Sep 2022 – May 2025 · 2 yrs 8 mos · San Francisco, New York, London, Tokyo

• Led our global engagement strategy across fintech, VC, and AI ecosystems, driving innovation to accelerate digital transformation, product development, and long-term value creation.
• Drove our pilot program and enterprise rollout for Microsoft 365 Copilot, aligning use cases across corporate banking, capital markets, and more. Developed strategy for AI enablement to support scaled adoption across global business units, resulting in 759% ROI, $35M annualized Americas Division savings and projected global enterprise value of $230M.
• Architected SMBC’s Fintech Partnerships Strategy and Partnerships-as-a-Service platform, including KPIs, sourcing frameworks, and co-creation models, establishing innovation as a driver of commercial outcomes and enabling primary and secondary research into frontier technologies such as AI/ML, embedded finance, digital assets, advanced analytics, and low/no-code platforms.
• Ran our Digital Innovation Accelerator, collaborating with Plug and Play, StartX, NY Innovation Lab, and top VCs (a16z, Insight, GIC), alongside SMBC Silicon Valley Labs, Jeffries, and our global venture teams to source and pilot startup solutions.
• Created and scaled the Innovation Communications Platform, developing our Innovation Portal, AI Portal, Partnerships Hub, Copilot Central (CoE), and published global Innovation News to highlight insights and wins across the bank.
• Led SMBC's first open innovation program focused on AI and unstructured data, surfacing 90+ business use cases and guiding selected teams through design workshops and prototyping, culminating in a Shark Tank-like demo day.
• Drove strategic co-development initiatives with emerging technology partners and hosted fintech showcases and executive workshops that align strategic startup capabilities with business priorities, fostering a culture of experimentation and long-term platform thinking.
• SMBC is Japan’s second-largest bank, $2T in assets, 13th largest in the world.

Jan 2019 – Aug 2022 · 3 yrs 7 mos

• The One Vision podcast brings purposeful innovation to spotlight. It's where impact meets innovation. One Vision speaks to startup founders, investors, industry players, thought leaders and policy makers across the financial innovation ecosystem and get their views. While there have been a lot discussed about financial innovation in the western world, impact at scale is truly being achieved in emerging markets. What Alibaba and Tencent have achieved in China, PayTM in India and MPesa in Africa -- these are all great examples of the changing nature of fintech and are impactful stories. We talk to many emerging market players and highlight their efforts to create these moments.
• The focus for Season 1 of the podcast is Blockchain and Financial Inclusion. Season 2's "Shades of Grey" discusses innovation and the longevity economy. Season 3's "Red Envelope" focuses on fintech and financial services across Asia and India. Season 4's "The Other 50" interviews women making a difference across technology and financial services of all kinds. Across all seasons, we also feature authors discussing their latest works in episodes entitled "Judge Me By My Cover."
• The One Vision team believes there are many innovation stories that are creating huge impact in people's life across the world. We identify these stories and talk to them about their journeys, successes and challenges they have had to overcome. In providing a stage for these entrepreneurs, thought leaders and innovators, we hope to inspire a generation looking to effect positive change. One Vision is your go-to place if you are looking for stories of innovation with purpose.

Nov 2017 – Sep 2022 · 4 yrs 10 mos

• Led strategic consulting and ecosystem advisory for banks, credit unions, fintech startups, and global enterprises, including IBM, Ant Financial, PayPal, SAP, Tata, Salesforce, Adobe, Samsung, Accenture, PwC, Bain, Capgemini, MX, and Oracle, focusing on customer-centric transformation.
• Leveraged global audience (120,000+), newsletter (40,000+ subscribers), and One Vision podcast (250+ episodes; 15,000+ monthly/downloads) to shape industry conversations.
• Published Beyond Good (Kogan Page, 2021), selling 5,000+ copies and advancing the “Tech for Good” narrative in financial services, featuring fintech case studies and founder stories that matter;
• Sought-after keynote speaker at Money20/20, Sibos, Finovate, and other global events.
• Connected founders to investors and partners, accelerating early-stage fintech growth and broadening diversity in the ecosystem through mentorship, accelerator engagements, and corporate innovation programs.
• For a full client list, see Executive Profile: https://bit.ly/44ztc8Z
• Unconventional Ventures provides consulting services to drive innovation to improve systematic financial wellness. UV connects founders to funders, provide mentorship to entrepreneurs, strategic advisory services to a broad set of corporates, and broaden opportunities for diversity within the ecosystem. A core UV belief is that anyone with great ideas should have a chance to succeed.

