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Meet our Speakers

Agner

Ben

LinkedIn
SVP | Cyber Defense Engineering & Innovation
Truist
Security Leader, Engineer, Consultant, Architect, Auditor and Public Speaker with a focus on Zero Trust Architecture, Mergers & Acquisitions, Startup Acceleration, DevSecOps Transformation, and Cloud Enablement; Extensive track record of delivering secure digital transformation and innovation at scale; Experience in SaaS Startups, F250 Insurance, Financial Services, and Private Equity.

Baig

Rahul

LinkedIn
Managing Director, Head of Venture Capital Coverage
Wells Fargo

Bharadwaj

Raj

LinkedIn
Chief Operating Officer
American Express
Chief Operating Officer | Chief Administrative Officer | Transformation and Innovation | Global Shared Services | Driving Operational Excellence

Bowser

Trina

LinkedIn
Senior Manager
Accenture
Strategist with deep experience assessing and growing businesses in disrupted markets impacted by changing customer needs, new competition and fast technological developments. Effective change leader with diverse financial services background spanning strategy, program management, innovation with a focus on insurance (underwriting) operations. Expert in helping large matrixed organizations define and execute future state business strategies, acquire and optimize capabilities, and achieve revenue or growth objectives

Briggs

Bill

LinkedIn
Director, Federal and Regulatory Advocacy
Independent Bankers Association of Texas
Bill works at the intersection of financial services issues, technology, and public policy. Public affairs advocacy coupled with strategic communications and advisory services, enhanced by a keen understanding of both legislative and regulatory processes.

Brown

Greg

LinkedIn
Owner & Principal
Cardinal Finance
Experienced financial/operational executive with significant capital markets background. Focus on the unique needs of companies driven by entrepreneurs. My career has been split between the venture capital industry and CFO or COO positions in small public or venture capital backed private companies. This experience enables me to understand what both internal and external parties require from a CFO

Butler

Mike

LinkedIn
CEO & President
Grasshopper Bank
I'm an innovative leader in the financial services industry with a unique perspective on delivering superior customer service and leading cutting-edge technology to clients. Most recently, as President and CEO of Radius Bank, I was at the forefront of embracing technology, and leading a once-traditional bank to become one of the most tech forward banks in the country, garnering numerous awards for the quality of its digital banking platform and building a valuable banking business. Prior to joining Radius, I served as President, National Consumer Finance at KeyCorp in Cleveland, Ohio. I am a graduate of Providence College and the ABA's Stonier Graduate School of Banking. Now as CEO of Grasshopper Bank, our mission is to be a client-first digital bank built for the business and innovation economy, with an obsession for providing leading-edge technology, solutions-driven products and superior service.

Calderon

Alex

LinkedIn
Sr. Director, Global Sales
Pontoon Solutions

Chenkin

David

LinkedIn
Managing Partner
Zeichner Ellman & Krause LLP
David B. Chenkin is the managing partner of law firm Zeichner Ellman & Krause LLP, and is certified as an Anti-Money Laundering Specialist by ACAMS (which is not affiliated with any governmental authority). He represents global financial institutions, other companies and individuals in civil, criminal and regulatory investigations initiated by Congress and federal, state and local prosecutors and regulators. He also provides financial crime training to law enforcement, the private sector and other law firms. David is the recipient of Homeland Security Investigation’s HSI-New York Citizen’s Legacy Award, which he received for his efforts in counseling HSI agents in building relationships with the financial community.

Clarke

Rochelle

LinkedIn
Founder and CEO
Continuity Strength
Rochelle Clarke heads Succession Strength - an advisory firm that specializes in providing strategic transition guidance to individuals, companies and organizations preparing for a leadership transition or exit via succession or sale. She is also the founder of Continuity Strength, a customer-centric digital business contingency plan generator used by small and medium businesses to protect their operations from unplanned disruptions. A regular speaker at conferences around the world and contributor to many global publications, she has been invited by Forbes to contribute on the topic of Business Continuity. Media: Forbes, The New York Times, Spear's Magazine, Thrive Global, Family Office Magazine, Business Leader, The CEO Magazine, Tharawat Magazine, International Finance (Full media list: https://successionstrength.com/about-succession-strength/media/) Author: The 5 Critical Succession Conversations: A Comprehensive Guide for The Family Business

