Helping Businesses Keep Both ii's On The BIG Picture For Over 16 Years!
15th Annual Education Finance & Loan Symposium

MAY 20-21, 2024

Hyatt Regency Crystal City
@Reagan Airport

Washington, DC

Our Executive Speaking Faculty

Applications are now being reviewed from executives who wish to become members of our Executive Speaking Faculty. If you have extensive knowledge of education finance/student loans and would like to apply for a position on our speaking faculty, please complete our online JOIN OUR FACULTY application or contact:

Don Buford, Founder & CEO, iiBIG
Phone: 212-300-2521 | Email: donb@iibig.com

Jason AltmireDr. Jason Altmire, President & CEO, Career Education Colleges & Universities (CECU)

Dr. Jason Altmire is the CEO of Career Education Colleges and Universities, the national association representing private postsecondary career schools. CECU has more than 1,100 campus and affiliate members throughout North America. In this role, Jason represents the nation’s career schools before Congress and the Biden Administration. He was previously a three-term U.S. Congressman, where he served as a member of the Higher Education Subcommittee and the House-Senate conference committee that negotiated the final language of the Higher Education Act last time it was enacted.


Jeff AndradeJeff Andrade, (former Deputy Asst. Sect., DOE) and SVP, McKeon Group

Jeff Andrade is a Senior Advisor with the McKeon Group.  He has extensive expertise in higher education; postsecondary training and workforce development; student lending, servicing and collections; as well as in financial services and federal training programs for small businesses. With over 30 years of experience in both the public and private sector, Jeff combines political insights from 14 years in the Executive Branch and on Capitol Hill with over 16 years of real-world business knowledge managing and advising on government relations for a number of organizations in the private sector. He most recently served as Senior Policy Advisor for a bipartisan strategic consulting and lobbying firm based in Washington, DC, where he advised over 10 clients in higher education and financial services. He also has served with two boutique DC law firms specializing in higher education; and as in-house executive for a student loan finance company. In the public sector, Jeff held Executive Service positions during both terms of President George W. Bush. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education, and also as the Director of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). During his tenure he worked closely with Chairman McKeon on a bipartisan higher education deregulation effort as well. In the second Bush term, he served as Associate Administrator for Entrepreneurial Development at the U.S. Small Business Administration where he managed $100 million in technical assistance programs to provide training and business counseling for over 2.4 million small business clients. On Capitol Hill, Jeff was a senior Republican staffer on the House Education and Workforce Committee, where he worked on the 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. He worked closely with Chairman McKeon to enact landmark legislation creating the Federal government’s first performance-based organization, the Federal Student Aid office at the U.S. Department of Education, which resulted in the modernization of the technology systems supporting the student aid programs. As a career civil servant at the Education Department, Jeff worked his way up from entry-level policy analyst working on Pell Grants, to senior budget analyst responsible for Federal Student Aid. He led several major regulatory and policy initiatives and initiated the first comprehensive oversight review of Sallie Mae.  Jeff holds a Bachelor’s degree with Honors in Political Science from The American University in Washington, DC.


Jeff ArthurJeff Arthur, VP Regulatory Affairs & CIO, East Coast Polytechnic Institute (ECPI University)

Jeff has been responsible for higher education financial aid and technology management for 40 years, and has implemented and managed robust higher education technology solutions across all functional areas of ECPI University. Jeff has served as a primary negotiator in the U.S. Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking process in the past, including gainful employment rulemaking in 2018, and has served and chaired several higher education advisory boards and committees. He is actively involved with legislative, regulatory and Veteran’s education issues and regularly advocates for higher education transparency and career education with all of those constituencies.


David BaileyDavid Bailey, Vice President, Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation (KHESLC)

David Bailey has served in the student loan industry for over three decades.  He currently oversees the Advantage Loan Program offered by KHESLC, and manages the School Services functions (KHEAA Verify and Cohort Default Management Services), as well as the remaining FFEL guarantor processes.  In addition, he facilitates the senior management team responsible for setting the underwriting and eligibility standards for the Advantage Loan Program. Mr. Bailey began his career at USA Group/Sallie Mae, supporting them in various capacities for 11 years before transitioning to KHEAA/KHESLC/ARC. Over the past 23 years with the Organization, he has held several pivotal roles in Resource Management, Electronic Development, and Loan Administration. In his current position as Vice President, he continues to play a vital role in shaping the Organization’s strategies and operations. Mr. Bailey successfully earned his undergraduate degree from Midway University while serving full time at the Organization and raising his children as a single parent.  Mr. Bailey has also served in several leadership positions within the Kentucky Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (KASFAA), along with his current role as Co-Chair of the Private Loan Committee for the National Council of Higher Education Resources.


