Every Friday we publish a conversation with a woman building in financial services — founders, operators, investors, and engineers on the work, the obstacles, and what comes next.
Shira Amrany’s career began in development, finance, and strategy within the hospitality industry, where she was drawn to growth-stage companies and the opportunity to build analytics and processes from the ground up. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she decided to learn how to code, adding technical skills to her business background. She later joined Indagari as its fourth employee, where she now helps companies answer critical business questions using consumer transaction data.
Some careers follow a straight line. D’aundra Lewis has been built by intentionally crossing disciplines — from national security investigations to global financial compliance, and now toward the future of fintech. Work with the DIA, DHS, and DCSA gave her deep expertise in risk assessment and financial exposure analysis.
Founded by Adina Fischer, 182 West is built around a fractional model — embedded operations leadership for funds and Web3 companies that need institutional discipline but not a full-time hire. Before founding it she spent more than a decade in equity derivatives operations at Barclays, BTG Pactual, and Wells Fargo.
Alessia Russo is a technology investor at Insight Partners, one of the largest global software investment firms with over $90 billion under management. She designs creative equity structures for high-growth companies at critical inflection points, after working M&A across insurance and financial services at Evercore.
Meitar Landau began her career as a flight simulator instructor in the Air Force, building discipline and confidence in high-stakes environments. She went on to spend three years building go-to-market functions across customer success, sales, and operations at a startup, then founded her own venture in customs brokerage.
Samantha Lassoff works with founders, CEOs, and senior operators navigating complex decisions, growth, and the demands of scale. Her career spans financial services, fintech, and high-growth companies, and her work focuses on helping leaders operate with greater clarity, stronger judgment, and more intentional impact.
Mor’s career reflects the evolution of fintech itself, from strategy and infrastructure to hands-on product and partnership building. She began in strategic consulting, then joined Mastercard Advisors during a pivotal moment for the industry, grounding her work in both analytical rigor and execution.
Hannah joined Melio in 2020 as part of the Payment Operations team, where she spent nearly five years optimizing and scaling payment processes, ultimately leading the department for two of those years. Those early years gave her a deep
“I am an economist by education,” Anna says, a simple statement that reflects the discipline and clarity that have shaped her career. She started at the Swiss National Bank in research before facing a defining choice: pursue a PhD or enter
“I’ve always believed in using data to tell a story,” says Elizabeth Conrad, reflecting on her early days as a Research Analyst. For the first eight years of her career, she was in investment banking, mastering how to extract insights from
Like any typical fresh graduate, Sharon had a solid 1-, 3-, 5-, 10-year mega plan prepared. Naturally, life had its own ideas but in ways far better than Sharon could’ve imagined. She stumbled straight into cybersecurity and fell in love
Alexandra (Ali) Faivus is VP of Revenue at Turnkey, where she has built her career at the intersection of high-growth startups, emerging technology, and mission-driven leadership. She began her career in sales and quickly made her mark
Kim Snyder, CEO and founder of KlariVis, didn’t just witness the data challenges facing community banks, she lived them. After spending over a decade as a CFO in the community banking industry, Kim found herself constantly grappling with
Katrin Kaurov didn’t start her career in finance. She started working at just 14 years old, not in an office, but on international runways. Scouted as a model, she worked across more than 20 countries before turning 18, managing payments
In the world of finance, few journeys are as intentional and impactful as Violet’s. She began her career in structured finance, learning the intricacies of capital markets and how power flows through financial systems. But it didn’t take
Erica began her career on Wall Street, working in Equity Capital Markets at Barclays Investment Bank in New York City. There, while monitoring early-stage companies that had the potential to go public, she found herself increasingly drawn
Stella Li’s path into FinTech wasn’t conventional and that’s exactly what makes it powerful. “I began my professional journey at BILL working in market research after graduating with a psychology degree, where I developed a strong
Sara Schmitt is the COO and co-founder of Adro, a fintech startup in New York that’s reimagining banking for international students, visa holders, immigrants, and foreign business owners. But before building one of the most inclusive
Kelsey’s career trajectory is a testament to the power of embracing change and seizing opportunities. She began her professional journey in financial services, holding various roles such as account management, underwriting, RFP writing
The path to success is rarely a straight line, especially in a fast-moving industry like FinTech. It’s a field that offers opportunities, but also challenges that require resilience, adaptability, and a commitment to growth. For women in
Amanda Estiverne-Colas began her professional career in traditional finance, managing P&L responsibilities at an asset management firm right out of college. Her foundation in finance eventually led her to fintech, where she joined
Not every career journey follows a straight line — and Alexa’s certainly didn’t. She began in the world of fashion, working in product development and production, but soon realized that the fast-paced, high-pressure environment wasn’t
In the world of fintech, where innovation and agility are key, there are women whose leadership and mentorship stand out as a beacon for others to follow. One such leader is Meredith Rowley. Her journey is one of transformation
Ashlyn Lackey began her career with a clear vision: to explore the fintech space and make meaningful contributions. Right after college, she joined the Digital Team at New York Life, where she began her journey in the tech and finance
Agnies began her professional journey in audit before moving into investment banking, where she worked both in Sydney and London. She later joined Microsoft at its headquarters in Redmond, becoming a part of the corporate investor
In a world that constantly evolves, the paths we take in our careers and lives are rarely linear. Some journeys are shaped by ambition, while others are driven by passion, persistence, and the courage to pivot when the time is right.
Dr. Angela Murphy began her career in academic research, earning her Ph.D. and focusing on complex systems and innovation strategies. She soon transitioned into fintech, finding the perfect intersection for her passion for technology and
Annie’s career began as a Software Engineer with Tata Group in India, where she worked with databases and honed her technical expertise. However, her passion for technology soon led her to discover the world of Business Intelligence (BI).
