As vice president of customer service for the equipment finance division at First Citizens Bank, there is no decision Nakeysha Snead makes on any given day that does not center on the long-term success of the business, team or customer base. Whether through introducing new systems and processes to her team members or applying her years of service experience to new challenges, Snead’s people-first mentality has been invaluable to the First Citizens team.

Snead began her career in earnest at a financial services company specializing in prepaid transactions, then sharpened her customer service acumen at a call center, which in turn led her to First Citizens Bank’s equipment finance division. Throughout these experiences, Snead’s commitment to dutifully serving others and stewarding widespread change primed her for her current role and the evolutions she would pioneer.

Over the last year, Snead has assumed a leadership role in the Business User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for its equipment finance customer portal. The call center found itself consistently backlogged and overwhelmed with concurrent client portal issues. In response, Snead and her team developed a triage system that effectively distinguished platform performance issues from user errors, enabling more streamlined and thorough responses. 

Snead’s experience and more recent systematic change both originate from her people-first perspective, striving to set positive examples and effect tangible change to the status quo. Through collaborative operation, boundless curiosity and a belief in uplifting others, Snead’s servant-driven mindset will continue to see her and the First Citizens Bank team through all manner of challenges.