Zindy Arias Leads by Example

JPMorgan Chase & Co’s Zindy Arias shares how she hopes to inspire other Afro-Latinas and Caribbean women to follow in her footsteps

Photo by Denzel Jones

By Noah Johnson

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

In just seven years, Zindy Arias, an Afro-Latina born in the Dominican Republic, went from being an early career analyst to a vice president at JP Morgan Chase. Today, she serves as senior program manager for the WePay service, is responsible for driving the success of cross-functional initiatives and projects and hopes to inspire other women to follow in her footsteps.

She reflects on her journey to the US, to her leadership seat, and her aspirations for the future.

What do you do today?

Drive the planning, prioritization and execution of various complex cross-functional initiatives across WePay and Chase onboarding platforms
Develop, implement and maintain an effective governance process over all phases of product life cycle to enable controlled and timely product delivery
Collaborate closely with product, engineering, compliance and other key functions essential for the WePay products to ensure up-front alignment and the smooth development, launch, delivery, and growth of our products
Develop and nurture productive relationships with external third parties/vendors and liaise between those and internal resources for streamlined execution of projects
Develop detailed project plans and the metrics to track and measure project progress and performance and design effective communication methodologies to report on project status, risks management and mitigation plans
Partner with key stakeholders to coordinate operational readiness

What is your greatest career accomplishment to date?

Accelerated career trajectory from analyst to vice president within seven years.

What is your greatest personal accomplishment to date?

Being the first college graduate in my family.

How do you tackle problems and overcome challenges?

My method to tackling problems / overcome challenges is as follows:

Understanding the issue at hand in detail as well as associated risks
Keeping calm in the storm and a positive attitude
Understanding everyone’s roles and responsibilities
Always providing potential alternatives and solutions to the best of my knowledge/ability

Then bring together to discuss a way forward.

What do you do today to impact your community?

Adelante, JPMorgan Chase Hispanic & Latino business resource group, Tri-State Co-Chair

I am a leader within the Adelante BRG because it provides me with the opportunity to play a key role in fostering an environment of diversity for the Hispanic/Latino employees at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Chi Upsilon Sigma National Latin Sorority Inc., Member for 10 years

Joining Chi Upsilon Sigma during my undergraduate years helped shape the person I am today both personally and professionally. I had the opportunity to serve in numerous leadership role as an undergraduate (i.e, chapter president, alumni relations, secretary) and as well as an alumna (i.e., alumni advisor). This organization served as a home away from home as a first-gen navigating the college environment and provided me with opportunity to develop my professional skills before embarking on the journey to corporate America. I have been recently awarded the sorority’s Eternal Flame award for ten years of service and dedication to the organization.

Describe yourself in five words.

Detailed-oriented, methodical, authentic, reliable, passionate.

What are your future goals?

Become a senior leader in Corporate America
Continue to evolve in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space in order to serve communities of color
Invest and/or give back to the Dominican Republic

What is your favorite form of self-care?

I enjoy carving out a day or a few hours during the week to intentionally focus on self-care with activities that can include but are not limited to nature walks, solo dinners, manicure and pedicure, and spending time with loved ones.

What do you like to do for fun when you’re not working?

I enjoy playing volleyball, sightseeing and finding free activities throughout my city, traveling, exercising and reading.

What does making NextGen Collective’s 30 Under 30 list mean to you?

As I say goodbye in 2023 to one chapter of life and enter a new one (thirty years of life), one of the goals that I set for myself this year is to shed more light on the professional and community work that I have been doing for many years with the aim of inspiring others. I am a firm believer of one must see it to be it, therefore making the 30 Under 30 list shows others what can be achieved with hard work and perseverance regardless of your background.

I am hoping through this great achievement that other women of color—particularly Caribbean women—are inspired by my story. As a person who migrated to the US from the Dominican Republic at the age of eight, I never imagined that my life would unfold in this way and that I would have achieved as much as I have in the US before turning thirty years old!