Christina Gordon: Co-Founder & CEO of WFBoston -241

The Story Behind Her Success

There is a massive under-investment in non-profits serving women and girls in this country. -Christina Gordon Meet Christina Gordon, Co-Founder & CEO of WFBoston. www.wfboston.org. She holds an undergraduate degree from Boston University and four master's degrees: two from the prestigious Sloan School of Management at MIT and two more from Brandeis University. Raised by a single mom not far from New York City, Christina is the daughter and grandchild of educators who was taught early in life that education is the foundation upon which future success grows. She believes (and research shows) that a woman’s education and financial health are the keys to her success and the success of her family. Now the mother of four grown children, Christina is a champion for women and girls through WFBoston. In this interview, she shares her own rise in the financial world, beginning with a very lucky chance to intern at Standard & Poors when she was only 20 years old, and a wise decision to begin her career at Fidelity Investments. As a young mother, she found herself drawn to share her business acumen and interest in women and financial independence only to discover that most non-profits had “ tons of passion but weren’t able to get the impact they wanted because they weren’t managing their organization like a business.“ Together with three other exceptional women, she began searching for a non-profit focused on educating underserved women and girls in finance. To their surprise, the team discovered that there were no organizations with this focus, particularly in Massachusetts. Says Christina: “We didn’t do this because we thought it would be fun or exciting or that we could make a difference. We founded WFBoston because we were filling a gap.” A marathon runner, hiker, and skier in her downtime, Christina says she is a problem solver by nature. Loaded with advice and guidance for the next generation of women, she applauds the fact that glass ceilings have been shattered, but there is more work to be done. Filled with wisdom and a willingness to share it, Christina says: Surround yourself with optimists. True success is being really good at something that you really love…and also having an impact. That’s the trifecta.” #women #finance #WFBoston