
The Women in FinTech Powerlist 2020 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 2020 iteration shines a spotlight on 200 women across 7 categories.
A select number of women were chosen for the ‘Standout 35’ distinction by a panel of independent judges. Innovate Finance called on the FinTech ecosystem to nominate and submit applications, and received nearly 1000 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.
Powerlist sponsored by:
Celebratory Event Sponsored by:
Supported by:
“Our FinTech sector has so many outstanding female role models – from founders, investors and investment bankers, to start-up entrepreneurs and technology experts – and it’s important that we take the time to honour and celebrate all of those at the forefront of change. Diversity and inclusion is at the heart of our work at Innovate Finance, and each year it’s an honour to curate the Powerlist and spotlight the amazing women innovators across our industry.
“As our sector grows and matures, we will constantly strive to attract a diverse pool of talent across the FinTech ecosystem. The women celebrated today will not only be integral to the success of the future of FinTech, but will be key to inspiring the next generation of female leaders.”
– 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. Our Standout 35 will be revealed live during out Powerlist launch event today at 17:00 GMT!
“Each year the Powerlist and the Standout 35 are an important reminder of how vital diversity is to FinTech, not only in the UK, but around the world. We have amazing women working all across different areas of FinTech, and I am delighted that we have had a record turnout this year, demonstrating that there is absolutely no lack of female talent in the sector.
“As a global FinTech powerhouse, the UK has a responsibility to lead by example, and we hope that our Powerlist serves as a reminder of the success of females to date, and a catalyst for further progress.”
– Clare Black, Director of Corporate Affairs & Communications, Innovate Finance
Women in FinTech Powerlist 2020
Celebrating the female leaders and innovators transforming financial services across a broad range of roles.
- Senior Leaders
- Rising Stars
- Professional & Financial Services
- Technology Professionals
- Policymakers & Regulatory Experts
- Investors
- 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.
Claire Altman, Chief Corporate Officer, Smart Pension
Nicola Anderson, CEO Fintech Scotland, Fintech Scotland
Benedetta Arese Lucini, CEO, Oval Money
Teana Baker-Taylor, General Manager, UK Crypto.com
Randa Bennett, CEO, VeeLoop Ltd
Sofie Blakstad, CEO, hiveonline
Francesca Carlesi, Co-founder and CEO, Molo
Alex Cesar, Chief Technology Officer, Refinitiv
Helen Child, Co-founder and CEO, Open Banking Excellence
Chryssi Chorafa, COO, Kalgera
Lynda Coker, Commercial Director, Volt Bank
Megan Cooper (Caywood), Managing Director, Head of Digital Strategy, Barclays
Sabrina Del Prete, Founder & CEO, Kore
Seema Desai Chief Operating Officer, iwoca
Joanne Dewar, Chief Executive Officer, Global Processing Services (GPS)
Marieke Flament, CEO, Mettle
Sophie Guibaud, Chief Growth Officer, OpenPayd
Gabrielle Haddad, Founder & COO, Sigma Ratings
Jess Houlgrave, Chief of Staff, Checkout.com
Caroline Hughes, CEO, Lifetise
Alison Hutchinson, CEO, Pennies
Marilena Ioannidou, Director, British Business Investments (BBI)
Bahea Izmenga, Chief Operations Officer, Greensill
Lisa Jacobs, Europe Managing Director, Funding Circle
Seema Khinda Johnson, Co-founder & COO, Nuggets
