Future Blockchain Innovator: Khadeja Clarke

Duke University’s Master’s in Financial Technology (FinTech) program is known for producing graduates who go on to become leaders in financial innovation. Among the current students preparing to follow that path is Khadeja Clarke, a student in Duke FinTech’s traditional program.

Before joining Duke FinTech, Khadeja worked as a Developer/Analyst at National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCB), where she helped create the first digital pension enrollment and management portal in Jamaica. She was also a mobile developer for the investment banking subsidiary, NCB Capital Markets. Having worked in IT within traditional finance for three years, Khadeja wanted to better understand the core principles of finance without pursuing a traditional finance degree. After looking into various programs, Khadeja decided to join Duke FinTech because of its focus on the intersection between finance and technology. She was particularly interested in the program’s course offerings related to blockchain, as she hoped to transition to decentralized finance (DeFi) once she completed her degree.

When she originally joined the program, Khadeja was an online student. As part of the online program, students are required to attend residency, a three-day campus visit where online students connect with their peers, professors, and services at Duke. When attending residency in September 2023, Khadeja experienced what it was like to attend Duke in person. She was able to attend her FinTech classes in person, as well as meet with the faculty. After residency, Khadeja decided to transition to the on-campus traditional program so she would have more immediate access to different opportunities across Duke, such as the Digital Assets at Duke conference, which she attended in February.

Khadeja mentioned that one of the most beneficial aspects of the program is the skills she has gained in various topics. Through the variety of elective courses in the Duke FinTech program, Khadeja has been able to gain skills in machine learning, risk management, quantitative financial analysis, and blockchain. She has also seen how the program is tailored to meet industry demands through the Software Engineering course, which exposes students to tools she had used in her job. Through completing her capstone project, she has had the opportunity to work with blockchain further with a leading industry partner, allowing her to apply her skills to create solutions. Additionally, Khadeja has been a teaching assistant for the blockchain class, enabling her to build blockchain projects with Professor John Church. After graduation, Khadeja hopes to leverage her knowledge and skills from Duke FinTech in the blockchain industry.

Khadeja will graduate in the Spring of 2025.

If you are interested in any of our programs, please contact pratt_fintech@duke.edu.