MPC Interviews Wendy Holliday, CEO of PayTech Women
Please state your name, title, company, and email address to provide to prospective partners and customers interested in receiving more information.
Wendy Holliday, M.Ed., CAE, Chief Executive Officer, PayTech Women, wholliday@paytechwomen.org/.
How are you different than other brands in your space?
PayTech Women is the only non-profit serving women in the payments, paytech and fintech space. We engage women from the senior-most levels through new hires, helping them navigate their organizations and the industry addressing barriers to success. PayTech Women partners with our corporate members offering resources and programs that strengthen and augment internal Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) for the betterment of their employees and the companies. Our cohort of senior-level women across the spectrum of payments companies offers a rare peer group for those that have achieved at the highest level in payments to learn and help their individual organizations succeed. We invite all to join us in our mission to create a stronger and more diverse industry by empowering and investing in women.
With our corporate partners’ amazing support, we can offer members and non-members free access to all chapter events.
How would you describe your value proposition to prospective customers and channel partners?
Empower the potential of your whole team with PayTech Women. We help businesses empower female employees through a supportive network of cross company peers and mentors, along with hands-on learning and growth opportunities that prepare women at all career levels to assume increased responsibilities and take advantage of leadership opportunities.
- We encourage and support women of diverse backgrounds, including cultural, ethnic, sexual preference and gender identity.
- We augment your DEI and in-house mentoring initiatives.
- We help you maximize your female employees’ job satisfaction and leadership potential.
By empowering women, we drive systemic change leading to gender equity in the payments workplace. On your organization’s committed DEI journey, PayTech Women is the organization that can plug in directly to help fulfill your stated commitments and demonstrate industry leadership. We offer women in payments a support system of female role models at all seniority levels, providing a safe zone to ask for/receive objective advice and guidance in a nonjudgmental environment. We provide a venue for women in payments to hone new skills (e.g., public speaking and group leadership) in preparation for increased responsibilities and leadership opportunities.
Our cohort of senior-level women across the spectrum of payments companies offers a rare peer group for those who have achieved the highest level in payments to learn and help their individual organizations succeed.
What recent challenges have your company’s leadership faced and how did you overcome them?
The organization moved into self-operation in 2021. We brought in full-time staff to focus on members. This has allowed us to become a more nimble and responsive organization to our members and help women succeed. We have seen a spike in membership and engagement in the past three years.
What recent milestone have you achieved and why is it significant?
I am pleased to share we are more than 6,200 members strong with 20% of members actively engaged in volunteer roles including chapter leaders, speakers, mentors and our board leadership. In addition, PayTech Women has more than 1,000 serving as Mentors in our Mentor for a Minute program; an easy and quick way to connect to a mentor. These milestones are significant and will allow the strength of the PTW network to help women around the world succeed.
What near-term opportunities will 2023 present to you and your team?
The tremendous membership and engagement growth has presented opportunities to expand our reach. We have come together with industry organizations like ETA, SEAA, MWAA, NEAA, WSAA, RSPA, APP and MPC to showcase outstanding women in the field on their stages, promote opportunities to connect and expand the industry opportunities for all.
What’s a key trend for your industry in 2023, and why do you think it’s important?
Regardless of the technology and the payments ecosystem, it really comes down to people. When companies grow, merge, acquire or divest, how an organization manages this change, educates, builds trust and inclusivity, and empowers their employees will determine long-term corporate success. PTW is the ideal place to help individuals and organizations navigate this fast pace of change in our industry. We are where professional women – and the men who advocate for us – come together as leaders to grow the sustainable success of the paytech industry through our diverse voices.