Female Disruptors: AMEX’s Alice Lin Fabiano On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
Trust your gut. I have been taught to trust the numbers and be data-driven, but I wish I knew to trust my gut — it’s actually a scientifically proven thing!
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, we had the pleasure of interviewing Alice Lin Fabiano.
Alice Lin Fabiano is an accomplished business leader and social impact, advocate. Currently serving as the Vice President of Community Impact for Corporate Sustainability at American Express, she oversees the company’s global community impact initiatives, grantmaking, and colleague engagement programs that aim to drive positive business, societal, and environmental impact.
Alice’s career spans philanthropy, financial services, and corporate sectors. This professional diversity has provided her with extensive experience in social innovation, stakeholder engagement, and impact investing. Before joining American Express, Alice worked at Johnson & Johnson, where she led the establishment of J&J Impact Ventures, a $50 million health impact investment fund investing in healthcare startups working on the front lines of care. Alice played an integral role in shaping J&J’s philanthropic portfolio, bolstering health equity, HIV/AIDS, and technology initiatives to improve maternal health.
Alice began her career in Morgan Stanley’s investment banking division, where she also worked as a microfinance loan officer in Africa and served in the 9/11 disaster recovery efforts. She is a founding member of nFormation, the women of color community, and a former board member of Funders Concerned about AIDS. She has also served as a board observer for several startups, including Jacaranda Health, mClinica, and CrossBorder Ventures.
Today, Alice is a Harvard Business School Fellow at The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the largest private foundation focused on children. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Johns Hopkins University.
Alice has long been recognized in the industry for her accomplishments across prestigious lists of role models and as a champion for women in business. Her passion for social impact and driving change made her a leader in the industry. She has been recognized for her outstanding contributions to the field, including being named to the 2021 HERoes Women Role Model Executives list and the 2020 Financial Times HERoes Champions of Women in Business list. Her dedication to driving change aligns perfectly with American Express, where she can continue championing efforts to invest in a thriving nonprofit sector that creates innovative, lasting societal change.
During her tenure, Alice has worked tirelessly to grow the American Express Leadership Academy which helps social-purpose leaders realize their full potential. The program is conducted in partnership with Common Purpose and is supported by community partners, including the TED Foundation and Taproot Foundation. Today, the Academy’s reimagined curriculum focuses on personal resilience and developing the skills necessary to become influential social leaders.
The theme for this year’s program, “Resilient Changemakers,” underscores the importance of grit, perseverance, and a growth mindset for nonprofit leaders. The class of 65 leaders comes from diverse organizations across North and Latin America, working on issues such as education, health, and equity. The Academy provides a unique opportunity for these leaders to learn from each other’s experiences and gain insights from key leaders in the social, public, and private sectors.
“We have long believed in the power of purpose-driven leaders in addressing society’s most pressing issues and driving positive impact,” said Lin Fabiano, Vice President of Community Impact, at American Express. “Since its launch 16 years ago, the American Express Leadership Academy has helped more than 165,000 social purpose leaders around the world reach their potential, and we are excited to continue with our refreshed curriculum that will focus on personal resilience and building their profiles as influential social leaders.”
Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
My career has spanned across business, philanthropy, and financial services. I began my career in Morgan Stanley’s investment banking division, where I also spent a year serving the 9/11 disaster recovery efforts, and as a microfinance loan officer in Africa.
Prior to joining American Express, I worked at Johnson & Johnson, where I led the social innovation and investment strategy, partnering with technologists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders to address health inequities. I created, launched, and led J&J Impact Ventures, a $50M health impact investment fund investing in start-ups on the front lines of care.
As Vice President of Community Impact, Corporate Sustainability at American Express, I lead our day-to-day strategy and activities across corporate giving, philanthropic programs, and colleague engagement efforts to drive positive business, societal, and environmental impact.
My career is influenced by my family and upbringing. I am the daughter of immigrant parents — they had little when they came to the United States, and through hard work, opportunity, and some good luck, saw the American dream come to life. However, there are many people around the world, and in this country, who do not have access to good education and opportunities, and I am lucky to be at a company like American Express, where I can dedicate my time and efforts to serving vulnerable communities.
What is it about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
American Express has had a long-standing history of supporting communities inspired by our Blue Box values. For example, we have long believed in the power of purpose-driven leaders in addressing society’s most pressing issues and the positive impact they can make. Since its launch 16 years ago, the American Express Leadership Academy has provided over $100 million in support and helped more than 165,000 social purpose leaders around the world reach their potential.
