In the past, chargebacks have been a difficult, unwieldy process for merchants and businesses. Now, at Chargeblast, chargeback mitigation is no longer a manual task but is becoming an automated infrastructure, and Lesley Li works at the forefront of the industry transformation.
In the world of Lesley Li, strategic partnerships and deep processor integrations are the key to her work building scalable fintech solutions. She leverages her global experience, perseverance, and dedication to achieve strong collaborations that build infrastructure and change fintech.
From Beijing to NYC and Into Fintech
Lesley Li is Head of Partnerships at Chargeblast and founder, as well as CEO, of Lumina, a creator-economy agency representing and assisting high-growth influencers. She was born and raised in Beijing, China, and moved by herself to New York City at only 18 years old.
Being in a foreign city at such a young age was a challenge to Li, but she persevered. She quickly learned to build relationships and navigate complex environments, skills that would serve her well in her future.
In New York, she attended NYU, where she earned dual bachelor's degrees in Computer Science and Media, Culture and Communication, and a Master's in Public Administration. After her education, Li led institutional engagement at the Kennedy Family Foundation, working with over 200 global investors and managing over $7 trillion in assets.
Today, she leads global partnerships and go-to-market strategy at Chargeblast, building deep integrations with major payment processors like Stripe, Adyen, Checkout.com, and Airwallex.
Li sits in boardrooms with executives from global payment processors, leading fintech partnerships that would impact thousands of merchants. It is her journey from Beijing to New York City that taught her the resilience and faith she needed to compound her skill into leadership.
Changing Chargebacks with Automation and AI
Li's work at Chargeblast directly supports thousands of merchants and helps protect over $4 billion in transaction volume annually. However, when Li first entered the industry, what she saw was a very different story.
In her recollection, when she first entered, chargebacks were "one of the most painful and overlooked problems in payments." Processors lacked integrated solutions, and existing tools were manual and outdated. Ultimately, merchants were losing money, meaning something had to be changed.
Li built partnerships with top processors in the industry, leveraging her persistence to develop a deep technical understanding and establish trust. She delivered integrations that worked and leveraged automation and AI to update and make chargebacks a smooth and clear process.
She broke into the male-dominated industry with her focus on results: she wanted to deliver integrations that worked and bring in high-impact merchants, always leading with transparency, data, and long-term strategy.
Now, Chargeblast has been selected by the Merchant Risk Council (MRC) to provide the official Chargeback Essentials global education course, and Li is set to be the instructor.
Partnerships Over Tools: The Importance of Collaboration
Partnerships are Li's superpower. Not only does she open doors, but she also aligns incentives, builds trust, and creates long-term value through her emphasis on collaboration.
To Li, each partnership is an innovation, and through it, she builds integrations that reshape how the ecosystem operates. She bridges technology, business strategy, and payments risk, which allows her to create solutions that scale.
Li's Vision for Her Future
She intends to continue shaping the future of payments, automation, the creator economy, and trust through her expertise in strategic partnerships. In her personal growth, she envisions herself living between NYC, Paris, and Beijing to continue building and serving as a global leader in business and in social impact.
Li hopes to one day launch a global children's foundation made to support kids who experienced trauma, a cause deeply personal to her. She hopes her story can inspire other young women in fintech to persevere and build the careers they dream of.