Jun 2017 – Oct 2018 · 1 yr 4 mos · Boston, New York, and San Francisco

• Explorer Advisory & Capital provides strategic consulting, investments and investment advisory services to established and early-stage companies. We drive innovation at the intersection of financial services, customer experience and technology. More info at: http://explorer.ac/

Sep 2014 – Jun 2017 · 2 yrs 9 mos · San Francisco, Boston, New York, London, Madrid

• As Senior Vice President, Head of Innovation and Fintech Strategy, Santander U.S., the primary focus of my role was identifying new business and technological trends affecting global financial institutions and the broader financial services industry. My innovation team helped build ventures and alliances with start-ups, third party solution providers, VC firms, and key forums in the fintech space.
• Working within the framework and direction of the global innovation group, my team served as an observatory for the Santander global organization for trends originating in the U.S. that had potential to expand and accelerate globally.
• Led Santander fintech strategy and open innovation agenda, serving as the primary observatory for U.S.-originated trends with global scaling potential, reviewing 450+ startups annually and advancing partnerships in robo-advising, marketplace lending, RegTech, and cryptocurrency / distributed ledger technology.
• Built strategic alliances and guided proofs-of-concept with partners including Ripple, Microsoft, MX, Moven, Fidor, Kabbage, and Affirm, delivering scalable, customer-centric solutions across Santander’s business units.
• Launched digital banking programs such as Always-On Offers, Worry-Free Checking, and Mobile Banking 3.0, integrating future revenue streams, next-gen money movement, and branch transformation initiatives.
• Designed and executed innovation culture frameworks—including hackathons, accelerator collaborations, and the Santander Universities program—to embed fintech engagement into global product and platform strategy.
• Advised Santander InnoVentures (now Mouro Capital) on venture investments and ecosystem engagement, strengthening the bank’s cross-border innovation network and accelerating adoption of U.S.-driven fintech trends across global markets.
• The Madrid-based Santander Group, with 180 million customers and $1.986 trillion in assets, is the 14th largest bank in the world, and 4th largest in Europe.

Jan 2010 – Sep 2014 · 4 yrs 8 mos

• Led digital strategy and user-centered design for online/mobile banking, online account opening (OAO), A2A/P2P payments, mobile deposit, and PFM tools, driving double-digit growth in adoption and satisfaction.
• Directed cross-channel marketing, analytics, and personalization initiatives, boosting online banking users by 23.9%, mobile banking adoption by 599.6%, and bill pay usage by 10.3% year-over-year.
• Managed key vendor partnerships (Digital Insight, Fiserv, Andera, Checkfree, and others) to deliver new capabilities aligned with evolving customer expectations and engagement banking strategies.
• Oversaw major platform redesigns, mobile app launches, and integration of social media technologies, enhancing brand presence across mechanicsbank.com, mechanicsbankcares.com, and imamechanic.com.
• Founded in 1905 and based in Walnut Creek, Mechanics Bank is around $17 billion in assets across 110–130 California branches. They will soon expand via merger with HomeStreet, creating a combined ~$23 billion bank across 168 branches.

