Washington, D.C. – March 8, 2023: Two key leaders at the Alliance for Innovative Regulation (AIR), Program Director Shelley Anderson and CEO Jo Ann Barefoot, were named to Innovate Finance’s Women in Fintech Powerlist 2022. The annual list, which was announced Wednesday to coincide with International Women’s Day, celebrates women who are making an extraordinary impact on the fintech and financial sectors. The Powerlist shines a spotlight on 250 women across eight categories.
Shelley Anderson was recognized in the “Standout 45” category of the Powerlist for making a real and lasting impact in fintech, over and above her day-to-day role. At AIR, Shelley works on planning and producing TechSprints, leads the organization’s program to further expand its global reach, and focuses on ways to ignite technology innovation throughout the financial system. Last year, she organized a TechSprint on women’s economic empowerment with the Reserve Bank of India. Shelley is also Co-founder of the Women In Regulatory Innovation (WIRI) network, which is creating a community of women across the globe with the aim of building meaningful diversity and inclusion within the financial regulatory system.
“I’m so incredibly humbled to have been named as one of the ‘Standout 45’ by Innovate Finance,” says Anderson. “The list is incredible, celebrating the achievements of so many hardworking, generous, and knowledgeable women,” she continues.
Jo Ann Barefoot, AIR’s CEO and Co-founder, received the honor of being recognized in the Powerlist as a Senior Leader for the second year in a row. This category recognizes individuals at the executive level who excel in their careers but are also passionate about helping others make progress in theirs through mentoring, support groups or voluntary work. Jo Ann has also been named Woman of the Year by Finovate, included on the Forbes list of 50 over 50 and inducted into the Fintech Hall of Fame by CB Insights.
“I’m thrilled by the recognition, but I know it’s not for me,” says Barefoot. “It’s really for our team at AIR, a majority of whom are women. To women, my advice is to have courage. Be bold. Women should reach high. When they do, they’ll often get what they go after,” she continues.
Innovate Finance is an independent fintech industry body based in the United Kingdom. Its mission is to accelerate the U.K.’s leading role in the global financial services sector by directly supporting the next generation of technology-led innovators to create a more inclusive, more democratic and more effective financial services sector that works better for everyone.
Program Director
CEO and Co-founder
AIR is a nonprofit, non-membership organization working to make the financial system fully inclusive, fair and resilient through responsible use of new technology. By connecting regulation, finance, technology and society, AIR drives global innovation and collaboration to address rapid technology change.
BLOG • Three Years Ago, AIR Didn’t Even Have a Logo. We’ve Come a Long Way Since.
The Alliance of Innovative Regulation launched in 2019 with a small staff and a huge mission. Since then, the organization has more than tripled in size, advanced digital regulatory solutions and fostered a global conversation about innovation.
BLOG • Power of empowerment: Swanari TechSprint Takeaways
AIR was a partner with India’s Reserve Bank Innovation Hub on a tech competition and ideas forum exploring digital financial services solutions for women’s economic advancement.
VIDEO • TechSprints Are a Collaborative Method Used in Solving Complex Problems
What are “techsprints?” Adapted from the hackathons invented by tech companies, TechSprints are events in which people with diverse knowledge from the public and private sector come together to ideate and co-create technology solutions for complex problems.
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