
Women in FinTech 2020 Powerlist application
window opens 9th December
window opens 9th December
2019
Women in FinTech
Powerlist
Women in FinTech
Powerlist
The Women in FinTech Powerlist 2019, launched back in November, shines a spotlight on the women leading innovation in financial services. Now in its 6th year, the Powerlist has increasingly attracted a global audience, resulting in applications and nominations from around the world. The 2019 iteration shines a spotlight on 200 women, across 7 categories.
A select number of women were chosen for the ‘Stand Out 35’ distinction by a panel of independent judges. Innovate Finance called on the FinTech ecosystem to nominate and submit applications, and received over 650 responses, highlighting that there is certainly no lack of female talent within the sector!
We want to congratulate everyone for their hard work and achievements and hope to see you all again for next year’s Powerlist
Supported by
“Our Women in FinTech Powerlist is an eagerly awaited spotlight on the wide range of female talent at the forefront of innovation in financial services, and I would like to thank everyone who participated. All the women on our list are making a difference in the FinTech ecosystem around the world, yet females continue to be under-represented throughout, be it at board and executive level, or as founders looking for still elusive funding.”
– Charlotte Crosswell, CEO, Innovate Finance
Standout 35 Stars
A select number of women were chosen for the ‘Standout 35’ due to their outstanding contribution to FinTech, these ladies were selected by a panel of independent judges.
Women in FinTech Powerlist 2019
Celebrating the female leaders and innovators transforming financial services across a broad range of roles.
- Senior Leaders
- Rising Stars
- Professional & Finance Services
- Investors
- Technology Professionals
- Policymakers & Regulatory Experts
- Marketers & Communicators
Senior Leaders
Senior leaders truly driving forward change within the FinTech space, above and beyond their day-to-day role. They have excelled in their career, but are also passionate about helping others make progress in theirs – through mentoring, setting up support groups to share experiences or voluntary work.
- Agnes Gathaiya, Chief Executive Officer, Integrated Payment Services Limited
- Alice Leguay, CCO at Clim8 Invest
- Andrea Reynolds, CEO, Swoop Funding
- Angelique Mohring, CEO and Founder, GainX
- Anna Kuriakose, Chief Product Officer, TotallyMoney
- Anna Tsyupko, CEO, Paybase
- Anne Boden, Founder and CEO, Starling Bank
- Assel Zhanassova, Chief Digital Officer, Astana International Financial Centre
- Bailey Kursar, CEO, Toucan
- Benedetta Arese Lucini, CEO, Oval Money
- Charlene Chen, Co-Founder and Director, AZA Finance (Formerly BitPesa)
- Christine Kiefer, Co-Founder RIDE Capital, Founder FinTech Ladies, RIDE Capital
- Clare Flynn Levy, CEO and Founder, Essentia Analytics
- Cristina Alba Ochoa, CFO, OakNorth
- Dara Tarkowski, Co-Founder/ Chief Innovation Strategist, quointec
- Elena Alfaro Martinez, Global Head of Data and Open Innovation, BBVA
- Emily Reid, Partner, Hogan Lovells
- Emily Utton, Vice President of Partnerships, Tribe Payments
- Emma Steeley, CEO, AccountScore Limited
- Evelina Vrabie, CTO, Toucan
- Felicia Meyerowitz Singh, Founder & CEO, Akoni
- Fiona Tee, Chief Finance Officer, Currencycloud
- Gabrielle Haddad, COO and Co-Founder, Sigma Ratings
- Gemma Young, CEO and Founder, DiversiTech Hub
- Hannah Dawson, CEO and Founder, Futrli
- Hannah Gilbert, Client Director, Moneyhub Financial Technology Limited
- Helen Bierton, Chief Banking Officer, Starling Bank
- Helen Child, Co-Founder and CEO, Open Banking Excellence
- Helene Panzarino, Managing Director, Rainmaking Colab FinTech
- Jane Jee, CEO, Kompli-Global
- Joanne Dewar, CEO, Global Processing Services (GPS)
- Joanne Smith, Founder and Group CEO, Recordsure
- Joshua Klayman, U.S. Head of FinTech and Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets, Senior Counsel Linklaters LLP
- Julie Ashmore, Commercial Director, Growth Street
- Karen Kerrigan, Chief Operating Officer, Seedrs
- Karen Rudich, CEO & Co-Founder, Elementaryb
- Kristy Duncan, Founder & CEO, Women in Payments
- Laura Bailey, Chairperson, Qadre
- Laura Kornhauser, CEO & Co-Founder, Stratyfy Inc.
