Created in honor of one of fintech’s greatest leaders and a mentor to many at Celero Commerce, the Michael P. Duffy Leadership Award is awarded to those who embody our most deeply held values as an organization: respect, excellence, communication, intention, performance, user experience, and simple, disruptive solutions. We’re excited to announce the latest recipient of this highest honor at Celero: Director of Bank Relationships Marcia Ortez.
Marcia has been with Celero from the very beginning. She brings warmth, commitment, and passion to her work with our financial institution partners and her teammates. Many people who work with Marcia describe her as both a colleague and a friend. She is the type of culture carrier that inspires everyone around her simply through leading by example.
“Marcia’s primary responsibility is engaging our FI Referral Partners in generating lead activity; however, she provides much more than that,” said Kristia Poppe, Vice President of Bank Relationships. “When our industry was facing sales slowdowns due to the pandemic, Marcia stepped up her efforts in communications regarding educational opportunities for both merchants and partners; helped launch and train Compass for financial institutions; consistently provided key information to the leadership team for monthly and quarterly reports; and served as a key driver in the lead reporting cleanup efforts as Celero transitions to PowerBI.”
In 2020, Marcia also took the lead on our weekly “Did You Know” email newsletters to FI partners. This weekly email has been vital to our team’s success, helping to keep merchant services top of mind for our bank partners.
“Her consistency and dedication to ensuring that a solid foundation was in place during the economic slowdown has led to record numbers of referrals and deals in the first half of 2021,” said Kristia. “It is often noted by leaders within Celero that Marcia is the glue that holds the FI Referral team together. Her ability to work with individuals and provide meaningful contributions throughout all levels of the organization is exceptional, and certainly worthy of Duffy Award recognition.”
Much like its namesake, the Michael P. Duffy Leadership Award is all about teamwork. It is driven entirely by peer nominations and awarded to those who show team values like selflessness and humility.
“Marcia is an invaluable member of our FI Referral team and a major driver of their success,” said CEO Kevin Jones. “We all appreciate her positive attitude and the care she brings to her communications with colleagues and bank partners. Since our founding in 2018, she has been a steady and dependable force here at Celero.”
Marcia will join fellow Duffy Award recipients at the company’s second annual Leadership Summit in 2022. This event gathers leaders throughout Celero to recognize key team members, celebrate our accomplishments as an organization, and discuss the future of fintech. This year’s summit will include all Duffy Award recipients from 2020, as well as the top 10 percent of performers in other departments. Knowing this executive team, there’s sure to be some special Nashville entertainment in the works—and perhaps a surprise appearance or two.
Marcia’s name will be engraved on a commemorative Duffy Award plaque to follow in the tradition of 2020 winners Nicole Becher, Abigail Lucier, Karo Torosyan, Spencer Ellis, Kristia Poppe, and Lea Telonis, and Q1 2021 winner Kim Henley. The next Duffy Award winner will be named this fall.