Today, we are interviewing three committee members from 100WFinTech so they can share their stories and explain why they are engaged in this fintech visibility initiative. Over the next four months we will take a deep dive into each region (North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and Africa) to learn how committee members have built a fintech network, engaged women in fintech leadership and achieved greater visibility, and inspired the next generation of talent.
Kenzy Goodwin (Chair)
Kenzy is a partner at Finceler8 Limited where she accelerates the commercial engagement of fintech firms in financial markets. She received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from University College London. With the Finceler8 team, Kenzy has built sales and revenue pipelines for fintech clients including regtech, artificial intelligence (AI), and ML in trading technology tools by facilitating C-suite conversations and enabling firms to increase sales revenues and expand their businesses. Kenzy’s passion is helping entrepreneurs grow and shape their companies, and she enjoys being a mentor at Level 39, the world’s most connected tech community.
Previously, Kenzy was a senior equity trader for 20 years at BlackRock where she traded equity investment products in pan-European markets. At BlackRock she was known as an ambassador of BlackRock culture while managing several internal personal development programs.
Kenzy is proud to be the chair of 100WFinTech, a 100WF global visibility project that spotlights senior women in fintech and enhances their connectivity within the fintech ecosystem. Kenzy’s involvement with 100WF began during her time at BlackRock when she served in several roles on the 100WF/BlackRock subcommittee. During that time she recognized the valuable and practical network benefits that would allow members to thrive in their careers.
The 100WFinTech Global Visibility Committee has grown its global directory through various events, conferences, and connections with fintech communities around the world. This year the committee held an “Emerging Trends in Compliance” breakfast, and 100WFinTech organized an all-female panel of 100WFinTech directory members to speak at the Plato FinTech Summit in a talk titled “Digital Assets in Traditional Financial Institutions.”
Marianne O (West Coast, North America)
Shortly after completing her MBA studies in 1994, Marianne began her buy-side investment career in fixed income by performing investment analyses in countries (emerging markets), industries, and companies. Marianne is currently part of a team of fundamental, value-oriented investors who have expertise managing portfolios from mutual funds, institutional accounts, and hedge funds. During the 2008 recession, Marianne joined what was known as the NCal Education Committee of 100 Women in Hedge Funds, developing and producing an investment outlook event. In 2014 she and another hedge fund manager created the inaugural 100WF FundWomen Conference in San Francisco to fundraise for female fund managers and connect them with asset allocators.
As big data, AI, and financial innovations have transformed many industries, Marianne’s firm, Lumen Global Investments, reoriented and created a next-generation digital investment solution by infusing its more than 25 years of investment experience into a software with essential data and tools. Additionally, 100WF has started the 100 Women in FinTech initiative, an effort that Marianne promotes on the West Coast alongside Sanem Alkan.
The West Coast committee members’ goal is to bring more senior female investors and fintech founders and experts to the directory via educational events (e.g., blockchain, metaverse, and emerging technology in wealth management) and connect both sides of the ecosystem in networking events in the San Francisco Bay Area via partnerships with financial institutions. We plan to conduct more intimate events on topics including new technology, trends, and fundraising as well as raise visibility for women in fintech.
Wendy Wong (Asia Pacific & Europe)
Moving from management consultant at McKinsey & Company in Hong Kong to cobuilding a global digital business at Allianz Global Investors in Germany, Wendy is always curious and is continuously learning about how technology changes the way we invest and how robo-advisory helps fulfill our financial needs. This is the reason why Wendy has dedicated herself to the WealthTech & InvestTech Committee at Fintech Association of Hong Kong (FTAHK) since 2020 and first became aware of 100WFinTech when she attended a joint fireside chat with FTAHK about women’s entrepreneurial journeys.
When Wendy heard the personal stories of Jessica Lam, the chief strategy officer at Welab, and Bianca Ho, the cofounder and chief operating officer of Clare.AI on the 100WF Panel, she was deeply inspired. After that, she reached out to Kenzy Goodwin to see what she could contribute to the 100WFinTech Committee by leveraging her fintech network in Asia.
To this day, a strong partnership has been built with FTAHK and Singapore Fintech Association (SFA), whose board members and committee chairs have been invited to join the Global Fintech Directory and cohost fintech pitches and several education panel and networking events on trending topics such as virtual asset hubs, web3, and the metaverse. In March, 100WFinTech was privileged to recommend 100WFInTech directory members Annabelle Huang, managing director of Amber Group, and Alice Chen, cofounder of InvestaX, to speak at a web3 conference at the WOW Summit Hong Kong, bringing visibility to women fintech leaders in the region. This year, 100WFinTech is experimenting with introducing the successful factors from APAC to Central Europe by building its partnership with Plug & Play and the European Fintech Association (EFA) in the region.
This is part of our committee profile: We are a global committee with members in the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. To learn more, please check out our series over the next four months in the News section of 100WFinTech page on the website.
If you are interested in partnering with us at 100 Women in FinTech, please visit our website and contact us here.