This episode of Money Tales is about how education, employment and financial freedom are not as closely linked in the US today as they’ve been in the past. Stephanie Van Putten, our guest on the podcast, is a Stanford and MIT grad who followed all the “rules” for success in America— only to discover the game had changed. Stephanie challenges the long-held belief that education and hard work automatically lead to financial freedom. As a Black woman in tech, she navigated complex layers of bias and confronted pay disparities at tech giants like Microsoft, and later witnessed the uneven playing field of venture capital firsthand. Stephanie’s journey reveals an uncomfortable truth: even with elite credentials, the path to building wealth is not as straightforward as it once was.

Stephanie Van Putten a is a founder, technologist and activist that has been featured in The Atlantic, MIT Tech Review, NY Times, Fortune, Forbes and Bloomberg to name a few.  Stephanie’s career spans two decades working in SaaS, consulting, startups and venture capital: Microsoft, Deloitte, TripAdvisor, Blendoor and the Equity Alliance. Stephanie is currently a trustee at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), guest lecturer and the executive director of Visible Figures: executive network and platform for high profile women leaders across the African diaspora. She has a BS in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University, an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and an Alpine Level I Certification from Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA).