Donna Embry
Payment Alliance International (PAI), the nation’s largest, privately-held ATM provider, is pleased to announce that Chief Payments Advisor Donna Embry has been honored with the Distinguished Payments Professional Award for 2017 from Women in Payments. Presented at a dinner last night in conjunction with the Women in Payments U.S. Symposium at the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City in Arlington, Virginia, the Distinguished Payments Professional Award recognizes the lifetime achievement of a woman who has served as a role model while contributing greatly to the overall positive image of the payments industry.
“I am deeply honored to be recognized among the elite roster of 2017 award recipients by Women in Payments,” said Donna Embry, chief payments advisor for PAI. “These women are the leaders of today and the creators of tomorrow, laying the groundwork for new and innovative payment technologies throughout our industry,” added Embry.
“Donna Embry embodies the key elements our awards program strives to spotlight,” said Kristy Duncan, founder and chief executive officer of Women in Payments. “She is a well-known payments leader who innovates, mentors and is a terrific ambassador for our industry,” added Duncan.
“Donna Embry is an incredibly talented and respected businesswoman in payments who truly loves this industry,” states John J. Leehy, III, president and chief executive officer for PAI. “Throughout her illustrious career, she has readily given both time and talent to the betterment of our industry and is certainly deserving of this award,” added Leehy.
Embry’s payments industry career spans an amazing 50 plus years with companies such as Citizens Fidelity, PNC Bank, Vital Processing Services, Financial Alliance Processing Services, and for the past 11 years Payment Alliance International. No stranger to industry recognition, Embry was profiled as an industry leader by The Green Sheet in 2005, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Midwest Acquirers Association (MWAA) in 2009, was recognized by SourceMedia as One of the 20 Most Influential Women in Payments in 2013 and 2014, and received the ATM Industry Champion Award from the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) and Distinguished Payments Professional Award from the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) in 2016.
Currently, Embry serves the payments industry as chairwoman of ETA’s professional development group; board member of the Northeast Acquirers Association (NEAA); and as a member of the Federal Reserve Faster Payments task force, ATMIA EMV Migration and Withdraw Cash Wednesday committees, National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) education committee and ETA mobile payments council. Frequently quoted in industry publications, Embry is a sought-after conference speaker and mentors ETA’s Young Payments Professional (YPP) program participants.
Embry previously was a founding member and served on the board of directors of Quest ATM Network; president and board member of the Midwest Acquirers Association (MWAA); advisory board member for SourceMedia publications; chairwoman of ETA’s body of knowledge working group for Certified Payments Professional (CPP) accreditation; and a member of ETA’s program planning, awards and recognition, and education committees.
Women in Payments is a growing network of women across the global payments ecosystem striving for gender parity. We connect and empower like-minded women through career development, education and community building in Canada, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom today, with plans to launch in many more markets globally. We celebrate the accomplishments and expertise of women payments professionals, giving them a platform to have their voices heard in the push towards diversity and gender parity in payments. Women in Payments was founded in 2012. For more information, please visit womeninpayments.org.
Payment Alliance International (PAI) is the nation’s largest, privately-held ATM provider and offers processing and maintenance services, equipment sales and support, and unique ATM branding opportunities. PAI also offers industry-leading, revenue-generating, value-added solutions and customized partner programs that increase customer profitability, reduce operational expense and maximize uptime. Payment Alliance International is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky with offices around the country. For more information, please visit GoPAI.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
