The Financial Technology Report is honored to present The Top 50 Women Leaders in Financial Technology of 2024. Innovation in the fintech space has been fast and furious with the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, and these trailblazers are helping companies—and the world—redefine what’s possible in the space. Their excellence is helping to drive the industry forward in ways that were unthinkable a few short years ago.
These women craft and implement strategies, manage and inspire large teams, direct technical product management, and serve as mentors and role models for everyone in their companies, regardless of gender or stature. The awardees on this list were selected based on our analysis of hundreds of candidates, taking into consideration professional milestones achieved, demonstrated domain expertise, and longevity in the fintech field.
This year’s honorees include Denise Garth, Chief Strategy Officer at Majesco, who takes home our top spot. They include Natalie Townsend, who, in her 13th year at Consero, is helping to break down barriers as Chief Revenue Officer. They include Kathy Ligman of REPAY, who is supporting complex initiatives to help her company grow. And they include Karishma Motwani, who is the Director of Product Management at the fastest-growing RIA in the country.
We applaud these women for their commitment to the organizations they serve. Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of The Top 50 Women Leaders in Financial Technology of 2024.
1. Denise Garth
Firm: Majesco
Title: Chief Strategy Officer
Denise Garth is the Chief Strategy Officer of Majesco. In this role she is responsible for leading marketing, industry relations, and innovation in support of Majesco’s client-centric strategy, working closely with Majesco customers, partners, and the industry. Majesco is the partner that P&C and L&A insurers choose to create and deliver outstanding customer experiences.
Prior to joining Majesco, Garth held business and technology senior executive roles with leading insurance companies, including Mutual of Omaha, CUNA Mutual and Century Cos. of America. At ACORD, she was Vice President of Standards and Membership, driving ACORD’s international expansion and market presence.
While at Innovation Group, she was EVP of Strategic Marketing and Global Head of Market Strategy. Most recently she was Partner and Chief Digital Officer with Strategy Meets Action. Garth holds a bachelor’s degree in math and computer science from Central College in Iowa, has completed MBA work at the University of Northern Iowa, and she has attended various executive leadership programs.
2. Lalarukh Haris Shaikh
Firm: Palantir Technologies
Title: Executive Vice President
Lalarukh Haris Shaikh is the EVP of Palantir Technologies. Palantir Technologies offers a suite of software applications for integrating, visualizing, and analyzing information. Palantir software allows analysts within and between government organizations to collaborate and analyze large quantities of data. The company's software platforms are designed to help organizations make sense of large and complex data sets, particularly in the fields of government, defense, finance, healthcare, and other industries.
Shaikh brings 14 years of experience to her current role and first got her start in 2011 as a Director of Education and Development and President at Oxbridge Biotechnology Roundtable, her most recent position prior to joining Palantir Technologies. Shaikh graduated from the University of Cambridge with an PhD in clinical pharmacology and a master’s degree in translational medicine and therapeutics and from Dublin City University with an undergraduate degree in biotechnology.
3. Helen Cook
Firm: Finastra
Title: Chief People and Communications Officer
Helen Cook is the Chief People and Communications Officer of Finastra, a global provider of financial services software applications across lending, payments, treasury and capital markets, and universal (retail and digital) banking. Cook takes global responsibility for the People and Internal Communications organization and advances Finastra’s aspiration to be the most inclusive and diverse employer in the fintech industry.
Cook was previously at Natwest Group, where she was a member of the Executive Team and held the position of Chief Human Resources Officer. She has an incredible wealth of expertise including extensive global exposure in all aspects of people strategy. Her career spans more than 25 years in financial services, including experience at Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley. Cook graduated from Cambridge University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel.
4. Natalie Townsend
Firm: Consero
Title: Chief Revenue Officer
Natalie Townsend is the Chief Revenue Officer at Consero, where she oversees sales, business development, marketing, and customer success. Since joining the company in 2012, she has played a key role in developing the sales process and building a high-performing revenue team. With a background in accounting and sales, she combines financial expertise with a focus on helping companies optimize their finance and accounting functions.
Before Consero, Townsend was a District Manager at ADP, where she contributed to the growth of HR software and services solutions. During her tenure, she received multiple sales awards, including the President’s Club and Top District Manager of the Month. She is also dedicated to mentoring the next generation and founded CTStrong, an initiative that provides college scholarships for students in need.
Townsend earned a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and is a licensed CPA in Texas.
5. Priscila Barrantes
Firm: PayJoy
Title: Managing Director
Priscila Barrantes is VP and Country Manager for PayJoy Mexico, leading the company’s largest market to significant revenue growth while overseeing all facets of in-country operations. A dynamic leader with more than 16 years of experience across fintech, consumer goods, retail, and e-commerce, Barrantes has consistently driven innovation and business transformation in her roles at industry leaders including Walmart, AB InBev, and América Móvil.
At PayJoy, Barrantes spearheads strategies that expand financial inclusion, delivering impactful results for Mexico’s underserved population. Prior to joining PayJoy, she served as the Business Lead for AB InBev’s Direct-to-Consumer and eCommerce divisions, where she launched cutting-edge digital solutions and strengthened customer-centric business models.