Marcia Tal, a mathematician by training, has excelled in applying her analytical prowess to solve complex problems. During her 25 years at Citibank, she worked in various roles, from risk management to marketing, and eventually rose to
More than $80 trillion moves each year across the traditional payments infrastructure in the U.S. While new technology is available to modernize that money movement, legacy systems, and processes have stalled innovation in the U.S.
Alicia C. Tennell began her career at Franklin Templeton in an entry-level role with the Transfer Agency, handling customer operations. After a year, she transitioned to an Inbound Sales Associate with the US distribution team, where she
Danita has been passionate about finance from a young age, starting when she began reading the NYSE section of the New York Times at just nine years old. After graduating from college in 1999, she joined a “big box” financial firm, where
“Pave your own path. Find areas you’re interested in and continue learning.”
“Don’t wait for someone else’s approval or for a path to be laid out for you; sometimes, you need to carve your own way.”
Growing up in Ghana, Linda was deeply immersed in the world of commerce, often helping her mother sell commodities in the local market. Her father’s remittances from the United States introduced her to the mechanics of cross-border
“When challenges arise, don’t hide behind complexity; go back to the fundamentals to drive clarity and momentum.”
Faye is a career investment banker with a decade of experience, working on over $20 billion in announced transactions across the fintech and financial services sectors. Over the years, Faye engaged with clients across the entire fintech
For the first decade of her career, Jessie was a quantitative specialist, deeply entrenched in the world of finance. She honed her expertise in Equity Derivatives and Fixed Income at Credit Suisse, Citigroup, and Ernst & Young. In 2015
Patricia Yun is Head of Digital Commerce atTD Bank where she leads product development and commercialization for digital payments. She has been in financial services for over 10 years, making the leap from Finance and M&A in the auto and
Paula You is the Chief Operating Officer at Gilgamesh Ventures, an early-stage fintech-focused venture capital fund that has been making strategic investments across the Americas since its inception in 2020. To date, Gilgamesh Ventures has
Klaudette is the Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer for Experian’s Consumer Information Services, where she is focused on helping clients to develop strategy, delivering innovative software solutions, and finding ways to
Ayesha Ofori started her career at Morgan Stanley, where she worked in two different areas, Investment Banking and Real Estate Investing. After several years, she pursued an MBA at London Business School. Upon graduation, Ayesha joined
After graduating with an engineering degree in Computer Science, Anwesha worked as a software engineer for a year before moving to Dallas for her MBA and Ph.D. degrees in Information Systems Management. Her first job out of the program was
Yasmine El-Gohary started her career in the financial industry at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago after graduating with her Masters in Information Systems and Data Analysis. Her time at the Fed enlightened her to the world of Fintech
Aya is a technology investor atNew Enterprise Associates (NEA), a global venture capital firm with over $25 billion in AUM.NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all life cycle stages, from seed through IPO (examples include
Tess is a co-founder ofSpade, where she leads operations, finance, sales, and people teams. Since co-foundingSpade, Tess has grown the company headcount 5X, set up key systems and processes, and helped take the company through its
Akita started her career working with her entrepreneur parents, tackling a multitude of roles from sales and marketing to pricing and logistics. After her MBA, she commenced her journey in consumer banking, building deposit products and
Veronica’s journey in fintech has been filled with a whirlwind of challenges and accomplishments. Her career evolved from operational streamlining to the forefront of sales and business development. At every professional milestone and
Genevieve went into the leadership program at age 22 at the 10th largest bank in the US to learn all aspects of the bank. She chose at the end of the program to begin her career in the payments acquiring line of business, a.k.a. Merchant
As a college student,Rebecca envisioned herself becoming a diplomat, so she started out as an intern for the UK government working for the British Consulate in Los Angeles. After graduating from UCLA, she moved to Northern Italy to teach
Amy Chou began her career on the trading floor at J.P. Morgan where she discovered her true interest lay in being an operator. She was always fascinated in how companies make decisions that either drive or reduce their value, so after
Since joining Mastercard in 2016 as part of the Graduate Development Program, Sarah Carrion has worked across an array of business teams at Mastercard - including Compliance, Product Management and as part of the Customer Solutions Center
Roxanne began her career in Canada where she built new business models and blueprint-free services to increase a company’s profitability. In this role, she participated in the launch of a car-sharing company (car2go) for Mercedes-Benz in
Amber Buker is a recovering attorney. She attended the evening program at Lewis & Clark Law in Portland, OR, and worked full time at an elder law firm during the day. She moved to Nashville, TN, passed the bar, and practiced law for an
Dina began her career working for an international MBA school called Hult, liaising between large companies and MBA students who were searching for jobs post-grad. Throughout her time at Hult, Dina was engaged with several startup
Brigid’s career began on Wall Street at a high frequency trading and investment research firm. From there, she went to Columbia Business School with ideas of getting into real estate, but after one summer in real estate private equity she
Frances has built her reputation as an expert in the digital identity space having worked for 12 startups thus far. However, Frances did not always envision her career to be in fintech. Early on, Frances saw her career going in the
Kathy is an influential marketing leader with years of distinguished performance in the media/publishing and insurance industries before joining the fintech industry. She learned about the nature of marketing in a complex, regulatory
Cameron’s interest in how the world of money works dates back to high school, where she made a little money as a Chemistry tutor and was also enrolled in some Economics classes at her local City College. As a tutor, she recalls being
Marla began her career in non-profit fundraising before pivoting to finance through a part time MBA. After graduating, she began her financial services journey as a private banker at Bank Leumi (now Valley Bank). Marla then transitioned to
Laura started her career working as an investment banker at BMO Nesbitt Burns where she worked on a variety of initial public offerings, buy-side, and sell-side transactions for telecom, media, and technology companies. In 2000, she was
Jen started her career in banking just days before 9/11, working in communications for the first female CFO of Bank of Montreal. In the months that followed, Jen got her first glimpse into the fast-moving regulatory environment of anti
Supreet began her career as a Data Science Consultant at a startup, where she applied her expertise in building advanced time series models for drug demand forecasting. Later, she transitioned into a data strategy role at ZS Associates