- Leda Glyptis, CEO, 11:FS Foundry
- Lee Ann Lancaster, Chief Growth Officer, Mama Money and African Women in FinTech and Payment
- Lisa Jacobs, UK Managing Director, Funding Circle
- Louise Brett, Head of FinTech, Deloitte
- Louise O’Shea, CEO, Confused.com
- Lubaina Manji, Senior Programme Manager, Nesta
- Lucy Mullins, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Stepladder
- Lynda Coker, Commercial Director, Volt Bank
- Marieke Flament, CEO, Mettle
- Marta Krupinska, Co-Founder @ FreeUp & Head of Google for Startups UK, FreeUp/Greensill Capital & Google
- Martha Mghendi-Fisher, Founder & Chair to the Executive Board, European Women Payments Network (EWPN); African Women in Fintech & Payments (AWFP)
- Michelle Tran, Co-Founder / Head of Business Development, NYC FinTech Women / Harness Wealth
- Misha Rao, Founder, Haus of FinTech
- Natasha Wear, P2P CEO, Zopa
- Noha Shaker, Secretary General of Egyptian FinTech Association, Vice President of Africa FinTech Network, Egyptian FinTech Association and Africa FinTech Network
- Olga Miler, Co-Founder, SmartPurse Let
- Patricia Boydens, Chief Innovation Officer, The Glue
- Pinar Emirdag, Managing Director, JP Morgan
- Raiha Buchanan, Co-Founder/COO, Gigapay and also run the non-profit WIFTN (Women in FinTech Network)
- Randa Bennett, CEO and Founder, VeeLoop
- Rebecca Skitt, Chief Executive Officer, 10x Future Technologies
- Ridhima Durham, Chief Commercial Officer, Salary Finance
- Romi Savova, CEO, PensionBee
- Roxana Mohammadian-Molina, Chief Strategy Officer, Blend Network
- Scarlett Sieber, Managing Director, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, Catalyst Consulting Group (CCG)
- Sharon Lewis, Global Head of Financial Institutions Sector, Hogan Lovells LLP
- Shefali Roy, COO & CCO, TrueLayer
- Sigridur Sigurdardottir, Chief Customer Officer Tesco Bank, Tesco Bank
- Simone Maini, COO, Elliptic
- Sofie Blakstad, CEO, hiveonline ApS
- Sophie Guibaud, Chief Growth Officer, OpenPayd
- Tara Flynn, Co-Founder, Choose Wisely
- Tram Anh Nguyen, Co-Founder, CFTE-Centre for Finance Technology and Entrepreneurship
- Ulyana Shtybel, Chief Capital Officer, HighCastle
- Viola Llewellyn, Co-Founder/CEO, Ovamba
- Zara Ransley, Co-CEO, MyPocketSkill
Rising Stars
From relative newbies determined to make their mark as a future FinTech leader or a role models for the industry, they have hit the ground running and gone beyond their job description. Their contributions to successful projects, innovative ideas and other standout achievements has set them apart.
- Adriana Amato, Head of Growth, Capitalise.com
- Anastasia Dokuchaeva, Head of Partnerships, ClauseMatch
- Anna Frankowska, CEO & Co-Founder, Distributed.Academy
- Beth Toms, Head of Space, Monzo Bank
- Caroline Hughes, CEO, Lifetise
- Charlotte Rønje, CEO and Co-Founder, Jamiipay
- Clare Joy, Region Lead, South East Asia, Onfido
- Delia König, Managing Director, solarisBank AG
- Emilie Bellet, Founder, Vespod.com
- Georgia Stewart, CEO, Tumelo Ltd
- Georgie Hazell, Head of Engagement, Augmentum Fintech plc
- Hannah Forbes, Founder of The Funding Crowd, The Funding Crowd
- Helen Brown, Senior Commercial Operations Analyst, Salary Finance
- Isabel Woodford, Journalist (FinTech), Sifted
- Jess Ruben, Chief Officer – People & Operations, Judopay
- Katie Salter, Senior Product Manager, Salary Finance
- Katrina Cruz, Ecosystem Development Lead, Anthemis
- Kelsey McGrath, Company Operations Manager, PixelPin
- Mamta Mathur, COO, Chainvine LTD
- Maria Deam , SVP Open Innovation, Citi FinTech
- Maya Aweida, Investor Relations, Sales Director, NASDAQ
- Mital, Chothani, Head of Operations, Fluidly
- Nina Mohanty, Enterprise Development, Klarna
- Ozge Celik, Business Development Director, Interbank Card Center of Turkey (BKM)
- Rachel Booth, Product Manager, Mettle
- Roisin Levine, Head of Banks, Flux
- Sophia J Clarke, Founder & Director, Cocoa
- Stephanie Brennan, Founder & CEO, Evarvest – the developer of the first ‘Spotify-style’ trading app
Professional & Finance Services
Professional and financial service professionals that are championing FinTech within their respective teams. They are the inhouse specialist, the go-to for the latest in FinTech trends and an influential voice on sector innovations and diversity in finance.