Jul 2007 – Dec 2009 · 2 yrs 5 mos

• Directed database marketing strategy, customer intelligence, and analytics to drive acquisition, cross-sell, and retention across all business lines—leveraging lifecycle insights to optimize channel performance and ROI.
• Launched Mechanics Bank’s first mobile banking services (WAP/browser, app, and SMS) and led a full redesign of mechanicsbank.com, improving digital engagement and conversion.
• Managed vendor selection and implementation for online banking (Intuit) and developed Customer Opportunity Advisor (COA), a retail cross-sell application that increased frontline productivity and targeted offers.
• Partnered with key vendors (Fiserv, Raddon, Harland, ORCC, WealthEngine) to enhance core data integrity, segmentation, and personalization strategies, driving more effective direct marketing campaigns.

Nov 2001 – Jun 2007 · 5 yrs 7 mos · Oakland, CA

• Serving Kaiser Permanente employees and members at Kaiperm Federal Credit Union, I created and executed the overall marketing and business development strategy, including creative development, data analysis, acquisition, lifecycle development, member retention, and sales of credit union products and services. Led marketing strategy, development of marketing campaigns, customer intelligence, digital and channel strategy.
• Created and executed marketing strategy for all credit union member segments. Created and enhanced the member experience through innovative marketing programs.
• Implemented strategic marketing, business development, and community marketing plans geared toward membership expansion within sponsor Kaiser Permanente.
• Led public relations and external advertising meeting strategies to develop public awareness.
• Helped develop strategic facility plan to launch new Oakland headquarters in June 2006.
• Initiated partnerships with Digital Insight and CheckFree for Online Banking/Bill Pay.
• Created and launched kaipermfcu.org and acquisition channel through joinkp.com.
• Developed 24x 7 loan call center and 30 second online decisioning platform with Digital Insight.
• Launched eStatements to gain efficiencies and increase member convenience.
• Launched the Kaiperm Intranet to enhance communication between departments.
• Launched VISA Gold & VISA Platinum (Callahan top 10 VISA portfolios in asset class).
• Created Kaiperm Financial Group with Mass Mutual to offer investment/insurance services.
• Partnered with LocatorSearch to improve member access to Kaiperm’s 27,000 locations.
• Received NAFCU Marketing for Excellence Award for FY 2002 Annual Report.

Jan 1993 – Oct 2000 · 7 yrs 9 mos · San Carlos, California, United States · On-site

• Developed and implemented targeted marketing programs of insurance products to customers of top 250 US financial institutions. Benefit Consultants, Inc. was a division of Fortune 100 Cendant, Inc. (formerly CUC International) and is now known as Affinion Group.
• Generated 100M+ direct mail pieces and 75,000 hours of telemarketing annually, contributing to the division’s $574 million in revenue (FY2000).
• Developed data modeling and analytics group increasing direct mail revenue by over 12%.
• Led RFP process to outsource BCI DBM functionality resulting in $4.5M annual contract.
• Reduced marketing costs through response modeling and targeting by over $7M annually.
• Developed and strengthened BCI/Cendant vendor relationships with Donnelley Marketing, Experian, Fair Isaac, CASA, Epsilon, Claritas, Anchor Computing, U.S. Monitor and Group One.
• Implemented demographic targeting utilizing PRIZM cluster codes.
• Project manager for Y2K system remediation (first department at to internal audits for certification).
• Established standards for BCI Housefile database updates (NCOA, address updates) that resulted in 8% clean up of 65 million record customer database.
• Working with Epsilon, Oracle, and IBM, developed data feeds for the Cendant Membership Services data warehouse to build response models with insurance marketing program data.
• Managed risk response model that reduced losses associated with the claims process by 10%.
• Received BCI President Award for increasing AS/400 system productivity 50% and saved 40% system storage space.
• Streamlined data transfer system that reduced shipping costs by over 60%.
• Analyzed customer database which aided in the development of the Term Life and Hospital. Accident Protection products and created $6 million additional annual revenue.
• Built internal national account job stream in Group One saving $300,000 annually.
• Completed vendor analysis resulting in processing savings of $35,000 annually.