Cristina began her journey as a lawyer after graduating from law school and passing the California Bar Exam. She was determined to practice transactional corporate law to work with start-ups and investors and to be promoted to partner one
Grace has spent her entire career at the intersection of financial services and technology. She began as an Investment Banking Analyst at Evercore in their Technology Mergers & Acquisitions Group, where she worked on a variety of sell-side
Ajitha started her career in capital markets at Barclays Capital in Singapore after studying engineering at National University of Singapore. Wanting to expand her skillset and network, she went to Columbia University for her MBA. During
Sam started her career as a rotational data analyst at a large brokerage firm. After a few rotations, she took a permanent seat on the product analytics team, with a focus on investor engagement in a variety of products during changing
Laura started her career in Fintech at the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, initially having no idea what a hedge fund was. Over seven years at Bridgewater, she was able to explore different paths, spending the last four
Originally from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Laviva moved to Canada to pursue an undergraduate degree at McGill University. She then began her career in investment attraction and economic development and eventually joined a fintech startup foundry
Saaya started her career in consulting at Boston Consulting Group, where she worked across a variety of industries and spent some time in their Private Equity practice. But having a background in tech with a degree in Computer Engineering
Like many folks who graduated during the Great Recession, Arden’s career didn’t start off like she had planned. After completing internships at Smith Barney (now Morgan Stanley) and Barclays Global Investors (now Blackrock), Arden was
Tina Zhang started her career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs covering financial institutions. After two years, she transferred from New York to Sydney, Australia, where she covered fintech at a time when Australia’s fintech scene
Kathleen Peters began her career as an electrical engineer, specializing in cutting-edge cellular phone technology. This experience led Kathleen to explore roles related to mobile applications, connected devices and big data analytics.
Sarah Willson is an Associate at Panache Ventures, and has an unconventional path to venture capital. With an educational background in Neuroscience, Psychology and Entrepreneurship, Sarah started her own company Hive Sitters to connect
Jelena Hoffart is an investor at 9Yards Capital, a global growth-stage investment firm focused on fintech and supply chain tech. Jelena focuses on growth-stage investments across compliance, fraud, identity, and cybersecurity.
Maria Anthony is a Vice President at Vera Equity focusing on founders at pre-seed or seed, and has been in investing her entire professional career. After a stint in buyouts during college, Maria joined General Atlantic post-grad doing
Dina Ghobrial is the co-founder and CEO at Halo Ai, a B2B SaaS platform designed to help FinTech companies manage risk and meet compliance in a holistic and cost-effective way.
We conclude our celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) month with another feature of an inspiring woman in this week’s Fintech Female Friday series. Irene Zhou Brush is a Transfers GTM Lead at Plaid, and recently led the
We continue the celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) month with another feature of an inspiring woman in this week’s Fintech Female Friday series.
We continue the celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) month with another feature of an inspiring woman in this week’s Fintech Female Friday series. Shirley Wu is an investor at Partnership Fund for NYC, and is at a
As we leap into May, AAPI month, our Fintech Female Friday series will feature inspiring women from Asian American and Pacific Islander background through the month. Chandrika Maheshwari is the founder and CEO atPull, a company on a
Rochelle Gorey is an inspiring FinTech leader who was recognized as one of the 2022 Inspiring Fintech Females by NYC Fintech Women. She is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at SpringFour, transitioning from an entire career in
Alexandra Bono is an impactful FinTech leader who was recognized as one of the 2022 Inspiring Fintech Females by NYC Fintech Women. She will be showcasing how her company Pelican is addressing the evolving needs of families through FinTech
Alice Nawfal is an inspiring FinTech leader who was recognized as one of the 2022 Inspiring Fintech Females by NYC Fintech Women. She is the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Notabene, where she manages overall company operations
Ana Mahony is an inspiring FinTech leader who was recognized as one of the 2022 Inspiring Fintech Females by NYC Fintech Women. We will be featuring other recognized founders for the rest of the month. Ana began her career in consumer
Bukie started her consulting career at Deloitte in strategy and operations, and transitioned into brand strategy at Ogilvy. Both roles strengthened her quantitative and qualitative analytical skills, and further she got an MBA from Harvard
Cameron has focused her career on using technology to extend financial services to new and underserved markets. Prior to joining Restive Ventures, Cameron served as the CEO and co-founder of Azlo, a leading digital banking platform for
Amanda spent a large part of her career as a corporate attorney but she was always more interested in the business side of the transactions than the legal side. In 2018, she joined Betsy and Daniel Cohen to help them build out their
Lauren started working in traditional financial services early on in her post-college life. “I mean really traditional; I worked for a whole life insurance company! It was an awesome learning experience because they invest so much in
“I have always loved startups. It is in my blood and it fuels me”, says Courtney.
The first few years of Rina’s career started between India & Germany with Engineering Giant Larsen & Toubro. She found herself building products & solutions for key Engineering & Technology giants in Industrials & Automotive verticals.
Jo Jagadish’s professional career started over 15 years ago, first as a software engineer at Accenture after which she pivoted to financial services. “To date, I have worked at some of the largest FIs in the world including HSBC, Citi
For the longest time, Gabriela thought she would go into fashion marketing. It all changed when she found NerdWallet.com in college and learned all about the early players in a new wave of innovation for personal finance. After college
After graduating college, Sophia was a Mergers & Acquisitions Investment Banking Analyst at Citi. Although it was a highly coveted role, she was intellectually unstimulated and couldn’t stop thinking about technology in her spare time. “In
Hillary Conley began her career as a credit analyst at a bank, but quickly found that client-facing roles were more in line with her interests and spent the next several years focusing on sales and marketing at Bloomberg. “Around 2017, I
“I’ve got a passion for solving a problem that I think I can solve in a new way. And that maybe it helps that nobody has done it before as well.” — Pierre Omidyar, Founder of eBay Einat has always been inspired by this quote from Pierre
“The driving force behind my career transitions has been fearless curiosity,” says Neha Wattas, Executive Director, Innovation & Corporate Development at JPMorgan Payments.