Amy BevilacquaAmy Bevilacqua, Managing Partner, Green Street Impact Partners

Amy Bevilacqua is the Managing Partner of Green Street Impact Partners, a growth equity fund making impact investments in the future of education.  Amy’s career straddles both investing and operating experience, with over 30 years leading education companies. Her operating experience includes serving as a C-level executive for Private Equity backed education companies.  She led a portfolio company for the private equity firm KKR–an educational film production and distribution house—and shepherded its sale to a strategic buyer.  She was also the Chief Marketing Officer for Smarterville, a portfolio company of Sterling Partners, and the company behind Hooked on Phonics, leading to its sale to a strategic buyer.  Amy started out her career in college admissions, co-founded a division of a scholarly publishing house, and ran content-related businesses for the national headquarters of the Public Broadcasting Service. Most recently, Amy was the Chief Innovation Officer for American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:  APEI) running strategy and investments.   She is the immediate past President of the Alumni Council at Carleton College, her undergraduate alma mater.  As a Yale School of Management alum, she co-founded YaleWomen, an independent 501c3 and global network of over 35,000 female alums across the university.


Scott BuchananScott Buchanan, Executive Director, Student Loan Servicing Alliance

Scott Buchanan is the Executive Director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance (SLSA), a trade association that represents more than 40 student loan servicers and their business partners in both federal and private student lending. Previously, Scott was Senior Vice President of Business Development and Government Affairs for CBE Companies, a global provider of outsourced call center and collection services.  Scott has also been Principal Consultant at Merak Associates LLC, where he has advised and counseled clients including financial services and investment firms, institutions of higher education, and BPO companies on legislative, regulatory, and business development strategy.  Before his consulting work, Scott served as Vice President of Business Development, Sales, and Marketing at Navient.  In that role he ran corporate marketing, oversaw brand strategy, directed business development and the sales organizations, while advising the company on corporate strategy.  Prior to Navient, he served as Vice President of Government Affairs and Services with Sallie Mae.  In that role he worked with Members of Congress, government agencies, and other policymakers to inform discussion on higher education, financial services, and tax policy.  He oversaw the state affairs interests of the company and had responsibility for lobbying and political compliance processes. Over the years he also worked at Sallie Mae in various management capacities, has past political campaign experience, and worked for Wachovia Corporation in Atlanta, GA.  Scott holds a Bachelors in Political Science from Davidson College and a Masters in Public Policy from George Mason University.  He currently resides in Alexandria, VA.


Kayvan DarouianKayvan Darouian, Director, Consumer ABS Research, Deutsche Bank

Kayvan Darouian joined Deutsche Bank in June 2012 and is the lead analyst covering consumer and esoteric ABS on the Securitization Research team. Before joining Deutsche Bank, Kayvan spent six years at a British bank working in securitization research and portfolio management. He received his BS in economics and biology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and his MBA at the Yale School of Management.

 


Sharon GoldSharon Gold, Head of Capital Markets, College Ave Student Loans

Sharon Gold is the Head of Capital Markets at College Ave Student Loans, a private student loan fintech lending company.  Sharon focuses on College Ave’s student loan securitizations, debt facilities, warehouse lines, loans sales and forward flow agreements. Prior to College Ave, Sharon spent over 20 years in the student loan business in senior level positions at investment banks and rating agencies. Sharon was a senior banker in the Fixed Income Division of Morgan Stanley where she worked on student loan ABS and municipal bond transactions for for-profit, state agency, and not-for-profit student loan lenders. Sharon was also the Head of Student Loan ABS Originations at ABN AMRO managing student loan securitizations and student loan financings through ABN’s ABCP conduits. At the rating agencies, Sharon was the Head of the Student Loan Ratings Group at Moody’s Investor Service. She also spent time at S&P Global developing and writing methodologies for the Structured Financed Group for all securitized asset types, including student loans. Sharon has a B.S. in Accounting from Syracuse University and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.


Rich HainesRich Haines, CEO, OneLogos

Mr. Haines has thirty years of financial services and technology experience and is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OneLogos, an EdTech and enterprise software company.  OneLogos offers technology solutions to all stakeholders in the financial aid market including lenders, financial institutions, schools, non-profits, foundations and community groups through the Red Kite (www.myredkite.com) platform.  Red Kite is a digital ecosystem connecting students, parents and job seekers with money to pay for college and job training.  Mr. Haines also serves as co-founder and managing director of Crucible, a not-for-profit company formed to transform future-leaning college and job training organizations. Prior to OneLogos he founded two successful start-up organizations, served as the head of operations for a private education lender and has held senior leadership positions with MBNA America and Bank of America in the U.S., Canada and Europe supporting mergers and acquisitions, credit, customer service, collections and technology. Mr. Haines graduated with a bachelor’s degree in International Politics and Finance from The Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania.


