Agenda

All conference events will be held in person at the La Cantera Hotel & Spa on February 10-12.

All sessions are listed in the Central Time Zone.

8:00 AM, FEB 12

Breakfast

Who should attend? All Attendees

Join us for breakfast as we kick off Day 2 of the Owner Meeting!

Sponsored by

9:00 AM, FEB 12

Keynote: Future Economy Growth Opportunities

Who should attend? Future-Focused Leaders, Financial Strategists

The world is going to see more economic change in the next 5 years than we have seen in the last 100 years. Turmoil in the Middle East, AI explosion, war in the Ukraine, interest rates spiking, supply chains crashing are all examples of the speed of change. But how did we get here? More importantly, where do we go from here?

Andy provides the context needed to understand the forces at work creating momentum for change in the economy and your business. AI, climate subsidies and digital twins are just a few of the extraordinary tools/spending being leveraged right now. Are you aligning yourself for what will occur? Andy literally wrote the book on large, catastrophic events and how they impact our markets, economy and world. As a futurist and economist, Andy will dive deep into exploring how innovation, policy changes and societal shifts (war) drive opportunities for clients. He'll provide context by doing a “where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going” for the economy. He'll take the trends super charged by COVID, war and political uncertainty and apply them to financial services via a case study to show where money is flowing, and opportunities are growing.

Andrew Busch

Economic Futurist

AndrewBusch.com

Jessica Archer

VP Client Services

Paterson Center

9:50 AM, FEB 12

Partnering for the Future: Solutions for Credit Union Success

Who should attend? Industry Collaborators, Strategists

Dive into an engaging discussion featuring MDC strategic partners committed to delivering value and solving the unique challenges faced by credit unions. This session will spotlight MDC partners who bring a wealth of knowledge and innovative solutions tailored to enhance operational efficiency, member engagement, and competitive advantage. Gain insights into effective strategies for collaboration and problem-solving, while also exploring new opportunities for growth and sustainability. Come ready to discover how these partnerships can transform your credit union's future.

Vinod Tharakan

CTO

CU NextGen

Paolo Bertolotti

CEO and Co-Founder

ModernFi

David Metz

Founder and CEO

Prizeout

Dave DeFazio

EVP of Strategy & Solutions

StrategyCorps

10:30 AM, FEB 12

Networking Break

Who should attend? All Attendees

Sip a coffee and eat a treat while chatting it up with your fellow attendees. We'll see you back after the break!

Sponsored by

11:00 AM, FEB 12

Mastermind Live: Insider Insights for Transformative Impact

Who should attend? Future-Focused Leaders, Forward Thinkers

Experience our exclusive Mastermind series live, gaining actionable insights from industry powerhouse leader, Ron Shevlin. This dynamic session will bring together key learnings from the last two days, offering you a roadmap to turn ideas into action. You'll leave equipped with inspiration to implement immediately, ensuring the knowledge you’ve gained makes a tangible impact in your work long after the event ends.

Ron Shevlin

Chief Research Officer

Cornerstone Advisors

Alex Johnson

Business Consultant

MDC

Jake Dunagan

Director, Governance
Futures Lab

IFTF

11:50 AM, FEB 12

Wrap Up

Who should attend? All Attendees

Thank you for joining us! We'll see you August 4-6, 2025 in Chicago!

Jeff Kline

CEO

MDC

Alex Johnson

Business Consultant

MDC

Jake Dunagan

Director, Governance
Futures Lab

IFTF

12:00 PM, FEB 12

Grab & Go Lunch

Who should attend? All Attendees

Need to catch a flight but need a little something on the way to the airport? Or maybe you're heading out to explore the city? A Grab & Go lunch is avilable on your way out of the meeting room… you choose what you want, pack it up, and enjoy!

Sponsored by

Andrew Busch​

Economic Futurist​

AndrewBusch.com

SPEAKER'S BIO

Andrew Busch is the former 1st Chief Market Intelligence Officer for the US government and economic futurist at AndrewBusch.com. For the CFTC, he was charged with improving and enhancing the government’s understanding of the markets and the economy. His job was to take all the news, information and data on the economy and markets; and filter it into condensed, easily understood research; then communicate it to the government and public. 

Andy provided economic and market briefings to White House, US House, US Senate, the SEC, the Federal Reserve Board and the US Treasury staff on a wide range of issues including interest rates, China’s influence on trade, and the impact of technology on the economy.

Prior to joining the CFTC, Mr. Busch was CEO and founder of a boutique financial markets and policy research firm, Bering Productions, Inc (BPI). Before BPI, he was the Global Currency and Public Policy Strategist for Bank of Montreal (BMO) in Chicago. He is author of the book “World Event Trading” covering large crises like infectious disease outbreaks and their impact on the markets.

Today, he’s a consultant and keynote speaker with a wide range of clients including financial services, agriculture, energy, real estate, manufacturing and construction.

Vinod Tharakan

CTO

CU NextGen

SPEAKER'S BIO

Vinod is a Computer Engineer, and was part of the first wave of Indian IT Consultants that traveled the world on IT Implementation engagements in the 90’s, and he worked extensively across multiple industries on transformative IT projects in the US, Europe and the Far East, with most of them being in Banking and Financial Services.

He founded ClaySys Technologies in 2005, to fulfill an effort to support a greater level of abstraction and automation in delivering complex IT Solutions. Today ClaySys is a Technology Consulting firm with more than 230+ employees, that specializes in automation solutions through the ClaySys AppForms No-Code application builder platform, and RPA. Some of ClaySys’s Clients are WellsFargo, Deloitte, Bloomberg, JP Morgan Chase, First Financial, Nike, Exxon-Mobil, 3M and Facebook.

