NextGen Banker

Katrin Kaufer is an expert in values-based banking.

Kaufer, a research affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, directs and co-created the Global Alliance for Banking on Values Leadership Academy. She is also the director of the Just Money Program at MIT’s Community Innovator’s Lab and has co-authored two books on sustainable finance.

Kaufer talks with Bryan and Becca about how she got into values-based banking, the value of finance as a tool to solve major societal problems and her thoughts on the future of the financial industry.

Even though the festival took place in March, we’re still talking about what we learned at South By Southwest. The Sunrise Banks team heads to Austin every year to hear about emerging trends in finance and the latest in banking technology.

In this episode, Becca and Bryan play interviews we conducted with festival goers this year about fintech, democratizing finance and what the next-gen banker looks like.

Kevin Edwards has learned a lot about leadership during his time at Real Leaders.

Edwards, the company’s vice president of growth, hosts the Real Leaders Podcast and has interviewed hundreds of executives who put social and environmental responsibility at the forefront of their organizations.

Edwards talks with Becca and Bryan about social entrepreneurship, what motivates leaders beyond profit and how Real Leaders compiles its list of Top Impact companies.

Wole Coaxum, the founder and CEO of Mobility Capital Finance (MoCaFi), talks with David about MoCaFi’s work to bridge the racial wealth gap as well as the advantages fintech has in better serving a diverse group of consumers.

Coaxum, a former Wall Street executive, also discusses his move to become an entrepreneur and how he envisions the banker of the future.

In episode 22, Bryan and Becca talked with Fintech Takes Founder Alex Johnson about Web3’s influence on the banking sector. That conversation is continued in part two, in which Alex speaks to Banking as a Service, the future of brick-and-mortar branches and the evolution of customer service in a digital-first world.

Cryptocurrency has gone mainstream. Digital assets have been endorsed by major banks across the world and are no longer niche investments made only by those with insider knowledge of blockchain. While the technology has seen a rapid rise in popularity, it’s still not ubiquitous – for the uninitiated, digital currencies still seem foreign, and maybe even worrisome.The rise of crypto presents a number of questions about how this new technology fits into the traditional banking sector. Kate Goldman, a senior policy associate at Elliptic, talks with David about crypto’s current regulatory state, the possibilities afforded by blockchain technology and how Web3 and conventional finance can work together to create better outcomes for consumers.

The digital landscape is changing.

News of the metaverse, NFTs and cryptocurrency floods our newsfeeds as we hear about Web 3’s promise and limitations. So where do banks fit into this equation? Will crypto ever become less volatile? And do financial institutions need to start thinking about their place in virtual reality?

Alex Johnson, the founder of the Fintech Takes newsletter, tackles all these questions and more while also speaking to “hands-on-the-wheel” money and Generation Z’s new outlook on managing their finances.

For Ron Feldman, it’s a simple equation: The more diverse your workforce, the better off your organization will be.

Feldman, the first vice president and chief operating officer at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, talks withDavid about the Fed’s efforts to hire and retain a more diverse workforce. He also speaks to the positive impact a diversity of voices can have on bank regulatory functions.

Company culture is top of mind right now.As organizations struggle with the “great resignation,” hiring managers are searching for new ways to attract and retain talent. Josh Levine, the owner of Great Mondays and an expert on company culture, talks with David about the importance of providing workers with more than just monetary incentives and embedding mission and values into everyday work.He also speaks to the need for relationship-building during remote and hybrid work. Rituals need to be established to connect workers from different departments to remain successful, Josh says.

Melissa Bradley is busy: She’s the cofounder of Ureeka, a managing partner at 1863 Ventures and a cofounder and managing partner at Sidecar Social Finance. She’s also a professor at Georgetown University.

Melissa speaks with David about empowering New Majority – BIPOC – entrepreneurs and reflects on changing demographics in business. “From a demographic perspective, when we use the word ‘minority,’ to speak about people of color, it’s just not quantitatively accurate,” says Melissa.

Melissa also discusses the banker of the future and the impact technology will continue to have on the financial sector.