Magdalena Krön, Rise Global FinTech Platform Director, Barclays
Lee Ann Lancaster, Chief Growth Officer, Mama Money / Chairperson, African Women in Fintech and Payments Southern Africa / Non Executive Board Member, 88 Business Collective
Geilan Malet-Bates, Founding Director, Plenitude
Felicia Meyerowitz Singh, CEO, Akoni Hub Limited
Roxana Mohammadian-Molina, Chief Strategy Officer, Blend Network
Zianah Muddu, Engagement Partner, Financial Technology Services Providers Association
Neeta Mundra, Banking Financial Services Evangelist, Salesforce
Thish Nadesan, Chief Operating Officer, Cleo AI
Elena Novokreshchenova, Executive Vice President, International Remitly
Louise O’Shea, CEO, Confused.com
Diana Paredes, Co-Founder and CEO, Suade Labs
Erin Platts, Head of EMEA & UK President, Silicon Valley Bank
Loral Quinn, CEO and Co-founder, Sustainability
Misha Rao, Global FinTech Advisor, Shearman & Sterling / Founder, Haus of FinTech
Sonal Rattan, CTO and Co-Founder, eXate
Clare Reilly, Chief Engagement Officer, PensionBee
Samantha Seaton, CEO, Moneyhub
Sneha Shah, Managing Director Business Accelerator, Refinitiv
Joanne Smith, Founder and Executive Chair, Recordsure Ltd and TCC Ltd
Gaye Soykok, CPO, Pension the Pennies
Ruth Spratt, Senior Director, Zip
CJ Tayeh, Founder & CEO, Flank Digital
Tiffany Teng, Head of Sales Operations, OakNorth
Davinia Tomlinson, Founder, Rainchq
Michelle Tran, Co-Founder, NYC FinTech Women
Valeria Vahorovska, Co-Founder and CEO, Fondy
Tanya Van, Court CEO, Goalsetter
Dr Ruth Wandhofer, Fintech leader, VC Partner, Chair and expert in the field of banking, regulation and transaction banking
Jemma Waters, Head of Responsible Transformation, Lloyds Banking Group
Natasha Wear, P2P CEO, Zopa
Stacie Whisonant, CEO and Founder, Pay Your Tuition Inc.
Sarah Williams-Gardener, CEO, FinTech Wales
Waki Yoneoka, Managing Director, Japan Moneythor
Gemma Young, Founder, Women of FinTech
Rising Stars
Dedicated to Catherine Wines.
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.
Mary Agbesanwa, PwC Fintech Scale Programme Lead, PwC
Naomi Alexander Naidoo, Head of Community and Communications, Finance Innovation Lab
Tania Asimionesei, Senior Front End Engineer, Checkout.com
Thaslima Begum, Founder & CEO, TEEK TAKA
Ariane Bouche, Founding team – sales and partnerships, StepEx
Claire Devilard, Product Manager, Salary Finance
Hannah Forbes, Founder, The Funding Crowd
Arianna Gasparri, Financial Inclusion Specialist, United Nations Capital Development Fund
Louise Harvey, Senior Associate, Seedrs
Rachel James, Manager Future of Financial Market Infrastructure Policy, Bank of England
Rebecca Jones, Customer Delivery and Strategic Account Manager, Trade Ledger
Clare Joy, Senior Strategy and Expansion Manager, Onfido
Leena Kalani, Senior Consultant, Cognizant
Roisin Levine, Head of Banks, Flux
Nina Mohanty, Strategy & Expansion at Klarna / Steering committee at Refugee Action Network, Klarna
Veronika Ostreyko, Commercial and Strategy Manager, Funding Circle
Gabriela Piccone, Co-Founder, SlightPay
Claudia Pravettoni, Product Growth Specialist, Oval
Monica Punjabi, Chief Operating Officer, Finllect Ltd.
Eishel Quinn, Chief Product Officer and co-founder, Sustainability
Tamara Quinn, Operations Manager, Salary Finance
Rituja Rao, IT Consultant – Project Manager Sparta, Global
Carolina Serra, Senior Manager – New Ventures Group, Visa
Luvleen Sidhu, Co-Founder and CEO, BankMobile
Rosie Turner, Co CEO, InChorus
Shaketa Welch, KYC Team Lead – London, Tide
Professional & Financial 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.
