Bio

I'm the owner and CEO of The iA Institute, a media company that handcrafts specialized information, conferences, and membership groups for professionals in consumer finance. Our experiences are intimate, practical, and driven by candor. I'm an award-winning entrepreneur and change-maker who has identified new opportunities and forged new paths over the last 10 years. My passion is to use my position as an industry influencer to get women into leadership positions. Women are overwhelmingly the financial decision-makers in their families and are the primary customer of financial services products. Many women work in consumer finance, but too few seem to rise to the top where products are designed and policy is set. So, in 2018 we launched Women in Consumer Finance, a serious professional development event where we address the lack of confidence, connections, and diverse career examples. WCF is an intimate, high-energy experience where attendees make genuine friendships, build bigger, stronger networks, enhance their executive skills and dedicate attention to their career aspirations. As part of the journey of building WCF, I leaned into getting involved with organizations that support women and girls. In 2021 I joined the board of LIFT (whywelift.org), whose mission is to break the cycle of poverty by investing in parents. LIFT has an incredibly impressive model that builds families’ well-being, financial strength, and social connections to lift two generations at once. In 2022 I joined the DC Council of Vital Voices, an organization that identifies creative and fearless women leaders with daring vision and proven local solutions, then partners with them to amplify that impact and create global change. The opportunity to do this work and broaden my own perspective has certainly changed my life, and I know our work has changed the lives of many others.