Jenny Sui is a principal on the investment team at Craft Ventures based in New York. Prior to Craft, she was an early employee at Brex across operations and strategic finance, driving cross-functional strategic planning and helping scale
“I want to say I stumbled into tech but really it was my desire to solve a need that directed me to tech”, says Lydia Ofori. She trained as an investment executive and focused on analyzing investment strategies at large asset management
Ashley Flucas has invested in 250+ startups. As the head of Flucas Ventures, a syndicate of about 4,000 venture capital investors (and growing), she serves as a partner at a South Florida-based real estate finance fund. She is also in the
Bec’s career history started with National Australia Bank (Australia biggest business bank), where she built a foundational knowledge around money, business and lending while working there as an associate. She then spent two years in a
Natasha Bansgopaul is an experienced financial technology, marketing, research, and M&A professional with more than 10 years of demonstrated leadership through key strategic roles at Fortune 100 companies. She is the founder of three
Alicia appreciates the advantage her diverse background and experience have provided her for gaining insights into various markets and evaluating companies for her current role in VC. “I studied Horticulture in college and my thesis
Mira Srinivasan started her career in India at McKinsey. She relocated to the US in 2006 and joined American Express in Risk Management. There she was fortunate to see strong leaders in action and drive outcomes even as an individual
Divya started her career as Data Engineer to improve the process of transforming, analyzing, profiling, validating, and cleansing the data. “Sheer volume of data is growing every day within the organizations. The challenge is to come up
“In high school, I spent my summers working at different medical facilities as a receptionist and in medical billing to get a glimpse into the world of medicine and what I hoped would be my future career — becoming a neurosurgeon. After
“I launched my impact consulting business in 2019 and spent a lot of time with entrepreneurs doing incredible things. I realized that you don’t actually have to be the smartest person in the world to start a company - you just have to be
In college, Kelsey worked for a number of startups including an edtech, fintech, and e-commerce company. In her junior year, she got an offer to intern at Goldman Sachs and ended up staying at the firm for almost 6 years eventually
“Tough times don’t last, tough people do.” Luvleen’s dad always says that to her, and she has been encouraged by that. “In the face of challenges, keep pushing forward, remember your vision and goal of what you’re trying to create”
Drshika Asher is a rising junior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying computer science and minoring in Technology & Management with the Hoeft T&M program. In the past, Drshika has interned with Microsoft, Cargill, and
Erin began her career in Investment Banking in New York, specifically the Equity Capital Markets group at Merrill Lynch, where she spent 6 years. The role was competitive, extremely consuming and Erin says that she has been unlearning many
Stephany Kirkpatrick is the Founder & CEO at Orum, a platform for frictionless money movement. By leveraging its exclusive intelligence for predictive funds availability, Orum is building an infrastructure layer to maximize the financial
“Weird cool, not weird cringe. “Natalie might see herself this way. Natalie Gray is co-founder and Head of Product & Design at Cover, a modern purveyor of insurance, focusing on making property insurance fair and accessible for Cover’s
Sarah Mogill started her career in a technology rotational program at JPMorgan where she rotated through 3 roles as a software engineer, business analyst, and quality assurance analyst. This 2-year program gave her a crash course in the
Melissa Otto, Executive Director at MSCI, is helping develop the next-generation investment data solutions for MSCI asset management customers. She spent her career investing in the global equities markets with a focus on technology
Karen Chang is currently the VP of Engineering and Product at Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a non-profit organization using blockchain to unlock the world’s economic potential, with a mission to create a more equitable global
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive: and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” - Maya Angelou This resonates well with Samrah. To her it’s really important to take risks to
“Shoot for the moon, because even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.” Tamara Obradov has always lived by the saying.
“My personal thesis is that flipping the paradigm often showcases the most interesting opportunities. That’s what I am doing in fintech, both as a female CTO and as someone rolling out blockchain-based products for non-smartphones in
Denelle Dixon is currently the CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a non-profit organization using blockchain to unlock the world’s economic potential, with a mission to create a more equitable global
“Freedom is a feeling. The feeling is no fear. I mean no fear!” - Nina Simone, Singer, Writer, Activist This quote shared by Jean Kim Smart has been inspiring her to the power of no fear. In advance of Asian American and Pacific Islander
“I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” — Robert Frost “The Road Not Taken” Elizabeth Grier has been inspired by these two lines, especially during the more challenging times in her life. “When I was
“I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise that it won’t be boring.” — David Bowie. April Rudin loves this quote and she added: “What keeps me motivated is being open to possibilities in the world around me and almost never
Mendoza Ventures focuses on investments in fintech, AI, and cybersecurity, with diversity playing an important role in their investment decisions - about 70% of their portfolio consists of startups led by immigrants, people of color, and
“Be humble and tap into your inner Lover, thinker, warrior and dreamer when communicating with others.” Chenni Xu shares the most important lesson in the strategic communications field she has learned in the past.
“Your career is always a sum of the many decisions you’ve taken and they all contribute to where you get to.”