Clayton

Calvin

LinkedIn
Partner
Long Run Capital

Clubb

Elizabeth

LinkedIn
Founder and CEO
myFloc
Curious, results-driven leader with unique combination of creative, strategic and analytical skills. Life-long learner who loves connecting dots and solving complex problems. Agile, resilient, grateful and optimistic. Passionate about aging and the Longevity Economy. Adept in developing meaningful partnerships and collaborating within and between organizations. Deep experience with Fortune 500 organizations and with startups.

Cochran

Ben

LinkedIn
Senior Generative AI Strategy and Delivery Consultant
EY
Driven by a passion for the responsible use of technology to make the world a better place for all people, I currently act as a champion of emerging technologies at EY. With the explosion of Generative AI, I have focused on the intricate crossroads of business and AI, striving for solutions that aren't just cutting-edge, but also actionable, sustainable and responsible.

Collins

Courtney

LinkedIn
Director of Consumer Insights
Brighthouse Financial
Results-oriented strategic leader with over 10 years of experience developing and executing integrated marketing campaigns and high-impact initiatives

Cook

Austin

LinkedIn
Director, Solution Engineering
Dataiku
Results-oriented manager with extensive consulting, pre-sales and project management experience focused on leveraging advanced analytics to drive business value.

Creech

Charlotte

LinkedIn
Executive Director, Innovation
USAA
Mission-driven and entrepreneurial-minded executive leader with 15+ years of experience accelerating product innovation and technology transformation in corporate and startup environments. Combines successful track record in identifying strategic market opportunities with proven ability to execute new product innovation and business development to drive strong social and financial impact. Outside of work I am an advocate for the military / veteran and spouse community and women in tech. I am a mentor for DAV Patriot Boot Camp, ACP, and Techstars Workforce Development Accelerator. I am also a community partner and committee member of the San Antonio R&D League and was named a San Antonio Business Journal 40 under 40 honoree in 2022.

Crowder

William

LinkedIn
Managing Partner
Aperature Ventures
Early stage investor in tech companies. Former investor at Comcast Ventures and former partner at global startup accelerator, DreamIt Ventures.

DeStefano

Michael

LinkedIn
Dualboot Partners
VP of Enterprise Sales
As a VP at Dualboot Partners I look forward to working with companies to help them build great software but more importantly build great businesses. I will lean into my 36 years of experience at EY serving clients of all sizes and complexity. It has always been my pleasure to help my clients solve their biggest challenges and I look forward to continuing doing so. I was the Global Partner Sponsor for EY's Alumni Program. EY has approximately 1,000,000 Alumni helping to create one of the most powerful networks. It was my honor and privilege to serve in this role and ensuring that we delivered on the Firm's promise to all its professionals -- Whenever you join, however long you stay, the exceptional EY experience lasts a lifetime. Former EY Private Leader for our Financial Services business in the South. Enjoyed working with all the amazing growth companies and FinTechs.

Divine

John

LinkedIn
Digital Asset OTC Trading at BlockFills
Blockfills
John Divine is a financial markets professional focused on structured products, derivatives, lend, borrow and spot market execution for digital assets. John began his career as a market maker for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Intercontinental Exchange-listed derivatives, specializing in precious metals, interest rates, energies, and forward volatility curves. John has also operated within environmental product markets, listed, and OTC for compliance and voluntary participants. John moved into the digital asset arena trading as an Execution Specialist for an industry-leading hedge fund before joining BlockFills, where he is currently engaging with institutional participants in digital asset markets on strategy development & execution. Mr. Divine earned his Bachelor of Science in Renewable Energy Technology from Illinois State University and has a Master's Degree in Energy Systems and Fuels Management from Southern Illinois University. When operating in traditional finance, John held a Series 3 license from the National Futures Association (NFA).

