Airfox new hires bring advanced experience to the growing team
It may seem like we just introduced you to a bunch of new faces joining Airfox, but we have only continued to grow! Our expanding team includes new members of the driven customer experience team, new engineering and finance leaders, and many more!
Customer Experience
Cristina Gabriel — Customer experience manager — Boston
Cristina joins the customer experience team with eight years of industry experience in both the US and Brazilian market. Born and raised in Brazil, Cristina has a diverse background in law, marketing, and customer service. After attending Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas in São Paulo where she received her law degree, Cristina moved to the US in 2000. Her most recent work experience was with Philips, a health technology company, where she worked as a senior HR contact-center team-lead. At Airfox Cristina’s main job is to advocate for the customer and bring a user’s perspective to every decision the company makes. Having the opportunity to help citizens of her home country is an important reason Cristina wanted to work at Airfox.
“I live in the US but I want to be connected to and helping Brazilians have a better life and achieve their dreams,” says Cristina. “Working for Airfox allows me to accomplish my goals.”
Outside of Airfox, Cristina can be found spending time with her family, and enjoying time spent traveling around the world.
Lauren Ruiz — BPO manager — São Paulo
Lauren joins the Airfox team as the connection between customer experience and our newly hired BPO. After working for Mercado Livre on their customer service team, Lauren wanted to completely immerse herself in the startup world where she could contribute in a dynamic yet customer-centric atmosphere. Lauren received a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 2013 and her MBA in business intelligence in April of 2018. Always willing to take on a challenge, Lauren saw Airfox as a chance to use her experience to help build the relationship between a BPO and a company that had never worked together previously. Lauren was also excited to join Airfox’s customer experience team and work alongside director Felipe Cine who she knew had impressive experience with Brazilian customer support.
“I believe there are many things we can and must do to improve the condition of life in Brazil, where financial education is extremely poor,” says Lauren. “Airfox’s mission is important to me and aligned with my life’s mission.”
Lauren’s passion for people extends outside of work, where she likes to learn and study diversity and psychology. She also enjoys a weekly drumming class!
Paloma Kochan — Customer experience associate — Boston
Paloma starts at Airfox fresh off of obtaining her masters in human rights with a focus on social innovation and entrepreneurship from the University of San Diego. As an Airfox customer experience associate, Paloma will apply her studies to a population she is passionate about helping. Originally from Brazil, Paloma received her bachelors in political science and international relations in the US and has experience working in the nonprofit sector. Paloma is interested in the blend of business and social change, and has always followed the work of Muhammad Yunus.
“Airfox is a mission-driven company that is helping lift millions of Brazilians out of poverty,” says Paloma. “It’s amazing to be part of a for-profit enterprise that utilizes its resources and brain-power to catalyze social change.”
Outside of Airfox, Paloma spends her time exploring and being active. She also loves to attend live music shows, especially at small venues.
Juan Pablo (JP) Feregrino — Customer experience associate — Boston
JP joins the customer experience team after completing a master’s of international affairs at UC San Diego. Originally from Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico, JP attended UC Berkeley where he received a BA in political economy with a focus on Latin American trade and development. He has extensive international experience and worked at both Google and Salesforce selling business platforms to small and enterprise level clients throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. JP also spent time in rural Japan as part of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program where he taught English to middle and elementary school students. Airfox allows JP to build off his life experiences and help lead what he believes to be a fundamental grassroots movement toward financial inclusion Brasil, and later the World.
“Airfox empowers people in the region where I’m from, and unites my passion for international development and technology,” says JP.
Outside of work, JP has many interests including hiking, cooking, rock climbing, chess, and learning foreign languages.
Business Operations
David Obia — Senior manager of BizOps & strategy — Boston
David joins the BizOps team as a senior manager, after having previously worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. David brings a variety of experience with him, and is excited to bring his business knowledge to a quickly developing startup. David attended University of Michigan where he obtained his bachelor’s in business administration with a focus in finance and strategy at the school’s Ross School of Business. At Goldman Sachs, David worked on multiple projects, including Blackstone’s $20 billion acquisition of Thomas Reuters’ financial & risk business, as well as the sale of Blue Man Group to Cirque du Soleil. Airfox’s mission resonates with David, who has family in Nigeria where fair access to financial services is also not commonplace.
“Helping the underserved in Latin America and throughout the world resonates deeply with me, especially as I hope to bring financial services to underserved people in places like Nigeria,” says David. “Everyone should have the ability to create a better life for themselves, their family, and their communities.”