David HeintzelmanDavid A Heintzelman, Supervisory Examiner, Field Manager (NE Region),
CFPB – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

David Heintzelman is a Field Manager for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and is based in the Northeast Region.  He has been at the Bureau for over 12 years.  He has worked on and has overseen many exams including several Student Lending exams.  David was actively involved with the recent student loan servicing transfer oversight project necessitated by several large services exiting the Federal student loan servicing business.  David has a portfolio of six entities including two student loan servicing companies.  Prior to joining the Bureau, he worked for 14 years in retail bank branch management for a large regional bank. He is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager, has a degree in Business Management from Southern New Hampshire University, and recently graduated from the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking.


Henry HowardHenry B. Howard, President & CEO, U.S. Education Finance Group

Henry B. Howard began his banking career in 1978 at Maryland National Bank in Baltimore, Maryland.  Subsequently, he held officer or management level positions at National Bank of Washington, Student Loan Marketing Association (“Sallie Mae”), American Security Bank of Washington, Marine Midland Bank (Delaware), CenTrust Savings Bank in Miami and BAC International Credit Corporation in Miami.  Henry founded U.S. Education Finance Group in 1999 (assets of $2.75 Billion as of 12/31/10).  He has been continuously involved with education lending since 1981.  Henry Howard has 30 years and $7 Billion of education loan origination and financing experience.


Eric HurwitzEric Hurwitz, Co-Chair, Financial Services Litigataion, Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young LLP

Eric Hurwitz is Co-Chair of Stradley Ronon’s Financial Services Litigation practice. Eric focuses his litigation practice on defending financial institutions from claims arising out of nearly every type of consumer and commercial financial product. He has extensive experience defending both single plaintiff and class action lawsuits against student lenders and servicers, banks, mortgage lenders and servicers, credit card companies, auto finance companies, debt collection companies and other financial services institutions. These include claims under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), as well as state unfair trade practices laws. Eric has defended both private and federal student loan servicers for many years in both court and private arbitration proceedings nationwide. He also works with clients to respond to regulatory inquiries and develop best practices for litigation avoidance.


Amy JonesAmy Jones, Director, Education & Human Services Policy, Committee on Education & the Workforce

Mrs. Jones oversees all aspects of education and workforce development policy for Chairwoman Virginia Foxx of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Prior to assuming this role, Mrs. Jones specialized in higher education and student loan policy and other legal issues arising in education policy for the committee.  Previously, she was an attorney at Dean Blakey, where she handled issues important to the higher education community and the student loan industry.  Mrs. Jones also clerked at the Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education.  Mrs. Jones received both her B.A. in political science and justice and her J.D. from American University.


Andy KaplanAndy Kaplan, Managing General Partner, Education Growth Partners (EGP)

Before Education Growth Partners (EGP), Andy Kaplan began his career developing educational software for Scholastic. After becoming Director of the Educational Technology Group, he led the creation of WiggleWorks and other award winning products. Andy then became a senior executive at Kaplan, Inc., owned by the Washington Post Company. At Kaplan, he was responsible for leading several technology enabled services businesses, both newly acquired and organically developed. He also led the migration to technology and the Internet throughout the company – a key part of a strategy of diversification from Kaplan’s test prep business. In 2000, Andy became a General Partner in Quad Partners, a private equity firm focused exclusively on the education industry. Andy leveraged his deep education industry experience and operating ability to build successful businesses across several sub-sectors within the education industry.


Charles KelleyCharles Kelley, Executive Director, Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA)

Charles P. Kelley, CPA, CFA is the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA).  Mr. Kelley joined the Authority in April 1991 as Deputy Director and was appointed Executive Director in 1993. Mr. Kelley served on the Board of the Education Finance Council from 1996 – 2002 where he served a two-year term as Chairman. A graduate of Harvard with a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in public finance, he received his Bachelors in Accounting and Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island. Mr. Kelley is a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst.