Barrantes holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Anáhuac University, a master’s degree in digital business from ISDI, and several SME certificates from Wharton and Kellogg business schools.
6. Elly Aiala
Firm: Boost
Title: Chief Compliance Officer
Elly Aiala is the Chief Compliance Officer of Boost. Boost Payment Solutions is a leader in B2B payments with a technology platform that serves the needs of commercial trading partners.
Aiala leads the Compliance function at Boost. Prior to her work Boost, she developed compliance programs and processes for emerging issues at fintechs in industries including blockchain, crypto, and digital securities. Previously, Aiala was a Senior Compliance Associate at Paxos. Earlier in her career she worked with Global Risk Advisors as a compliance officer. Aiala earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from Columbia University.
7. Ellie Heath
Firm: Mambu
Title: Chief People Officer
Ellie Heath is the Chief People Officer of Mambu, a SaaS cloud banking platform. Launched in 2011, Mambu fast-tracks the design and build of nearly any type of financial offering for banks of all sizes, lenders, fintechs, retailers, telcos, and more.
Heath brings more than 15 years of expertise in people operations, with globally held roles at companies including WorldRemit, eBay, and the BBC. Specializing in compensation and benefits design, implementation and management, Heath previously led Mambu’s Total Rewards and People Operations teams for more than two years.
Heath graduated from Coventry University with a master’s degree in human resource management and an undergraduate degree in marketing and human resource management.
8. Tiffany Johnson
Firm: NMI
Title: Chief Product Officer
Tiffany Johnson is the Chief Product Officer of NMI and has more than 15 years of product leadership experience in payments, fintech, and finance. NMI is a global leader in embedded payments, powering more than $225 billion in payment volumes annually. With industry-leading payment gateway technology and a seamless platform for merchant underwriting, acquiring, onboarding, and management, NMI empowers partners across the entire payments ecosystem.
Johnson previously served as SVP of Product for Green Dot and Head of Product for North America at UK-based Railsr (formerly Railsbank), leading new product development including banking, payments, debit and credit “as-a-service” offerings. Johnson graduated from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University with an MBA and from Arizona State University with an undergraduate degree in economics.
9. Kate Hampton
Firm: NMI
Title: Chief Strategy Officer
Kate Hampton is the Chief Strategy Officer at NMI. She brings 15 years of extensive experience in the payments industry. She previously served as the SVP of Product and Payments at Entrata, where she implemented the pay-fac model, expanded the payments function, and grew it into one of the highest revenue-generating products for the company. She also held management positions in corporate finance at Global Payments, Accelerated Payment Technologies, and CAM Commerce.
10. Yael Malek
Firm: Bluevine
Title: Chief People Officer
Yael Malek is the Chief People Officer at Bluevine, a digital banking platform. Since 2013, Bluevine has delivered strategic products including business checking, integrated accounts payable, and lines of credit, supporting more than 500,000 business owners in managing and growing their operations.
Before Bluevine, Yael was at Gainsight, where she helped establish the customer success function and led the People function for the Americas and EMEA, scaling the company to more than 1,000 employees. Earlier in her career, she worked in management consulting and founded Elevate Coaching, a leadership development firm.
Committed to the philosophy that exceptional people strategies deliver exceptional results, Yael focuses on aligning talent and technology to foster growth and innovation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business and management from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from Stanford University.
11. Kathy Ligman
Firm: REPAY
Title: Senior Vice President, Product
Kathy Ligman is an accomplished senior Product Management Leader with more than two decades of success pioneering and launching breakthrough digital financial services and payments solutions as well as Go-to-Market strategies for the fintech industry. Since September of 2023, she has served as the SVP of Product for REPAY, leading the product, QA, and technical writing functions for the company.
Kathy’s day-to-day work life includes product innovation, product lifecycle management, strategic planning, requirements analysis and business case development. She’s a trusted partner to executive teams and functional leaders, supporting strategic and complex initiatives to help the organization grow.
12. Nikhita Hyett
Firm: Signifyd
Title: General Manager, EMEA spell out GM
Nikhita Hyett is the GM of EMEA at Signifyd, a global commerce protection provider that helps merchants safeguard their businesses while increasing top-line revenue. Signifyd provides an end-to-end Commerce Protection Platform that leverages its Commerce Network to maximize conversion, automate customer experience, and eliminate fraud and customer abuse for retailers.
With more than 15 years of experience in e-commerce, payments, media, and retail, Hyett is a passionate and strategic leader dedicated to driving growth and innovation. Previously, Hyett was a Managing Director, Europe, executive, FCA, approved board member at BlueSnap and before that a senior journalist at Northern and Shell. Earlier in her career she worked with the Daily Mirror as a journalist. Hyett earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University College London.
13. Tami Rosen
Firm: Pagaya
Title: Chief Development Officer, Board Member
Tami Rosen has served as a Director, Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board, and Chief Development Officer at Pagaya since 2024. Pagaya is a global technology company making financial products and services available to more people nationwide. Rosen has been bringing people and organizations to Pagaya since she joined in 2021 as the Chief People Officer and the company's first C-Suite hire. Rosen was instrumental in helping to scale Pagaya’s business, support M&A activities, and assist in its public offering.