Kate Bohn, Accelerator & Incubator Lead, Lloyds Banking Group
Louise Brett, Partner & Head of FinTech and Financial Services Innovation, Deloitte
Martyna Budzynska, Senior Legal Counsel, Tide
Betty Encinales, Mentor, Fintipay Becruit
Annette Evans, VP People & Culture, Global Processing Services (GPS)
Seema Farazi, Partner, EY LLP
Laura Farnworth, General Counsel, Atom Bank
Fiona Ghosh, Head of Fintech Partner, Addleshaw Goddard LLP
Jacqui Hatfield, Partner, Head of Financial Services Regulatory, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (UK) LLP
Yasmin Johal, Associate, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Rachel Kent, Partner, Hogan Lovells
Anita Kimber, Partner, Transformation Leader, EY
Sharon Lewis, Global Head of Financial Institutions and Insurance, Hogan Lovells
Yuelin Li, VP Strategy, Onfido
Rita Martins, FinTech Partnerships Lead, HSBC
Sue McLean, Partner, Baker McKenzie
Donna Parisi, Partner and Global Head of Financial Services and FinTech, Shearman & Sterling LLP
Mireia Reyes, Mas HR Manager, Smart Pension
Sophie Theen, Chief People & Customer Operations Officer, Oakam
Feven Woldu, Global Bank Transformation, SVP, Wells Fargo
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.
Marwa Adawy, Technology Lead, Yielders
Jen Anderson, Chief Technology Officer, incuto
Ruth Anderson, Head of Lending, Starling Bank
Ashlea Atigolo, Co-founder, INATIGO
Theresa Bercich, Head of Product Management, Lucinity
Kerstin Gleie, Director Digital Products Architect Lead, Visa
Lisa Grahame, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, Global Processing Services (GPS)
Sophie Hamilton, User Experience Designer, NatWest
Tara Hofton, Software Engineering Manager, Aire
Sharon Kean, Senior Product Director, and Head of International Expansion, Wise
Anna Maria Ksiezopolska, Head of Data Science, InCube
Swati Lay, CTO, Funding Circle
Michelle (Seng Ah) Lee, AI Ethics Lead, Deloitte UK
Alejandra M. J. Litterio, Chief Research Officer and Co-founder, Eye Capital Ltd.
Svetla Marinova, Partner Development Manager, Amazon Web Services
Ashleigh Petrie, Head of Product, Moneybox
Nicole Pilsworth, Engineer, Starling Bank
Isabel Pitt, Lab Product Owner – Payments & e+ Delegated NPO, Lloyds Banking Group
Amanda Pun, Product Manager, Homeppl
Manu Sood, Head of Engineering, Salt Lake City Varo Bank
Teresa Wu, Head of Android Engineering, Tide
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.
Yasmeen Al Sharaf, Head of FinTech & Innovation Unit, Central Bank of Bahrain
Sophia Bantanidis, Head of regulatory strategy and policy Citi TTS innovation lab, Citibank
Jo Ann Barefoot, CoFounder and CEO, Alliance for Innovative Regulation
Sholthana Begum, Senior Manager, Regtech, Bank of England Bank of England
Jessica Bilcock, Public Policy and Vulnerability Manager, Monzo
Kat Cloud, UK Policy Lead, Plaid
Franscesca Dowling, Head of Compliance, Amaiz
Jennifer Duncan, Vice President – Government Innovation, Mastercard
Meryem Duygun, Professor, Aviva Chair in Risk and Insurance, University of Nottingham
Ana Isabel Gallego, Government and industry affairs manager, London Stock Exchange Group.
Jasmin Harper, Policy & Engagement Advisor, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Francesca Hopwood, Road Head of RegTech & Advanced Analytics, Financial Conduct Authority
Joanna Jenkins International Compliance Director in Growth & New Markets Railsbank
Cordelia Kafetz Head of Financial Risk Starling Bank
Natalie Ledward Head of Vulnerability Monzo
Olivia-Kelly LONKEU Policy Analyst, Digital Finance United Nations Capital Development Fund
Lynn McConnell Compliance Head UK Binance Markets Limited
Suchitra Nair Director Deloitte LLP
Marloes Nicholls, Head of Programmes Finance Innovation Lab
Victoria Roberts, Director of Fintech Delivery Panel, Tech Nation
Nicole Sandler, Head of Digital Policy, Barclays
Catherine Walpole, Head of Financial Crime Strategy, Starling Bank
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.
