Tech transformation

By Kevin Manne

From there, she earned a spot in M&T Bank’s prestigious Executive Associate program, where she served as an executive associate of corporate procurement before being promoted to manager of traditional third-party risk management.

“My initial career progression was natural for an attorney,” says Tanbakuchi-Ripa. “But after a few years, I had a moment where I asked myself, ‘OK, what do I want to do next?’ and I knew I wanted a role with both community impact and professional growth.”

So, she embarked on the first in a series of what she calls “professional leaps of faith” to take on a technology manager role for the firm, where she led the chief of staff office for M&T’s chief information officer.

“I went on this journey of tech transformation within M&T and leaned heavily into curating a tech and startup ecosystem, ultimately launching the M&T Tech Academy — a program that builds a pipeline for nontraditional, community-based technology talent.”

Her tech-building efforts were so successful that M&T put Tanbakuchi-Ripa on secondment — a three-year assignment to serve as president and CEO of the nonprofit TechBuffalo, where she continued her work to attract, retain and foster technology talent in the area.

Once those three years were up, Tanbakuchi-Ripa says she was ready to return to M&T and a bit of a quieter role following the arrival of her twin baby boys. But when the CEO opportunity at the 43North Foundation arose, she jumped at it.

“There was just no way to say no because of the potential to have transformative impact on the community in terms of how we think about talent, startups, sustaining the momentum we have around our startup ecosystem, and accelerating it for the next generation,” she says.

At the 43North Foundation, Tanbakuchi-Ripa is setting the course to transform Western New York’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, including building the new, 10-year, $100 million Lightning Strike initiative to accelerate the region’s technology-based entrepreneurship.

Through it all, Tanbakuchi-Ripa credits the UB School of Management with shaping her professional approach to collaboration and her personal growth as a leader.

“The LeaderCORE program helped me focus on intentional self-reflection and how that impacts professional development,” she says. “I carried that forward into my professional roles, which has provided a framework to appreciate where I thrive and identify where I need to constructively critique myself.”

That self-reflection has followed Tanbakuchi-Ripa into her CEO roles, where she says there can be an expectation to have all the answers.

“What I’ve learned over the years is that you are only as strong as the team you build and that you are a product of the mentors and the colleagues who have taken the time to provide guidance,” she says. “As a leader, it’s key to build a trusting environment with open communication and continual reflection among your team — you never do it alone.”