I never planned to become a Compliance Officer. My path began in banking, shifted into risk management, and eventually brought me to compliance. What convinced me to stay was the realization that my work could solve real problems that affect real people.
That conviction traces back to where I come from. I grew up in a small rural community where many families are unbanked and underbanked. I saw how that lack of access narrowed opportunities and added stress to daily life.
Stepping into compliance gave me a way to serve communities like the one that raised me. By ensuring that rules are followed and institutions act with integrity, I can protect the people who are often invisible in conversations about financial access.
About the Author
Erica Curry is a senior risk and compliance leader with expertise in governance, issues management, and regulatory engagement at a Fortune 50 financial institution who previously worked at Wells Fargo and Citigroup. She has served on the American Bankers Association Regulatory Compliance Conference Advisory Board, is an active member of the National Association of Black Compliance & Risk Management Professionals (NABCRMP), and has previously served as NABCRMP’s membership and professional development chair.
Building a Foundation in Risk
My first deep dive into risk management gave me the tools I still use every day. It taught me to dissect systems, analyze where they might break, and design safeguards to keep them steady. I learned to zoom out for patterns and zoom in for details, and to treat each finding as an opportunity to strengthen the system.
That mindset made the move into compliance feel like the natural next step.
Compliance puts all those skills into motion. It demands decisions under pressure and constant collaboration across functions. It requires translating complex regulations into actions that influence human behavior. Risk taught me to see what could go wrong. Compliance empowers me to stop it before it happens. That shift transformed what began as a career experiment into a personal mission.
A Profession Rooted in Purpose
Compliance shapes the integrity of organizations. Every control represents a commitment to fairness. Every exam response reveals the organization’s character. Every hard conversation is a chance to protect customers and preserve trust.
I have seen what happens when compliance fails. Trust erodes, customers suffer, and institutions struggle to recover. I have also seen how strong compliance programs rebuild credibility and reassure people that their trust was not misplaced. That contrast fuels my commitment to this profession.
Service Through Safeguards
To me, compliance is a form of service. The technical work matters, but the purpose runs deeper. Each safeguard is a promise: that the system will protect people, operate responsibly, and live up to the trust placed in it.
That promise matters to me because I know what it looks like when the system overlooks people. I know what it means when someone can’t walk into a branch, open an account, or get a fair chance to build credit. My work creates guardrails, so those barriers don’t persist. It makes space for people who have been historically left out to participate fully and safely in the financial system.
Why I Stay
I became a compliance officer to make that kind of access possible. I stay because the work demands the values I hold closest: clarity, courage, and accountability. This role requires the discipline to get the details right and the conviction to speak the truth even when it is uncomfortable.
Much of what we do happens quietly, behind the scenes. The results are rarely celebrated, but they matter. They matter to the customers who depend on us. They matter to the institutions that carry the public’s trust. And they matter to the girl I once was, growing up in a small rural town, hoping someone somewhere was building a system that would include her too.
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