Smita Aggarwal, Global Investments Advisor, Flourish Ventures
Yvonne Bajela, Principal and founding member, Impact X capital
Paula Blazquez, Solano Head of Investments InnoCells, Bank Sabadell
Monica Brand Engel, Founder/Partner, Quona Capital
Pauline Brunel, Investment Manager, Blackfin Tech
Briehan Burke, Principal, Keen Venture Partners
Jennifer Byrne, CEO & Co-Founder, Quesnay Inc.
Elizabeth Davis, Investor, Anthemis Group
Isabelle Gallo, Partner, Breega
Tricia Kemp, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Oak HC/FT
Tricia Kemp, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Oak HC/FT
Ellen Logan, Associate, Augmentum Fintech
Cecilia Lundborg, Senior Associate, Hedosophia
Peggy Mangot, Operating Partner, PayPal Ventures
Laviva Mazhar, Investment Associate, Luge Capital
Gloria Monfrini, Venture Partner, Redbus
Emily Morse, Principal, Actis Capital
Deepali Nangia, Venture Partner, Cosmic and Co
Lois Ollerenshaw, Venture Partner, Nationwide Building Society
Katie Palencsar, Investor, Venture Studio Lead, Anthemis
Kristina Söderberg, Investment Manager SEB, AB
Emma Steele, Investment Director, Ascension Ventures
Angela Strange, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
Kristy Trieste, Chief Financial Officer, Motive Partners
Katherine Wilson, Venture Investor, Illuminate Financial
Sophie Winwood, Investor, Anthemis Group
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.
Jag Chana, Head of Marketing, EY
Nicola Cowburn, Director & RegTech/RiskTech Champion, Finarama Marketing
Nim Haas, Co-founder & Director, TechFuse
Georgia Hanias, Founder, Ecology Media
Georgie Hazell, Head of Engagement, Augmentum Fintech plc
Lucy Heavens, Marketing Director, Wealth Dynamix
Natasha Jones, Head of Communications & Policy, Funding Circle
Sarah Kocianski, Head of Research, 11:FS
Lisa Leid, Head of Communications, Fractal Labs
Emily Nicolle, Fintech Correspondent, Dow Jones
Odette Maher, Head of Global Communications, Symphony Communication Services
Madhvi Mavadiya, Head of Content, Finextra
Filippa Noghani Sr, Director of Marketing and Communications, Banking and Chair, Marketing Virtusa and NYC Fintech Women
Payal Raina, Founder, FinTech B2B Marketing
Erin Renzas, SVP Marketing, Checkout.com
Katy Ringsdore, Head of Media Relations, LOQBOX Savings Limited
Tina Valand, Partnerships Director, Encompass Corporation
Charlotte Wilkinson, Creative Director, Zopa
Laurel Wolfe, VP Marketing, Mambu
Angela Yore,
Managing Director & Co Founder, Sky Parlour
Judges
Innovate Finance called on the FinTech ecosystem to nominate and submit applications and received nearly 1000 responses, highlighting that there is certainly no lack of female talent within the sector! Getting the Powerlist down to 165 females, and selecting the Standout 35 is never an easy job. We are grateful to our independent external support, and to our judges to help us make that final selection. All the inspiring women profiled on the Powerlist 2020’s Standout 35 Stars were selected by our esteemed panel of judges. All the inspiring women profiled on the Powerlist 2020’s Standout 35 Stars were selected by our esteemed panel of judges, from equality champions to industry leaders.
Become a Sponsor of the Women in FinTech Initiative
Innovate Finance has a number of opportunities to work with partners to deliver the Women in FinTech Initiative. Get in touch and learn more about becoming a sponsor.