Outside of work, David practices mediation and also enjoys spending time with his friends and family. He also enjoys taking advantage of volunteer opportunities in Detroit and Boston.
Finance
Valter Nakashima — finance director — São Paulo
Valter joins the Airfox team in Brazil as our finance director. At Airfox, Valter is in charge of treasury, conciliation, and financial transaction. After obtaining a finance degree at university in São Paulo, Valter has worked for more than 10 years in the financial services sector. A self-proclaimed economist, Valter has held positions in the finance departments at Banco CBSS, Alelo Brasil, and Livelo Brasil. He has specific experience working with card options at different banks, including pre-paid cards, voucher cards, and travellers cards. Joining Airfox, Valter hopes to contribute to the business model and make the most of working with inspiring entrepreneurs.
“Airfox’s business model is solid; it’s built by a strong group of professionals,” says Valter. “I wanted to help contribute to the foundation of this successful business.”
Outside of Airfox, Valter enjoys surfing, traveling, and watching NFL games.
Marketing
Ana Peretti — partnership marketing director — São Paulo
Ana joins the marketing team in the important new role of partnership marketing director. Ana graduated with a degree in business administration from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie in São Paulo. She recently completed a six month program at Columbia University on digital business leadership, which she’s excited to apply to her work at Airfox. Throughout her over 19 years of work experience with multinational tech companies, Ana has developed and executed integrated marketing strategies for companies such as Sony, LG, and Bioepic. Some of her marketing specialties include building brand equity, online/mobile advertising, CRM, consumer insights, product marketing, PR, and more. Ana chose to continue her career at Airfox because of the company’s mission to accelerate financial inclusion.
“Airfox opens up new possibilities for millions of Brazilians,” says Ana. “I am very excited to take on partnership responsibilities and help accelerate growth and engagement of our user base.”
Outside of Airfox, Ana spends her time traveling and cooking!
Engineering
Mike Beaverson — senior software engineer — Boston
Mike joins the Airfox engineering team as a senior software engineer, helping manage various engineering projects. Mike has worked for 20 different companies, bringing a wide variety of work experience with him to Airfox. Mike has degrees in computer science and philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has experience working both for startups and multinational organizations, and has worked as a PM, a manager, and as an engineer over his professional career. Mike has traveled and lived all over the world, including Romania, China, and in the Midwest of the United States. Mike is excited to work for Airfox and learn more about Brazil.
“Working for Airfox will allow me to apply both my skills and experience, as well as learn a lot about a new country and culture,” says Mike.
Outside of work, Mike enjoys training kung fu, going for bike rides, along with playing and designing board games.
User Experience (UX)
Daniela Sayuri — UX/UI designer — São Paulo
Daniela joins Airfox’s UX/UI team to help understand the user pain points and contribute to app design with the user in the forefront. Daniela attended Universidade Anhembi Morumbi in São Paulo where she obtained a degree in design. She has worked for multiple different design teams and took on app design projects at varying companies, including Banco Original and a consultant company Concrete. She has experience designing apps targeted towards the same market as banQi and has previously worked for Airfox partner Casas Bahia on a mobile app project. Daniela is ready to bring her experience to Airfox’s growing user base.
“I want to help Airfox provide the best experiences for our users,” says Daniela. “Every customer deserves to be happy!”
Outside of work, Daniela likes to craft, including crochet and small sewing projects.
Product
Marcelo Percebao — senior QA engineer — São Paulo
Marcelo joins the Airfox product team as a QA engineer, ready to bring his skills and experience to Airfox’s dynamic product group. Marcelo is an IT professional and has a degree in business administration. Marcelo’s experience tailors around companies that focus on insurance and well-being, and his past roles include business analysis, quality assurance, and using agile methodology such as scrum to deliver value to clients. In the past, Marcelo has worked as an IT PMO, an IT controller, and a system coordinator, and has over 15 years of experience with Airfox’s recently announced partner Zurich Insurance. Marcelo hopes to learn from his fellow employees how to apply his skills to Airfox’s mission.
“Airfox is an innovative and enterprising company,” says Marcelo. “Working at Airfox will be a huge challenge for me, and I’m excited to embrace my job and learn from my new teammates.”
Outside of work Marcelo enjoys going for runs, traveling, watching movies, and listening to music! He also really enjoys watching soccer games and reading history and biography books.
