Context Business Lending named Joy Hanawa director of technology and data analytics. In this role, Hanawa will lead the innovation agenda and technology roadmap for CBL and manage the design and development of additional automation and data analytics tools.

“CBL has grown tremendously, providing bespoke lending solutions to a wide variety of borrowers at a rapid pace,” Meredith Carter , president and CEO of CBL, said. “As we began building out our next generation of infrastructure and data analytics tools, we knew it was time to expand our executive team to include a technology leader who will help pave the path forward.”

“We are excited for Joy to join the CBL team in this important role,” Carter said. “Joy brings deep expertise in cloud services, software and infrastructure built on an extensive career working in various technology roles in California-based growth companies and well-heeled New York-based financial services companies. Her diverse experience makes her distinctively suited to drive innovation as we accelerate our transformation and further our mission to modernize the generally antiquated ABL industry.”

As CBL’s head of technology and data analytics, Hanawa’s charge is to integrate and streamline the company’s systems, while working to modernize the company’s overall technology platform and equip its team with the right tools and innovative solutions to provide CBL’s borrowers more efficient service and value-added business analytics.

“I am thrilled to be joining CBL, a company dedicated to disrupting ABL at a transformational moment in the specialty finance industry,” Hanawa said. “What attracted me the most to this role was the talented and forward-looking people that I get to work with on a daily basis—it gives me an opportunity to really build something special.”

With more than 25 years of experience in technology, Hanawa previously built SaaS tools for companies including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.  She also led technology teams at E-capital and Thunder, a specialty finance company focused on factoring.

Hanawa has spent her career turning data, analytics and web-based applications into progressive B2B and B2C business opportunities, resulting in managing/launching dozens of successful SaaS software products and portals at growth companies large and small.