![\"Meghan](\"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/endeavor-fif-2-042825-683x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\u201cIf I\u2019m not super busy, I\u2019m constantly thinking about what else I could be doing,\u201d 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 Canc\u00fan beach couldn\u2019t distract her from the idea rattling around her brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 \u2014 think founders, CEOs, and CFOs. McKenna leads the organization and is currently FIF\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[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,\u201d says McKenna. \u201cIt could be an easier road for them than it was for a lot of us who grew up in different times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. \u201cThe best part about FIF is how well curated the group is,\u201d McKenna says. \u201cSo every time women are standing in a room talking with one another, business happens organically, and it doesn\u2019t have to be forced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another organic platform for connection is FIF\u2019s members-only WhatsApp group. \u201cIt\u2019s where our women can tell all and share ideas,\u201d McKenna says, \u201cand make sure that they\u2019re connected with the best people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo date, we have monetized fully through partnerships and sponsorships,\u201d McKenna explains. FIF has collaborated with sponsors like Deloitte, Amazon, and Davis Polk. Although FIF rolled out membership fees in January 2025, \u201cWe still want to try to monetize more through corporate America versus charging our members anything meaningful,\u201d says McKenna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019t a given for McKenna, who studied sociology at Colgate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was her personality \u2014 \u201ca competitive drive to want to be seen as an equal\u201d \u2014 more than her major that drew her to banking. At Colgate, that drive pushed McKenna and her teammates to become the first women\u2019s basketball team in the University\u2019s history to make the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plus, \u201cI never had a problem talking to anybody,\u201d she adds. \u201cI figured out quickly that sales within a banking organization was a good match for me.\u201d When teammate Emily Braseth \u201905 had a positive experience in the management development program at M&T Bank, McKenna decided to follow in her postgrad footsteps. \u201c[Emily] and I were very similar, in both being outgoing and functionally nuts.\u201d From there, McKenna went on to work at JP Morgan, HSBC, and Stifel before committing herself to FIF full time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo be able to give women the value that they deserve\u2026 I think there\u2019s really no choice but to do this full time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McKenna was recognized on the 2024 Inspiring FinTech Females list in the Inspiring Leaders category. The Metrics Club named her a Finance Innovator to Follow in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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