While working on a beach in Belize on her birthday, Alecia Chen quickly realized that practicing corporate law at a large law firm wasn’t making her happy. Alecia’s took a hard look at how to pivot and found a way she could use her legal
The challenge of making financial products and solutions as simple and easy as possible for people to understand and use is a challenge Vered Frank likes to take on. Vered is Head of Product Marketing for Vise, a Series C start-up
The operational logistics of any company play a vital role in the overall success of a business. This week’s feature has been a part of that crucial role from the start of her career. Nadine Geagea, Financial Partnerships Operation Manager
With the wave of digital transformation leading the Fintech industry, demand for digital-first solutions is changing the utilization of financial services for businesses and consumers globally. This week’s feature, Amee Parbhoo, Managing
This Thanksgiving week, we are extra thankful for the 20+ volunteers who make NYC FinTech Women possible. To give thanks, we are featuring this incredible group for FinTech Female Fridays! Our team is brought together from all different
Breaking into the tech industry can seem daunting, but Customer Experience VP, Stephanie Bell, has done it with grace. Now leading several teams across CX at Alice, a venture-backed startup raising the paychecks of hourly workers through
Being a part of a community makes us feel as though we are a part of something greater than ourselves. It gives us opportunities to connect with people and to reach our goals. A true community offers a safe space to grow and learn. Tani
After making the leap to join a small start-up, this Chief Marketing Officer has been a leading force in developing innovation in FinTech. As one of the executive leaders building and offering key solutions that consumers seek out and
Moving to the U.S. is a life-changing journey that can come with hurdles like establishing a U.S. credit score. This partnerships expert is determined to bring her background in financing governments and nonprofits to Nova Credit, a
Sustainability and Venture Capital are two buzz-worthy terms but oftentimes aren’t used together. This week’s feature, Lisa Feria, aligns her personal beliefs with her work while leading Stray Dog’s strategic investments to help create a
The US equities market is often held up as the exemplar of a free market system - a shining example of a public market that seamlessly integrates new information to provide meaningful, uniformly visible pricing. But behind the scenes, many
The financial literacy sector has been exponentially growing and this week’s feature is on a mission to promote healthy money conversations at home. Jasmine Paul, Founder of a financial wellness boutique called CreateFinStew, hopes to
Growing up in an extremely hardworking first-generation immigrant family, Maya learned the value of a hard-earned dollar early in life. It became ingrained in her to find ways to make the most of her money and help herself and her family
Regulatory compliance requirements are critical to protecting a business’s resources and in order to survive in today’s digital world, companies require digital compliance. DigiPli empowers FinTechs and other financial institutions to
US-based employers and employees are all well aware of the complications that come with parental leave. Actuary-turned-founder Chengchen Li is combating these complexities and providing new parents with the ability to focus on welcoming
Employees at a startup are so energized and focused on building the company, working hard, and making an impact that they lose sight of their stock options and as a result, many find that it becomes too expensive to own and manage shares
Decentralized finance is proving to be popular and potentially impactful for everyone. The idea of bringing assets into a digital form with trusted embedded governance can help people in more innovative ways to bypass the lack of physical
Fintech Today (FTT) is a research firm focused on creating high-quality, actionable, and reliable content for fintech professionals. Via Fintech Today (FTT), Julie VerHage-Greenberg, the Co-Founder, has helped create a platform that
Blockchains are currently disrupting the market. The technology is moving beyond cryptocurrency and is paving its way into different industries to offer optimal solutions and greater transparency. Percent, a private investing platform
This pioneer has made a major impact as she’s merged marketing and communications with investor relations, bridging the gap in multiple up-and-coming startups. Now at buzzy FinTech start-up, Pipe, Yasmin Moaven is helping change the way
One of the largest media and events companies dedicated to lending and digital banking, LendIt Fintech has been empowering the FinTech community since 2013. Following the multitude of transformational changes in the financial industry
In today’s fast-paced business world, seamless transactions are the need of the hour. With Adyen, businesses experience more approvals on every single payment with local and global payment processing, data-driven optimizations, and
Having spent most of her career in lending or lending-adjacent businesses, Angela Ceresnie has brought to the industry a thoughtful approach towards credit and creditworthiness in a more expansive and inclusive way. “I see inclusivity as
The go-to funding marketplace for women-owned businesses IFundWomen is changing the narrative of the entrepreneurial world and minimizing the funding gap for women through access to capital, coaching, and connections specifically for
This highly skilled and culturally competent diversity leader values an inclusive work culture. Diversity and inclusion instill a sense of belonging for employees, promoting creativity and innovation and further providing companies with a
Banking app Dave is disrupting legacy banking systems by providing those historically marginalized a new banking experience with the tools and guidance to become financially fit. At the forefront of this change, driving positive social
This resilient and motivated trailblazer is leveraging the power of community to make the process of achieving financial goals for marginalized communities less lonely, confusing, and more seamless. Billie Simmons and her team at Daylight
This resilient innovator believes in the power of startups and technology to achieve lasting impacts on social inclusion through education, policy, and financial services. The digitization of the world incentivized the creation of
This confident and driven communications leader prioritizes empowering people by offering resources to better understand investing in cryptocurrencies. With the explosion of interest in cryptocurrency in the market, Carolyn Vadino aspires
This inspirational and purpose-driven founder is focused on empowering the Black and Latinx financial professional network through her platform. Dana L.Wilson is the Founder & CEO of CHIP (Changing How Individuals Prosper), a B2B2C
This interdisciplinary data enthusiast believes in the power of data fueling the future of financial services. Christine Hurtubise is excited about enterprise tooling becoming a larger focus for enabling FinTech growth as the industry
Imagine a world where it’s as easy to buy a share of a building as it is a share of stock. For Vittoria Reimers, this doesn’t seem like an abstract concept, and in fact, it may soon become a reality. This VP of Investor Services is
Prolific networker and start-up accelerator, Liang Zhao, is utilizing these skills for her recent entrepreneurial venture. Fueled by passion for FinTech and democratization of finance for those underserved, Liang and her team are working
This fast-moving, fast-talking tech leader is comfortable leading on an executive team at a company coined “one of FinTech’s brightest stars.” Jane Barratt believes that financial services should be a force for good in the world. Currently
This former actuary turned underwriting solutions head has spent her career delving into the complexity of analytical impacts of financial risk. Laura McKiernan Boylan’s typical day consists of working with software engineers, product
Financial inclusion is top of mind for this FinTech leader who’s bringing the Latinx community a platform aimed at democratizing building wealth for those who are underserved. Beatriz Acevedo is putting trust and community at the forefront
Fueled by passion for FinTech and love for San Francisco, BerBer Xue is impacting FinTech’s regulatory compliance landscape by ensuring responsible scaling and thoughtful business decisions on the Enterprise Risk Management team at Chime.
