Leaders Series: Melanie Marsollier @ Ernst and Young

Issue 22 — March 25th, 2017

This series highlights the unique stories of leaders from various communities across the growing digital currency and blockchain technology industry. The goal is to showcase the fantastic work these leaders are all doing at different levels of their respective organizations, and to encourage more people at all stages of their careers join the revolution we’re creating, together!

Melanie Marsollier is a blockchain consultant at Ernst & Young

She’s been involved with blockchain technology projects for the last 2 years.

How did you get into the bitcoin and blockchain industry?

I have always been interested in technology. Even as a student at the London School of Economics I was trying to get funding for my own echo tech start-up.

It was in 2014 that I really started to notice how interesting bitcoin was as an offering. Reinventing the financial system and possibly creating an alternative political system that was powered by a decentralized economy? My first thought was, it sounds interesting, but untrustworthy.

To find out more, I turned to my good friend Victoria Van Eyk, @victoriavaneyk who worked in the bitcoin space. After many Q&A nights just the two of us, drinking a glass of wine and hypothetically reinventing the financial system, I was hooked. Victoria didn’t only educate me about the technology itself but also about her role in the bitcoin community. I got to know her more as a female leader of this burgeoning new technology.

I decided to leave the world of hedge fund consulting to focus my efforts on understanding and developing the bitcoin world.

What did you do before you got into this?

Before blockchain, I was working for a young and growing consulting firm specializing in financial regulatory compliance for hedge funds and asset managers, called Robert Quinn Consulting. It spoiled me; it is an award winning business with a positive cash flow, an experienced team in a well-settled industry. In addition, the team was very diverse, female, LGBT and multi-ethnic.

The collaborative environment and ecosystem is what really pulled me into Robert Quinn. It was very hard for me to leave; I felt like home. I knew what an amazing team and great firm I was leaving, but I suppose having read and understood the importance of the collaborative and open nature of the bitcoin industry, it reassured me of my decision.

As welcoming as the bitcoin start-up industry of San Francisco was, I quickly realized something big was missing. We need more women, more women of color, more lesbians, and more transwomen. And we need more of them in leadership positions. It makes something like this blog, ‘’Women in Bitcoin and Blockchain’’, very special. There simply aren’t enough women in tech and blockchain, especially women of color.

What’s been the most interesting experience you’ve had in your role so far?

I joined Ernst and Young (EY) as a blockchain consultant in February 2016. I have a great time at work and I am surrounded with smart and uplifting people. The most interesting part of my role is to work alongside giant firms of the financial industry in rethinking their business. I also really enjoy educating people about blockchain.

Historically in our business, there were not a lot of opportunities to sit, breathe, and completely rethink decades-old business models through a new focus on asset creation, asset transfer, and ledgers reconciliation.

The financial services industry, as a whole, is gigantic. We often find ourselves specialized in a sector or function, such as capital markets, wealth and asset management, assurance, tax, etc.

What I really appreciate about being a blockchain consultant, is that it allows me to work across sectors and functions within financial services. For example, through EY I learned so much about trade finance and related potential blockchain use cases. I have collaborated with international thought leaders in the field to assess the value and feasibility of applying blockchain technology to a particular business problem. Just a few weeks later, I found myself starting again and learning all about wealth and asset management with some of EY’s top subject matter advisors.

Another aspect that I appreciate about my work is educating people about blockchain. I am currently coordinating the building of a standard blockchain learning curriculum for all of EY’s employees globally. As a firm generally, EY has ongoing initiatives to increase diversity in the workplace, onboarding more talented female, LGBT and multi-ethnic consultants. I also notice it in my introduction to blockchain sessions; the audience is quite balanced between male and female.

I know it helped me to have a woman introducing me to the blockchain community. It also mattered that she had a position of leadership and a respected voice. To be a woman, one of color, and to be placed in a position of education and expertise within such a large organization as EY, is something I find incredibly rewarding. It is rare and I cherish this opportunity. This is why I want to do my best to help my firm nurture female, LGBT and multi-ethnic stakeholders of the blockchain community.

What problem is Ernst & Young solving? Why do you feel passionate about this?

EY has a two-pronged strategy. The first being how can this technology solve existing business problems? We work with our account teams to identify immediate and practical opportunities where blockchain technology can address our client’s existing pain points. For this, I provide an initial assessment, recommendations on where the technology is likely to have the highest impact, and coordinate with technical teams to plan the design and development of a solution.

Second, what new business opportunities does blockchain technology enable? Blockchain technology will fundamentally change how we all do business, and EY can help position organizations to take advantage of the longer term, transformational opportunities in a given industry. I normally work alongside our internal industry specialists in identifying the best opportunities for my clients.

Having such strong and clear foundation blocks from my organization, it makes it easier to have a multi-party conversation and foster a collaborative environment where EY is the facilitator and connector.

On a personal level, I think it is important to change the tech and financial environment and make it more diverse, and allow for female, black, and LGBT leadership. Working on a technology that is based on a sense of community and inclusion is the right step forward.

As you think about the evolution of the bitcoin and blockchain space, what is one thing you think the business ecosystem or community is missing today?

Blockchain, by nature is a collaborative technology. Those of us working in blockchain are blessed in a way as we operate in an industry where one’s success is everyone else’s success. We are all positively impacted by a strong and healthy bitcoin community and many other collaborative projects that are pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

In my view, more collaboration is needed for the technology to realize swiftly its promise. Everyone would benefit from a deep collaboration between incumbents, innovators and regulators.

I admire the approach that some governments such as Estonia and UK have taken on blockchain. Having governments explore and experiment with blockchain to conduct their business, as well as balancing what actions to take in order to facilitate the beneficial use of blockchains while managing risks and encouraging innovation is best practices at the governmental level and a catalyst that the community needs.

As you think about this industry, what do you think will happen in the short term that will blow people’s minds?

In the short term I see the industry becoming accessible to more people. By nature, the technology is inclusive; anyone can join a public blockchain.

This inclusiveness and sense of community which, is in the very DNA of blockchain, should, I hope, transpire in the social realm. I think increasingly women will become blockchain techies because of how accessible and communal the technology is.

I also think incumbents, innovators, and regulators will not only embrace the technology but also its mentality, and thus collaborate more than ever before.

What changes do you think bitcoin or blockchain will accelerate in our world?

My projection in 20 years? This technology is not a zero sum game; the future will be all about collaboration, both at the individual level amongst members of different blockchain communities and amongst the triangle incumbents, innovators and regulators.

Connect with Melanie on LinkedIn!