There must be movement towards systemic financial wellness and it must be more inclusive, according to Theodora Lau, founder, Unconventional Ventures.
WorkingNation sat down with Lau at the Milken Institute Global Conference 2022 in Beverly Hills.
“I think there’s more focus on underrepresented founders. In the last two years, especially, we see more people talking about the fact that we have not done enough. We talk a lot about FinTech innovation, but by and large, a lot of the FinTech companies are focused on making a better experience for people who already have access to services,” says Lau.
She continues, “What about people that are in LGBTQ communities, people that had no credit history when they came to the United States and they need to reestablish themselves? We are seeing more FinTech startups that are trying to change that. Awareness is a very good first step but being able to get the capital that they need to scale up to actually serve the communities that they’re focusing on, I think that’s a real test.”
Lau, also author of Beyond Good, says her pathway is heavily influenced by her own mother’s experience. Her mother moved as a child from China to Hong Kong and lived under very difficult circumstances.
Because she had to work, Lau says her mother gave up a lot of opportunity in her life. Says Lau, “Things happen. It’s about chances. It’s about opportunities, but [my mother] always reminded me, despite of her circumstances, she relied on a lot of the generosity of people around her. So, we cannot, and we must not, forget people that are in a society that need help.”
Learn more about Unconventional Ventures.
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Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.
Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.
Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.
Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.
Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.
Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.
