Name: Women in fintech: How can we ensure equity for future leaders?
Uploaded: 2023-06-19T16:41:29.672Z
Duration: 560.86
Description: Michelle Tran, Co-Founder, NYC Fintech Women, talks about the improvements within the fintech sector in promoting female leaders and shares what we could all do to ensure equity for all. Stay up to date with the community on https://finovate.com/ Find out more about FinovateSpring on http://www.finovatespring.com/

FSPR.INT.013.mp4

Michelle Tran.vtt

English

{{00:00:05}}
Julie Muhn: Hello and welcome.

{{00:00:06}}
My name is Julie Muhn.

{{00:00:07}}
I'm senior research analyst with Finovate.

{{00:00:09}}
We are here live at FinovateSpring
2023 in San Francisco.

{{00:00:15}}
Today I am joined by Michelle Tran,
co-founder of NYC FinTech Women.

{{00:00:21}}
Michelle, thank you so
much for joining us.

{{00:00:22}}
Thanks for having me.

{{00:00:24}}
Yeah.

{{00:00:24}}
So let's go ahead and jump
right into the question.

{{00:00:26}}
So you just stepped off
stage of the women in FinTech

{{00:00:29}}
breakfast session this morning.

{{00:00:31}}
Can you tell us just what were the,
some of the key talking points?

{{00:00:34}}
Michelle Tran: Yeah.

{{00:00:34}}
So one, thank you guys at Finovate
for giving us the space to have this

{{00:00:38}}
really important discussion about
women in fintech, all encompassing.

{{00:00:42}}
Some of the key points that we
really walked away with was really

{{00:00:45}}
understanding, one, what can we
do for ourselves and each other in

{{00:00:48}}
terms of advocating and increasing
our presence within FinTech, right?

{{00:00:53}}
We know that we, there's still so
many things that we need to do in.

{{00:00:56}}
In order to increase women in FinTech, to
increase the female leaders in FinTech.

{{00:01:00}}
Very specifically things like making
sure that we find sponsors, those

{{00:01:04}}
that will speak up for us, that
will put us in front of the job.

{{00:01:07}}
Making sure that we self-promote
and that we advocate for ourselves.

{{00:01:10}}
And then third, also, how
do we amplify others, right?

{{00:01:13}}
So we have such a huge community.

{{00:01:15}}
How do we share what you're doing
and share the person next word

{{00:01:17}}
and what you're there doing.

{{00:01:19}}
The other piece too was we
talked a lot about investing.

{{00:01:21}}
So what can women really do to
invest more in women in FinTech?

{{00:01:27}}
1.9% of venture funding went to female
founding teams in 2022, so that was a

{{00:01:33}}
slide down from 2021 when it was 2.3%.

{{00:01:37}}
So regardless of what that number
is, it's a pretty awful number.

{{00:01:40}}
Yeah.

{{00:01:41}}
Yeah, last time I checked we make
up about 50% of the population, so

{{00:01:44}}
anything below that is pretty awful.

{{00:01:47}}
But what can we really do to help
increase that number generally?

{{00:01:50}}
A lot of great comments from Sarah
Kim and from Amanda Abrams who

{{00:01:54}}
are investors themselves about
ways that we can really help women

{{00:01:58}}
within the flywheel of investing.

{{00:02:00}}
So how do we have more seats
in investing decision making

{{00:02:03}}
positions at venture funds?

{{00:02:06}}
How do we become angels?

{{00:02:07}}
How do we become scouts?

{{00:02:08}}
How do we actually put checks?

{{00:02:10}}
Into some of these companies where
they want more women within cap tables.

{{00:02:13}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah.

{{00:02:14}}
Great.

{{00:02:14}}
Great.

{{00:02:15}}
And tell us a little bit about
your work with NYC FinTech women.

{{00:02:19}}
What was your inspiration
for creating that?

{{00:02:21}}
Michelle Tran: Yeah, so NYC
FinTech Women, we started in 2017.

{{00:02:25}}
Late 2017.

{{00:02:26}}
And the really, the inspiration was a
particular moment in meeting that I had.

{{00:02:31}}
It was I was in a sales role, I
was pitching a large organization

{{00:02:35}}
and one of my, one of my colleagues
kept on doing kind of the things

{{00:02:39}}
that we're somewhat sadly used
to interrupting, taking the idea.

{{00:02:44}}
And I walked out of that meeting
and I was like, I need a community.

