Synovus Financial Corp. announced the appointment of Meredith Forrester as executive vice president and chief audit executive, effective September 8th. She was most recently business, strategy and operations leader at Truist, following more than 15 years of leadership in risk management and audit at SunTrust. Forrester succeeds Steve Sawyer, who will retire after 41 years of service, including 18 years as chief executive auditor.

“Meredith is a highly experienced audit and risk management executive, with a strong record of leading transformational initiatives and high-performing teams,” said Kevin Blair, president and CEO of Synovus. “Under Steve’s leadership, and in conjunction with the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, Synovus has built a robust and independent audit function, and we couldn’t be more excited for Meredith to build on Steve’s great work. We are so grateful to Steve for four decades of quiet and steady service, and we congratulate him on a well-earned retirement.”

Forrester joined SunTrust in 2000 and was appointed managing director, internal audit, in 2011; senior managing director, internal audit, in 2015; and deputy general auditor in 2019. Following the merger of SunTrust and BB&T, she was named business, strategy and operations leader at Truist, where she functioned as chief operating and administrative officer for Legal, HR, and Inclusion and Diversity.

Forrester earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Georgia and an MBA from Georgia State University.