Over the last few years, the world has changed in extraordinary ways, and we have an opportunity and responsibility to evolve programs like the Leadership Academy to meet the complex problems facing our society today.
That is why, this year, we relaunched the American Express Leadership Academy with new scope and partners. In March, we welcomed the inaugural class of 77 “Resilient Changemakers” to New York City for three and half days of in-person curriculum. The Academy provides virtual and in-person customized training, coaching, and immersion experiences over a 6-month period in partnership with Common Purpose, Taproot Foundation and TED Foundation.
Training high-impact nonprofit leaders has a multiplier effect. By supporting their leadership journey, we will be able to have more impact on supporting those most in need.
I met incredible nonprofit leaders whose own lived experiences underpin an unwavering determination to challenge the status quo and strive for a more equitable society. On the heels of this success, additional Leadership Academies are already being planned in Europe and Asia Pacific.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
I have been blessed with many mentors who I continue to learn from every day. My first mentor is my maternal grandmother. My grandmother was illiterate and the last generation in China where girls bound their feet at a young age. Despite these challenges, she raised three children, and my mother was the first in her family to go to college. From a young age, my grandmother instilled in me key values: to be a servant leader, to dream big, and most of all, to lead with kindness. These three principles continue to be how I strive to lead every day.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
One of American Express’s greatest assets is our more than 77,000 colleagues across the globe, many of whom are actively using their talent for good through our Serve2Gether programs.
Research shows that colleagues today, particularly the GenZ population, actively volunteer and want their workplace to make a difference. We are on a journey to make our colleague volunteer experience even better through Serve2Gether, our company’s flagship volunteering program. Through this program, we provide innovative, action-oriented, and purposeful service experiences — whether virtually or at in-person events.
For example, our colleagues are very passionate about protecting the local environment. Through our Backing Low Carbon Communities efforts, I joined a Serve2Gether group of volunteers in Phoenix to plant trees at the Rio Salado and support our overall goal to help cities build resilience.
Finally, in addition to local hands-on projects, I am looking forward to expanding our volunteerism towards more skills-based volunteering. Some of our plans for the coming year include providing job training and mock interviews for displaced refugees, mentoring underprivileged kids, and providing pro-bono consulting to our American Express Leadership Academy nonprofits.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges leaders are faced with to inspire action?
With goals as ambitious as protecting the environment, improving financial health, and increasing economic opportunity, often the timelines are longer than any of us wish to create real change. What makes it even more challenging is the path is not straight.
In times of uncertainty, slow progress, or setbacks, nonprofit leaders must continue to manage their nonprofits and team for long-term goals. This can be an isolating experience, according to many nonprofit leaders I spoke with. The American Express Leadership Academy focuses on building a community of leaders who can support each other on their leadership journey.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
- Trust your gut. I have been taught to trust the numbers and be data-driven, but I wish I knew to trust my gut — it’s actually a scientifically proven thing!
- Be unapologetically yourself. We are often told to fit in, but I learned the freedom of embracing my own individuality over time. As a female and an Asian, we are the least likely to be promoted to the management level, and because of that, we try to mold ourselves into something to reach that goal, often at the expense of being our own unique selves.
- Understand what fuels you personally or gives you purpose and look for ways to infuse that in your career.
What’s a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Share a story with us.
Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Listening is one of the most under-utilized tools in leadership. In my meetings, I try to do 10% of the talking and 90% of the listening.
I’m also enjoying the podcast: People I (mostly) Admire. The interviews are candid and approachable, and the range of topics cut across culture, business, and society. I learn something new every time!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Kantor’s law: “In the middle, everything looks like a failure.”
Everyone feels motivated by the beginnings, and obviously, we love happy endings, but it is in the middle where the hard work happens. And so, my plea to every person — please, don’t give up in the middle!
How can our readers learn more and follow you on social media?
To learn more about American Express’ Corporate Sustainability work, visit our website: https://about.americanexpress.com/corporate-sustainability/overview/default.aspx
If interested in learning more about the American Express Leadership Academy visit:
https://commonpurpose.org/leadership-programmes/american-express-leadership-academy/
You can connect with me on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-lin-fabiano-485b0812/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