Making a career change during a pandemic is no easy task, however, it is one that this VP not only managed, but thrived from. Ilana Fass is a FinTech Banking executive passionate about supporting her clients, the continuation of FinTech
This CEO and Co-Founder’s career is one of a truly passionate activist, well-versed in running a company with a social mission. An immigrant from Malaysia, Ennie Lim has experienced financial hardships first-hand and is working to build
From a start at one of the big four accounting firms to the fast-paced world of startups, Laura Lehr is an operations executive making investing and financial education more accessible to millions of Americans. Laura’s pivot into FinTech
This strategic finance professional is passionate about working at companies that provide tools and education to increase financial wellness among traditionally underserved populations. A computer engineer turned finance professional
Where there is FinTech, there is a crucial need for legal counsel and regulatory regimes within all financial technology services and products. From start-ups to well-established companies, Kari Larsen is a Partner with an esteemed impact.
This female-founder and tech leader landed on Wall Street 30-years ago, and since then has been breaking glass ceilings for women of color, and actively working towards financial inclusion in the investments space. Juliette-Marie Somerset
Denada Ramnishta’s journey is anything but traditional. An immigrant from Albania, she has charted a course as an innovative leader in fintech. Today, she is an integral part of the Lendio team, working to reshape the small business
From a career rooted in tech consulting to helping companies drive innovation with Unqork’s no-code platform, Jane Tran spends her time focusing on understanding customers’ business challenges and how to solve them. We discuss her morning
It didn’t take long into Komal’s career for her to realize that she was meant to be in fintech. From a background in traditional finance and investment banking, there were plenty of challenges in making this career transition. Komal
From a career in Public Relations at luxury brands, founding and running her own hybrid marketing agency, to breaking into the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, Michelle O’Connor is a Marketing VP making financial services products more
Currently, working for the Global Technology & Operations organization within Bank of America, Vesela Radeva’s operational function supports Over-The-Counter Derivatives trading. The global team she is part of focuses on the legal
This passionate, hard-working, start-up maven is currently responsible for driving growth for Virtusa’s Banking and Financial Services segment, which accounts for more than 50% of the company’s business. Filippa Noghani is a strong
“The studies show that diversity is good for business and we all benefit from having diverse points of view based on different experiences, and yet we still have so much work to do. The key is giving everyone a seat and a voice at the
“It is never too late to switch careers if you really want to. I don’t believe that you have to love what you do to be good at it, but you do have to be constantly stimulated and challenged to stay motivated.”
“I am absolutely positive that creating generational wealth is the answer to poverty eradication, stable societies and human happiness.”
This Thanksgiving week, we are extra thankful for the 20+ volunteers who make NYC FinTech Women possible. That is why we are featuring our incredible team this FinTech Female Friday! Scroll below to meet some of our team members and learn
Tell us about your current role as an Artificial Intelligence and Edge Strategist at Dell Technologies.
My payments journey began in Southern California as a merchant level salesperson (MLS) for Brown-Forman Enterprises. I followed the job East, opening Tucson and Denver markets and moving to New Jersey to manage major accounts when NaBANCO
I started my career in business and advertising. In my early career, I would say I’ve touched upon almost all areas of business management from financial modeling to product marketing. The operational hands-on experience taught me how to
I grew up in Romania where I attended school before moving to the UK to study at the University of York. Neither of my parents pursued a higher education degree, but my mother was determined that I would one day become an Engineer. For me
At Centana, I am a part of the investment team and split my time between identifying new investment opportunities, meeting with entrepreneurs, thinking through interesting thematic areas, attending events and conferences, spending time
Kelsey: Sultan, our third co-founder, really found us both. However, I was on the fence a bit until I met Lindsay on FaceTime! I had been working in banking/fintech consulting out of NYC and Lindsay was running her digital agency out of
My interest has always been in B2B marketing, as I enjoy the complexity and product focus. With consumer marketing, the motivations and triggers can be relatively simple, but understanding the interplay of motivation between the individual
This is a fairly new department and I stepped into this role at the very beginning of the year. Our main focus has been the collection, consolidation, and validation of the data. As we continue to grow the data lake, this opens the door to
TANG app connects remittances from the US to last mile daily payments in the Philippines, filling a gap in the current ecosystem. It is the only international peer-to-peer transaction app, best positioned to help bring financial inclusion
I worked in the financial space for almost five years, and when I decided to leave, navigating all of the career options in front of me felt daunting. I didn’t have an idea of which industry I wanted to take on next. My approach was
I currently lead Brand and Communications at Anthemis. We’re a venture capital firm investing in early stage technology businesses exclusively focused on financial services and its adjacencies. On a day to day basis, I oversee our
The Solutions team is a multi-functional group that sits within the Revenue team. We collaborate with the Sales, Product and Operations teams at Ocrolus to onboard clients and manage those relationships on a go-forward basis. Every role
Lifesaver was created with one goal in mind: to democratize access and inclusion into the full spectrum of financial services, leveling the playing field for individuals and institutions alike. We’re passionate about what we do because we
Money20/20 is the US’s largest gathering of the money ecosystem. We gather a potent blend of people, tech, money and ideas. Since its inception in 2012, Money20/20 has created a space where the smartest, most outrageously inventive and
I started my career at Morgan Stanley TMT (technology, media, technology) Investment Banking in Silicon Valley. At MS, I was lucky to have exposure to both blue chip tech companies (SAP, Facebook, eBay, LinkedIn) and late stage startups
I lead the internal People Operations at Flourish as well as offer support to our 50+ portfolio companies in all areas of Human Capital including Leadership Development, Talent Management, Org Design, Total Rewards, and Learning. Sometimes
The idea for CapWay came in 2016, but I was still running my first startup, Sheena Allen Apps, at the time. So although activities towards the build-up have been at play since 2016, I didn’t shift my focus 100% to CapWay until 2018. I have
I started out my career in Management consulting at A.T. Kearney after graduating with a Master of Commerce (Finance) and a Master of International Business from the University of Sydney. I loved the variety of work this exposed me to in