Prior to joining Pagaya, Rosen served in C-suite executive roles at Apple, Goldman Sachs, Atlassian, and Luminar Technologies. She was an early advocate and changemaker in the industry, embracing the inclusion and growth of female, LGBT, and diverse populations, by launching Wall Street's first Ally program. Rosen graduated from Binghamton University with an undergraduate degree in law, society, and liberal arts.
14. Nicole Beaulieu
Firm: Figure Technology Solutions
Title: Chief Technology Officer
As Chief Technology Officer at Figure, Nicole Beaulieu oversees technology strategy and development, focusing on fintech, lending, and personal finance. Figure provides consumer financial solutions intended for home improvement, debt consolidation, and retirement planning. Its financial services include providing home equity release services including home equity lines of credit, home improvement loans, and home buy-lease back offerings for retirement leveraging through blockchain, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics, enabling customers to access capital in as few as five days.
Previously, Beaulieu was a senior software engineering manager at Intuit, and before that, a principal software engineer and technical team lead at PLAYSTUDIOS. Earlier in her career she worked with IGT as a firmware engineer. Beaulieu earned a master’s degree in human computer interaction from Iowa State University and an undergraduate degree in computer science from the University of San Diego.
15. Lisa Paccione
Firm: Glia
Title: Executive Vice President, Sales
Lisa Paccione is the Executive Vice President of Sales at Glia, where she leads the strategy and operations for the Sales and Sales Engineering organizations. With deep experience in cloud communications, digital transformation, and customer experience solutions, she has a proven track record of driving growth and fostering strong internal and external partnerships.
Before joining Glia, Paccione was the Vice President of Enterprise Sales at Twilio, where she played a key role in increasing revenue by nearly $1 billion and maintaining a dollar-based net expansion rate exceeding 120%.
She previously served as Vice President of Sales for Everbridge, a leader in critical event management and public warning software, and held multiple sales and business development leadership roles at Syniverse, a Carlyle-owned company. At Syniverse, she was instrumental in scaling the enterprise business from $5 million to over $200 million and served on the board of directors, appointed by minority stakeholder Twilio.
Paccione is known for building and leading high-performing sales teams, transforming company culture, and navigating the complexities of technology sales. Her leadership has consistently delivered strong business outcomes across the organizations she has served.
16. Lindsey Haswell
Firm: MoonPay
Title: Chief Legal and Administrative Officer
Lindsey Haswell is the Chief Legal and Administrative Officer at MoonPay. Before joining, Haswell was the Chief Administrative and Legal Officer at crypto-asset firm Blockchain.com, where she managed the Legal, Compliance, and People teams. She is also one of the founders of BFF – an open-access community with a mission to connect, educate, and empower women and non-binary people in Web3 – and an initial contributor to Core Dao, a Layer 1 blockchain that went to Mainnet in January 2023.
Lindsey was a founding member of Uber's legal team, where she oversaw many of the most complex legal and regulatory issues affecting the rideshare industry. From devising novel legal and litigation strategies to influencing favorable rideshare regulations, she was on the founding team of lawyers and business strategists who made rideshare legally possible. Haswell currently serves on the board of directors of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
17. Lasbery Chioma Oludimu
Firm: Yellow Card
Title: Chief Data Protection Officer and VP of Legal, Product & Commercial
Lasbery Chioma Oludimu is the Chief Data Protection Officer and VP of Legal, Product, and Commercial of Yellow Card, a financial services company. Since launching in Nigeria in 2019, the pan-African startup has remained committed to making cryptocurrencies accessible to anyone in Africa.
Oludimu has a wealth of experience in the fintech, blockchain, and cryptocurrency space. She previously held the position of Director of Legal Services of Yellow Card where she led the legal and regulatory functions of the company across 16 African countries.
Oludimu is a Member of the Nigerian Bar Association, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), a Capital Market Solicitor of the Nigerian Capital Market, and an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. She joined Yellow Card's Executive Team as Chief Data Protection Officer and Vice President of Legal, Commercial and Product.
Oludimu graduated from the University of Lagos with an LLM in company law, secured credit transaction, energy law, and administrative law.
18. Erica Khalili
Firm: Lead Bank
Title: Chief Legal and Risk Officer and Co-founder
Erica Khalili is the Chief Legal and Risk Officer and co-founder of Lead Bank. Lead Bank is a state-chartered bank with a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform for builders and innovators. Lead brings decades of experience navigating complex banking regulations and developing modern technology to offer banking products and services that help partners scale with compliance and creativity.
Previously, Khalili spent over six years at Block, Inc. (formerly Square, Inc.) serving as Deputy General Counsel and General Counsel for Square Financial Services, Block's internal bank entity. Khalili led the cross-functional efforts for Block, Inc. to obtain a de novo ILC charter - building it from the first line of code to a thriving institution.
