With the ‘Making a difference’ edition CIO Look attempts on spreading opinions of some exceptionally talented women leaders who have keenly contributed their share in evolving business aspects.
Meet one such result-driven leader, Mirna Sleiman, the Founder and CEO of Fintech Galaxy, who singlehandedly brought a disruption in the traditional order of marketing for businesses. Her commendable business sense and distinctive social skills drove her into obtaining some remarkable achievements in the world of business. Her authentic way of assisting various organizations in attaining digital transformation, is more often an inspiration for aspirants, entering into the digitization business.
Following is the story of Mirna, a proficient forerunner with a vision to transform business digitally, in her own words:
You don’t dream about success, you work for it. It’s probably one of the lessons I learned as a journalist. Rubbing shoulders with corporate leaders and successful entrepreneurs as well as reporting on the boom and bust of financial markets has taught me a lot…humility, integrity and passion are key, if nothing else.
I mentor entrepreneurs and support them wherever I can. I’m a mother of three, entrepreneur and just finished my EMBA. There’s no tradeoff and there’s no balance. One feeds the other success at work means happiness at home. The best I do is to present myself as a role model to my kids and to other women out there. I don’t really fight for equality, but I definitely encourage diversity in all its forms and shapes. Women have themselves as the biggest enemy; their own limitations, their own fears. Women have everything it takes to lead and create impact because they’re driven by compassion and emotional intelligence. My advice to women is to have self-belief, to stop feeling guilty, and to dream big. Women are braver than they believe, stronger than they seem and smarter than they think. Success is never achieved alone and wisdom is sweeter when shared. The world needs more women who believe in their own power and are bold enough to speak about their ambitions.
We at Fintech Galaxy connect the fintech ecosystem and cater to the needs of financial institutions, startups and investors. And for each type of customer we offer a solution to their most pressing needs. Banks want to innovate and we help them connect with bright minds in a very efficient and cost effective way. Startups want to scale and need funding; we help them with business development and fund raising. Investors are hungry for a healthy deal flow, and we provide that.
Learning never ends, and Fintech is a fast evolving industry. Banks are being disrupted by all types of technologies. It’s important to read, take certificates and stay connected with brains at conferences and social media.
I compete with myself. I keep an eye on market competition but I only benchmark with my vision. It’s simple—I imagine my company 10 years from now and I charge forward.
Talking about leadership, I firmly believe that a leader must possess the qualities of curiosity, humility and empathy. The rest you learn in a business school. I’m still taking baby steps. I have a big dream and I will never stop until I see the region we live in, enjoys the empowerment of youth, women and financial inclusion.
About the Leader
Mirna Sleiman is an experienced executive with 15+ years of proficiency in government relations, business strategy, digital communications and journalism, mostly within the MENA region. Driven by passion for innovation and creating a positive impact, Mirna has a track record in leading digital transformation projects, marketing communications strategies and global partnerships with public and private entities, focusing on knowledge economy development, regulatory infrastructure and financial markets.
Moreover, she has managed public sector business for Thomson Reuters across MENA and partnered with international organizations to promote innovation and social change. Currently, she resides on the advisory board of the Union of Arab Banks and MENA Research Partners.
She has spent more than 10 years as a financial journalist with Reuters, Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal and Zawya. She has been adorned with three EMEA Dow Jones awards and a Global William Clabby Award in investigative reporting, Thomson Reuters Over And Above award for strategic relations and the IPRA trophy for the impact on the region’s corporate world. Also she has been certified from MIT University in fintech and e-commerce, Columbia University in Digital Marketing and Communications, and an Executive MBA from City University of London.
About the Company
Fintech Galaxy is a digital crowdsourcing platform that empowers fintech entrepreneurs and connects them to financial institutions, consultants, tech companies, mentors and investors. It works as an open innovation marketplace for organizations based in the MENA region to post challenges for its global network of startups to take a crack at solving them in order to gain business contracts or cash rewards. The company advises startups on fund raising, operational growth and business development. The platform also brings to the MENA market, a network of global fintech experts in disciplines like blockchain, AI, payments, robotics and data science.
With a wealth of content and a virtual gallery of the best success case studies in the financial technology space, Fintech Galaxy supports the world’s most promising entrepreneurs throughout their journey from inspiration to global growth.
