5 minutes with Linoy Kidd about banking and school building

Describe your journey into banking. How did you get here?

I did my undergraduate degree in IT, which is directly related to the job I do now. I did a summer internship at a Dutch bank called ABN AMRO and the people were so helpful. After that position, I went into telecommunications to try a new industry, but I actually preferred banking. As you can imagine, some incredible minds work at the bank; they have to understand so many intricacies, including algorithms and underlying formulas. That, and I liked the fast pace of the job and how smart people are.

For me, working with the business in partnership is the most rewarding part of my job. I joined HSBC 17 years ago starting in currency options as a support analyst and then worked my way up to team leader. I progressed to Manager and then CIO in Mexico, before becoming CIO in MENAT for MSS (Markets Security Services).

As soon as I became a Men’s/Women’s Leader, I knew this was my calling in life. I love being a leader and managing people. I truly feel it is a privilege to lead people and try to get the best out of them to work and produce for the business.

Who was your childhood hero and why?

I grew up in the 80s, when Band-Aid was a big event on TV. I knew I wanted to emulate those who help others and to make a difference in the world in whatever small way I could. Martin Luther King sacrificed himself for the greater good to change the face of the world forever. I always quote him: “I have a dream where all children can play together regardless of race… not all can be famous, but all can be good because greatness is determined by service.”

My grandmother was also a big influence. She could not read or write and asked her grandchildren to teach her. She was Kurdish from Iraq and was just never taught to read. Because of my education I was able to get a role here at HSBC. Fast forward three years and my daughter just graduated with a double major with honors in STEM. Because of this, combined with a deep understanding of what education can bring, I created the #Infusion100 movement four years ago. Together with colleagues from HSBC, we have built seven schools: five in Africa; one in Haiti after the earthquake there; and one in Nicaragua. These schools have educated over 1000 students so far and continue to do so.

We encourage them to learn and then make a choice for how they want to live. Education provides choice; education gives freedom.

With Infusion100, I want to show women all over the world that there is no such thing as a glass ceiling. That we can get through it and that anything is possible, no matter your past or who or what you are.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

I had a manager in Hong Kong tell me that it is the “think outside the box” ideas that make the difference. At Google, they have the 10% principle: use 10% of your work week to try and innovate, to do something new that is not part of your work day. Google Maps came from this 10%, so the impact could be extensive.

Name one piece of technology you couldn’t live without and tell us why (except your mobile phone)

I am a sports fanatic; I go to boxing every day after work. Every year we walk over 100km for charity, so I can’t live without my Garmin. I wake up and check it, and I go to bed to check it. It basically shows me everything, including calories burned, steps, stairs, heart rate (so I know when I’m getting too stressed) and sleep – and no, I’m not getting enough sleep.

Who do you look up to in terms of leadership and mentorship?

I really look at leaders who lead from the front. I built a school in Nicaragua, and like the chief of that village, I try to emulate the way he leads his village and his tribe. He knew every mother, child and baby by name. He greeted them with a smile on his face. He was humble and not only that, but every day at the school workplace he was there early and gave 200%. He was strong and he led the way. He had built every house in the village by hand.

On the last evening we had an arm wrestle with all the village leaders and us. He beat everyone. He laughed at it; I wanted to emulate this kind of leadership, to treat everyone equally, whether they are a CEO or a graduate. Everyone has a place in the world, everyone.

Is there a personal achievement from the past 12 months that you are particularly proud of?

I gave birth to a son during the pandemic; it was brutal when no one was allowed to be in the delivery room with me. I had to have an emergency C-section because the baby was in distress and I got a double infection that I couldn’t fight off during the birth. I wrote my life away on that table and they came over with a waiver form that said if I die, I’m responsible for my own life. At that moment I felt completely alone. I experienced some PTSD and depression after that, but then I started boxing again. I got my life in order and now I want to show women that you can have it all; that what you go through that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

During my maternity leave I went to Ghana and built the sixth school. I dug it with my new baby because I wanted to show people that it is possible to do anything as a woman – even five months after surgery. Birth, raise a baby and build a school. No one wanted to go to this school building and it was very risky because it was in the middle of COVID-19. But we went and we built anyway because that’s our calling as the Infusion100 team: to build a school a year until we die.

Describe yourself in three words

Determined – strong – stubborn (with a strong part of “anything is possible”)

What inspires you in banking and fintech today?

IT underpins the business; you can’t have one without the other. It’s our job to remove the blocks and enable the business to do its job as seamlessly as possible.

So it’s amazing to be central to the underlying strategy. Pivoting to the cloud has been essential to becoming more agile and using the agile methodology to revolutionize the way IT works.

What’s next for Linoy Kidd?

At work, I am very satisfied with the level I have achieved. I worked hard to get to where I am today and I will look to grow within these shoes for many more years.

I’m always thinking of new ways to revolutionize the human experience in IT and banking, bringing networks upon networks of people together to show what can be achieved in a short amount of time.

When it comes to volunteering, we will hit nine years next year. I want to build nine schools in nine years, then continue with that to set up education outside of school for the less fortunate and who don’t have access to education. I want to think of ways to become a better leader to improve myself day by day, to help those around me and to change their lives in the small way I can, to continue to work on giving people the tools to to get out of poverty, to give them the same view of life that anything is possible when you bring people together.