Orange County has lost one of its top female executives as Jodi Rolland, former regional managing director for Merrill Lynch & Co., has taken a promotion at the company’s Denver office.
Rolland now is one of six division directors for the investment bank’s 65,000 employees, and the only woman in that position.
“There’s not much further up I can go from here,” Rolland said in a phone interview from Denver.
Rolland spent three years as the regional managing director for Merrill in Newport Beach, overseeing 800 employees in 20 offices across Southern California.
Brett Thelander takes over as regional manager in Newport Beach after being promoted from the Merrill’s Cleveland office.
Merrill is county’s largest stock brokerage, offering financial advice and other services to individuals and businesses.
Thelander’s title is one of 27 in the company. He’ll oversee managers in OC, San Diego and Palm Springs.
Thelander, 42, has been with Merrill for 14 years and spent the past two years as a managing director in its Cleveland office.
He got his first job with the Merrill in his hometown of Denver, and later moved up the company ranks while working in Oklahoma.
For more on this story, see the March 17 edition of the Business Journal.