{{00:02:47}}
Like I need someone to talk to
you to help me understand what's

{{00:02:49}}
going on and how to get past that.

{{00:02:51}}
The other piece too was I was going to a
ton of women in tech events and finding,

{{00:02:57}}
had to find like little pockets of women
in FinTech or going to a ton of FinTech

{{00:03:01}}
events and finding two or three women.

{{00:03:04}}
And so for me it was like
let's, create this community.

{{00:03:08}}
Let's all come together because there's
so much that we can accomplish, not

{{00:03:11}}
just career wise, but professionally
in our job if we come together.

{{00:03:15}}
And so really it started in New York City.

{{00:03:19}}
I just, Paid $80 to meetup.com.

{{00:03:22}}
Put it out there in the universe
and we had 16 women show up

{{00:03:25}}
at a bar on a rainy Tuesday.

{{00:03:27}}
And for anyone that lives in New York no
one shows up on a rainy day for anything.

{{00:03:32}}
Yeah.

{{00:03:32}}
So we got 16 women there and it was great.

{{00:03:35}}
It was a really great conversation.

{{00:03:36}}
And that's actually where I
met my co-founder, Sasha Pilch.

{{00:03:39}}
And she was like how can
I help you with this?

{{00:03:42}}
I was like, I don't know what
this is, but but it, slowly really

{{00:03:46}}
resonated with a ton of people.

{{00:03:48}}
Cause now we're 12,000 members.

{{00:03:50}}
Julie Muhn: Very good.

{{00:03:50}}
Yeah.

{{00:03:50}}
Congratulations.

{{00:03:51}}
That's a great number.

{{00:03:53}}
Okay so, talk to us about some of
the challenges that women still

{{00:03:56}}
face within the FinTech ecosystem.

{{00:03:59}}
And how does this compare
to that of other sectors?

{{00:04:02}}
Michelle Tran: I mean there's a
lot of the, similar challenges

{{00:04:05}}
in other sectors, right?

{{00:04:06}}
Being mommy tracked or not being
put up for the promotion, not being

{{00:04:10}}
put, having a seat at the table.

{{00:04:12}}
I think within FinTech very
particularly FinTech obviously is

{{00:04:15}}
the combination of financial services
and technology, and those are.

{{00:04:19}}
Male dominated industries.

{{00:04:21}}
And so with that comes a lot
of those inherent behaviors.

{{00:04:25}}
And so there's a lot of work that we need
to do in order to really be intentional

{{00:04:28}}
about how we're getting that seat.

{{00:04:30}}
Going back to, hey, you need to
advocate for yourself and you

{{00:04:33}}
need to advocate for others.

{{00:04:34}}
And that's meaning, so you
know, someone's looking for a.

{{00:04:37}}
Co-founder, making sure that male
co-founder has access to your entire

{{00:04:41}}
network of female amazing females
that, you know, and all different

{{00:04:44}}
roles and telling him actively he
needs to find a female co-founder.

{{00:04:48}}
Yeah.

{{00:04:49}}
And so there's a lot of work that we
need to do, but I think what we're

{{00:04:51}}
getting there there's a lot of a lot
of people are cognizant that there's a

{{00:04:56}}
lot of effort and kind of D&I programs
really to get women ahead of the game.

{{00:05:00}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah, there's visibility.

{{00:05:01}}
Yeah, visibility there.

{{00:05:02}}
Now that's great.

{{00:05:04}}
And so how can we ensure equity for
women in financial services and FinTech?

{{00:05:09}}
Michelle Tran: I I think
that comes back to.

{{00:05:11}}
Leaders, decision makers, having
to be super intentional about

{{00:05:16}}
the equity piece and hiring
women and putting women in front.

{{00:05:21}}
As much as we speak up for ourselves, we
need not only senior leaders to do that.

{{00:05:25}}
We need our male allies
to do that as well.

{{00:05:28}}
And that's the only way is really
building that network around us.

{{00:05:31}}
Who're gonna do it for us as well.

{{00:05:33}}
And that's really that's my call out to
a lot of senior leaders, whether you're

{{00:05:37}}
at a FinTech, you're at a big financial
services firm, is take a look at your

{{00:05:40}}
team, take a look at who you wanna hire.

{{00:05:42}}
And be super intentional and
focused about, okay, where are

{{00:05:45}}
the candidates coming through?

{{00:05:47}}
Do I have a diverse set of
candidates I really want to hire.

{{00:05:50}}
I wanna hire the best.

