Over the past two decades, Amnah Ajmal has worked in 11 countries and built a career as a leading fintech executive.
By the age of 32, she was a CEO - leading 3,000 people across multiple regions - and went on to serve in one of Mastercard’s largest regional roles.
Today, she’s focused on creating a different kind of future: one where women don’t have to choose between ambition and family.
Amnah chose to delay having children until her late 30s, even though, as she put it, her “biological clock and career clock are in direct conflict with each other.”
Her first child arrived at 36, followed by twins at 39 - by which time she was already operating at the highest levels of leadership.
With a direct team, a chief of staff and an assistant managing her schedule, she had more support than most. But even with that infrastructure, her first parental leave still had its challenges.
While pregnant, she moved internationally to lead a major region for Mastercard. She gave birth to her daughter and returned to work just a few months later - juggling a cross-continental move, a new role and motherhood all at once.
Eight months postpartum, she was diagnosed with delayed postpartum depression - something she didn’t even realize was possible.
“We’ve glamorized motherhood so much. No one talks about the hormonal changes, the identity shift, the anxiety.”
As one of the few women in key decision-making roles throughout her career, Amnah’s path to leadership didn’t always follow the traditional playbook.
She built client relationships in a way that worked for her life and family. She recalls doing things different from her peers - not through long dinners or late-night networking, but through strong connections built during working hours, allowing her to be home for bedtime.
By prioritizing authentic relationships, clear results, and boundaries that reflected her values, Amnah showed that it’s possible to lead successfully without leading like everyone else.
She credits her success to a strong partnership at home, leaders who took a bet on her and a willingness to take bold risks: from changing countries to stepping into big roles before she felt fully ready.
Now, she’s starting her own business and writing a book about leadership for women. Her mission: to help the next generation navigate ambitious careers without unnecessary tradeoffs.
To celebrate all we’ve accomplished, our team shared what they’re most proud of since joining the team:
I'm most proud of how much we have done to improve the single hardest moment for women's careers (going on parental leave) ... one that is often shrouded in insecurity and fear. We've been able to help advocate for so many women (and men!) in a way that is empowering and truly life-changing.
What am I most proud of? Growth! Growing a category of support that didn't exist before Parentaly. Growing from a one-woman bootstrapped operation to a global team of 25+ employees and coaches. Growing our overall impact for working parents, with companies investing in our parental leave programming to support employees all over the world. And growing as humans: new babies, new friends, new life experiences... all while tackling new and exciting work challenges together.
When I reflect on what I am personally most proud of during my time here, it's working alongside a team where we constantly evolve and optimize everything that we do in order to deliver the best possible experience for the folks going through our programs. It sounds cheesy, but there are processes that my team and I used to do 100% manually that are now completely automated and systems in place that have become second nature to how we operate. Working with such thoughtful, smart, and creative people is incredible.
I’m most proud about doing work that makes parents feel confident and empowered about their careers during a time that can be overwhelming and challenging – not only for our clients and users who go through Parentaly’s programs, but also with our advocacy work on LinkedIn, through our podcast and other big campaigns that make a difference. It’s been pretty rewarding to build a brand people know and love because what we’re doing resonates with so many employees’ experiences in the workforce.
I am so proud of the way we've approached growth with such care and intentionality - with every adjustment we've made to our offerings, we've never lost sight of our goal to provide the most supportive and valuable experience for our users. I love looking back on the early stages of conversations and building that have led us to the experience we offer today. Personally, I am extremely proud of the work I've done to scale and automate our backend!
I am most proud of the work we do every single day to make a positive impact on working parents! Everyday I get to work with an amazing group of people…we work hard but we also have fun.
I'm proud of scaling an employee experience that consistently delivers positive outcomes for new parents and their organizations. Our north star has always been the user, and we never sacrifice our high quality bar!
I feel a sense of pride that I get to work behind the scenes supporting everyone. I’m proud to see all of the collaboration between the team and how Parentaly positively impacts employees.
I'm most proud of going through the Parentaly program myself! I'm so proud to work for and promote this company in a time where parental leave and supportive policies are at the forefront of a national conversation. But beyond this, I'm most proud to call myself a participant.
I’m really proud of the work I did to expand our coaching bench globally at Parentaly. It was so rewarding, not to mention insightful, to connect with talented coaches from around the globe. This expansion not only enriched our coaching offerings but also strengthened our commitment to making a meaningful impact on families all over the world.
I have tremendous pride in the knowledge that what I am doing will change the career landscape for new parents, particularly mothers. This will make it more likely that my daughter can have a career AND a family without worrying about the unintentional negative impact of taking parental leave. Nothing makes me prouder than that.
In my short time at Parentaly, I'm proudest of the work we're doing with our clients' ERG groups to elevate the stories and advice of actual working parents. It's such an impactful way to spread the word about Parentaly as an essential resource for all people growing their families, and the managers who support them!
I'm most proud about using LinkedIn to connect with others. I was recently able to share a helpful return to work doc with 50+ new people looking to make a difference at their company. Was pretty cool that people from Chewy, McDonald's, Honda, Cisco, AWS, Walmart and more want to integrate just a piece of what we have to offer. Also...I'm so proud of the way I feel as an employee at Parentaly. For the first time in my career my personal interests align with my professional interests and I've never felt more motivated.
I'm really proud of being able to help the Experience team by handling the supportive functions so they can focus on the bigger picture. It feels great to know that I’m making things easier for them and contributing to the team’s success.
Andy Dunn became known for building Bonobos, one of the earliest and most influential direct-to-consumer brands. After selling it to Walmart, he entered a new phase of his life: high-level corporate executive, author, husband and father.
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