Droege

Garrett

LinkedIn
Director of Innovation + Digital Risk Practice
IMA Financial
My emails say I'm the Director of Innovation + Strategy for IMA Financial. But, what does that mean? The answer is different every day. I work with IMA's Technology, Life Science and Advanced Manufacturing practice groups to optimize our team across all locations and partners - helping the team access resources, IP, market intelligence and helping to bring value to our clients in the space. I also work with IMA's insurtech strategy and investments, including our partnership with BrokerTech Ventures. Having worked both in the technology industry and the insurance industry, I like to think I "get" insurtech better than most. I'm also helping to bring new partners into the IMA family. Firms that recognize their own culture in ours that want to remain independent, employee-owned and managed, and have access to industry-leading tools and talent - we should talk. In business, I am a believer in the Infinite Mindset. The status quo is an existential threat for all organizations. The truly innovative companies of the world understand that short term gains at the expense of the long term is not a winnable strategy. So, by all means, ask me to break something so I can help rebuild it bigger, better and stronger.

Gada

Dennis

LinkedIn
EVP, Global Head of Banking & Financial Services
Infosys
I am the Global Head for Financial Services at Infosys, and have P&L responsibility for a multi-billion dollar growth business across North America, Europe and APAC. I lead the Global Financial Services Executive Leadership team, and am passionate about leveraging the power of technology to address challenges facing the financial services industry. Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. With my expertise across various business competencies, including sales, strategy, consulting, marketing and general management, I have helped organizations drive large scale transformation and innovation at the intersection of business and technology. I am a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion. I am also focused on bringing cutting-edge technology solutions to established financial institutions through collaborations across my professional network, including a wide ecosystem of experts, startups and established industry players.

Giordano

Joe

LinkedIn
CEO & Co-Founder
Payzer
CEO and co-founder of Payzer, a software technology and payments company that provides end-to-end operating software and simple, easy, payment solutions for specialty trade contractors. Payzer serves more than 4,000 contractors and operates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Previously, a Senior Payments and Retail executive with ExxonMobil and Bank of America for more than 25 years, and a strategic payments consultant with Fortune 500 clients including Verizon. Chief architect of Speedpass, a pioneering payments application that demonstrated the viability of cloud based wallets, tokenization, and RF technology at the point of sale. Speedpass was successfully implemented with 6 million consumer users in the U.S., Canada, and Tokyo. Recognized by many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Information Week, and Fast Company; named one of the Top 30 Retail Executives by RIS News, nominated for KPMG Technology Entrepreneur of the Year, and received Mobil Oil Corporation's Presidents Award.

Gurz

Cheryl

LinkedIn
RTP Product Manager
The Clearing House
An innovative product management professional with a deep payments expertise driving adoption of TCH Real Time Payments network.

Harkey

Scott

LinkedIn
Global Head of Marketing
Endava
Scott Harkey is the Global Head of Marketing and EVP of Financial Services & Payments at Endava (NYSE: DAVA). In this dual role Scott guides the Endava's Financial Services & Payments global go-to-market in addition to leading a global marketing team that brings the Endava value proposition to clients across 15 countries and 12 different industry verticals. Scott joined Endava through the acquisition of Levvel where he served as Chief Strategy Officer and helped grow the company's revenue 20x over 7 years resulting in a successful exit to Endava in 2021. Prior to joining Levvel, Scott was a Technology Executive at Bank of America managing the bank’s Digital Wallet technology. In this role, he was responsible for accelerating the bank’s progress to becoming a leader in digital payments through the launch of multiple strategic payment products including Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Masterpass, Visa Direct, Softcard, and others. Scott holds a number of payment related patents, was voted one of the top “40 Under 40” by both the ETA and the Charlotte Business Journal, is a frequent speaker on digital banking and payments, and plays an active role in fostering a Fintech culture in the Charlotte community.

Hawes

Aubrey

LinkedIn
Senior Director
Oracle
Aubrey leads the Americas Banking Solution Consulting team at Oracle Financial Services Global Business Unit. At Oracle, his group brings Oracle's banking and cloud portfolio of solutions to uniquely solve banking transformation needs. He works with some of the world's largest banks and consults on their bank innovation strategy.
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