While at Block, Khalili led the cross-functional counsel team charged with oversight of the Square Capital program and Square’s banking and financial services products. Before joining Block, Khalili was a member of the Banking and Finance practices at Mayer Brown and Baker McKenzie, counseling clients on structured products, bank regulatory issues, and fintech issues.
Khalili holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois and a JD from the Chicago-Kent College of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Illinois and New York.
19. Andrea Marcos
Firm: Bankaya
Title: Vice President of Risk
Andrea Marcos is a passionate and results-driven financial professional with more than 10 years of experience managing credit risk and strategy in the fintech space. She's currently a VP of Risk at Bankaya, a Mexican fintech company that offers a savings account, financing of smartphones and other products through a super-app that truly caters to the needs of the base of the pyramid.
Previously, Marcos was at Tala for almost seven years, where she worked as Director of Credit, creating credit strategy frameworks and developing ML models with the Data Science teams to enable financial access to the emerging middle class, overseeing the Mexico, Philippines, and Kenya portfolios of existing clients.
Marcos’ academic background is in mathematics and sociology from Northwestern University, where she obtained a bachelors degree, and a master’s degree in applied finance (MSAF) from Pepperdine University. She has experience overseeing large data sets and trend analysis in the telecommunications and fintech industries using different statistical software.
20. Erin Jancic
Firm: Array
Title: Chief Operating Officer
Erin Jancic is the Chief Operating Officer at Array, where she leads operations, client delivery, and oversees initiatives that drive cross-functional alignment and business growth. With a focus on achieving measurable results, Jancic leverages her extensive experience to advance strategic objectives and streamline execution across teams. Array fuels financial progress for many of the world’s leading fintechs, financial institutions, and digital brands with a suite of private-label fintech solutions.
An accomplished technology leader with more than 20 years in fintech, govtech, and healthtech, Jancic brings a unique blend of strategic foresight and operational expertise. Throughout her career, she has successfully led diverse teams across product, engineering, customer success, deployment, and operations.
Known for her commitment to sustainable growth and building high-performing teams, Jancic is a dynamic leader who champions talent development and inspires a culture of collaboration and accountability. Jancic graduated from Northwestern University with an undergraduate degree in mathematics.
21. Kelly Shea
Firm: Array
Title: Chief Administrative Officer
Kelly Shea is the Chief Administrative Officer of Array. Array fuels financial progress for many of the world’s leading fintechs, financial institutions, and digital brands with a suite of private-label fintech solutions that can be easily embedded. Shea is passionate about fueling financial progress and is focused on Array's talent acquisition, talent development strategy, and overall performance.
Prior to Array, Shea had a successful career in financial services and big tech, creating bespoke scalable talent solutions driven by data insights. She is a trusted advisor for a number of inclusive hiring enablement tools, and sits on the product advisory board for BrightHire. Shea graduated from Quantic School of Business and Technology with an EMBA and from Siena College with an undergraduate degree in psychology.
22. Becky Kopplin
Firm: Rainforest
Title: Vice President, Payments
Becky Kopplin is VP of Payments at Rainforest, a Payments-as-a-Service provider that helps software platforms enable payment processing for their merchants. While most Payments-as-a-Service providers focus on driving down costs, Rainforest helps SaaS companies drive payments adoption, revenue, and enterprise value.
Rainforest clients receive millions of dollars of payments strategy consulting learnings – all built into the product and implementation process. Kopplin’s expertise has been essential to shaping the product, and she leads the customer success, payment operations, and risk management teams that deliver value to Rainforest clients every day.
Kopplin is an experienced payments executive with expertise in driving value through integrated SaaS payment solutions. With nearly 20 years of payments experience in risk and regulatory controls, ISO and Payment Facilitator business models, P&L ownership, process design, and change optimization, she’s had direct responsibility for billions of dollars in annual processing volume and has demonstrated results in operational management, acquisition and integrations leadership, and payment monetization strategies. Kopplin has previously held executive leadership roles at Ministry Brands, TeamSnap, Insurity, and The CashLINQ Group.
23. Lauren Reid
Firm: Expensify
Title: Director of Customer Success
Lauren Reid oversees a team supporting over 15 million users. As the Director of Support, she has streamlined processes to enhance customer service, scaled operations to handle millions of interactions, and provided critical leadership in building a world-class account management team. In addition, as a senior leader at Expensify, Reid plays a key role in shaping company strategy, improving organizational processes, and ensuring the company operates effectively as a public entity.
Reid began her career in public service, education, and culture, focusing on customer service, high-level administration, and fundraising. She later served as a Senior Operations Manager at Change.org, a platform for social change and advocacy, before bringing her expertise to Expensify.
24. Kelly Zitlow
Firm: Cornerstone Capital Bank
Title: Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Kelly Zitlow is the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Cornerstone Capital Bank, where she leads strategic initiatives in sales and marketing to drive business growth. With more than 28 years of experience in the mortgage industry, she has built a reputation for delivering transparent, well-communicated, and knowledge-based lending experiences.
