ETA welcomes 2021 Young Payments Professionals Scholars

The Electronic Transactions Association welcomed its incoming class of 2021 ETA Young Payments Professionals Scholars (YPP) on Jan. 13, 2021. Sponsored by Discover Global Network and entering its fifth year, the year-long program is designed to prepare young payments professionals for leading roles at the ETA and throughout the payments industry, ETA representatives stated.

Jodie Kelley, CEO of the ETA, observed that 2021 ETA YPP scholars are from multiple payments sectors. "We are excited to work with this year's scholars to further their connections within the industry and look forward to collaborating with the group to create programming that will bring their perspectives to the forefront of the industry," she said.

The 2021 ETA YPPs scholars are:

• Ashley Briars, Discover Financial Services
• Katherine Carroll, Fiserv
• Christina Ding, Visa
• Marc Kliesner, BillingTree
• Will Kuo, Forte Payment Systems (a CSG company)
• Victor Lolas, Paysafe
• Barrett Smith, JPMorgan Chase
• Olivia Tomares, Square, Inc.
• Megan Karbula, REPAY
• Shamika Williams, Talus Payments

Collegial atmosphere

The ETA YPP program provides mentors, networking opportunities and ETA event access to participating YPP scholars, ETA representatives stated. YPP benefits include courses at ETA University, conference registration and travel assistance, professional mentoring, and complimentary access to the ETA's Certified Payments Professional (CPP) exam. After the scholarship year ends, the ETA encourages YPPs to volunteer on ETA committees and councils, write articles and work with incoming ETA YPP scholars.

Genevieve Dozier, global leader of the Women's Impact Network at Fiserv, congratulated Katherine Carroll for making the 2021 YPP list. Having worked with Carroll at Fiserv as a Wnet mentor, Dozier said she was excited to see her continuing professional development.

"I met Katy when I signed up for the Wnet Mentor program in 2018," Dozier said. "She was assigned as my mentee for a six-month program where we met once a month and had specific topics to discuss. It was an awesome pairing, because she had experienced a career similar to mine so far so I was able to relate very easily."

Dozier went on to say that she and Carroll stayed in touch with a monthly call after completing the mentoring program. When Dozier was honored as an ETA Top Forty Under 40 professional, she met Kevin Jordan who told her about the YPP Scholar Program. She passed the information on to Katy, encouraging her to apply. She added that Wnet and mentor relationships are all about learning, support and paying it forward, and this is a perfect example of how we rise by lifting others.

Lasting contributions

Victor Lolas, director of business development for Paysafecash USA at Paysafe, agreed that the YPP program is an honor that can open doors and connect young payments professionals to other like-minded colleagues.

"Being recognized by such a prestigious U.S. payments organization as the ETA means the world to me," Lolas said. "When I first moved to the U.S. from Peru and started my journey in the payments industry around a decade ago, I really didn't expect to one day become an ETA Young Payments Professionals (YPP) Scholar."

Lolas added that being admitted into the program validates his efforts and will help him make a lasting difference in his industry. "What makes me the happiest is that this recognition comes as a result of my focus on supporting financial inclusion through the launch of our eCash solutions in the United States," he said. "Bridging the gap between the digital economy and those who are financially excluded has become a personal goal of mine. So, more than just validating my hard work and dedication, I will use the ETA YPP Scholarship as motivation to keep going, working even harder and continuing to represent Paysafe to the best of my abilities."

Whether you want to upgrade your POS offerings, find a payment gateway partner, bone up on fintech regs or PCI requirements, find an upcoming trade show, read about faster payments, or discover the latest innovations in merchant acquiring, The Green Sheet is the resource for you. Since 1983, we've helped empower and connect payments professionals, starting with the merchant level salespeople who bring tailored payment acceptance and digital commerce tools, along with a host of other business services to merchants across the globe. The Green Sheet Inc. is also a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals.

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