My first big adjustment was in terms of scope. I had to shift from the 10,000 foot view--where I was looking at the broad tech SaaS landscape--to the 1 inch product manager’s view, where I had to understand and dissect the detailed and
I directly oversee the company’s banking operations and serve as a liaison with our external banking partner, Green Dot. I am responsible for driving improvements to our key metrics, as well as partnering with internal stakeholders to
I have always been interested in the intersection between mathematics and the humanities. When I was looking for a job, I was particularly interested in quantitative finance because of the way it combines policy decisions, international
I have been fortunate to have had a variety of roles and opportunities in my career thus far. It’s been a nice blend of internally and externally facing roles, concentrating on the finance and technology sectors. What has underpinned all
I spent my entire career at large financial institutions, including JP Morgan and Jeffries, and was ready for a change. These firms were great places to launch my career, I was quickly exposed to the different parts of the industry while
It was a gradual and deliberate process for me, having started my career at large corporations and moving to more entrepreneurial companies with time. This path enabled me to gain the appropriate technical experience and exposure to
As a Senior Product Marketing Manager, my role at KeepTruckin involves communicating our company’s product and our vision to diverse audiences externally. Understanding our customers, and how our technology uniquely solves their problems
A large bank is great to gain a technical skill set and launch your professional career with a brand name. However, moving to a boutique allowed me on a smaller team to gain hands on experience while learning the ins-and-outs of the buy
I relocated to NYC with my family in 2014. After creating our new life in our new home, I wanted to take advantage of our NYC location and build our company. I decided to be self-employed for the first time in my career. We identified a
Many people have asked me how I could stay at one company for so many years. Equifax has consistently evolved to meet the changing needs of the industry. This has created an environment of change for me. When I began at Equifax, modeling
I had set out to build a different product before. While building the test version of that previous product, I got the chance to speak to hundreds of Americans all over the US about their biggest financial struggles. At the surface, it
The existing regulatory regime contemplates the delivery of financial services by institutions that in some ways bear little resemblance to many of the new and emerging financial services companies that are prominent in today’s market.
My transition traditional banking industry into Financial Technology was not easy. I was ready for a change in my finance career and decided pivoting into the technology industry was the best fit. The tech industry moves a lot faster than
I am the company’s resident expert on external data sources and also manage people and projects. I play an integral role in prioritization and planning discussions, both within our data science team and across the company as a whole, and I
As a Program Manager at MongoDB, I focus on ensuring the teams are building features that are aligned with the product roadmap and are approved by all stakeholders. I am also working on 3-5 year roadmaps for some of our larger initiatives
The financial crisis demonstrated that various forms of funding and liquidity were not all created equal, and the Basel III Liquidity Coverage Ratio (“LCR”) essentially put a value on the relative stability of different types of unsecured
Amassing and accumulating data of all types will continue to be a strategic imperative. Successful FinTech startups will use this data to better understand their customers, predict behavior, and optimize their businesses. There is an
Piermont Bank is reinventing how banking works for entrepreneurs. Piermont’s platform is built with the top pain points that entrepreneurs often face in dealing with their banks. We understand entrepreneurs often face high opportunity cost
There is excitement all over the financial markets about the transformative effect of fintech. The credit markets and lending are my passion and I saw OakNorth as a unique opportunity to improve the lending space in a targeted way through
This week we go beyond New York to feature Lolita Taub from Baltimore, Maryland.
Splitwise is a consumer app that millions of people around the world use to track shared spending and “who owes who”. Today we sit down with Splitwise’s second employee, Zoe Chaves. Read on to learn about Zoe’s 6-year journey with
Primary is not a FinTech focused firm, but by virtue of being in New York City, we’ve learned a lot about the space and have been fortunate enough to back and work closely with incredible founders like Tommy at Alloy and Aaron at Vestwell.
Goldman Sachs was an incredible place to start my post-college career, and I am really grateful for my time there. I learned a great deal and met some brilliant individuals and mentors who are still a big part of my life. At Goldman I
This week we are partnering with Petal to feature six women from Petal: Vivian Jiang, Serra Kazanc, Martina Lugo, Kaijia Tian, Lucy Jackson, and Rachel Gatewood.
Since 2005, the WorldofMoney organization has impacted over 4,000 children (ages 7 -18) in the Tri-State New York City area. Our youth financial education mobile app is being used by our 26 U.S. programming partner schools and
My decision was a slow realization. I always dreamed of being a fine art photographer or mixed media artist - which is why I was initially a Visual Designer. During my career I was doing a lot of freelance work, I met a lot of interesting
This week we are featuring two women from MarketAxess who will be speaking at our event on January 14th for How the “Tech” In FinTech is Built: How Emerging Technologies Intersect & The Impact o FinTech.
I graduated from NYU in 2015 with a degree in economics to pursue a career in finance. I spent about four years at JPMorgan in the Government, Healthcare, Higher Ed, Nonprofit group, but I have always been entrepreneurial and wanted to
As the year concludes we would like to feature the steering committee members who are the backbone of NYC FinTech Women: Larissa Carrera, Adina Fischer, Edwina Johnson, and Elsie Russell. These women are passionate about the organization’s
My career started off like most, trying to unwind a “fat finger” trading error that resulted in a $460 million loss that nearly bankrupted Knight Capital, a major market maker in financial services. As a newly minted internal auditor, my
I started working on side projects with friends, which led to my interest in the local tech scene. My path crossed early on with key players in LA Tech and I was selected to be the program fellow for the first cohort of GRID110. At the
My interest in Latin America (and thus, Mexico) stemmed from an overall passion to find solutions to issues in emerging markets and places that were going through unique economic changes. I spent a few years as a seed stage investor at
At 11 years old, Sofia Gonzalez is the youngest member of NYC FinTech Women. She is an active attendee at our events and each time we see her, we are left inspired by her curiosity and confidence. With an interest in cyrptocurrencies
Mareike Turner moved to New York from Hamburg, Germany to pivot from “offline” trade to “online” trade, which led her to become the first female manager at Payability.