At Cornerstone Capital Bank, Zitlow has played a key role in shaping innovative sales and marketing strategies. An early adopter of video and digital marketing, she launched her first YouTube channel, KellyOnYouTube.com, in 2014 to educate real estate professionals and build a strong personal brand.
Her success with this platform led to a 35% increase in business within its first year and became the foundation of her marketing approach. In 2022, she expanded her digital presence with MortgageHowDoI.com, a second YouTube channel focused on providing consumers with essential insights into the home lending process.
Beyond digital engagement, Zitlow has been a recognized industry voice, appearing on “Designing Spaces” on Lifetime TV and hosting “The American Dream” TV show on CBS in the Phoenix/Scottsdale market from 2017 to 2021. She is also an experienced speaker, frequently serving as a keynote speaker, panelist, and moderator at mortgage and real estate industry events nationwide.
Zitlow holds a degree from Arizona State University.
25. Lynda Clarke
Firm: Tribe Payment
Title: Chief Operating Officer
Lynda Clarke is the Chief Operating Officer of Tribe. She joined the company in 2022, bringing more than a decade’s worth of experience in the payments sector across Europe and the Middle East, having previously held senior roles at Barclaycard, Elavon and Network International.
Clarke has a proven track record in product commercialization, and launched the first acquirer-owned Android-based POS application across the MEA. Having also built and led high-performing P&L owning teams, Clarke joined Tribe as VP of Customer Success before moving into her current COO role, in which she ensures that Tribe delivers a seamless experience to its customers.
Previously, Clarke was a Chief Revenue Officer at Network International and, before that, as head of European commercial product management at Elavon. Earlier in her career she worked with Hays as an office manager and senior recruitment manager.
26. Antonella Coccia
Firm: Wefox Italy
Title: Chief of Staff
Antonella Coccia is the Chief of Staff at Wefox Italy, where she plays a key role in defining and implementing company strategy, managing OKRs, and overseeing functions including Strategy, Legal, Compliance, Risk, HR, and Communication. With more than 20 years of experience in corporate governance, law, and compliance within the insurance and financial sectors, she has a strong track record in navigating regulatory complexities and driving operational excellence.
Before joining Wefox, Coccia held leadership roles at AXA Italia and AXA Partners, where she led strategic projects in health and insurance, implemented new governance structures, and managed high-profile legal and corporate affairs. She began her career in legal consultancy at KPMG and specialized law firms, gaining expertise in contractual negotiation, regulatory compliance, and dispute resolution.
Beyond her corporate responsibilities, Coccia is a strong advocate for gender diversity and inclusion, championing initiatives that support women in the financial industry. She holds expertise in strategic planning, leadership development, and corporate law, contributing to transformative changes within organizations and the broader sector.
27. Patti Mancini
Firm: Zest
Title: Senior Vice President, People Ops
Patti Mancini is the SVP, People Ops of Zest. Zest AI aims to make machine learning safe to use in credit underwriting. The Zest Model Management System enables lenders to analyze vast amounts of credit data to help increase approval rates and reduce the risk of faulty credit decisions.
At Zest AI, Mancini leads all aspects of its talent force and stewards Zest’s culture. She fosters connection, empowerment, and sustainable action toward individual and team goals, and enables professional development across the company. She also spearheaded the implementation of the Zest Cares and oversees the foundation’s work and impact.
Previously, Mancini was an executive leadership coach, facilitator, organizational development consultant at Patricia Mancini Consulting, and before that, a director of human resources at DIRECTV. Earlier in her career she worked with Left Bank Organization as a director of human resources.
28. Ayelet Ribak Lehmann
Firm: EverC
Title: Chief Operating Officer
Ayelet Ribak Lehmann is the Chief Operating Officer of EverC. EverC is dedicated to powering safe, scalable growth for the e-commerce ecosystem through automated, AI-driven merchant and marketplace risk management solutions. The company provides immediate and ongoing merchant risk intelligence for banks, acquirers, payment providers, and marketplaces.
Lehmann brings 21 years of experience to her current role and got her start in 2004 as a channel administrator at 3Com. From there, she went on to Strauss Group, before eventually rising to SVP of Global Human Resources at DayTwo, her most recent position prior to joining EverC. Lehmann graduated from the University of Derby with an undergraduate degree in business administration and management.
29. Emma Rose Kantor
Firm: Kafene
Title: Vice President Operations
Emma Rose Kantor is the Vice President of Operations of Kafene, a leading point-of-sale leasing partner dedicated to empowering flexible ownership solutions for underserved customers nationwide. By enabling retail partners to offer flexible lease-to-own (LTO) purchase options for both prime and nonprime consumers, Kafene helps merchants expand their customer base and meet the growing demand for furniture, appliances, electronics, tires, and other durable goods.
Kantor brings seven years of experience to her current role. Before joining Kafene, she was a director of operations at Rewired and before that a senior program associate at Pursuit. Earlier in her career she worked with NYC Department of Small Business Services as a policy advisor. Kantor graduated from Harvard University with an undergraduate degree in English.
