MCWT Names Flagstar CIO Jennifer Charters its new President

SOUTHFIELD, Feb. 2, 2021 – The Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation has named Jennifer Charters its president for 2021. Charters is executive vice president and CIO of Flagstar Bank and replaces Melanie Kalmar, corporate vice president, CIO and chief digital officer at Dow, who led the organization throughout 2020. Rajani Sinha, head of end user services and executive support at Stellantis, will assume the role of vice president.

Under Kalmar’s leadership, MCWT strengthened its programs that reach women professionals, including additional mentoring opportunities, a leadership clinic and a resurgence of virtual monthly professional development sessions. The organization also expanded its community partnerships with like-minded nonprofits, such as the Women’s Security Alliance, National Center for Women and Information Technology, and Grand Circus.  

Charters will continue to build on these programs and collaborations to support and engage women in technology across the state, while growing the scholarship fund, adding student ambassadors to the MCWT board of directors and further broadening the reach of virtual programming.   

Charters has been engaged with MCWT for the last five years, most recently as vice president. At Flagstar, she provides overall executive leadership and strategic direction for its IT organization, including the delivery of technology initiatives and management of IT operations. She spent the 12 years prior at Ally Financial, lastly as the CIO of Corporate Technology, where she was responsible for technology across Ally’s enterprise functions. Charters resides in Northville.  

“Michigan has the potential to be No. 1 in the country for women in technology, and thanks to MCWT, we are on our way,” said Charters. “A priority is to ramp up our partnerships with state, corporate, and community leaders to provide opportunities and training for girls and women to grow their skills and expand their potential in this field.”  

Sinha is a long-time MCWT volunteer with 20 years of IT experience. Prior to her current role leading end-user services and executive support at Stellantis, she spearheaded global vehicle quality initiatives and implemented strategic technology solutions for the company’s supply chain, manufacturing and product development departments. Sinha is a past winner of the Pioneer Award at the Women of Color Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics Conference. She resides in Bloomfield Hills. 

“I have been involved with MCWT in various capacities for the past 12 years and strongly believe in the organization’s mission to make Michigan the No. 1 state for women in technology to thrive,” said Sinha. “Being named vice president is an honor, and I look forward to using this platform to inspire young girls and women to pursue STEM careers and be champions for others in their communities.” 

Charters and Sinha will serve a one-year term alongside the MCWT board of directors. Chris Rydzewski continues as executive director.  

About MCWT 

The Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation strives to inspire and grow girls and women in technology fields, with a vision to make Michigan the No. 1 state for women in technology. The organization supports Michigan’s female IT workforce, students, corporate partners, schools and the overall community with networking, learning, mentoring, and technology experiences for professionals and students. Find more information at mcwt.org and connect via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. 

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Editor’s note: Headshots of Charters, Sinha and Rydzewski can be found at mcwt.org.