Fundamental Fairness

It has officially been 2 years since we released our first ever episode! In honor of our two-year anniversary, we will be rounding up some of our top-performing episodes over the last two years. But before you tune in, we’d like to share that we will be undergoing some exciting new changes and will be taking a break to refresh and come back stronger than ever. And, although we will be taking a short break, we invite you to follow me on social media, @seandsalas, so that you stay in the loop of what’s happening at the intersection of Fintech and financial inclusion. Thank you for tuning in to Fundamental Fairness, stay tuned for more episodes coming soon.

March is Women’s History Month – a wonderful time to celebrate the accomplishments of strong women throughout history. Likewise, it’s also a great opportunity to spotlight the incredible women of today who are breaking boundaries and inspiring the next generation of leaders.  In this episode of Fundamental Fairness, we are rounding up some of the trailblazing women who have joined the podcast these past 2 years. We will be highlighting their major accomplishments and their outstanding achievements in the financial sector.

Tobin McDaniel is the Head of Invest at SoFi, a FinTech company at the forefront of helping members get their money right. The Invest business includes a wide selection of investing capabilities, including Robo advice, ETFs, crypto, IPOs, and brokerage. Prior to joining SoFi, Tobin held a variety of roles at Charles Schwab, including leading Digital Advice, launching Schwab’s innovation labs, and serving as Chief of Staff to the company’s chairman Chuck Schwab. His other experiences include time as a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company and starting his career as a chemical engineer. He has a BS in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. 

Kathryn Van Nuys leads FinTech for the Global Startup Business Development team at Amazon Web Services (AWS) where she is responsible for the development and execution of AWS’s strategic initiatives in FinTech. Kathryn partners with leading FinTech investors and startups to help them be successful on AWS and to engage more deeply across Amazon.com business units. Kathryn’s career has been focused on capital markets, business development, and strategic relationship management. Prior to AWS, she was the head of capital markets for Credibly, a small business funding platform, and before that at Pave, a marketplace consumer lender. Kathryn started her career at Citigroup in debt capital markets and also worked at Lehman Brothers and Guggenheim Partners.

Michelle McKenzie is an experienced international development professional, entrepreneur, investor, speaker, and host of WHERE'S THE FUNDING?, a podcast that discusses the challenges faced by Black entrepreneurs in the US and globally to access funding to grow or scale innovative ideas and demystify entrepreneurship and the fog around funding. Michelle uses her platform to discuss the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access to capital for underrepresented founders and the importance of greater financial inclusion and access to funding to those founders in the US and global entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Bill Cilluffo is a Partner and Head of international investments at QED Investors, a leading venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage, disruptive financial services companies in the U.S., U.K., and Latin America. He leads QED’s Investment teams in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Prior to joining QED, Bill spent nearly 20 years at Capital One, spanning several roles and leading several businesses. His career included scaling Capital One in the areas of the market, product development, and credit policy. He spent a few years in business development roles spanning the telecom, medical finance, and small business finance industry. Bill then pivoted his career to general management and spent his last 3 years leading Capital One’s Co-Brand and Private Label credit card business, building the business nearly from scratch to one of the top few players in the US market.

Former commercial banker and second-time founder, Keren Moynihan has over 15 years of experience in the financial sector as a banker, advisor, and mentor. She has built a start-up called “Boss Insights” to provide fintech, private, & traditional lenders with their business clients' financial data in minutes. Before Boss Insights, Keren earned her JD/MBA from York University, she then started her career working at a division of the TSX and then moved towards commercial banking at RBC. Her first startup was an impact company financing large buildings to be energy-efficient.

Ramona Ortega is the Founder and CEO of ‘Mi Dinero, Mi Futuro’ or My Money My Future, which is a mission-driven FinTech company that combines tailored content and simple to use tools to help people manage their money with confidence.  MMMF’s personal financial management platform automates budgeting, guides individuals through all their financial decisions, and helps them choose the best financial products from a curated selection of partners. Previously, Ramona was an attorney in New York where she worked on complex securities litigation and corporate matters at the SEC and U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Prior to her career in law, Ramona was a human rights advocate and a founding member of the U.S. Human Rights Network.

Lisa Mensah is President and CEO of Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the nation’s the leading network of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). Under her leadership, OFN helps CDFIs leverage public funding and private investment to bring affordable, responsible capital to rural, urban, and Native communities underserved by mainstream finance. Since joining OFN in 2017, Mensah has attracted new visibility and investment to the CDFI field through programs like the Grow with Google Small Business Fund and OFN’s Finance Justice Fund, a $1 billion socially responsible investment with Twitter as the Fund’s first investor. Widely considered an expert on access to capital in low-wealth communities, Mensah frequently testifies before Congress. And recently, Forbes and Morning Joe recognized her as one of five women safeguarding America’s small businesses.

Lucy Arellano Baglieri is the Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Vice President at Low Income Investment Fund. She oversees LIIF’s Strategy, Development and Public Affairs team, and leads the implementation of LIIF’s strategic plan and social justice initiatives. Prior to joining LIIF in 2020, she served as Chief Strategy Officer for the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), leading the organization’s regional and national work focused on economic and racial equity initiatives in Latino and immigrant communities across the country. Her work draws on her own lived experience as a proud immigrant from Mexico and a career dedicated to communities facing the deepest inequities, working largely across Black and Latino communities.