- Anna Maj, FinTech Lead, PwC
- Diana Avila, Global Head of Banking, TransferWise
- Elizabeth Kigin, Director, Partner Management, NextCapital
- Fiona Ghosh, Partner, Head of FinTech, Addleshaw Goddard
- Frederique Prevost, Head of Global L&D, Revolut
- Hannah Leach, Innovation Consultant, Independant
- Jacqui Hatfield, Partner, Head of Financial Services Regulatory Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP
- Jennifer Byrne, CEO & Co-Founder, Quesnay Inc.
- Kate Bohn, Accelerator & Incubator Lead, Group Transformation, Lloyds Banking Group
- Kate Ross , Programme Director, Smart Pension
- Kathy Hao-Hsuan Chang, Head of FinTech Partnerships, DNB (dnb.no)
- Linda Saye, Global Head of Rise Up, Money20/20
- Lucy Demery, Global Head of FinTech Banking, Standard Chartered
- Marian Bloodworth, Employment Partner (lawyer), Kemp Little
- Neha Manaktala, Head of FinTech, EMEA, CIB, JP Morgan
- Peiying Chua, Partner, Financial Regulation, Linklaters
- Poojya Manjunath, Senior Machine Learing Product Manager, Lloyds Banking Group
- Rachel Bentley, Head of Special Projects, Call Sign
- Sabina Kravcak, AVP, Group Strategy, Barclays
- Sophie Theen, VP of People & Talent Advisor, Self employed & Omer Ventures
- Svetla Marinova, Partner Development Manager for Financial Services, Amazon Web Services
- Victoria Thompson, Global Head of Innovation Legal, Barclays
Investors
Playing a key role in changing the current funding environment for women founders and entrepreneurs, these ladies are encouraging companies to take their innovative ideas to the next stage.
- Emily Morse, Investor, Actis
- Emma Steele, Investment Manager, Ascension Ventures
- Gabrielle Inzirillo, Director, FinTech (EMEA), Plug And Play Tech Center
- Katherine Wilson, Investment Executive, Illuminate Financial Management
- Kirsty Grant, Chief Investment Officer, Seedrs
- Kristy Trieste, Partner, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, Motive Partners
- Louise Rix, Investor, Forward Partners
- Megan McCracken, Portfolio Board Member Fidelity China Special Situations, Folk2Folk, Reason Digital
- Melissa Frakman, Founder & Managing Partner, EMVC FinTech Fund
- Miruna Girtu, Venture Partner , SyndicateRoom (SR)
- Monica Engel, Founding Partner, Quona Capital
- Paula Blazquez, Head of Investments, InnoCells (Bank Sabadell)
- Ruth Foxe Blader, Partner, Anthemis
- Tazz Gault, Founder & Head of Marketing, Digital Detox (Head of Marketing), InvestWell VC (Founder) and previously Co-Founder of StateZero Labs
- Tea Muratovic, Co-Founder & CEO, Seasonax Capital and Seasonax
- Triin Linamagi, Investment Lead, Founders Factory
Technology Professionals
These ladies are striving to make a contribution in the heart of the Tech part of FinTech. From designing or implementing complex software packages, to making a really innovative contribution to their firm’s systems or processes, they are taking technology to the next level.
