Meet the StrideUp team

Nickie brings over 25 years of experience in mortgage lending and underwriting, with a career built on precision and operational excellence.

Before joining StrideUp, she helped establish a later-life lending product at Aldermore Bank and served as Underwriting Manager at the Yorkshire Building Society Group, where she led underwriting teams across three brands.

At StrideUp, Nickie first served as Head of Underwriting, building the company’s underwriting framework from the ground up and overseeing all financing decisions. Now, as Head of Operations, she leads the teams that keep StrideUp’s processes running smoothly, ensuring every customer journey is efficient and built on trust.

Rizwan brings over a decade of experience in Islamic finance, with a career built on helping people access shariah-compliant home finance in a way that feels straightforward and grounded in their values.

Since joining StrideUp, Rizwan has played a key role in the company’s growth over the past two years. He has helped shape and strengthen the sales function, developing the team and improving the customer journey so people feel supported from first conversation to completion. His experience and steady leadership have contributed to StrideUp’s position as one of the UK’s leading Islamic fintechs.

As Head of Sales, Rizwan leads with a focus on service, accessibility and long-term relationships, ensuring that customers and partners receive the guidance they need throughout their journey to halal home ownership.

Before joining StrideUp, he spent more than ten years at Al Rayan Bank, the UK’s largest Islamic bank, progressing from Home Purchase Plan Specialist to Senior Business Development Manager. During this time, he supported over £250m in Home Purchase Plan and Buy-to-Let financing and built long-standing relationships across the Islamic finance sector.

Shamma leads StrideUp’s Risk, Compliance and Financial Crime functions, ensuring strong governance, transparency and adherence to regulatory standards across the business. With over a decade of experience in regulatory compliance for both FCA and PRA-regulated firms, she specialises in Consumer Duty, mortgages and financial crime prevention.

Before joining StrideUp, Shamma held senior compliance roles at LiveMore Capital, Foundation Home Loans and Generation Home, and previously worked at Starling Bank, where she helped strengthen the bank’s compliance and risk culture during a period of rapid growth. Her early career included roles at CHL Mortgages and Step One Finance, giving her a well-rounded understanding of both traditional and fintech lending environments.

At StrideUp, Shamma’s leadership ensures that ethical, compliant practices remain at the heart of the business, supporting its mission to make halal home finance both responsible and accessible.

Michael leads StrideUp’s engineering and product functions, driving a product-first ethos that balances innovation with impact. He combines deep technical expertise with a focus on building seamless, scalable systems that power modern halal finance.

Before joining StrideUp, he was the first employee at Orbital, where he worked to simplify data connectivity across complex systems. His earlier experience includes senior engineering and leadership roles at Notional, G-Research and Lab49, where he led multi-disciplinary teams delivering high-performance software for major financial institutions.

At StrideUp, Michael champions technology that combines strength and simplicity, making shariah-compliant finance more accessible, intuitive and ready for the future.

Kaynat brings over 10 years’ of experience across fintech, financial services and media, combining strategy, storytelling and design to make finance feel clear, human and modern. At StrideUp, she leads the company’s brand, content and growth strategy, shaping how people discover and experience halal home finance.

Before joining StrideUp, she led marketing at another Islamic fintech, where her work helped define how the industry communicates with customers and built a strong foundation for awareness and understanding of halal finance. Her earlier career spans several national media outlets, giving her a rare blend of journalistic insight and digital marketing expertise.

Across two Islamic fintechs, Kaynat has focused on helping people feel empowered to understand their finances and explore their opportunities with confidence. Her work challenges the conventions of financial marketing, proving that progress can be both principled and forward-thinking.

Alex brings a wealth of experience in financial planning, analysis and business growth across high-growth and data-driven organisations. As Finance Lead at StrideUp, he oversees financial strategy, modelling and performance to support the company’s continued growth and long-term sustainability.

Before joining StrideUp, Alex was part of the finance team at Preqin, a leading financial data company, where he progressed through multiple roles to become Senior FP&A Analyst. He also helped build and scale Dentex Health, a high-growth dental group that expanded to over 80 practices during his tenure.

A Chartered Accountant (ICAEW), Alex combines analytical precision with a commercial mindset, ensuring every decision is grounded in both financial rigour and strategic vision.