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Our Speakers

Take an in-depth look at our dynamic speakers.

Andrew Busch

Economic Futurist

AndrewBusch.com

Speaking topic:

Keynote: Future Economy Growth Opportunities

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Richie Etwaru

CEO

Mobeus

Speaking topic:

Governance in the Age of AI: Steering the Future

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Jason Feifer

Editor-in-Chief

Entrepreneur Magazine

Speaking topic:

Keynote: Future-Ready: Mastering Change and Building Tomorrow Today

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Ron Shevlin

Chief Research Officer

Cornerstone Advisors

Speaking topic:

Mastermind Live: Insider Insights for Transformative Impact

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Crystal Washington

Futurist and Author

CWM Enterprises

Speaking topic:

The Future is NOW: Technology & Trends That Will Revolutionize

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Jessica Archer

Vice President

Paterson Center

Speaking topic:

Break Out: North Star
Navigating Your Strategic Vision

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Paolo Bertolotti

CEO and Co-Founder

ModernFi

Speaking topic:

Partnering for the Future: Solutions for Credit Union Success

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Dave DeFazio

EVP of Strategy & Solutions

StrategyCorps

Speaking topic:

Partnering for the Future: Solutions for Credit Union Success

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Jake Dunagan

Director, Governance Futures Lab

IFTF

Speaking topic:

MDC's Strategic Execution Office: Driving Impact and Unveiling What's Next

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Troy Huth

Senior Director

Auriemma Roundtables

Speaking topic:

Break Out: Fraud Staying Ahead of Emerging Threats

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Alex Johnson

Business Consultant

MDC

Speaking topic:

MDC's Strategic Execution Office: Driving Impact and Unveiling What's Next

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Jeff Kline

CEO

MDC

Speaking topic:

Welcome

Wrap Up

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Sarah Lietz

Chief Experience Officer

MDC

Speaking topic:

Mission Audacia—Supercharge your credit union’s AI capabilities with AI Studio

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David Metz

Founder and CEO

Prizeout

Speaking topic:

Partnering for the Future: Solutions for Credit Union Success

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Michelle Mozzar

SVP, Strategic Execution Office

MDC

Speaking topic:

MDC's Strategic Execution Office: Driving Impact and Unveiling What's Next

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Stacey Pearson

Partner

Paterson Center

Speaking topic:

Break Out: North Star
Navigating Your Strategic Vision

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Vinod Tharakan

CTO

CU NextGen

Speaking topic:

Partnering for the Future: Solutions for Credit Union Success

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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.

Richie Etwaru

CEO

Mobeus

SPEAKER'S BIO

Richie Etwaru, an executive, entrepreneur, and inventor, has decades of AI expertise, dozens of patents, and a proven track record of advising top leaders on AI and cybersecurity. He has pioneered groundbreaking innovations, including software-only spatial computing and the concept of the 31st Human Right, reshaping industries like AR/VR and data privacy.

With three books, three TED talks, and over 100 keynotes, Richie is a sought-after speaker known for promoting trust, fairness, and innovation in commerce. He continues to influence the future of technology while balancing life as a husband and father of two.

Jason Feifer

Editor-in-Chief
Entrepreneur Magazine

SPEAKER'S BIO

Jason Feifer spends his days speaking to the world’s greatest change-makers. He has helmed the world’s leading magazine about entrepreneurship since 2016, is the author of the book Build For Tomorrow, and also hosts multiple podcasts and advises startups. Through it all, he has learned that adaptation is not something people are born with. It is a skill people can learn, and he uses that knowledge to help individuals and entire companies grow into the future. 

Jason argues that change happens in four phases. It starts with panic, when we have no idea what we’ll gain or lose. Then we move into adaptation, begin to build a new normal, and finally start to see our Wouldn’t Go Back moment. Jason’s strategies can help people move through those phases faster, and he gives audiences tangible ways to approach them — along with entertaining, memorable, and often funny stories of entrepreneurs who navigated similar problems, as well as surprising lessons drawn from the history of innovation.

Jason is a non-stop optimism machine, and pairs his insights with boundless energy and infectious charisma. In addition to delivering keynotes or sitting for fireside chats, he is also a talented emcee and experienced celebrity interviewer who has profiled everyone from Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson to Michelle Pfeiffer. He is host of two podcasts; the first, Build For Tomorrow, is a funny, fast-paced show exploring the smartest solutions to our most misunderstood challenges. The second, Problem Solvers, highlights entrepreneurs, business owners, and CEOs who are solving unexpected challenges in their lives, businesses, and careers.

Prior to his leadership at Entrepreneur, Jason held editorial roles at Men’s Health, Maxim, and Boston magazine, and has written about business and technology for the Washington Post, Slate, New York, and many more major publications.

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.

Crystal Washington​

Futurist and Author
CWM Enterprises

SPEAKER'S BIO

Futurist, author, and Hall of Fame Speaker, Crystal Washington equips organizations with the knowledge they need to become “future-proof.” As a technology strategist and certified futurist, Crystal makes complex artificial intelligence, social media, and app technology easy to understand and accessible for everyday people.