- Alejandra M. J. Litterio, Chief Research Officer, Eye Capital LTD
- Alexandra Boyle, Head of Strategic Client Group (Europe), OpenFin
- Alison Choy, Head of Machine Learning, Starling Bank
- Anouska Streets, Head of Platform Engineering, Currencycloud
- Casey Lord, Head of Product, Nutmeg
- Emma Vanbrabant, Staff Android Engineer, Monzo Bank
- Georgina Smallwood, Chief Product Officer, N26
- Harriet Rees, Head of Data Science, Starling Bank
- Helin Ece Akgul, Engineering Tech Lead , TransferWise
- Jen Drabble, Director of Data Product and Science, Barclays
- Kat Baker , Head of Extension Engineering, R3
- Katie Wigley, Director, Data – Commercialisation & Propositions, Lloyds Banking Group
- Sally Lait, Senior Engineering Manager, Monzo Bank
- Sophie Dermaux, Technical Programme Manager, Onfido
- Swati Lay, Chief Technology Officer, Funding Circle
- Tribeni Chougule, Head of Change Management – Europe Finance, Visa
- Udita Banerjee, Innovation Programme Manager, RBS
- Vivant Shen, Lead Data Scientist, Lending Works
Policymakers & Regulatory Experts
FinTech is growing up and with adulthood comes responsibility! We are celebrating the women in regulation, government affairs and policy, who play a vital role in encouraging innovation.
- Adriana Ennab, Director Public Affairs and Policy Europe and UK, Credit Suisse
- Becky Marriott, Vice President of Risk & Compliance, Tide
- Carly Nimmo, Head of Competition and FinTech, HM Treasury
- Donna Parisi, Global Head of Finance, Financial Services and FinTech, Shearman & Sterling LLP
- Flora Coleman, Global Head of Government Relations, TransferWise
- Helen McKay, Risk & Compliance Officer, LendingCrowd
- Ioana Surpateanu, Co-Head of European Government Affairs – Innovation Strategy, Citi
- Isabelle Corbett, Head of Regulatory Affairs and GovTech, R3
- Karen Elliott, Associate Professor, Newcastle University
- Laura Coffey, Director of Policy and Strategic Accounts, Onfido
- Laura Navaratnam (nee Royle), Senior Manager, Innovation, Financial Conduct Authority
- Louise Eggett, Head of FinTech Hub – Bank of England, Bank of England
- Nicole Sandler, Head of Digital Policy, Barclays
- Philippa Martinelli, FinTech Specialist, Independent Advisor (Various including Department for International Trade)
- Rachel Kent, Partner and Head of Financial Services Regulatory, Hogan Lovells
- Rebecca Schot-Guppy, General Manager, FinTech Australia
- Regina Cheng-Cheng Feng, Senior Industry Advisor, Ant Financial Services
- Rosita Najmi, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Sian Lewin, Co-Founder and head of client delivery, Regtech Associates
- Sophia Bantanidis, Head of Regulatory Strategy & Policy TTS Innovation, Citi
- Suchitra Nair, Director, Deloitte
- Teana Baker Taylor, Managing Director, Looking Glass Labs
- Yasmeen Al Sharaf, Head of FinTech and Innovation Department, Central Bank of Bahrain
Marketers & Communicators
From commanding the authoritative voice of their organisation, to sharing key insights that go beyond traditional media, these women play an important role in showcasing the value of FinTech to the world.
- Anna Flach, Head of Growth and Communications, Qadre
- Brittany Atkins, Business Development & Demand Generation Strategist, Hotwire
- Carmen Dixon, PR/Comms Director, LendInvest
- Elizabeth Basten, Chief Marketing Officer, Wealth Wizards
- Harriet Allner, FinTech Director, Common Industry
- Jules Robertson, Head of Startups & Scaleups, Soldo
- Kat Mann, Head of PR, Nutmeg
- Laura Watkins, Head of Content and Producer, 11:FS
- Laurel Wolfe, VP Marketing, Klarna
- Lisa Gervis, Marketing Director, NewDay
- Louise Hetherington, Head of Marketing & Communications, ClearBank
- Lucy Heavens, Head of Marketing, Wealth Dynamix
- Melanie Palmer, CMO, Nucoro
- Mitra Roknabadi, VP, Global Head of Marketing, OpenFin
- Natasha Jones, Head of Communications, UK, Funding Circle
- Nicola Cowburn, Founder & Managing Director, Finarama Marketing Ltd.
- Susanne Chishti, CEO and Founder, FINTECH Circle
- Tessa Bryant, PR Manager, Seedrs
Women in FinTech Powerlist Judges
Innovate Finance called on the FinTech ecosystem to nominate and submit applications and received over 1,200 responses, highlighting that there is certainly no lack of female talent within the sector! The process of shortlisting the applications down to 150 for the Powerlist and the Standout 35 has not been an easy job, and we have been grateful to the external support and to our judges in the final selection. All the inspiring women profiled on the Powerlist 2018’s Standout 35 Stars were selected by our esteemed panel of judges, from equality champions to industry leaders.