Women in Fintech: Industry Support with Capitalixe, VersaPay and more
This October at The Fintech Times is all about shining a spotlight on the incredible women working in the fintech industry, sharing their greatest achievements, their biggest challenges and how they can make a difference fostering women’s careers.
Though progress has been made to reduce the gender gap in fintech, the industry still has far to go until it hits true representation and champions full equality.
To help highlight the influential and significant contributions of women to the industry, we asked influential fintech leaders (who just so happen to be women) to signpost the support available to aspiring women in fintech.
Driving Fintech’s Future
Lissele Pratt, co-founder of Capitalixe, a payments and banking consultancy for high-risk businesses, said:
“There is an emergence of support options to supercharge women’s fintech careers. Joining vibrant communities like ‘Women of FinTech’ and ‘The Heard’ can be a game-changer. They provide a space for women to connect, collaborate, and thrive together. It’s like having a dedicated squad that’s got your back in the fintech world. For those with entrepreneurial aspirations, initiatives like Invest Engine’s partnership with FemaleInvest and Wirex’s “Rising Women in Crypto Power List’ offer the boost needed to shine in fintech.
“It’s about providing resources, mentorship, and recognition to trailblazing women shaping the industry. Plus, collaborations like Tide and Mastercard’s Strive UK program equip women with the digital skills essential in today’s finance landscape. It’s a dynamic era, and these initiatives are the turbocharge for women to drive fintech’s future.”
Valuable Opportunities
Niki Cooke, chief revenue officer, Financial Technology Research Centre, said:
“The landscape of support for women in fintech has grown significantly, offering a wide range of accelerators, programs, and organisations that provide valuable opportunities for women in the space.
“Prominent fintech accelerators like the FinTech Innovation Lab, Barclays Accelerator, and Cohere Technologies serve as crucial sources of mentorship and essential resources. Personally, I’m a strong advocate for mentoring programs, both as a mentor and mentee.
“Organisations such as the WIF Network offer women-focused fintech platforms for networking and mentorship, fostering supportive communities. Additionally, there are educational programs and online courses available to enhance skills and knowledge.
“Attending networking events, joining online communities, exploring regional initiatives are all pathways to success in the fintech industry.”
Online Communities
Andrea Berry, head of business development at Theta Labs, one of web3 largest decentralised video streaming projects, said:
“The beauty of our world is that communities and relationships do not depend on real-life experiences. Many of the most vital communities that exist are online. We see this a lot in web3 since, by nature, web3 is infrastructure for communities.
“I am amazed by the incredible World of Women community, despite me not being an actual holder of their NFTs (I’m saving!), I am still embraced and inspired by their community simply from watching, participating, and supporting their efforts online. They are open and passionate about their work and welcome anyone interested in participating. I advise exploring online communities across various platforms like LinkedIn and Discord and seeing what makes a connection. This is how I found “Ladies Get Paid,” a resource-based community that champions women’s professional and financial advancement. If you consistently participate and show up in these online communities, it will reward you in ways you would never expect.”
Inclusive Culture
Nancy Sansom, CCO at account receivable software specialists, Versapay said:
“For me, it’s not about special programs or initiatives for women. These are well-intentioned, but the reality is that women are often over-committed at home and work, with little time to participate in optional committees and programs. What I look for is a company culture that is results-oriented. That type of culture is more inclusive because it puts less emphasis on facetime and traditional working hours and all the focus on performance.
“I also look for managers who treat employees as professionals, allowing some flexibility in how they accomplish their work. This allows parents to attend the occasional school event or care for a sick family member. This lessens the tension between home life and work life, helping women and parents thrive. I’ve also observed that results-focused cultures are less clicky – as leaders are more likely to be aligned and focused on achieving desired outcomes. Secondly, I look for organisations where women support each other. Both men and women in business feel that women need to stop competing against each other as if there is only room for one woman leader. All too often women seem to be judgmental of each other’s choices and are overly critical of their women colleagues’ work.”
Showing Up
Bhumi Bhutani, co-founder of the fintech auto app startup Way.com, said:
“Women should take full advantage of joining any activities of industry conferences and boards where possible. The more they are involved, the more they will meet others and participate in seminars to learn industry concepts and practices quickly. The first step is showing up and networking. The rest is carving out the time to attend these so that they meet subject matter experts and attend the most relevant seminars to their field within fintech. This is to avoid being inundated with a plethora of information in this industry.”
Source
Article by The Fintech Times.
