Dr Mariya Yesseleva-Pionka held teaching and senior academic management positions in Australia and Central Asia. While working for Westpac Banking Corporation and BT Financial Group in Australia, she specialised in general investments, and personal and corporate superannuation investments. She was elected to join The Housing Connection, a not-for-profit organisation in Sydney, Australia, as Treasurer and board member from November 2019. In 2020 and 2021, she received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Commonwealth Bank, recognising her contribution to the Australian community. Dr YesselevaPionka is the Associate Editor for the Journal of the International Council for Small Business (JICSB). She is a Master Teacher for the ICSB Global Certificate in Entrepreneurial Finance, has won teaching awards at the University of Sydney Business School and was recognised as Top 20 at the University of Technology Sydney Business School. In July 2021, Dr Yesseleva-Pionka was awarded the International Council for Small Business Presidential Award for her service and empathy as an innovative leader. Dr Yesseleva-Pionka completed a Bachelor of Business Studies and Doctor of Philosophy, PhD (Finance) degrees at Charles Sturt University, and a Master of Business in Finance degree at the University of Technology Sydney. She also completed The Management Development Program for senior academics at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research interests include entrepreneurial finance, traditional and alternative ways to finance small and medium enterprises (SMEs), FinTechs and Blockchain. She has been published by the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and International Council for Small Business as part of a report on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises submitted to the United Nations, in addition to academic journals