I was a lawyer with a lot of Wall Street clients (I did M&A, fund formation, capital markets and regulatory work), which gave me a solid understanding of the potential regulatory challenges that the Blockchain /cryptocurrency ecosystem
This week we go beyond New York to feature Debbie Peace, CEO of ACH Alert from Tennessee.
I consider myself a polymath. I enjoy learning new and different things. I went to college when I was 25 in London, previously I lived and worked in Spain for three years, but I grew up originally in Greece where I was raised. I believe in
I have always been drawn towards work that has a social mission, so immediately after college I jumped into the non-profit sector. I loved the work I was doing, but was frustrated by my inability to track the needs and progress of my
Today we highlight Team DailyPay who work to empower the financial wellness of each employed citizen across the nation as our leading pay benefits provider.
I went to law school specifically to learn more about corporate law and capital markets because I always knew that understanding money was powerful. After practicing securities litigation and having spent time working on corporate
I’ve been practicing law in the financial services industry for over 25 years, and in order to remain relevant and add value, you need to be able to adapt to and anticipate changing needs of clients. The FinTech Foundry embodies this
It is amazing to look back on my career and realize that all stops along the way were uniquely positioning me for the role that I now fulfill at NCR Digital Banking D3, that of vice president, solutions consulting. I began my career at ACI
Fluidity is a financial technology company developing blockchain-based products and solutions based in Brooklyn, New York. Fluidity is the builder of AirSwap, and about half of the team at Fluidity works on AirSwap. ConsenSys is a global
I started working in financial communications at a mid-sized agency in 2008 just prior to the start of the financial crisis while attending graduate classes for my MBA in finance at night. I kept telling myself I never wanted to go into
When I was at university, I swore I would never work in finance and yet here I am. I joined the world of finance at Bloomberg L.P., and discovered I enjoyed the corporate working environment and the industry. Most of my roles have been in
August is the two year anniversary of NYC FinTech Women; we are excited to feature Michelle Tran who is the co-Founder of the organization.
After starting my career as a lawyer in Australia, I went back to college to study social impact. This led to roles in Australia and the UK in the corporate responsibility space. I made the leap into FinTech when I moved to the US. As
My time at McKinsey was invaluable to my investor skill set today. At its core, the work I did at McKinsey is not starkly different from the toolkit needed to be a good investor; it required approaching a problem with both structure and
August marks our two year anniversary of NYC FinTech Women. We are excited to feature one of our co-founders Sasha Pilch and hear her story of how she came from Sydney to New York with no job and found her home at her dream company Plaid.
After college I was part of the management development program at M&T Bank and worked in their digital banking division. I had my first exposure to payments and worked on the launch of Apple Pay with Visa back in 2014. That experience was
My family owned Chinese restaurants so I grew up in the small business world. However, I started my career in tech and finance and evolved into building institutional operational and regulatory infrastructure to help businesses scale.
I moved to FinTech 4 years ago, after I had spent many years in the airline industry. I realized that I needed to move to a smaller company to learn at a faster pace, as I am extremely transparent about my desire to be a founder one day.
I spent 25 years on Wall Street, honing my skills in product development, marketing and public affairs. I love all of those fields and learned that my various employers allowed me to do all of them. I have always closely watched the
I have spent my entire career in Financial Services. I started at JPMorgan, where I spent four years - first in Equity Sales in the Investment Bank and then as a Global Investment Adviser in the Private Bank. Then I went back to school and
NYC FinTech Women was founded on the idea of inclusivity and bringing all backgrounds of people together to support Women in FinTech. In observance of Pride month we are honored to feature Shira Frank, CEO of Maiden, and an out Queer
I started my first company at 21 years old, focused on consumer technologies building. After that, I went on to start a second company dedicated to smart energy and internet of things selling hardware and software. I have always enjoyed
My journey to Sigma is not one that was planned nor one that I could even have predicted at the start of my career. I started my career as an M&A lawyer at a large firm in NYC. During my time as a corporate lawyer, I was very mission
I was part of the Financial Institutions Group at Barclays when we were working on an IPO of a FinTech company. The IPO ended up failing due to the each bank having a different view on whether the company should be classified as a tech
When I left Deloitte, I was hungry for a new challenge where I could put the skills and experience I had honed in Deloitte’s M&A Strategy & Operations practice to the test on a blank slate. I wanted to help build something from the ground
I’ve been at Mastercard for over seven years in the digital product sector where I helped Mastercard build and commercialize new payment technologies, like Apple Pay. This has taught me the power of how partnerships can accelerate
Less luck and timing, my career path was searching out opportunities to learn new things and build on my experience. My first career was commercial real estate in Ukraine and London. My second was rating commercial mortgage backed
Educating people on financial security and savings became meaningful to me after working as a client advocate for injured workers and later in insurance. I entered the FinTech space by joining, Rebellion Research, a quant fund that had
I’m a CPA myself and I noticed so many inefficiencies in tax season, from users not having a good CPA to go to, traveling to meet with a CPA, to tax prep firms charging ridiculous amounts. It’s my goal to make talking to a CPA more
I wasn’t actively looking for a new role when Stash came along. A friend of mine asked me to come meet the founders and I figured that they simply wanted to pick my brain on scaling a company. That said upon our first meeting, it was