MY CAREER IN SIX SPOTLIGHT

SILVANA HERNANDEZ

Executive Vice President, Core Payments, LAC

Mastercard

Sharing her career journey by answering the six questions below.

Who or what has been your biggest source of inspiration throughout your career?

For me, inspiration and passion come from working on projects that will have meaningful positive impact and doing it alongside a diverse group of people that bring their best to make something seemingly impossible, possible. Working at Mastercard for more than a decade, I have found great inspiration in the idea of a cashless society – not only because digital payments are convenient and efficient, but also because they expand access to financial services, empowering individuals and small business owners while also, reducing inequalities. To me, that is impact at scale.

Would you say your success is primarily due to luck or hard work?

While timing and external factors may influence how success comes to life, I believe we are architects of our own destiny. Throughout my career, and derived from my Mexican roots, I have leaned on hard work of course; but I have also aimed for high performance – individually and through my teams. Going above and beyond, focusing on impact, being thoughtful, yet efficient, and aligning my contributions to the broader strategy of the company have been important elements of my career path.

What is the driving force behind your career aspirations?

Passion for continuous learning and problem solving, leveraging technology to unlock potential for the benefit of society, and developing teams with diverse talent have been the pillars of my professional aspirations. I also want to set an example for my 5-year-old son on finding purpose through work and behaving with discipline, integrity and empathy inside and outside work.

If given the chance to do one thing differently in your career, what would it be and why?

I would have probably dedicated more time to pursuing more cross-functional mentors during the early stages of my career. While I’ve developed this ability over time, fostering this earlier could have broaden my perspectives even more and potentially unlocked different opportunities. Also, I would have liked to have taken one, or several, debate classes while in college to sharpen my communication skills faster.

What was your most favourite job/role and why?

I am currently embracing a new role for the Latin America and Caribbean region where I will be focused on developing locally relevant, convenient, and secure payment solutions. Returning to my roots with the opportunity to insert innovation in an incredibly dynamic region, comprised of 45 countries and territories, makes this an exciting new role. I highly value being able to contribute to our financial inclusion mission and there is great opportunity in Latin America. Helping people and communities scale the financial inclusion ladder – from access to usage and beyond – with best-in-class payment solutions is a critical and exciting element of this journey.

Do you have a favourite motto or quote that guides your professional life?

“Doing well by doing good” is at the core of our Mastercard culture. This is our North Star, and we’re constantly connected to it as we work to bring more and more people and businesses into the digital economy through our technology, resources, and partnerships. In fact, we have a global goal to help one billion people and 50 million small businesses, reach their potential by connecting them to the new economy.