This tech is made for sharin’! And that’s just what we’ll do

OHMy. Days. Tony TownesWhitley is the BEST speaker. We first encountered her

at the Virtual Finastra Universe in March 2021 speaking as Microsoft’s President for US Regulated Industries… And we just couldn’t stop listening. Coffees went cold. Emails went unread. We didn’t care. We just wanted more.

Townes-Whitley speaks with the kind of authenticity and purpose that makes you sit up straighter in your chair. None of this slouching malarky. The more we found out about her, the more we loved. Here’s to Toni Townes-Whitely, the best in the biz for combining digital transformation with social justice badass-ery. (Not a real word, but for Townes-Whitely, it should be!)

TECH FOR EVERYONE!

Townes-Whitely, of course, is a great advocate for fintech and a powerful influence in the space. “The biggest lesson we’ve seen in working with financial institutions is the clear ability for these organizations to accelerate customer value if they are partnering with fintech companies”, she tells us. “Working with customers around the world, especially in this past year, has really highlighted the gap between companies that have and have not yet made technology investments – showing up in their ability to adapt to a changing landscape with agility and speed. Organizations across the fintech spectrum are able to leverage secure and compliant technology platforms like ours to innovate and quickly bring solutions to market – staying competitive by meeting customer and member expectations around experience, fraud, security and scale”.

When it comes to digital transformation, Townes-Whitley isn’t messing around. Oh no Sir. She wants to support businesses and help customers get ahead. Like yesterday. We asked her more about how she approaches this. “[By] shifting Microsoft’s sales model towards a verticalized industry model”, Townes-Whitley explains. “Leading this go-to-market effort for the last six years in both corporate and field roles has helped position Microsoft with more relevance to our customers”. Indeed it has! Is there any business who hasn’t jumped aboard the Microsoft train yet? And for much of that, we have Townes-Whitley to thank.

POWER AND PURPOSE

Even though that’s massively epic, it isn’t our favourite thing about Townes-Whitely. Our number one showstopper is her strong sense of social justice … and she does a LOT. We asked her more about what she is most proud of. “[My] ongoing efforts to advance women, and particularly women of colour, in the workplace – such as working with organizations like the Athena Alliance and the Leadership Foundry to place women on corporate boards, and through ongoing mentoring at Microsoft and beyond”, she explains.

“Helping to shift the dialogue and advance the social justice movement, both at Microsoft and at PNC, where I am a member of the Board '', Townes-Whitley continues. “When we reached an inflection point last year with the death of George Floyd, I was able to help shape our company’s response and action plan. At the same time, I was invited by PNC to join a special Board committee focused on racial and social justice where we are driving efforts to support underserved communities with a “low cash mode” approach to banking”.

There’s so much more we’d like to say, but we’ve already gone over the wordcount. All that’s left to do is raise our saloon tankards and shout cheers to Townes-Whitely!

THIS TECH IS MADE FOR SHARIN’! …AND THAT’S JUST WHAT WE’LL DO