“It is extremely important to highlight African Americans in the investment community so that younger generations of talent see a broad and seasoned representation of investment professionals,” Dekia Soctt said in a statement on the CFA Institute’s internal news website.
Scott has led by example. Since joining Southern Co. in 2000, she has taken on greater responsibilities as CIO of the company pension plan but also as vice president of trust finance, overseeing roughly $14.8 billion in total assets. That latter title also includes responsibility for assets of charitable foundations within the parent company: Georgia Power Foundation, Southern Company Charitable Foundation and Southern Company Gas Charitable Foundations.
Scott’s influence extends well beyond investing. She is a board member of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, whose goals include providing cost-effective loans to nonprofit and for-profit organizations that seek to improve housing, aid schools in underserved areas and improve incomes for lower-wage workers.
She also is a director of the Council on Alcohol and Drugs, Atlanta, a substance abuse and prevention nonprofit agency organization.
In December 2020, she received the Joyce Johnson Award from the National Association of Securities Professionals, an organization that “assists Black and Brown professionals achieve inclusion in the financial industry,” according to its website.
The Johnson Award, named for the organization’s co-founder, honors those who “make a difference for minorities and women professionals in the securities industry.”
Scott said Spelman College in Atlanta, where she graduated in 1993, helped her navigate her professional path.
“It was during those four critical years that I was introduced to, embraced and cultivated the concept that I am as capable, as valuable, and as powerful as anyone I have ever encountered or will encounter in my future,” she wrote in a commentary published for the 20th reunion of her Class of 1993.
Scott did not respond to requests for an interview from Pensions & Investments.