remain curious in life.
Roy T. Bennett once said:
“Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity. The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply. When we listen with curiosity, we don’t listen with the intent to reply. We listen for what’s behind the words.”
Kevin Hunt is a senior process design executive for the Bank of America Corp.
