Committed to continually making strides in her long career alongside making the world more peaceful, Sattie Persaud is a senior foreign exchange (FX) treasury manager with Otis Elevator Co., in Farmington, Connecticut, a Global Goodwill Ambassador, and the founder of World Heritage Cultural Center Inc. Ms. Persaud is determined that all aspects of her life work seamlessly together. Thus, she uses her expertise and day job as a senior FX treasury manager to fund her nonprofit and many other vital obligations.
At Otis Elevator Co. since 2019, Ms. Persaud and another employee who reports to her are responsible for trading operations, which involves a monthly netting process wherein foreign subsidiaries submit their trading requests in different currencies as part of the program worth about $4 billion. Finding her role interesting and engaging because it involves friendly trading, Ms. Persaud works closely with the treasury services team, maintains foreign trading, deals with banks, manages commercial paper and investments, and ensures that funding requirements are met. Further, she diligently handles urgent matters and is always on call even during holidays.
Among a string of exceptional career accomplishments at different companies, saving them tens of millions of dollars, one of Ms. Persaud’s most admirable achievements occurred at Otis during a major project in which the company split from United Technologies Corporation. During that time, Ms. Persaud was training four new people while simultaneously working on the split for more than 20 hours a day, every day, for nearly eight months, which Ms. Persaud recalls was extremely challenging but rewarding. The Otis chief executive officer recognized her hard work, and she received the company’s highest Split Award. Outside of the office, Ms. Persaud was also named among the elite 24 Women of Indian Descent in the U.S. and presented with the Woman of Substance Award by Business View. She credits her success to her unwavering discipline, dedication, and her ability to seize every opportunity that comes her way.
Founded in 2005, Ms. Persaud’s nonprofit organization, World Heritage Cultural Center Inc., aims to promote peace through the arts. She and her team are striving to create a society where people can contribute to humanity by using performing, visual, and culinary arts. Despite having no funding or connections, in 2009, her organization produced a concert in Westchester County in New York intending to have seven countries on stage, yet they ended up with 21 countries and received copious media coverage. Since then, they have been producing the entertainment stage for the National Geographic Travel Show, and their portfolio has grown to include more than 850 cultural groups they work with nationally and globally and who donate their performance time. The goal of World Heritage Cultural Center Inc., says Ms. Persaud, is to have its headquarters in the United States and create chapters across the country and the world. The organization is central to her aspirations, and through it, she seeks to teach about different cultural values and customs, promote understanding, and create a space where people can have conversations about love and respect without the interference of religion or politics.
Prior to her current roles as a senior FX treasury manager, an ambassador, and head of a nonprofit – for more than two decades, Ms. Persaud held a litany of key financial positions at United Technologies, Robert Half Finance & Accounting, Patriot National Bank, Darien Rowayton Bank, Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc., UBS, and IBM. She holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Pace University. Moreover, Ms. Persaud studied screenwriting, completing coursework at the New York Film Academy. In 2005, she wrote a novel about her family’s history, is in the editing process, and plans to publish the book in 2024. She hopes to use her screenwriting skills to turn her novel into a movie and has already made many Hollywood and Bollywood friends through her nonprofit work.
Born in South America and of Indian descent, Ms. Persaud speaks English, Dutch, and moderate Hindi. She never forgets that she hails from a place where women were not allowed to attend school until just two decades ago. Girls were married off at 13 and became grandmothers by age 26, she recounted. Yet, Ms. Persaud says she was always determined to break past molds and excelled “far beyond the third grade” to earn a degree. Keeping her roots top-of-mind is what has kept her poised and motivated her to take advantage of every positive opportunity.
