Dr Yesseleva-Pionka held teaching and senior academic management positions in Australia and Central Asia (Kazakhstan). She specialised in general investments, personal and corporate superannuation investments while working for Westpac Banking Corporation and BT Financial Group in Australia. She was elected to join The Housing Connection, a not-for-profit organisation in Sydney, Australia, as Treasurer and Board Member from November 2019. In 2020 and 2021 she received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Commonwealth Bank, recognising her contribution to the Australian community.
Dr Yesseleva-Pionka is the Associate Editor for the Journal of the International Council for Small Business (JICSB). She is a Master Teacher for the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) Global Certificate in Entrepreneurial Finance. She was appointed as ICSB Global Certificates Manager in January 2021. In July 2021 Dr Yesseleva-Pionka was awarded the International Council for Small Business Presidential Award. The ICSB Presidential Award winners are selected from the pool of exceptional ICSB members who integrate both service and empathy into their roles as innovative leaders.
She co-authored a textbook titled Financial Planning and Personal Finance - 1st edition in Australia and New Zealand which was published in August 2022 by Cengage Publishing House.
She won teaching awards at the University of Sydney Business School and Top Education Institute and was recognised as TOP 20 at the UTS Business School. Her research interests include entrepreneurial finance, traditional and alternative ways to finance small and medium enterprises (SMEs), corporate finance, policies for the small business sector, innovation and SMEs, FinTechs and Blockchain. Dr Mariya Yesseleva-Pionka joined SDU in August, 2022.

Dr Mariya Pionka completed a Bachelor of Business Studies (2004, Sydney Australia) and Doctor of Philosophy, PhD in Finance (2016) degrees at Charles Sturt University in Australia earned a Master of Business in Finance degree (2005) from the University of Technology Sydney. She also completed The Management Development Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education (2011).

Invited paper Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (2021). Blockchain for SME Finance: Call for Empirical Testing. Asian Development Bank and Institute of Global Finance Working Paper Series.
Terdpaopong, K., Rickards, R.C., Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (2020). Techniques used and adjustments made in valuing privately-held enterprises in Thailand: Initial Research. Corporate Ownership and Control Journal.
Books:
Financial Planning and Personal Finance - 1st edition in Australia and New Zealand which was published in August 2022 by Cengage Publishing House

Taufiq, A. & Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (7 April, 2022). Embedding Sustainable Behaviors: Case of Origin Energy Australia. CIGRE Symposium held in Kyoto, Japan.
Taufiq, A. & Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (23 October, 2021) Intrapreneurship and the Role of Hackathons in Australian Corporate Energy Sector. George Washington University Conference, United States.
Prajapati, B., Yesseleva-Pionka, M. and Majumder, S. (23 October, 2021). Exploring the Significance of Organisational Learning on the Sustainability of SME Family Firms in Australia. George Washington University Conference, United States.
Mavani, J., Yesseleva-Pionka, M. and Valinatajbahnamiri, M. (23 October, 2021). Exploring the Influence of Servant Leadership at Promoting Women’s Intrapreneurship in the Australian Construction Industry. George Washington University Conference, United States.
Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (2021, 12-16 July). Financial Management of FinTech Start-ups in Times of Uncertainty: Lessons from Australia. 65th ICSB World Congress held in Paris, France. https://icsb2021.com/
Taufiq, A. & Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (2021, 12-16 July). Future of Clean Energy: Free Electrons-Global Accelerator Program for Start-ups. 65th ICSB World Congress held in Paris, France. https://icsb2021.com/
Thapa, S., Voola, A.P. & Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (2021, 12-16 July). Leadership and Digital Communication in the Australian SMEs amid COVID-19. 65th ICSB World Congress held in Paris, France. https://icsb2021.com/
Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (2021, May 12). Digital Transformation of the Entrepreneurial Finance. 2021 ICSB Global Entrepreneurship Education Report.
Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (2020, 26-28 October). Blockchain for SME Finance and the Policy Environment published in the e-publication launched at the Global SME Finance Forum 2020 organised by the International Finance Corporation member of the World Bank Group. https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/cfff29f7-5114-49ce-8993-62e77b588c1d/2020-12-Call-for-Insights-E-publication.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=npOGOF-
Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (2020, 23 September). Blockchain Network System for assessing SMEs' creditworthiness. Asian Development Bank. A conference titled "FinTech to Enable Development, Investment, Financial Inclusion, and Sustainability". http://abfer.org/media/abfer-events-2020/specialty-conf/22_paper_mariya_Blockchain-Network-for-Assessing-SMEs-Creditworthiness.pdf
Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (2020, 27 June). Blockchain for SME Finance. Published in the ICSB 2020 MSME Global Report submitted to the United Nations. https://icsb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ICSB2020GlobalMSMEsReport.pdf
Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (December 2019) "FinTechs and the speed of financing for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)" 32nd Australasian Finance and Banking Conference, Sydney. https://www.cfainstitute.org/-/media/regional/arx/post-pdf/2019/11/12/afbc2019--fintechs-and-the-speed-of-financing-for-smes.ashx
Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (June 2019). Australian Higher Education Sector and SMEs. 64th ICSB (International Council for Small Business) World Congress "The Future of Entrepreneurship", held between 18-21 June 2019 in Cairo, Egypt. Received the Best Paper from Australia and New Zealand Award. https://search.proquest.com/docview/2383820900?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true
Yesseleva-Pionka, M. (2018). Emerging Trends in SME Finance. George Washington University October Conference organised by the ICSB. Received the "Best Paper Award". http://gwoctoberstage.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Emerging-Trends-in-the-SME-Finance1.pdf
Terdpaopong, K., Yesseleva-Pionka, M., Gibson, B., & Weaver, M. (2017). How small business is valued – An Overview of Valuation Methods in Thailand. Proceeding of the ICSB 2017 World Conference. Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 27 – July 1, 2017.
Yesseleva-Pionka, M., Steen, A., Wong, A. (2016), "Factors affecting Australian SMEs access to debt finance", 29th Australasian Finance and Banking Conference, Sydney, Australia.