MIAMI – Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP is pleased to announce that it will host the second annual Women in FinTech (WinFin) Conference in partnership with Miami Dade College and Vast Bank at Miami Dade College’s Idea Center in downtown Miami on March 29, 2022.

The purpose of the conference is to promote women attorneys, bankers, entrepreneurs and other professions in FinTech and create important connections among people. The daylong event features nationally recognized thought leaders, who will share their insights on FinTech’s global development.

Panels are:

• A Year in Review: Legal Issues in FinTech moderated by Nelson Mullins Partner Erin Kolmansberger and featuring firm Partners Lori Anne Czepiel and Arina Shulga and Of Counsel Mallory Acheson, who will discuss privacy issues within the metaverse and FinTech; SEC lawsuits and enforcement actions involving digital asset companies; issues in the wake of this year’s bank failures; and the landscape for investments and M&A for start-up companies and other FinTechs.
   
• Diversity as a Disruptor moderated by Nelson Mullins Senior Associate Bethany Barclay-Adeniyi and featuring Loretta Ovueraye, Vice Provost for Workforce Programs and Professional Learning at Miami Dade College, Katerina Taylor, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Nelson Mullins, and firm Associate Rebecca Lester. Panelists will discuss diversity and inclusion in the FinTech space as well as within companies more generally. This discussion will include experiential and statistical examples of issues with diversity in the industry and the impact of diversity in corporate spaces. The panel will also talk about tangible steps that can be taken to improve diversity and inclusion in the industry.
•  Regulating in the Gray Zone: FinTech Regulatory Considerations moderated by Nelson Mullins Associate Megan Kilissanly and featuring Natalie Parker, Chief Risk Officer at Vast Bank and firm Senior Associate Liz Donaldson, who will discuss the regulation of FinTech companies, digital assets, and cryptocurrency, including the regulatory impact on the banking industry and custody of these assets.
   
• Evolution of the Gaming Industry: Challenges of Integrating Digital Payments and Technology moderated by Nelson Mullins Partner Katherine Baker and featuring Lauren Lemmer, Director of New Markets & Product Compliance at Fanatics Betting & Gaming; Brianne Doura-Schawohl, Founder and CEO of Doura-Schawohl Consulting, LLC; and Jennifer Carleton, Chief Legal Officer at Sightline Payments. Panelists will address the challenges of innovating in the highly regulated gaming industry, e.g., through expansion of payment mechanisms, blockchain technology, and the metaverse. The discussion will include how operators, service providers, and regulators are managing risk and the role of FinTech in shaping the industry’s continued evolution. 

This year’s Keynote Speaker is Tess Michaels, founder and CEO of Stride Funding, a venture capital backed FinTech company that uses data science to make student financing more accessible and affordable. Michaels will address The Power of No: How Making the Tough Calls Early Builds a Better, More Impactful Business. She will talk about knowing when to say the hard nos will open the right doors especially at the early stage of building a high-growth, high-impact business. Michaels founded Stride Funding from a student-first perspective as an MBA from Harvard Business School.

In 2021, Nelson Mullins launched WinFin as an affinity group to support and present women as leaders in the FinTech space. Leading these efforts are Partners Katherine Baker and Erin Kolmansberger and Associates Megan Kilissanly and Rebecca Lester, along with Partner Richard B. Levin, who chairs the firm’s FinTech and Regulation Practice. Nelson Mullins’ FinTech team includes more than 40 attorneys with experience in the industry.

Established in 1897, Nelson Mullins is an Am Law 100 firm of more than 1,000 attorneys, policy advisors and professionals with 32 offices in 16 states and Washington, D.C. For more information, go to www.nelsonmullins.com.