In June we lost a pillar of our community, Barb MacLean, a brilliant fintech mind and a beloved colleague. A guest turned co-host on Breaking Banks and an invaluable member of Alloy Labs. She was truly special, she never hesitated to pay it forward or to speak truth, albeit in the most polite Canadian way, whether on podcasts or the stages of Finovate.

Every week she curated a list of the most impactful things she had read and paired them with a song, publishing the Fintech Playlist. It was an honor to be included. She exposed us to new writers and new songs. For her, music was more than a backdrop — it was a language, a way to connect, to feel, to make fintech more human.

This week’s episode is a rerun of a favorite episode featuring Barb, JP Nicols and Alex Johnson discussing the invisible heist of business customers as part of our ‘Unbreak the Bank’ series.

We hope to honor her legacy the way she lived it: with meaning, creativity, and community.

There’s a GoFundMe initiative started by her sister to support her family: https://gofund.me/81a8d4c5

And a Fintech Playlist T-shirt, with 100% of the proceeds going to Barb’s family: https://www.bonfire.com/fintech-tribute-t-shirt-her-song-lives-on/

Let’s keep her song playing!