Crystal’s clients include Fortune 100 companies, including Google, American Express, and Pfizer. As a sought-after keynote speaker, she has entertained and educated audiences around the globe.

As one of Forbes’ 50 Leading Female Futurists, she appears weekly on season two of the Emmy-nominated show Life 2.0. She’s also appeared in numerous publications, including Entrepreneur and Bloomberg Businessweek, and major television networks regularly call on her as a tech expert.

Crystal is the author of One Tech Action and The Social Media Why.

Jessica Archer​

Vice President
Paterson Center

SPEAKER'S BIO

Jessica is a seasoned leader of the full spectrum of strategic planning, from facilitating the creation of the plan all the way through to deploying and monitoring strategic results that stick. Her specialty is inspiring transformational change and designing processes that take strategy out of a binder and into the operations of the business and the hearts of its employees.

Jessica’s professional experience includes:

  • 12 years of facilitation experience, including tenure as a licensed Paterson StratOp® Guide, facilitating strategic clarity and installing strategy management processes for clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 50 giants
  • 8 years experience as the in-house accountable party for Global Strategic Planning and Integrated Business Planning processes for a multi-million dollar consumer products company
  • Designing and improving cross-functional business processes as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt in industries ranging from grocery, to consumer packaged goods, to proteomics
  • Change Management leadership, training, and speaking, supported by a Prosci Change Management Certification and a Masters Degree in Communication


Jessica is a proud Midwesterner at heart (and still regularly uses the phrase “Uff-da”), but now happily resides in Timnath, CO, with her husband and three children who collectively serve as a foster family to babies, teenagers, and every age and stage in between.

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.

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.

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. 

Troy Huth​

Senior Director​
Auriemma Roundtables

SPEAKER'S BIO

Troy Huth has 30+ years in the financial services industry serving in a variety of roles including branch operations, call center management, IT Management, Product Management, and Fraud Strategy/ Operations while at institutions including Bank of America and USAA.  While at USAA, he was responsible for fraud strategy and detection for deposit products (acquisition, transactions/payments) and lending acquisition (Auto, Credit Card, and Personal Lending).

Troy is currently a Senior Director for Auriemma Roundtables leading several industry roundtables including Bank Fraud, Internal Fraud, Bank Secrecy/AML, Commercial Bank Fraud and Deposit Risk Management.  He is a featured speaker on topics ranging from fraud to remote deposit capture, where he is named as an inventor of the industry’s first consumer remote deposit capture service.

In his role as Roundtable Director, he leads collaboration sessions bringing industry leaders together to challenge accepted practices while providing them with benchmark and survey data to measure their performance against peers and innovate for the future.

Troy has a BS degree in Management from Wayland Baptist University, is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and a Certified Product Manager (CPM).

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! 

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. 

Sarah Lietz

Chief Experience Officer

MDC

SPEAKER'S BIO

Sarah Lietz is the Chief Experience Officer for MDC. She is responsible for several strategic initiatives, MDC’s SEO and Events teams, and numerous R&D projects. 

She joined MDC in 2005 after serving for two years as a corporate project manager for CUNA Mutual Group (now TruStage). Prior to working with CMG, she spent eight years in product development in the telecom industry, focused primarily on introducing new Internet-related products to the marketplace. She has also held positions with the Chicago office of KPMG Peat Marwick, a global consulting and accounting firm. 

Sarah volunteered on the board of directors of Firefly Credit Union in Minneapolis/St. Paul for nine years, including four as Board Chair. Sarah earned her MBA from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a BS from Illinois State 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.

Michelle Mozzar

SVP, Strategic Execution Office

MDC

SPEAKER'S BIO

Michelle is the SVP, Head of Strategic Execution Office at Members Development Company. In her current role, she is responsible for leading project strategy and delivering innovative research and solutions to MDC owners. Prior to joining MDC, Michelle served as Vice President for Treasury Implementations at Wells Fargo. She has worked in financial services for over 20 years in multiple leadership capacities, including strategic planning, project management, leadership development, training, and operations. 

She holds a doctoral degree in interdisciplinary leadership from Creighton University. 

Stacey Pearson

Partner

Paterson Center

SPEAKER'S BIO

Stacey is a business strategist and a movement creator. Her mission is to partner with growing organizations to create clarity of vision and mission, align on the top strategic priorities, and accelerate forward on a unified plan. 

Leveraging 25 years of leadership experience and the Paterson StratOp® and LifePlan® Processes, she has been instrumental in driving strategic growth for multiple businesses, non profits, government entities, and higher education organizations. She served as the Director of Strategic Operations Planning at OtterBox through a time of exponential growth and transformation, leading the strategy creation, deployment, and performance management. Specializing in scaling organizations through transformational change, Stacey prioritizes caring for people and culture to foster effective leadership.

Today, Stacey is Partner and Chief of Client Services at the Paterson Center, enhancing client excellence and leading strategic partnerships in the anti-human trafficking arena. She lives with her husband, Aaron, and two daughters in Timnath, CO.

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.