30. Paula Vardell
Firm: NexBank
Title: Senior Vice President
Paula Vardell is the Senior Vice President of NexBank, a financial services company that serves its clients through three core businesses: Institutional Banking, Commercial Banking, and Mortgage Banking. NexBank provides customized financial and banking services primarily to institutional clients, financial institutions, and corporations nationwide.
Vardell brings 27 years of experience to her current role. Before joining NexBank, she was an SVP at Southwest Securities in FSB, and before that, an operations manager at Loancity. Earlier in her career she worked with Union in Wachovia as a closing manager.
31. Genni Combes
Firm: CrowdStreet
Title: Chief Financial Officer
Genni Combes is the Chief Financial Officer of CrowdStreet. For more than 15 years, she has served as a finance and operations executive at both public and private companies with a focus on leading tech firms through growth stages from startup to IPO.
She started her career on Wall Street, having served as an equity analyst covering the e-commerce, fintech, and broader tech sectors on both the buy- and sell-side. During that time, she acted as an underwriting analyst in more than 20 equity transactions for companies including Intuit, E*Trade, E-Loan, Amazon.com, and Pixar.
Combes most recently served as the CFO at ApplePie Capital, where she led the finance and operations teams. Prior to that, she held senior executive roles at Sungevity and ZipRealty in addition to serving as a Managing Director at JP Morgan H&Q.
Combes holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
32. Karishma Motwani
Firm: Farther
Title: Director of Technical Product Management
Karishma Motwani is the Director of Technical Product Management at Farther, a technology-centric wealth management firm. The fastest-growing RIA in the country, Farther manages over $5 billion in assets across more than 100 wealth advisors and 5,000 clients.
Motwani is an accomplished product management leader with extensive experience in the financial technology sector, one who has implemented key processes to help startups scale from early product development to full-fledged roadmapping and data-driven decisions. Prior to Farther, Motwani held roles at Quantitative Brokers, Atom Finance, and Bloomberg LP, where she was responsible for realizing new revenue streams, scaling data management functions, and building the first B2B offering for a direct-to-consumer business.
At Farther, Motwani is focused on creating a seamless experience for financial advisors and their clients, with the mission of Farther as a one-stop-shop for wealth management.
33. Kristen Howell
Firm: CrowdStreet
Title: General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Kristen Howell is the Chief Compliance Officer of CrowdStreet, where she brings more than 20 years of legal experience in fintech, corporate securities, and financial services.
Prior to joining CrowdStreet, Howell was a partner at Am Law 100 law firm Fox Rothschild, where she led the firm’s national investment funds practice. Howell previously served as General Counsel for a registered investment adviser with $19 billion in assets under management and six publicly traded mutual funds. She has been featured in several publications and spoken widely on fintech, investments, and crowdfunding.
Howell holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Texas Christian University and a JD from The University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder.
34. Julia Markiewicz
Firm: Silent Eight
Title: Chief Operating Officer
Julia Markiewicz is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Silent Eight, a company specializing in artificial intelligence-powered solutions to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. Based in Singapore, her management style has been a key driver of Silent Eight’s substantial investment in research and development, as well as its simultaneous focus on expanding its team and global presence.
Markiewicz holds a master’s degree in social policy and is passionate about innovation, with a strong drive to empower every team member to reach their full potential. She has a proven track record in entrepreneurship, including founding Fabryka Kadr, a leading European provider of human resources services that introduced numerous innovative concepts to the market.
35. Paula Villamarin
Firm: dLocal
Title: Global Communications Manager
Paula Villamarin began her professional career 19 years ago. Today, she is the Global Communications Manager of dLocal. dLocal powers local payments in high-growth markets, connecting global enterprise merchants with billions of consumers across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Villamarin first got her start in 2006 as a PR and product communication at BMW. From there, she went on to DEKRA, before eventually rising to senior communication manager in LATAM at DJI, her most recent position prior to joining dLocal. Villamarin graduated from Universitat de Barcelona with a master in PR communication and event organization and from Universität Passau with an undergraduate degree.
36. Meghann Carroll
Firm: Foxen
Title: Chief Revenue Officer
Meghann Carroll is the Chief Revenue Officer of Foxen, a provider of risk management software, insurance verification, and monitoring services. Foxen's mission is to develop innovative technology to provide mutually beneficial financial solutions for the advancement of property owners, managers, and their residents. Founded in 2017, the company is based in Columbus, Ohio.
Carroll brings 24 years of experience to her current role. Before joining Foxen, Carroll was a general manager at Allstate Identity Protection, and before that, an EVP of sales at InfoArmor. Earlier in her career she worked with Fleet Bank as an HR business partner. Carroll graduated from Dartmouth College with an undergraduate degree in sociology.
37. Jolynn Swafford
Firm: FinMkt
Title: Vice President, Growth and Partnerships
Jolynn Swafford is the VP, Growth and Partnerships, of FinMkt. FinMkt provides customizable point-of-sale financing and online financial marketplace technologies for the global financial services industry. It provides a comprehensive point-of-sale financing solution to financial institutions and merchant and distribution partners which includes sourcing quality borrowers, consumer and merchant underwriting and UX, loan document presentation and e-signing and payment delivery systems for disbursement of loan funds.
