Our conversation starts with her upbringing in France, and her path to study math at Columbia College. We discuss the French approach to education - the concept of "peut mieux faire" - can do better/can try harder, and how this influenced her to push herself, but also hold out standards for the industry. 

We move then to her career trajectory and the unexpected twists and turns that led to such a fulfilling position at Wellington.  We talk about what is on her mind as tech leader today - the importance of scale, of using technology as a way to enable people to flourish.  We talk about the importance of cybersecurity, of continuous improvement and of growing a tech stack that is fit for purpose.

Madeleine has always placed a high priority on career development and mentorship, and we pose the fundamental question as to whether the wisdom that we internalized - as a certain generation - is necessarily the wisdom that we wish to pass to future generations.  She reveals the lessons that frank and honest feedback has taught her, and suggests how we should all give and receive feedback ourselves. 

April Rinne is a “change navigator,” speaker, investor, and adventurer whose work and travels in more than 100 countries have given her a front-row seat to a world in flux. In this podcast episode, April brings us real tools to help any executive or individual manage constant change and uncertainty, and we ask April to apply her navigation tools and insights to each of the 4 previous guests in our Women in Tech series. In April’s words, from her best-selling book, Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change, “to thrive in this world in flux, we need to radically reshape our relationship to uncertainty and flip the script.” In this conversation, April helps us figure out how we can do just that. 

April is ranked one of the 50 leading female futurists in the world by Forbes and is a Harvard Law School graduate, a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum, a Fulbright Scholar, a member of the Silicon Guild and Thinkers50 Radar, and the author of Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change. April is a trusted advisor to well-known startups, companies, financial institutions, nonprofits, think tanks, and governments worldwide, including Airbnb, Nike, Intuit, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, AnyRoad, and Unsettled as well as governments ranging from Singapore to South Africa, Canada to Colombia, and Italy to India. Earlier in life she was a global development executive, an international microfinance lawyer, and a hiking guide. As a certified yoga teacher, she can often be found upside-down, doing handstands around the world.

Fiona McDonnell is a mother, wife and the author of the book “Two Mirrors and a Cheetah: Think Differently, Own Your Career & Succeed by Being Yourself.” Fiona is also a tech industry leader, currently an executive at Booking.com, and formerly at Amazon and many well known consumer good companies. Fiona has had an amazing business career spanning 30 years, and she shares the hard earned wisdom from this invaluable experience on the importance of having self-awareness and how to achieve this to really thrive in one’s career in the fast-paced, rapidly changing environment of tech and beyond.

Fiona has a professional track record in driving change, delivering growth and profitability as well as developing people, in the Online Retail and Consumer Goods industries. Her experience in the consumer products industry, growing house hold names including Kellogg’s, Kraft Jacobs Suchard, Nike and  McCormick (Schwartz, Thai Kitchen, and Kamis) and as a Director at Amazon. She was the Executive Sponsor for Diversity within Amazon UK businesses, and chair of the  Women in Innovation Advisory Committee. Additionally she was Amazon's UK spokesperson from 2018. What  sets Fiona apart from other leaders is her clarity of thought, her  ability to share her energy and passion and the commitment to keep it 'fun' without compromising performance.

Fiona  holds a masters degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Cambridge  University and she earned her MBA from INSEAD Business School in both  France and Singapore.

Find out more at https://fionamcdonnell.com/