Elizabeth Blakelock

Powerlist Category: Rising Stars

"Innovating for inclusion brought me to FinTech, where tech and data drive meaningful change. In a part-time training role, I saw FinTech's potential to create empowering solutions.

In 2024, I joined Monzo as Accessibility&Inclusion Manager, delivering impactful innovations: enhanced onboarding for disabled customers, contributions to industry standards for card formats, and groundbreaking accessibility features for neurodivergent and visually impaired users, including new map tools for added security .

I customised features for customers with mental health challenges, ensuring all could participate in “Year in Monzo”. I transitioned Deaf customer interactions from appointments to app-based solutions.

My work impacts Monzo's 10M customers. This includes up to 7M with visual impairments, 2.9M with mental health conditions, 2.1M neurodivergent individuals, and 23K BSL users.

I’ve presented at 5 conferences, including Consumers International, to showcase UK FinTech globally." "In the last 12 months I’ve connected insights from working with colleagues and customers to advance diversity and inclusion.

At Monzo, with 10 million customers and 3,700 employees, I co-founded a Women’s Network to empower female colleagues and supported the creation of a Neurodiversity Network, while initiating progress on establishing a Disability Network. These employee support groups have already connected colleagues who can support each other, even before the formal launch.

I championed intersectionality through a new working group that bridges these employee support groups (ESGs), ensuring diverse voices are represented in decision-making.

Additionally, I led the development of engagement workshops and an internal roadshow focused on disability inclusion, delivering 12 sessions over 12 months to raise awareness and foster a culture of belonging."