Former Amazon HR Director to Lead Human Resources as Remitly Scales; National Grid US CFO Brings Global Business, Finance and Leadership Experience to Board

Remitly, the mobile-first provider of remittances and financial services for immigrants, today announced that Robert Kaskel has joined the company in its newest leadership position, Executive Vice President of People. In addition to Kaskel’s hire, Remitly also appointed Margaret M. (“Peggy”) Smyth to its board of directors. Smyth is the Chief Financial Officer for National Grid, US, one of the world’s largest investor-owned energy companies. National Grid is committed to lessening the impacts of climate change and on providing clean, fair, affordable energy to customers.

“It’s a great honor to welcome both Robert and Peggy to Remitly. As our first Executive Vice President of People, Robert will lead our phenomenal HR team with a focus on elevating our inclusive culture, and further rooting us in our customers and vision," said Remitly CEO Matt Oppenheimer. “Peggy has been at the helm of impactful socially and environmentally conscious work within the global financial services industry, which made her a natural fit for our board as a mission-driven company. Robert and Peggy’s collective experience will be invaluable to Remitly as we double down on our vision to achieve financial inclusion for all in the years ahead.”

Kaskel brings nearly 20 years’ experience in human resources to Remitly, having held leadership roles with some of the nation’s biggest technology companies. Most recently, Kaskel was the HR Director for Finance and Global Business Services at Amazon, where he created the Amazon Scholars program, which gives world-class academics the opportunity to work on and help solve real-world problems. During his tenure with Amazon, Kaskel was also the visionary behind a new organizational health software product, and established two employee development and experience programs. The first, which was globally adopted, brought transparency and employee empowerment to the development of software engineers. The second was a company-leading employee experience strategy. Prior to Amazon, Kaskel worked for Microsoft and Mattel in various human resources and organizational development positions.

“Over the last decade, Remitly has become one of Seattle’s fastest growing technology companies, while being intentional about developing a one of a kind, customer-centric culture, informed by its employees," said Kaskel. "I am humbled to join the Remitly team, and to help build upon the incredible work that has already been done. I'm looking forward to learning from this organization and collaborating with our people to make Remitly one of the best and most fulfilling places in the world to work."

Smyth, an experienced global business executive, brings a strong track record of improving business and financial performance to her new board role. Under her leadership, National Grid is developing financing models for new energy solutions like battery storage, solar energy and the expansion of electric vehicles, helping drive the transition to the clean energy future. She is a director and chair of the audit committee of Etsy, Inc. and an audit committee member of two subsidiaries of Mutual of America. Smyth was also recently recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Energy of 2021 by the Energy Inclusion Conference, and was included in GreenBiz News’ list of 20 C-Suite Sustainability Champions for 2020. As the newest member of the board, Smyth’s professional acumen, coupled with her experience advancing environmental and social causes, will serve as a solid foundation as Remitly continues scaling globally.

"In my career, prioritizing positive environmental and social impact has been rewarding both personally and professionally," said Smyth. "With Remitly's vision to provide immigrants around the world with transformative digital financial services products, it is an immense honor to join the board of directors. I look forward to the meaningful impact Remitly will have as we continue to influence the industry and grow our global footprint."

For more information about Remitly, visit remitly.com.

About Remitly

Founded initially to disrupt the nearly $600 billion global remittance industry, Remitly’s vision is to transform the lives of millions of immigrants and their families with the most trusted financial services products in the world. The mobile-first provider of remittances and financial services for immigrants, Remitly makes international money transfers faster, easier, more transparent and more affordable through its global network. Remitly’s reliable and easy-to-use mobile app eliminates the long wait times, complexities and fees typical of traditional remittance processes, returning millions of dollars in savings and spending power to immigrants every year. Established in 2011 and headquartered in Seattle, Remitly is backed by more than a dozen industry-leading investors, including Generation Investment Management, Stripes Group, Naspers PayU and Bezos Expeditions. Remitly operates from numerous offices around the world, in cities including London, Kraków, Manila and Managua. For more information, visit Remitly.com and Passbook.app.

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