Community Spotlight: Turning financial uncertainty into confident action with Zainab Williams
Zainab Williams did not set out to build a fintech company. She set out to challenge a system that left too many capable women navigating financial decisions alone.
After her family lost their life savings due to a financial advisor’s misconduct, she tried to start again. Instead of support, she found closed doors. Traditional institutions turned her away because she did not meet high investment minimums. That experience reshaped her relationship with money and with the financial industry itself.
Zainab chose to learn the system from the inside. She rebuilt her own financial foundation, became a Certified Financial Planner, and worked within traditional finance. Through her work in the industry, and her own experience, she discovered a persistent gap - professional women earning strong incomes were underserved by traditional models. They were too advanced for basic budgeting apps but overlooked by wealth managers with high minimums.
Fueled by a sense of responsibility to close that gap, Zainab created FundEvolve.
Building confidence, not dependency
FundEvolve is an education-first financial decision platform designed to help professional women feel confident and in control of their financial decisions, addressing the growing advice gap. Rather than telling users what to do, the platform builds structured understanding so women can move forward with clarity and independence. It does not replace financial professionals, but prepares women to engage them from a position of strength.
One of its standout features uses AI to help users evaluate financial influencer content, separating genuine education from content created to sell products. In a world filled with monetized financial content, that kind of filter can make a meaningful difference, especially for women who are trying to sort through conflicting messages while making important financial decisions.
When users are ready, the platform connects them with vetted professionals. These relationships begin from a place of understanding and alignment, rather than confusion or pressure, creating strong and supportive long term partnerships.
Recent milestones
Over the past year, FundEvolve has evolved from concept to a platform with real users and measurable outcomes. Women using FundEvolve to pay down debt faster, invest for the first time, and consistently track their net worth. These are the kinds of shifts that reflect real confidence and progress, not just activity inside an app.
The company recently completed an integration with Questrade and is now listed in the Questrade Partner Centre. This milestone reflects the team’s commitment to building with regulatory awareness, security, and long term sustainability in mind.
Zainab was nominated as a WP Woman Trailblazer, an award that recognizes women who are driving meaningful innovation and impact in the wealth management industry. The nomination reinforced that FundEvolve’s focus on financial decision confidence for women is resonating within the broader ecosystem.
Learning through growth
One of the most meaningful challenges the team tackled recently came from direct user feedback. They shared that the onboarding experience onboarding felt rushed and transactional, which made it hard for the user to build trust at the very moment they needed reassurance.
That insight led to a redesign of the experience, with more empathy, intentional pacing, and clearer guidance at each step. It reinforced a core principle for FundEvolve, which is that financial confidence cannot be rushed. It grows through context, reflection, and the time it takes to truly understand what the numbers mean.
What’s next
After attending Web Summit Qatar, Zainab is exploring international partnerships and refining the company’s fundraising strategy.
Looking ahead, she sees strong opportunities in B2B distribution through employers and community organizations, deeper partnerships with advisory firms, and continued investment in education-driven decision support tools.
As the financial technology landscape evolves, she believes the companies that will stand out are those that use AI to educate users and strengthen decision-making, rather than simply to increase speed or drive product conversions.
At its core, FundEvolve exists to close the gap between earning and building wealth and to narrow the advice gap for women navigating complex financial decisions.
Advice for other founders
If she could go back to the beginning, Zainab says she would start building in public sooner. Waiting for everything to feel perfect can delay momentum, while honest feedback, even when uncomfortable, often brings clarity much faster.
She encourages women founders to remain aware of their own numbers at all times. Cash flow, credit, and the details behind every agreement matter more than most people realize, especially in the early stages when personal and business finances are closely connected.
She also believes it is important to resist the urge to compare progress with others, because every milestone is shaped by different networks, resources, and timing. Real confidence tends to come from measuring growth against your own goals and values, rather than someone else’s version of success.
For Zainab, power comes from believing that what you are building is legitimate and worthwhile. That internal confidence often becomes the turning point that allows everything else to move forward.
As she shared. “An advisor once asked me, “Zainab, why have you not added the sign up button to your site? I think you are afraid to believe you have a legitimate business.” That question stayed with me. Sometimes the biggest barrier is not technical or financial. It is believing you are ready.”