TRAILBLAZER
Leading Brazil ’ s Banking Revolution
Qualified engineer and mother-of-two Cristina Junqueira co-founded Brazil ’ s first digital bank – Nubank and has also been called Brazil ’ s Wonder Woman of Fintech
Cristina Junqueira is famous among the Latin American banking fraternity because not only did she smash the glass ceiling in the fiercely male-orientated environment of the Brazilian financial industry , but her contributions have helped launch a new wave of digital banking and finance in the region .
Born in the former coffee capital of Riberão Preto , Junqueira relocated to Rio de Janeiro with her family as a baby .
A diligent student , she was a noted high achiever throughout her primary and high school years , and moved to São Paulo to study industrial engineering at the city ’ s well-known University São Paulo .
Post-graduation , Junqueira ’ s first job was as an associate consultant at the Boston Consulting Group . During this time , she also completed her Master ’ s degree in economic and financial modelling – a course that was to set her on track for her spectacular banking career .
“ I was just done making rich people richer . I was trying to make a lot of changes to make consumers ’ lives better , and failing miserably at it . And at some point I was like , ‘ you know what ?
I ’ m done ’”
18 May 2022