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Lisha Bell is a technology innovator with deep roots in financial disruptive companies. She brings over 20 years of building governance frameworks driving innovation focused on digital money movement solutions that have elevated and created new revenue streams for iconic brands. She has built and invested in fintech products that changed consumer transaction behavior from point of sale, e-commerce, or peer-to-peer payments. Her career is rooted in the .com boom focused on consumer and merchant preferences, resulting in the evolution of digital adoption.  

 

 Lisha worked at Wells Fargo, Kohl’s, and Feedzai where she led the effort to build the earliest digital fintech products, including online banking, bill pay, and digital wallets.  With over 20 years of experience in Fintech innovation, Lisha has been at the forefront, leading teams that has resulted in revolutionizing the US$ 8 trillion consumer payments industry.  She launched the first Near Field Communications (NFC) contactless wallet in 2011, which later became Apple Pay and Google Pay.  Lisha then joined PayPal, where she spearheaded the launch of Venmo's commerce platform that has grown to process annual payment volume of US$ 244 billion, and has been widely adopted by key mobile first merchants including Uber, Hulu, and Poshmark.  

 

Lisha is at PayPal Ventures, where she leads the Economic Opportunity Fund, the $100M investment into diverse emerging fund managers.  She leads to identify and assess investment opportunities, manage risk, and drive returns with an ESG  perspective.   Lisha is a tireless advocate for diversity and led instrumental conversations with leadership buy-in for building racial equity considerations into the firm's governance and decision-making.  She developed a framework at PayPal to develop a comprehensive fund strategy to promote diversity and inclusion in venture capital.

 

Lisha served on the Nominating Committee, Board of Governors, University of Southern California during the search for a new President for their $6.2B operations. Digital transformation, access to financial capital, and corporate governance are Lisha’s “North Star” for closing the racial wealth gaps. The arc of Lisha's career journey of investing at the intersection of “E” and “S” of ESG, began with her childhood experience at the Cashier (weekend shifts) at her Dad’s gas station, “Bell’s Shell” in Los Angeles, California, and includes various experiences as a Product Director at Feedzai, a Series D venture-backed firm based in Portugal specializing in AI machine learning to leading the Board of Black Girl Ventures. 

 

Lisha has been recognized as JFF changemaker.Lisha holds a BSc in Business Administration, Information Systems from USC,as well as MBAs from UC Berkeley and Columbia Business School. As a life-long learner, Lisha completed the Black Corporate Board Readiness (BCBR) program, Leavey School of Business, Silicon Valley Santa Clara University.