Vinod is also the Managing Director of the ClaySys Group of companies in India, that has interests in the Real Estate Industry, and Infrastructure services industries in India.

Paolo Bertolotti​

CEO and Co-Founder

ModernFi

SPEAKER'S BIO

Paolo Bertolotti is the CEO and Co-Founder of ModernFi, a financial technology firm that helps credit unions and banks grow, retain, and manage their deposits and shares. Through ModernFi’s deposit network, financial institutions of all sizes can provide extended deposit insurance, manage balance sheet size, and source funding. Prior to ModernFi, he was a quantitative researcher at the asset management firm AQR Capital. Paolo holds a PhD in machine learning from MIT where he focused on deposit optimization and a BS in operations research from Columbia. He also serves as a Lecturer in Statistics at Columbia University.

David Metz

Founder and CEO

Prizeout

SPEAKER'S BIO

David Metz is the Founder and CEO of Prizeout, a financial technology company that offers a rewards platform for credit unions which drives loyalty and digital engagement. Powered by a proprietary financial media network, Prizeout’s CashBack+ platform enables credit unions the ability to offer multiple ways for members to earn cashback via merchant funded-offers and through engagement with their credit union. Members can earn extra cash and access rewards previously inaccessible to debit card users and credit unions can offer a seamless experience that generates income, drives deposits, and keeps their accounts top of mind.

A career entrepreneur, David started his first company, Flugpo, in 2006 after a 10-year stint in financial services and equity trading. Before Prizeout, he was the CEO and co-founder of a mobile trivia app called FleetWit where users could take bets on their trivia skills. His broad leadership experience in finance, marketing, and tech across both large firms and startups put him at the ideal intersection to lead an industry disruptor like Prizeout. David attended Drexel University and lives in New York City with his wife and two kids.

Dave DeFazio

EVP of Strategy & Solutions

StrategyCorps

SPEAKER'S BIO

Dave DeFazio is EVP of Strategy & Solutions at StrategyCorps. He’s armed with a passion for banking strategy, and always exploring the intersection of data, marketing, and technology. He downloads banking apps for fun.

Dave enjoys helping clients evolve their products for improved productivity, engagement, and growth. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics.

Ron Shevlin

Ron Shevlin

Cornerstone Advisors

SPEAKER'S BIO

Ron Shevlin has been a management consultant for more than 25 years, working with leading financial services, consumer products, retail and manufacturing firms all over the world. As chief research officer at Cornerstone Advisors, Ron calls on his analytical acumen to author a variety of corporate and commissioned research reports.

Considered one of the banking industry’s most notable experts, Ron’s opinions are regularly sought for inclusion in major banking publications. He writes weekly for Forbes and has published hundreds of articles for his Snarketing blog. A seasoned professional speaker, Ron’s insights and quirky sense of humor are in high demand for trade events and podcasts.

Prior to joining Cornerstone Advisors, Ron was a senior analyst at Aite Group, where he specialized in retail banking issues. Prior to Aite, he led Epsilon’s financial services consulting practice. Before Epsilon, he headed up Forrester’s research efforts on customer loyalty, profitability and consumer channel use in the financial services industry.

Ron is the author of Smarter Bank: Why Money Management is More Important than Money Movement. He was ranked #2 on Bank Innovation’s list of 30 Innovators to Watch. His Snarketing 2.0 blog was named to Radius’ 25 Best Marketing Blogs. 

Ron received a master’s degree in finance and statistics from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree in economics from SUNY Binghamton.

Alex Johnson

Business Consultant

MDC

SPEAKER'S BIO

Alex joined MDC in the Strategic Execution Office in April 2023 and has a decade of experience in the financial services industry with a background in marketing, community relations, and member experience. She’s experienced in driving process improvements and managing a wide variety of projects that support overarching business objectives. Alex is a proud Boise State University graduate with a BBA in Marketing – Go Broncos! 

Jake Dunagan​

Director, Governance Futures Lab

IFTF

SPEAKER'S BIO

Jake is an experiential futurist, governance designer, and teacher. He directs the Governance Futures Lab at IFTF. His work has been centered on the concept of social invention and novel methods to help individuals, organizations, and governing institutions re-imagine and re-invent their futures. Recent research projects include the future of social entrepreneurship, applied embodied cognition, judicial foresight, kid’s technologies, intellectual property law, service innovation, and the future of work. He has helped create tools to increase citizen participation in political system design, and he also creates visual media, interactive experiences, and public engagement projects that inject alternative visions of the future into the present.  

Jake holds a Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii, Manoa with a focus on neuropolitics, governance design, and communication of foresight. He has an MA from Temple University and a BA from Auburn University, both in Anthropology of Visual Communication. He is an adjunct professor in the Design Strategy MBA program at the California College of the Arts, where he teaches strategic foresight, tactical media, and social invention, and also International Mentor for the Diseño de Mañana program at CENTRO in Mexico City. 

Jeff Kline​

CEO

MDC

SPEAKER'S BIO

Jeff Kline has been the President/CEO of MDC since 2007 and has been in the credit union industry for more than 30 years. 

Jeff started his career as a CPA at KPMG Peat Marwick and then went to work for a client, US Central Credit Union. He has worked at several other credit unions as an EVP of Finance and Technology, an EVP of Retail and Strategy, and as a CEO.