Mastering Women in Fintech with Agora, PPRO, Token.io and more

This October at Fintech Times is about the incredible women working in the fintech industry. With women still making up only around 30 percent of the workforce, it’s important to shine a spotlight on those working to make a change and pave the way for them to follow.

Here we are talking to Yassamine Issapour, Lisa Fischer, Laura Rofe, Nikhita Hyett, Annabelle Thomas and Lindsay Ross as they share how they are champion for women in the fintech industry.

Yassamin Issapour, CFO and co-founder, Agora

“Fintech is a forward-looking industry that embraces innovation and is committed to improving financial services and society. We can and must do more to champion women at all levels.

“As a co-founder of a fintech, I am committed to hiring women and candidates from different backgrounds. I know that small things can make a big difference, says Issapour.

“All our job descriptions are gender neutral, we promote alternative sources of recruitment and are conscious of the interview process to ensure we increase the number of women in senior management roles,” she continues.

“It is important that women make their voices heard. I take every opportunity I can to speak at industry events on panels about how we can achieve a gender neutral future for financial services.

“Evidence shows that firms with more women in senior roles outperform their peers, and we at agora are doing our part to make this more common.

“When we founded agora, we decided to lower the investment ticket minimum in an early investment round to give access to everyone, especially women investors who want to build a portfolio of investments.”

Lisa Fischer, Head of Growth and Lending, Mission Lane

“In many industries, including finance and technology, women, and especially women of color, are severely underrepresented,” comments Fischer.

“It’s not enough to just have women in the room. We need to come together to support each other, establish relationships with each other and be each other’s mentors.”

“Now that I’m serving in a leadership role,” she continues, “I try to serve as a mentor to share my experience, be a sounding board and advisor, and most importantly, a friend to women new to the fintech world.

“While the fintech industry still has progress to make towards equal representation, establishing opportunities for mentorship among women, and for women to share their voices, is key to initiating empowerment in fintech.”

Laura Rofe, Director of Partner Development, PPRO

“I think we should be championing women across the industry every day and in every way we can; every action can make a difference, and there are so many ways we can support each other, explains Rofe.

“I strongly believe that in order to achieve greater equality, we must work hard to educate men and women in the industry.”

“An area of ​​focus I have is supporting women who are in the process of making career decisions. I am a trustee of a youth charity, Sculptorsand this year we ran a series of webinars focused on educating young women on why they should consider fintech as a career path,” continues Rofe.

“I am also a mentor for young women in a UK charity mentoring programme, where I provide guidance and support to students who have an interest in the finance and technology space.

“I have also worked with many influencers across the industry and engaged in podcasts and roundtable discussions, discussing topics such as the effect of remote working on women and talking about and taking action to create equality.

“We don’t all need to be in the ‘spotlight’ to master change, but every step counts and it’s about participation and being involved.

“And finally, to raise and create awareness when I see a lack of diversity and gender imbalance in certain situations,” she adds.

“I do what I can to ensure that we have female representation at events and meetings, so that women always have a seat at the table.

“Mastering women is not something we focus on when it’s a hot topic because we celebrate International Women’s Day, we have to push the agenda forward every day.

“At PPRO, we have published our second ESG report, which outlines how we create a diverse and supportive workplace, which I have helped drive forward.”

Nikhita Hyett, Managing Director, Europe, BlueSnap

“Having worked in fintech for a few years, I know the value and importance of looking to role models and mentors for support when making career decisions,” says Hyett.

“I have been fortunate to work with some inspiring, brilliant women over the last few years and I would say that my mentors have been instrumental in my fintech career. They supported me in developing myself in this industry, building a network and always encouraged me to be myself.”

“I have chosen to work for a company where there are senior women in leadership positions, and as European CEO of BlueSnap, the position reflects my corporate culture of equality,” she continues. “My team consists of extremely smart and hard-working colleagues of all genders.”

“Given that the average percentage of female employment in fintech is 30 percentit is important for us to continue the dialogue about diversity in the workplace as there is still much more work to be done.”

Annabelle Thomas, Customer Support Manager, Token.io

Thomas explains: “I believe I champion women in the fintech industry by treating all my colleagues equally, regardless of gender.

“I ensure my team is offered equal learning and development opportunities and access to coaching and development sessions.”

“It’s important to create an environment based on trust and respect, where team members feel comfortable raising their concerns with me or a member of HR if they ever feel like they’re the target of discrimination,” she continues.

“My team is gender diverse, and when I recruit for new roles, I am happy to say that the candidate pool has so far not been heavily male-dominated.

“If it was, I would look to work with our chief justice and recruiting team on how we can encourage more diverse applicants.”

Lindsay Ross, CHRO, Bitpanda

“Traditionally, the investment world is (still) distinctly masculine, yes; but we want to spearhead change across the industry – from the way we educate about investments to the way we lead,” comments Ross.

“As one of several ‘female’ leaders at Bitpanda, I believe we have a diverse and inclusive environment that empowers women here, she continues. “Through initiatives such as our ‘Women in Tech Mentorship Program’, we offer direct support to women to strengthen their confidence, and set them up as active agents in their career growth.”

“Overall, I think it’s important that we all do more to encourage women to speak up for themselves and fight for what they believe in. After all, women belong in any industry they want to be in, just like men do.”