Dana Lawrence

About Dana Lawrence

BANK-FINTECH PARTNERSHIP TRAINING JUST DROPPED a senior risk and compliance executive with over 20 years of experience in financial services, specializing in governance, regulatory strategy, fintech partnerships, and emerging technologies. I’ve built and led high-performing teams and programs across fintech, banking, and middleware platforms—successfully navigating organizations through periods of hypergrowth, regulatory scrutiny, and industry disruption.My experience spans founding one of the first internal audit functions at early fintech neobank Simple, scaling enterprise risk and compliance frameworks from the ground up, and leading regulatory exams and relations with agencies including the FRB, FDIC, and State. At Azlo, I led risk and compliance operations that earned full market launch approval—becoming a model for other BBVA fintechs—and was hand-selected to oversee the wind-down of BBVA’s fintech portfolio post-acquisition by PNC. At Sila, I built the compliance organization and conducted due diligence on over 400 fintech and several dozen crypto companies, strengthening bank relationships and enabling rapid, compliant growth.Today, I lead bank-fintech partnerships at a community bank with a national fintech presence, where I designed and launched the fintech compliance, due diligence, and monitoring program—guiding the bank through successful regulatory exams during a time of intense industry oversight.I\'m also the creator of the first on-demand training course for auditors and risk professionals on Bank-Fintech Partnerships and Banking-as-a-Service, in partnership with the Institute of Internal Auditors. If you work in audit, risk, compliance, or fintech, you can check it out here: speaking engagements, please connect with me at danalawrence.com

Experience

1. Board Member and Tao Fintech Community Founder

   Technology Association Of Oregon

   Oct 2024 — Present

   Appointed to the Board of Directors in 2024 and launched the Technology Association of Oregon’s first-ever Fintech Community—building a vibrant network to support founders, professionals, and businesses across all career stages. Created and host a twice-weekly LinkedIn Live show booked months in advance, with exponential growth in viewership and engagement. Delivered high-impact in person events with exceptional attendee feedback, exceeded 2025 sponsorship and revenue goals, re-engaged lapsed members, and led social media strategy to significantly grow TAO’s digital presence. Emceed the Oregon Tech Awards and actively help shape TAO’s strategic direction to drive innovation and deeper community impact across the tech sector.

Education

• University of Washington

  Bachelor of Arts (BA), Business Administration- Finance

  2000 — 2003