Speaker module

Melinda Palomino is the Founder and CEO of Lasenda, a private leadership and human performance company creating immersive executive resets for leaders operating under sustained pressure.

New York City raised and London-based, Melinda brings over 30 years in global finance and technology, including senior CIO/MD roles at Bank of America, Barclays, JPMorgan, Citibank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and BNY Mellon. Her experience spans investment, regulatory, technology, infrastructure and governance environments. She has served as Managing Director overseeing a $550M investment portfolio and was recognised among the Top 100 Influential Hispanic Professionals in Technology.

Through Lasenda and AXIS London, Melinda works at the intersection of nervous system regulation, decision quality, recovery and 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, supporting CEOs, founders, investors, family offices and discerning private clients to recover as fully as they perform.

As a judge, she brings a distinctive lens to founder potential across commercial discipline, systems thinking and leadership capacity. She looks beyond the pitch to the person carrying it, their clarity, steadiness, resilience and capacity to build sustainably under pressure.