Rodney Williams

Rodney Williams is the Co-founder of SoLo Funds, the largest community finance platform in the US. Since 2018, SoLo has surpassed 1M loans funded and redefined access to capital and returns for 1.5 million users. As the US’s only Black-led Certified B Corp fintech, SoLo continues its leadership (4x growth 22’ vs 21’), but grounded in the same hope and mission: to build a community that enables financial autonomy for all.

Prior to founding SoLo, Rodney founded LISNR (Visa-Backed Fintech) and led the company to numerous awards and partnerships across retail and financial services. He currently serves as the company’s Chairman. LISNR is an ultrasonic data platform that enables secure wireless device-to-device communication for payments, mobility, and connected devices. Some of LISNR’s customers include Lenovo, Jaguar/Land Rover, Ticketmaster, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter’s company RocNation, and Media Saturn, Amdocs, and the company has commercial partnerships with Visa, Synchrony Financial, DSP Group, and Intel. Prior to founding LISNR, Rodney served multiple brand roles at Proctor and Gamble, most recently as Brand Management – Pampers NA. 

He began his career as a Financial and Business Development Analyst at Lockheed Martin & Department of Energy. Rodney is a former trustee of the board of directors for the University of Cincinnati, a member of the board of advisors of Howard University, and Chairman of the board and co-founder of Solo Funds, Inc. 

Rodney has been recognized with numerous awards, including Ad Age’s 40 Under 40 in 2012; the Ernst & Young EDGE Award in 2013; Cannes Gold Lion award in 2015; Tech Entrepreneur of the Year by Black Enterprise, 2016; NAACP Inspiring Innovation list 2017; 25 Inspiring Entrepreneurs Under 40 by Entrepreneur Magazine 2016; Entrepreneur of the Year in Connected World Communications in the Ohio Valley Region by EY in 2017; Ebony’s Power 100 in 2018 and CNBC Disruptor 50 List in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2023.

Rodney attended West Virginia University, earning his BBA in finance, his BA in economics, and his MS in integrated marketing communications. Rodney also holds an MBA in finance & supply chain management from Howard University. He is a member of the 2019 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.

Speaking Topics - 

Rodney Williams speaks on themes around technology, FinTech, entrepreneurship, financial services, marketing, brand management, minority founders, brand management, mobility, and globalization.

Community Brand Building

• Community Engagement

• Authenticity as a weapon

• Driving brand-to-sales results

• Community as Go-to-Market Strategy

• Knowing your customer

Inclusive Tech Fundraising, Development, and Ecosystem Building: From the perspective of one of the earliest founders

• Raising capital

• Understanding inclusive areas of investment

• Inclusive pattern matching 

• Creating community around successful founder

• Partnering with strategics 

• Where do you start

Wealth Gap (Financial Inclusion)

• Understanding our financial system 

• Financial inclusion today

• How has fintech helped?

• Understanding the working and middle-class consumers

• Regulation vs enforcement of financial services

Rodney Williams speaks on themes around technology, FinTech, entrepreneurship, financial services, marketing, brand management, minority founders, brand management, mobility, and globalization.