Wnet Welcomes its 2021 Board of Directors, Executive Team and Advisory Council

Accomplished Payments and Fintech Leaders Share Vision for Driving Leadership Opportunities for Women in the Payments Space

KENT, OH – The Women’s Network in Electronic Transactions (Wnet) recently announced that its Board of Directors unanimously elected new leaders to its Board, Executive Committee, and President’s Advisory Council. Deeply committed to Wnet’s mission, the 2021 additions offer broad leadership representation, enabling Wnet to empower women from the payments and fintech industry at every level. The full roster is available below and on the Wnet website.

Wnet Selects Executive Committee; Fiserv’s Mary Uslander Named Wnet President

As part of the Executive Committee’s seamless leadership transition, Fiserv Senior Vice President of Commercialization and Client Experience Mary Uslander, previously President-Elect of Wnet, moves into the role of President of Wnet. Kelly Tufts, Vice President, Credit Operations, Discover Financial Services, is now President-Elect; Kelly Beatty, Chief Transformation Officer, FIS, is now Treasurer; and Polly Van Duser, SPHR, Senior Partner – Payments & Fintech, Greenings International, is now Secretary.

“I am honored to begin 2021 serving the Wnet community, announcing our new leadership, and celebrating our 15th year anniversary as a world-class non-profit designed to foster gender inclusivity within the financial services and fintech industries,” said Uslander. “I am excited to engage and empower the entire Wnet community to increase the leadership opportunities for women and their advocates.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to welcome our newest Board Directors: JPMorgan Chase’s Dawn Delaney and Protiviti’s Laura Gibson. Additionally, I would like to sincerely thank Joan Herbig for her tireless efforts as President during the challenging year of 2020, and Immediate Past President Carol Grunberg, General Manager, Money Movement and Innovation, Northwestern Mutual, for her continued support of our mission to empower and invest in women. Their guidance and dedication have been instrumental in enabling Wnet to expand our commitment to diversity and inclusion in the payments industry.”

Uslander joins an experienced, varied and energetic group of leaders, including:
Founding Members: Diane (Vogt) Faro, Retired Chief Executive Officer, JetPay Corporation; Linda Perry, Founder, Wnet; and Holli Targan, Attorney and Partner, Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss, P.C.

2021 Executive Committee:

  • President Mary Uslander, Senior Vice President, Commercialization and Client Experience, Fiserv;
  • President-Elect Kelly Tufts, Vice President, Credit Operations, Discover Financial Services;
  • Immediate Past President Joan Herbig, Board Member and Retired CEO, ControlScan;
  • Treasurer Kelly Beatty, Chief Transformation Officer, FIS;
  • Secretary Polly Van Duser, SPHR, Senior Partner – Payments & Fintech, Greenings International.

2021 Directors:

  • Audrey Blackmon, Senior Vice President, Business Development – Americas, Verrency;
  • Gail Burgos, Retired D&I Leader, Global Payments ;
  • Dawn Delaney, Vice President, Wholesale Payments, Corporate Investments, JPMorgan Chase;
  • Laura Gibson, Senior Manager, Protiviti;
  • Stacy Hughes, Chief Information Security Officer, Global Payments ;
  • Cynthia Knowles, Vice President, Head of Business Administration, FIS Banking Solutions;
  • Liz Pike, President, Green Rhino Recruitment;
  • Serena Smith, Executive of Financial Services, RealPage;
  • Jess Turner, Executive Vice President, North America Products and Innovation, Mastercard.

Wnet 2021 President’s Advisory Council Reflects Leadership at Every Level
The Wnet President’s Advisory Council members bring distinctive knowledge and subject matter expertise to the Board. The Council has been expanded to more fully represents the diverse voices of women leaders and male advocates across the payments industry and includes:

  • Tania Ali, Head of Legal/Consultant, Velo Payments;
  • Berica Askew-Breier, Vice President, Third Party Monitoring & Oversight, Bank of America;
  • Joe Carella, Professor of Strategy and Assistant Dean of Executive Education, Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona;
  • Natasha Collins, Senior Vice President, Market Planning & Operations, Fiserv;
  • Beth Deck, Senior Vice President, Finance & Accounting, Netspend, a Global Payments Company;
  • Genevieve Dozier, Client Business Executive, Fiserv;
  • Angela Griffin, Project Manager, Product Integrations, Global Payments ;
  • Jaquelyn Jackson, Vice President, Risk and Compliance Officer, Bank of America;
  • Evie Jeang, Managing Director, ID Tech;
  • Kathryn Kmiotek, Channel Marketing Strategist, Global Payments ;
  • Tracy Korb, Senior Content Marketing Writer, FIS Global;
  • Robin Leidenthal, Senior Director, Global Payment Partnerships, eBay;
  • Elizabeth Lions, Talent Advisor, Coach, Wnet Speaker, Lionsology;
  • Whitney Stewart Russell, President, Digital Channels and Digital Lending, Fiserv;
  • Rose Sikorski, Senior Program Manager, FIS Global;
  • Rebecca Walden, Vice President, Marketing, First American Payment Systems;
  • Tom Wimsett, Chairman and Managing Partner, Wimsett &

“Our 2021 leadership represent Wnet’s goal of creating more leadership positions for the talented women and male advocates across the payments industry,” said Wnet CEO Wendy Holliday. “Partnerships with our sponsors, ETA, EWPN, Money20/20, RSPA, and others, along with our 2021 programs, including PayTechWomenLive and the Wnet Leadership Summit, will provide our members lasting connections with professionals from the global payments ecosystem.”


About Wnet 
The Women’s Network in Electronic Transactions (Wnet) – celebrating 15 years of empowering and investing in women – is the premier professional organization for women in payments, providing personal enrichment no matter what stage members are in their careers. The organization provides world-class national and regional programming, fosters networking and promotes mentoring to help members achieve greater personal success, influence and professional parity. Incorporated in late 2005 and launched in 2006, Wnet is a

501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization serving thousands of women across the global payments industry annually. For more information about national and regional events and programming, or to become a member, please visit www.wnetonline.org.