Upisode 38: After an epic hagiography about the new zoning laws in the Twin Cities, Ian welcomes good friend and local CEO Seena Mortazavi to the bookshop and the two discuss growing up in the Middle East (with a stint bravely roller-blading the wild hills of Vancouver, Canada) and living in Bangladesh and Tajikistan; Seena explains for UpZones’ listeners what microfinance is, exactly, and how it enables those at the very bottom of the economic ladder to participate in “the lubricant of the economy” — credit, which is as much a community endeavor as a capitalistic one. Staying on theme, Seena describes his company Chronus, a mentoring software company endeavoring to make money while doing good for the community.
About Seena Mortazavi
Seena is the CEO of Chronus, a leading provider of mentoring and talent-development software based right here in King County. The company aims to create experiences that drive employee career and talent development, new hire onboarding, student mentoring, and more; Seena has publicly made the formal empowerment of corporate and nonprofit diversity & inclusion efforts one of Chronus’ top aims. Chronus has recently been recognized by the Inc. 5000, Seattle Business Magazine’s Tech Impact Award, and the Stevie Award for frontline customer service. Prior to Chronus, Seena was Managing Director of GreenStreet Growth Management, a holding company that seeks out businesses with strong ideas or products that are struggling, and helps turn them around.
Born in Dubai, UAE, and raised in Vancouver, BC, Seena cut his professional teeth at the First MicroFinance Bank, serving under-banked populations in Bangladesh and Tajikistan; while there, he found that community trust created a credit system with renewal rates significantly higher than mere credit scores of financial penalties.
Seena lives in Seattle with his wife Alzeira.
