Her Story
About Nafisa
Nafisa Akbar has spent nearly nine years at JPMorgan Chase in the finance sector. Prior to that, she pursued a career in academia after studying political science with an initial goal of becoming a lawyer. She earned her PhD in political science but found the emphasis on research and publications misaligned with her passion for teaching and mentoring undergraduate students. After having her first child during graduate school and facing challenges in the academic environment, she transitioned to data science. An opportunity at JPMorgan Chase led her to join the firm, where she started on a team measuring customer satisfaction. Her areas of specialization include data science, data analytics, and customer satisfaction measurement. Nafisa attributes her success to her grit, noting that she has always been the odd one out in school, friend circles, and life, which helped her develop resilience to face challenges, problem-solve, and build partnerships. She is committed to mentoring women entering male-dominated STEM fields like data science and data analytics, amplifying their efforts, and advocating for a more equitable and diverse workforce for future generations.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nafisa
01What do you attribute your success to?
I've always been the odd one out, whether it was in school, or my friend circle even, or anywhere, really, in any place in my life. I've always kind of been the odd one out. So I know what it's like to not have a lot of people stand with me. And I know what it's like to be the lone voice. And I think that's what's helped me, because you have to have a lot of grit when you journey through your life being the odd one out. My dissertation advisor actually described me with that word, that I had a lot of grit. Over the years, I've really toughened up, and I've faced all my challenges, and found ways to problem-solve, and sometimes build strong partnerships and relationships with these people that initially would have made me cave. Whenever I face a wall that seems to be completely insurmountable, I find a way to, again, roll up my sleeves and figure out, like, how do I get around this, or how do I get over it? How do I figure out a solution to this problem? And I think every year, every problem I've solved has led me to become a much more resilient version of the woman I was 9 years ago. So, I think that's my grit that has really seen me through all my challenges.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It's not easy being in male-dominated sectors, such as these STEM areas like data science and data and analytics, but it's not impossible. There's no easy way of putting it, but it's like, you know, we all have a part to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work, but when we do it together, it's easier. By making sure that we're paying it forward by, when we see opportunities for women that they are really qualified for, sharing that name with the hiring. Mentoring. I mentor a lot of women and I'm happy to give that extra time to them, to help them support when they're facing any challenges. Also, like, highlighting the efforts of one another, because sometimes it's really easy to be hidden and unseen in person. Most of your colleagues are men. The extent that we can, no matter what position we're in, amplify, speak up. Telling our stories is not easy, and oftentimes women are not encouraged to tell our stories, but sharing our stories, telling our stories, even when we're in the day-to-day of our jobs, is important. If you're doing good work, you should be sharing how you did the good work. You should be sharing about how you led across different teams to reach a common goal. There are plenty of women like me out there that are willing to help others develop those skills.
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