For Love & Money

Disability inclusion, inclusive design and what marketing looks like when it starts with the people it's for.

Most of us never think about how we find the right card in our wallet. For people who are blind or have low vision, it can mean asking someone else to rifle through it for them. Julie Nestor's team at Mastercard fixed that with a notch in the side of the card.

That small, practical idea runs through this whole conversation. Julie leads marketing and communications for Mastercard across Asia Pacific, and she treats inclusion as a design challenge, not a slogan. Her team has made a feature film with no pictures, menus that describe how a dish will look, feel and taste, and a coalition of Singapore businesses ready to welcome autistic people and their families. Each one was built with the community it's meant to serve.

We also talk about love. Julie's first instinct on my opening question was to say no. But as she considered it she changed her mind. Days before we recorded, she was named Disability:IN's 2026 Executive Sponsor of the Year for Asia Pacific, and we talk about what that means too.

WHAT WE COVER

• Why Julie's first instinct to the question "is there a role for love in business?" was to answer no, and what changed her mind
• Love as care translated into action, and why leadership may be one of its purest expressions
• Two early influences: a mentor who showed that warmth and results can sit together, and a campaign that put profit and purpose in the same room
• The Touch Card: how a notch in the side of a card solved a real problem, and the feature film with no pictures that explained it
• From Acceptance Matters to Time for Acceptance: moving from awareness to action across Singapore
• Sensory Notes: menus that describe how food will taste, feel and look, shaped by 35 autistic community members
• The Inclusion Hub: how Julie recruits businesses to join, without a dedicated team to do it
• Why designing with a community, not for it, changes the work
• Making the commercial case for inclusion: brand equity, earned media and trust
• Why memorable, human experiences matter more as AI automates more of marketing
• Being open at work about her son, and what happened when others followed
• Keeping the work bigger than one person's agenda
• Julie's five-year hope: inclusion as a norm, not a project

ABOUT JULIE NESTOR

Julie Nestor is Executive Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Asia Pacific at Mastercard. She leads the Integrated Marketing and Communications team, which shapes the company's reputation and brings its brand promise to life for banks, financial institutions, governments, merchants and consumers.

Julie's marketing approach centres on inclusivity, and she believes marketers can drive social impact alongside business results. Her programs include the Cannes Lion-winning Touch, Australia's first pictureless feature-length film made for the blind and low vision community, Touch Cards, the Wheelchair Ballkid pilot program with Tennis Australia, Acceptance Matters and Time for Acceptance in Singapore, and the Inclusion Hub and Sensory Notes in Australia.

Originally from Sydney, Julie has a 25-year career leading marketing teams across Asia Pacific in financial services, technology and hospitality, including 13 years at American Express, and roles at Hilton, eBay and Manulife. She is based in Singapore, is a member of Mastercard's Asia Pacific Leadership Team and Global Marketing and Communications Leadership Team, and co-executive sponsor of the Asia Pacific ADAPT business resource group, which aims to make Mastercard an employer of choice for people with disability. In 2026 she was named Disability:IN's Executive Sponsor of the Year for Asia Pacific.

CONNECT WITH JULIE

• Julie Nestor on LinkedIn

RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED

• Mastercard website

• Inclusion Matters (Mastercard Australia)
• Touch, Australia's first pictureless feature film
• Touch Card
• Wheelchair Ballkid pilot program
• Hidden Disabilities and St Andrew's Autism Centre, Singapore

WORK WITH CAROLYN

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