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Women In Fintech 2017 Powerlist: Innovate Finance Opens Nominations

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UK organisation and global fintech representative Innovate Finance has announced today the opening for submissions to its 2017 Women in Fintech Powerlist. Women in the financial technology sector are celebrated for their talent and contribution to the space and nominations are open to candidates from around the world.

After launching in 2015, this initiative has gained wide popularity and attempts to include every woman that is driving fintech success on a global scale. Innovate Finance is calling on both men and women to submit names of female colleagues (CxOs, managers, lawyers and journalists) to be included in the 2017 Powerlist.

Lawrence Wintermeyer, CEO of Innovate Finance, reiterated that the firm’s aim is to celebrate significant contribution to the industry. ‘Our annual powerlist celebrates the women playing an instrumental role in driving success across fintech,’ Wintermeyer said.

In addition to this, Director of Innovation at Lloyds Banking, Michelle Prance is ‘delighted to support Innovate Finance on the Women in Fintech Powerlist 2017. It’s important we showcase the women trailblazing in the sector as they are role models for the next generation of talent we want to attract,’ Prance said.

Ella Rabener, Co-Founder of Scalable Capital pointed out that there are ‘too few women working in fintech, which is a shame as we're all working on topics that have an impact not just on our sector but on the lives of millions of people. We can make a real difference and since both the finance and the tech industry have been shaped by men for decades, it's about time for women to bring in their perspectives too,’ Rabener said.

Alongside this, Oval Money CEO Benedetta Arese Lucini explored how ‘it is important to have a place where women can share the successes and failures of those women who have pushed the boundaries in their respective fields. I want to inspire the new generation of women graduating today and I want them to be aware of the amazing opportunities they can create for themselves in this field.’

Lucini also reflected on the importance of diversity in the financial services sector as she believes there is a lack of focus on creating products for everyone. ‘It is crucial that financial services are targeted towards all genders and races to provide the necessary resources to close the inequality gap. Young women all over the world feel empowered to rise up in society thanks to micro-entrepreneurship. Women, and the self-employed, are currently very marginalized by the traditional financial industry,’ she continued.

Marta Krupinska, General Manager and Co-Founder of Azimo, stated that ‘finance and tech  industries have long been a male-dominated world. And yet, gender-diverse companies are 15% more likely to perform above the industry average. With that in mind, it’s shocking that only 2.7% of VC funding in 2016 in the UK went to women. 50% of the talent, 2.7% of the money!’

‘This is not equal opportunities, and it’s holding the whole country and industry back. Technology needs to be ‘normalized’ as a potential career path for young women to avoid alienating them and creating an even bigger gender talent gap in the future. By recognizing women in these lists, it means that hopefully more young women will be inspired to follow this career path and never take no for an answer,’ Krupinska said.

LandBay’s Communications Manager Clare Joy shared a similar attitude and said that ‘finance and technology are traditionally two of the least ‘female friendly’ sectors. However, when you combine the two to make ‘fintech’, I’ve found the environment to be inclusive, with innovative products created via innovative cultures.’

‘We still have a gender paygap, women are still underrepresented at senior executive and board levels and unconscious bias still affects hiring decisions. The more we recognise those who buck traditional trends, the more we can inspire both current and future generations of financial services professionals to drive change and achieve a more equal ecosystem,’ Joy said.

As all company roles and levels are recognized in the Powerlist, this initiative champions diversity in the fintech ecosystem and Rachel Kent, Partner and Global Head of Hogan Lovells Financial Institutions Sector explained that ‘diversity is at the core of who we are and how we do business.’

‘The fintech sector is built on innovation and understanding its diverse consumer base. For it to be successful it’s essential to have diversity of thought and to represent the customers it’s serving,’ Kent said.

Submit your submission here.

Check out last year's Powerlist here.

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