Prior to joining FinMkt, Swafford served in various executive roles in the healthcare industry for more than 20 years. Throughout the span of her career, she was a global top achiever in SaaS and consulting services sales. She has worked with EY, PwC, Oracle, Gartner, Texas Health, and Children's Health. Swafford is also a master life coach, and graduated from The University of Texas at Arlington College of Business with an MBA and from Texas A&M University with an undergraduate degree.
38. Su Young Chun
Firm: Payfare
Title: Chief Strategy Office and Chief Compliance Officer
Su Chun currently serves as Payfare’s Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), playing a pivotal role in driving the company's rapid growth and overseeing its compliance, fraud prevention, and customer support teams. Payfare is at the forefront of the earned wage access industry, allowing workers to access their earnings instantly, thereby improving financial security and promoting greater financial inclusion for workers globally.
Since joining Payfare in 2020, Chun has been instrumental in the company’s success and exponential growth. Chun is known for her ability to build and nurture high-performing teams that care deeply about the company’s mission and innovate with both speed and integrity. She champions sustainable change, guiding her teams through rapid transformations while ensuring long-term stability.
Prior to Payfare, Chun led transformative initiatives at the Mastercard Foundation and the Toronto Stock Exchange and served as CCO at OANDA. With a strong belief in equal opportunity, Chun founded the KEY Education Project (Knowledge Empowers You), an initiative dedicated to providing life-changing scholarships to youth in Central America.
39. Doris Holtzhausen
Firm: Squirro
Title: Head of Business Development
Doris Holtzhausen is the Head of Business Development of Squirro, a leading generative AI-enabled semantic search and insights cloud company for searching, analyzing, and interpreting unstructured data. With that, Squirro empowers organizations across the globe to transform enterprise data into AI-driven insights and tailored recommendations.
Holtzhausen graduated from Oxford Brookes University with an undergraduate degree.
40. Laurie Katz
Firm: Figure Markets
Title: Chief Revenue Officer
With more than 25 years of experience in asset management, Laurie Katz is the Chief Revenue Officer at Figure Markets. She has established extensive relationships with institutional investors, including pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, family offices, fund of funds, and bank platforms. Figure Markets is built on the belief in a decentralized future for finance, developing an "exchange for everything"—a blockchain-native, decentralized custody exchange for digital assets. The platform features MPC wallets, cross-collateralization of assets, crypto-backed loans, and asset management.
In her role at Figure Markets, Katz oversees various operational and marketing functions, ensuring the delivery of high-quality services and solutions to clients. Katz graduated from New York University.
41. Sue Hardy
Firm: 401GO
Title: Head of Plan Operations
Sue Hardy is the Head of Plan Operations at 401GO, where she brings more than 20 years of experience in the retirement industry. Throughout her career, she has built a strong reputation for leadership, operational excellence, and a deep commitment to advancing the industry. Holding credentials from multiple respected professional organizations, Hardy is a frequent presenter, where she shares her expertise on ERISA, operations, team culture, and process management.
Passionate about fostering high-performing teams, Hardy focuses on operational leadership that drives both organizational efficiency and a positive team culture. Her leadership approach emphasizes continuous improvement and streamlined processes, creating impactful results for both employees and clients.
42. Kelly Wilde
Firm: 401GO
Title: Director of Customer Success
Kelly Wilde is the Director of Customer Success of 401GO, a fintech retirement benefit platform that leverages proprietary automation technology to substantially simplify the setup and administration of 401(k) plans, reducing day-to-day work and driving down costs. The company never automates relationships, instead collaborating with financial advisors, payroll providers, benefits brokers, and more to create the most beneficial solutions for clients.
Wilde brings 18 years of experience to her current role. Before joining 401GO, Wilde was a manager at Beck Tek and before that an operations manager at Superior Tile & Marble.
43. Lauren Lin
Firm: Luxor Technology
Title: Head of Hardware
Lauren Lin is the Head of Hardware of Luxor Technology. Luxor Technology Corporation is a Bitcoin mining software and services company that offers a suite of products catered toward the mining and compute power industry. Luxor’s suite of software and services include an open-auction ASIC Marketplace, a Bitcoin mining pool, a Hashrate Derivatives Desk, an Antminer ASIC Firmware and a Bitcoin mining data platform.
Lin graduated from the University of Southern California.
44. Carmelle Cadet
Firm: EMTECH
Title: CEO and Founder
Carmelle Cadet is the CEO and Founder of EMTECH. Cadet, a passionate advocate for financial inclusion and economic development, is an experienced finance and business leader in the enterprise IT sector, with specializations in financial services and blockchain technologies. Cadet founded EMTECH, a NYC-based fintech, to help central banks around the world with adopting modern technologies to provide financial inclusion by designing and developing resilient financial market infrastructures.
For the last three years, Cadet worked on digital currency technologies and strategies for the purpose of addressing financial inclusion and lowering the cost of cross-border payments. After a 10-year career at IBM in corporate finance/treasury and as a software business development executive, Cadet is now a sought-after thought leader and innovator in financial services, central banking technology and blockchain, with the mission of providing everyone access to a digital cash infrastructure.
