It’s more important than ever to focus on agile technology innovation. Read below to find out more about how I believe the Cornell Tech Innovation Scholars Program will enable me to make a greater impact at both Mastercard and the communities in which we live and work.

Technology is constantly changing, adapting and transforming. In order to remain agile and relevant, businesses need to innovate and develop faster than ever before – Cornell Tech and Mastercard are at the forefront of this evolving ecosystem. I am an excellent candidate for the Mastercard Innovation Scholars Program at Cornell Tech because I exemplify the innovative spirit and dynamic leadership that are required for ultimate success in the program as illustrated through:

• Challenging others to diversity of thought – there is no innovation without inclusion

• Building authentic relationships rooted in trust to create environments fostering innovation

• Innovating and thinking expansively while still valuing established institutional priorities

The Cornell Tech MBA will provide me with the opportunity to hone, develop and stretch in these areas while allowing me to more fully apply them to my work at Mastercard.

There is no innovation without inclusion and diversity.

Everything revolves around connecting with and understanding people. This is incredibly important, especially during a time when, on a global scale, moral leadership is lacking. I have always been invested in meeting new people, understanding their viewpoints and learning from their experiences. I have had the opportunity to learn, formally and informally, from a variety of people throughout my life and I have developed a unique perspective and moral compass that I apply to everything I do. This has allowed me to not only question “business as usual” practices, identifying and developing streamlined, more efficient processes, but it has also enabled me to challenge others to think differently, expanding their perspective. It is my belief that “sameness” leads to stagnation and regression, while diversity is the key to creating a more expansive and engaging future.

Fostering innovation requires trust.

Developing authentic relationships built on trust is a priority for me. According to The How Report – A Global, Empirical Analysis of How Governance, Culture and Leadership Impact Performance, employees who work in high-trust environments are 32x more likely to take risks, 11x more likely to see higher levels of innovation and 6x more likely to perform higher when compared to others in their industry. I work hard to develop authentic relationships, across all levels that are rooted in trust. I have been fortunate in my career at Mastercard to work with, and on, teams that foster a high level of trust allowing me to take risks – whether it’s through elevating the customization of our RFP responses, ideating new value propositions for customers, or integrating new experiences into our digital app demos. Because of that deep trust, I am not afraid to fail, and therefore push myself further. I remain focused on the deep relationships I have built so far, and the relationships I continue to build, and cultivating a culture of trust that allows others to ideate and innovate.

The quest for the next revolutionary innovation.

History tends to repeat itself and to be a true revolutionary you must be a student of the past. This study must include past success to be expanded upon and failures to be avoided. Throughout my tenure at Mastercard I have looked to respect the innovations and successes of the past without taking them for granted. It is through that lens that I am able to look at situations, dissect their evolution and establish a clear vision for needed change moving forward. This combination of retrospective and forward thinking has served me well and will be further developed as I advance in my career.

Valuing diversity of thought, developing authentic relationships and thinking expansively combine to create a unique and meaningful ability to contribute to the ongoing success of Mastercard. Understanding that these skills must be constantly developed and exercised to realize their fullest potential, I know that the Innovation Scholars program at Cornell Tech will be a valuable experience in achieving more impactful levels of success at Mastercard.

Ongoing Innovation Through Patent Development

Over the past few years I have been actively involved in developing two patents that span across the payments space. Both patents have been filed and the innovations patent pending!

P05520-US-UTIL Patent Extension on Methods, Systems, Networks, and Media for Collecting Funds Via Virtual Account Numbers - Extension to Include Automatically Disbursing Funds From NGOs to Individuals. While the first patent set up a system that allowed P2P assistance for medical bills, we didn’t hesitate to continue ideating - there are so many NGOs willing to help - how can we create a system that matches them with the people who need their support most? This patent extension focuses on aggregating money for the purposes of paying medical bills in developing countries to speed up medical assistance with the added benefit of providing NGOs the ability to provide funds to help support individuals in need.

P05607-US-UTIL System for Booking Online Travel with Groups and Holding Payment Until The Group Has Fully Booked. It all started with a consumer pain-point: trying to book group travel with multiple people is a difficult. This invention is a system that allows individuals to coordinate travel among a group friends - waiting until a certain percentage of the group has committed to the travel plans before anyone is charged.