Yuliya and I met at Greater Stamford Toastmaster in 2011. I was a new member. I knew she is “special” from the first time I saw her speaking (evaluation). Yuliya has a keen ear of listening; she provided speakers thoughtful feedback in a positive demeanor. We became fast friends as we share many traits and interests, e.g. love learning/ exploring and have learned English as 2nd language/ came to US as adult.
Yuliya loves finance and soon after, she realized her dream to work in Wall Street. She couldn’t attend the GST club meeting anymore yet we kept in touch. In 2014, she shared that she is changing job and moving to Kenya for 10 months to provide consulting services to a local microfinance institution.
In December 2020, I heard great news from Yuliya. She is now the co-founder of CNote, a Fintech platform/ company to invest in underserved communities and promote economic inclusion. CNote received $3 million (oversubscribed) funding to scale its development and the co-founder, Catherine was named among the 37 social entrepreneurs to watch in 2020 by Cause Artist. I’m thrilled that Yuliya is living her American dream*. Moreover, she has turned the passion of finance and experience in Wall Street into a mission-driven business, even better, providing opportunities to others*!
*Read more in Yuliya’s Story of Opportunity.