Cadet engages with central banks from Africa to the Caribbean to enable their transition to the digital currency era in an inclusive way. She earned her Executive MBA from New York University.
45. Cheryl Tay Oon Lin
Firm: Helicap
Title: Director, Sales & Partnerships
Cheryl Tay is Helicap's Director of Sales and Partnerships. She has managed investments for ultra-high and high-net-worth clients at Citibank, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Maybank Private Banking for the past decade. Helicap is a Singapore-based fintech firm connecting global investors to private debt opportunities in Southeast Asia. The company's goal is to fill a $500 billion financing gap that banks are unable to serve and deploy capital to 300 million underbanked people through 1,000 originators in the region.
In her extensive experience, Tay has managed portfolios based on solutions across a variety of asset classes. She holds a bachelor's degree in life science with a concentration in biomedical science from the National University of Singapore.
46. Aimee West
Firm: BankingON
Title: Director of Customer Success
Aimee West is the Director of Client Engagement at BankingON, an Austin-based tech company dedicated to revolutionizing digital banking solutions for credit unions and community banks. BankingON’s recent launch of Boucoup in February 2024, a product focusing on the youth market, emphasizes financial literacy and empowers families to manage money well.
With more than 15 years of experience in client engagement, sales management, and organizational leadership, West has consistently driven client satisfaction, business growth, and long-term partnerships. She excels at transforming client relationships from transactional to strategic partnerships, ensuring clients are always treated as valued collaborators rather than just vendors.
Her extensive expertise across multiple industries allows her to cultivate strong client relationships while delivering seamless, client-focused processes from sales and implementation to ongoing support. West’s understanding of the entire customer lifecycle, from initial sales and implementation to ongoing success management, has enabled her to create effective solutions that maximize value for clients.
West attended Washington State and Western Governor’s Universities and holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing management and a master’s degree in management and leadership. Outside of her professional achievements, she is passionate about giving back to her community, currently serving as Secretary on the Board of Directors for the Northside Youth Sports Association and as a Community Outreach Coordinator for Foster Village.
47. Melissa Kopp
Firm: Neural Payments
Title: Director of Customer Experience
Melissa Kopp has spent more than 24 years in various roles within the payments industry with leading organizations including FIS/Worldpay, and most recently joined the Cincinnati-based fintech startup, Neural Payments, where she serves as the Executive Director of Client Experience.
In her current role, Kopp leads enterprise sales, marketing and GTM strategies in support of the company’s revenue plan. In addition, she serves as a company voice, serving to evangelize Neural Payments to the market and deliver thought leadership messaging via speaking engagements and digital marketing.
Kopp is passionate about creating seamless and intuitive experiences that deliver a game-changing experience for end-users and implementing solutions that expand outside of the legacy barriers.
48. Geeta Gupta
Firm: Wink
Title: Head of AI and Data Sciences
Geeta Gupta is the Head of AI and Data Sciences at Wink, where she leads groundbreaking innovations in biometric authentication technology. With a distinguished career in artificial intelligence and machine learning, Gupta brings expertise in developing sophisticated algorithms, optimizing model accuracy, and delivering scalable solutions for both supervised and unsupervised learning challenges.
A pioneer in the field, Gupta has a proven track record of leveraging advanced AI models and statistical techniques to solve real-world business problems. Her technical acumen spans frameworks including TensorFlow, PyTorch, and Scikit-learn, as well as edge AI technologies and big data tools, ensuring Wink stays at the forefront of secure and cutting-edge biometric solutions.
Prior to Wink, Gupta co-founded Netsity, where she led innovations in computer vision, IoT, and deep analytics, empowering organizations through data-driven insights. At Wink, her leadership continues to shape the future of identity and authentication, empowering businesses to adopt secure, AI-powered solutions with confidence.
49. Cathy Delille
Firm: Spiral
Title: Head of Client Success
Cathy Delille began her professional career 14 years ago. Today, she is the Head of Client Success of Spiral. Spiral is a personalized banking platform that enables banks and credit unions to grow deposits and attract new account holders through financial wellness and community impact. With Spiral, financial institutions can positively impact the lives of their account holders and their communities through any online bank account, debit card, or credit card.
Delille got her start in 2011 as a high school mathematics teacher at Linden Public Schools. From there, she went on to Tip Top Tap, before eventually rising to community lead, operations at WeWork, her most recent position prior to joining Spiral. Delille graduated from Montclair State University with an undergraduate degree in mathematics.
50. Kanan Ajmera
Firm: Builders Patch
Title: CEO and Co-Founder
Kanan Ajmera is the CEO and Co-Founder of Builders Patch, an AI-driven multifamily data platform trusted by developers and lenders across the country, bringing innovative tech solutions to manage and finance projects. Ajmera is a real estate professional with more than 12 years of experience in development, acquisition finance, and deal management. She is an architect, urban designer, and innovative leader who enjoys solving hard problems and is passionate about creating affordable and vibrant housing communities for all.
