Empowering Females in Finance

In the spring of 2023, Meghan Curtin ’06 McKenna found herself with 60 days of free time. Rather than learn to rock climb or bake sourdough, she decided to start a company.

“If I’m not super busy, I’m constantly thinking about what else I could be doing,” McKenna admits. The blank calendar space between banking jobs should have been a moment to put up her feet, but even the white sands of a Cancún beach couldn’t distract her from the idea rattling around her brain.

Weeks later, on June 6, 2023, the Females in Finance Collective (FIF) was born. The organization, which is invite-only, is composed of high-power women in the finance and technology spheres — think founders, CEOs, and CFOs. McKenna leads the organization and is currently FIF’s only employee, but she is supported by a range of volunteers, including her sister, who serves as her chief-of-staff, and her niece, who serves as her controller.

“[I was motivated by] the idea that younger women who come up through the ranks in banking or corporate America [have] the potential for things to be different,” says McKenna. “It could be an easier road for them than it was for a lot of us who grew up in different times.”

One of the central components of FIF is its series of networking events. For example, they hosted an AI panel last fall featuring all female speakers. “The best part about FIF is how well curated the group is,” McKenna says. “So every time women are standing in a room talking with one another, business happens organically, and it doesn’t have to be forced.”

Another organic platform for connection is FIF’s members-only WhatsApp group. “It’s where our women can tell all and share ideas,” McKenna says, “and make sure that they’re connected with the best people.”

In addition to networking, FIF helps find job placements, provides volunteer opportunities, and advocates to get more women on boards. FIF plans to begin placing speakers at conferences like Montgomery Summit, AWS re:Invent, and HumanX, and aims to provide more mentorship programming.

On its one-year anniversary last June, the New York Stock Exchange honored FIF and its 1,000-member milestone. Now, FIF boasts more than 1,300 members. It has launched in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Austin, with forthcoming launches in Miami, Tel Aviv, and London.

“To date, we have monetized fully through partnerships and sponsorships,” McKenna explains. FIF has collaborated with sponsors like Deloitte, Amazon, and Davis Polk. Although FIF rolled out membership fees in January 2025, “We still want to try to monetize more through corporate America versus charging our members anything meaningful,” says McKenna.

With so many irons in the fire, a typical day for McKenna promises 5 to 11 Zoom calls, a lunch, and an evening event with sponsors, partners, and potential members. Although she makes it look easy, a career in FinTech wasn’t a given for McKenna, who studied sociology at Colgate.

It was her personality — “a competitive drive to want to be seen as an equal” — more than her major that drew her to banking. At Colgate, that drive pushed McKenna and her teammates to become the first women’s basketball team in the University’s history to make the NCAA tournament.

Plus, “I never had a problem talking to anybody,” she adds. “I figured out quickly that sales within a banking organization was a good match for me.” When teammate Emily Braseth ’05 had a positive experience in the management development program at M&T Bank, McKenna decided to follow in her postgrad footsteps. “[Emily] and I were very similar, in both being outgoing and functionally nuts.” From there, McKenna went on to work at JP Morgan, HSBC, and Stifel before committing herself to FIF full time.

“To be able to give women the value that they deserve… I think there’s really no choice but to do this full time.”