{{00:05:51}}
But I know that there's a best
that exists in a female, yeah.

{{00:05:54}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah.

{{00:05:55}}
So you mentioned male allies there, and
I wanna touch on that just a little bit.

{{00:05:58}}
What's your advice to men who maybe
wanna become allies but they're

{{00:06:01}}
not sure how to approach it?

{{00:06:02}}
Maybe they are, they're afraid.

{{00:06:03}}
They'll say the wrong thing,
go to the wrong events, yeah.

{{00:06:06}}
Michelle Tran: No, definitely.

{{00:06:07}}
I think it's, One men are allowed
or are invited and welcome at

{{00:06:12}}
all NYC FinTech Women events.

{{00:06:14}}
Great.

{{00:06:14}}
And also most likely at every other
woman focused event, because we need male

{{00:06:19}}
allies really to change that narrative.

{{00:06:22}}
And so that's my call out
to men is don't be afraid.

{{00:06:25}}
Come.

{{00:06:25}}
It's a networking event
at the end of the day.

{{00:06:27}}
Yeah.

{{00:06:27}}
You're there to network and what you're
gonna do is that you're gonna find a full.

{{00:06:32}}
Event full of amazing women who either
you wanna deal, do a deal with or you

{{00:06:37}}
gonna find a job for, or what will help
you actually at the end of the day.

{{00:06:41}}
Julie Muhn: And so from an organization
standpoint, what can organizations

{{00:06:45}}
do to help reach new female talent
and also grow their existing female?

{{00:06:51}}
Michelle Tran: Yeah, I think it's there's
been so much focus in the past several

{{00:06:54}}
years on like Me Too and D&I is setting
some very specific metrics that you wanna

{{00:07:00}}
hit when it comes to the makeup of your
organization from an employee perspective.

{{00:07:06}}
Being very specific that, hey, from
all the candidates, we're putting a

{{00:07:09}}
hard line in this and the hard line,
not a soft line, a hard line in the

{{00:07:12}}
sand that says, We are going to make
sure that we have 50% female candidates

{{00:07:17}}
come through the door and we're gonna
interview every single one of them and

{{00:07:21}}
they're gonna get the full, treatment.

{{00:07:23}}
Being very intentional about making sure
that you have a  gender diverse team.

{{00:07:28}}
And that's again, putting the hard
metrics and the hard numbers through

{{00:07:31}}
and then making sure it percolates
throughout the entire organization.

{{00:07:34}}
Because I think we get comfortable,
we're like, oh, I know this

{{00:07:37}}
person, and they'd be great.

{{00:07:38}}
And yeah you lean into where your
comfort are, your natural network.

{{00:07:42}}
But that doesn't help those that
are really seeking a new role

{{00:07:47}}
or those that just need a little
extra pull up into an organization.

{{00:07:50}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah, So it's not fluffy.

{{00:07:52}}
It needs to be metrics driven and

{{00:07:54}}
Michelle Tran: it's metrics driven
and it needs to go from top down.

{{00:07:56}}
Like the CEO needs to believe it and
needs to share it, and needs to be vocal

{{00:08:00}}
about it too, because then you know,
all the managers will then do it, yeah.

{{00:08:05}}
Julie Muhn: Great.

{{00:08:05}}
And so we have time for
one last question here.

{{00:08:08}}
If everyone can do just one thing.

{{00:08:11}}
What is that one thing?

{{00:08:12}}
What can everyone do?

{{00:08:13}}
Michelle Tran: So I'd say the one
thing that everyone can do is be

{{00:08:17}}
a hype person for someone else.

{{00:08:19}}
So when you see someone doing
something amazing, either at work

{{00:08:23}}
or through an industry colleague
that you see on LinkedIn, share it.

{{00:08:27}}
So your network hears about it.

{{00:08:29}}
Yeah.

{{00:08:29}}
So you're promoting someone else.

{{00:08:30}}
So they're getting who knows who sees it.

{{00:08:33}}
Maybe they're female founder and
they're trying to raise money.

{{00:08:36}}
They're having a hard time.

{{00:08:37}}
But if I share it and my buddy or
someone who might network as a VC

{{00:08:41}}
and they see it, they may reach out.

{{00:08:43}}
Yeah.

{{00:08:43}}
And so there's a real
power in amplification.

{{00:08:46}}
So for me, the one thing that everyone
can do is hype others up, amplify

{{00:08:51}}
voices, be the advocate for others.

