Building Fintech Community with Cristina Ciaravalli & Saira Rahman

In this episode, we explore the power of partnerships and community in the Cristina Ciaravalli, Head of Community at This Week in Fintech and New Business & Partnerships at Unit, and Saira Rahman, VP of New Investor Initiatives at Fundrise. 

We discuss the role of partnerships and community in driving innovation and growth in fintech, and how collaborations between companies can help address challenges, while also meeting the evolving needs of customers. We also delve into the importance of building trust and fostering strong relationships between partners, as well as the potential for partnerships to enable financial inclusion and create positive social impact.

Main topics:

• The role of partnerships in driving innovation and growth in Fintech
• Building trust and fostering strong relationships between partners
• The potential for Fintech innovators to enable financial inclusion and create positive social impact

Be sure to listen through to the end to learn what people and companies Saira and Cristina think are making waves in Fintech and Payments!

Our guests

• Cristina Ciaravalli Cristina works in go-to-market (GTM) at Unit, where she focuses on strategic partnerships and enterprise clients. She also works at This Week in Fintech, helping to build the largest global fintech community. Cristina started her career on Wall Street, working at Goldman Sachs and BlackRock before she pivoted to fintech and joined Plaid's GTM team in San Francisco, where she spent several years. Cristina was recognized for her work as a leader in the fintech community by being named an Inspiring Fintech Female by NYC Fintech Women in 2020 and 2022. She currently resides in New York City and enjoys advising and investing in startups, overpaying for boutique fitness classes, cooking up new recipes for friends, and connecting good people with each other.
• Saira Rahman Saira is currently the VP of New Investor Initiatives at Fundrise, where she is building new fintech products for the alts platform. Prior to this, she was the VP of Finance at HMBradley, a consumer neobank. Saira was also the co-host of the viral podcast "Girls Just Wanna Have Funds," where she spent time discussing the nuance behind financial literacy. Before entering the world of fintech, Saira spent 11 years working in derivatives sales and trading. In her spare time, Saira loves to spend time with her family, and make art.

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If you'd like to be a guest or you have a suggestion of a topic you'd like us to cover, please email us at [e-mail].

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