Cate Luzio is the Founder and CEO of Luminary, a global membership-based professional education and networking platform created to uplift, upskill, and propel women forward through all phases of their professional journey.
Cate launched Luminary in 2018 with the mission to create an ecosystem of high-touch engagement to address and impact the systemic challenges faced by women across all industries and sectors. Members are comprised of a multigenerational and intersectional community of individuals, intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs, corporations, and organizations including American Express, Verizon, Paramount, UBS, Spotify JPMorgan Chase, Unilever, Indeed, Mastercard, CAPCO, LVMH, ADP, and many more.
Before starting Luminary, Cate spent two decades in financial services leading global multibillion-dollar businesses. Previously, she was Global Head of Multinational Corporate Banking for HSBC, managing more than 2,000 employees worldwide and prior to that, she served as Head of Multinational Corporate Banking at J.P. Morgan EMEA based in London. She spent her early years in Latin America with Bank of America across both consumer and wholesale banking. She started her career working in tech in China.
Cate is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where she was named its Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021 and joined its Board of Governors that same year. She also has a master’s degree in International Relations from Georgetown University.
A long-time advocate for empowering women and girls, she served on the National Board for Girls Inc. from 2016-2022, is a mentor for WE.NYC and The NORTH, and sits on the Boards of Girls Inc. New York City and Pomp & Whimsy. Cate is an active investor in several women-founded companies. She is a member of DealmakeHERS, Women’s Forum of NY, Careforce, and the TIME’s UP Care Economy Business Council.
Cate was recognized as one of Forbes’ Next 1000 Entrepreneurs in 2021 and a Top 100 Female Founder by Inc. in 2019 and 2021. She has been featured as an expert in top-tier financial, business, and lifestyle media. She is a sought-after keynote speaker for organizations such as Verizon, Hudson Bay Corporation, JPMorgan Chase, Fidelity, BlackRock, ADP, and UBS, as well as high-profile events including several Conferences for Women, ADP Women’s Summit, Verizon 100 Women Leaders, Fidelity Women Talk Money, Yelp Women in Business and Black in Business Summits.