{{00:08:54}}
And that's really how we're gonna be
able to change a lot of these narratives.

{{00:08:58}}
Julie Muhn: Yeah, I like that.

{{00:08:59}}
It's as simple as clicking a like
button and hitting the chair,

{{00:09:01}}
and that's what you need to do.

{{00:09:02}}
Yeah.

{{00:09:03}}
Reasonable.

{{00:09:03}}
Yes.

{{00:09:04}}
Great.

{{00:09:04}}
Michelle, thank you so much for your time.

{{00:09:07}}
Thank you, all of us for joining us.

{{00:09:08}}
This has been Michelle Tran,
co-founder of NYC FinTech Women.

{{00:09:12}}
I'm Julie Muhn.

{{00:09:13}}
Thank you

{{00:09:14}}
Julie Muhn: so much for joining us.

I'm senior research analyst with Finovate.

We are here live at FinovateSpring
2023 in San Francisco.

Today I am joined by Michelle Tran,
co-founder of NYC FinTech Women.

Michelle, thank you so
much for joining us.

So let's go ahead and jump
right into the question.

So you just stepped off
stage of the women in FinTech

Can you tell us just what were the,
some of the key talking points?

So one, thank you guys at Finovate
for giving us the space to have this

really important discussion about
women in fintech, all encompassing.

Some of the key points that we
really walked away with was really

understanding, one, what can we
do for ourselves and each other in

terms of advocating and increasing
our presence within FinTech, right?

We know that we, there's still so
many things that we need to do in.

In order to increase women in FinTech, to
increase the female leaders in FinTech.

Very specifically things like making
sure that we find sponsors, those

that will speak up for us, that
will put us in front of the job.

Making sure that we self-promote
and that we advocate for ourselves.

And then third, also, how
do we amplify others, right?

How do we share what you're doing
and share the person next word

The other piece too was we
talked a lot about investing.

So what can women really do to
invest more in women in FinTech?

1.9% of venture funding went to female
founding teams in 2022, so that was a

So regardless of what that number
is, it's a pretty awful number.

Yeah, last time I checked we make
up about 50% of the population, so

But what can we really do to help
increase that number generally?

A lot of great comments from Sarah
Kim and from Amanda Abrams who

are investors themselves about
ways that we can really help women

So how do we have more seats
in investing decision making

Into some of these companies where
they want more women within cap tables.

And tell us a little bit about
your work with NYC FinTech women.

What was your inspiration
for creating that?

Michelle Tran: Yeah, so NYC
FinTech Women, we started in 2017.

And the really, the inspiration was a
particular moment in meeting that I had.

It was I was in a sales role, I
was pitching a large organization

and one of my, one of my colleagues
kept on doing kind of the things

that we're somewhat sadly used
to interrupting, taking the idea.

And I walked out of that meeting
and I was like, I need a community.

Like I need someone to talk to
you to help me understand what's

The other piece too was I was going to a
ton of women in tech events and finding,

had to find like little pockets of women
in FinTech or going to a ton of FinTech

And so for me it was like
let's, create this community.

Let's all come together because there's
so much that we can accomplish, not

just career wise, but professionally
in our job if we come together.

And so really it started in New York City.

Put it out there in the universe
and we had 16 women show up

And for anyone that lives in New York no
one shows up on a rainy day for anything.

So we got 16 women there and it was great.

And that's actually where I
met my co-founder, Sasha Pilch.

And she was like how can
I help you with this?

I was like, I don't know what
this is, but but it, slowly really

Okay so, talk to us about some of
the challenges that women still

And how does this compare
to that of other sectors?

Michelle Tran: I mean there's a
lot of the, similar challenges

Being mommy tracked or not being
put up for the promotion, not being

I think within FinTech very
particularly FinTech obviously is

the combination of financial services
and technology, and those are.

And so with that comes a lot
of those inherent behaviors.

And so there's a lot of work that we need
to do in order to really be intentional

Going back to, hey, you need to
advocate for yourself and you

And that's meaning, so you
know, someone's looking for a.

Co-founder, making sure that male
co-founder has access to your entire

network of female amazing females
that, you know, and all different

FinovateSpring

Trend

Michelle Tran, Co-Founder, NYC Fintech Women, talks about the improvements within the fintech sector in promoting female leaders and shares what we could all do to ensure equity for all. 

Stay up to date with the community on https://finovate.com/ 

Find out more about FinovateSpring on http://www.finovatespring.com/ 