Tim LehmannTimothy  Lehmann, Vice President Student Financial Services, Southern New Hampshire University

An experienced higher education financing professional, with over 36 years of experience in higher education financing.  A common thread has been helping organizations to scale their operations along with finding innovative solutions to assist universities.  He has built a reputation as a thought leader in the area of technology, customer experience and innovation all the while maintaining a commitment to compliance to help colleges and universities organizational goals. Beginning his career working in the not-for-profit sector he has worked for both for profit and not for profit institutions focused primarily on Distance Education.  Mr. Lehmann has been the Vice President for Student Financial Services at Southern New Hampshire University for the past five years and has helped guide the institution through significant growth as well as assisting with improving the student experience by being relentlessly focused on creating integrating the right technology to deliver a student experience that is optimized, scalable, compliant and streamlined to achieve the universities goals.  The Vice President is a key member of the Student Experience leadership team who drives and evangelizes innovation to continuously advance the financing options available to students and to differentiate the University in the market. The Vice President establishes strategies and programs to help students become better off financially than when they started at SNHU; and ensures SNHU’s overall regulatory compliance and the financial integrity of its operations. The Vice President is a critical partner in the university’s strategic initiatives and new product development, representing SFS as a subject matter expert and regulatory advisor. The Vice President supports the Chief Experience Officer as a second in command in SFS. Mr. Lehmann has a Bachelor’s Degree from Concordia College in Minnesota and a MBA from Capella University.  He has been a presenter at numerous conferences and seminars on the topic of new and innovative financing options in higher education.


Patrick Leimkühler

Patrick Leimkuehler, COO, Splash Financial

Patrick Leimkuehler is a dynamic leader and innovator in the FinTech industry, currently serving as the Chief Operating Officer at Splash Financial, a rapidly growing startup based in Cleveland, Ohio. Since joining Splash in 2017 as the 4th employee, Patrick has played a pivotal role in its exponential growth, overseeing operations and driving strategic initiatives. Under his leadership, Splash Financial has emerged as a leading player in the FinTech space, originating over $4.5 billion in loans and securing $85 million in venture capital. He led the successful launch of multiple student loan refinance lending partners, including a top 15 US bank. Prior to his role at Splash Financial, Patrick co-founded Apollo Medical Devices, a medtech startup. Patrick spent his early career in corporate restructuring at AlixPartners and FTI Consulting. With a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and a background in finance and corporate restructuring, Patrick brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the student loan space. Patrick is passionate about leveraging technology to address financial challenges and meeting the evolving needs of our bank and credit union lending partners.


Ian RasmussenIan Rasmussen, Managing Director, Co-Head ABS, Fitch Ratings

Senior Director in ABS focusing on: ABCP, consumer unsecured loans, credit cards, and student loans. Long standing relationships in asset management, with strong background in commercial paper, money markets and cash management. Also broad exposure to investment products including: closed-end funds, money market funds and local government investment pools and across many asset classes. Earned a B.S. in finance from Southern Utah University and an MBA in finance from Fordham University Graduate School of Business.

 


Joe Santoro

Joseph Santoro, Director – Education Finance Team Leader, BofA Securities

Joe Santoro is head of the Education Finance Investment Banking team at BofA Securities. He began his student loan investment banking career with UBS PaineWebber assisting in the preparation of loan portfolio valuations, cash flow projections and pricing analyses. Since then, he has helped clients create new loan programs and completed numerous financings for dozens of education loan programs, many of which incorporated innovative financing strategies and securities. His clients include state agencies, quasi government agencies, 501(c)(3)s, as well as entities on the for-profit side.  In the last several years, Mr. Santoro has helped clients navigate a changing landscape and move forward with new opportunities – including the structuring and financing of non-federal student, parent, and education refinance loan programs. Upon completing his undergraduate degree in 1988, Mr. Santoro initially worked in infrastructure engineering and construction management and then moved into municipal consulting.  As a Project Manager in HDR’s Municipal Advocacy Group, Mr. Santoro advised clients faced with the threat or opportunity of privatization.  While working full time he completed his MBA in 1999 and with that transitioned into finance. Mr. Santoro holds a Bachelor and Master of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and an MBA in Finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business.


Patricia ScherschelPatricia Scherschel, Student Lending Program Manager, CFPB – Consumer Financial Protection Bureaua

Patricia M. Scherschel is Senior Program Manager, Student Lending Markets, at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In her position within the Division of Research, Monitoring, and Regulations, she monitors and analyzes developments in student lending and serves as the in-house subject matter expert for student lending products, practices, and issues. She joined the Bureau in September 2015.  Ms. Scherschel has more than 20 years of experience in the student financial services industry. Before joining the CFPB, she served as Senior Program Manager for National Engagement and Philanthropy at United Student Aid Funds (now Strada Education Foundation). Previously, she served as a vice president at Sallie Mae, where she handled the marketing of Federal Consolidation loans and also managed product development for both Federal and private education loans. In addition, she developed a wide array of counseling resources for student loan borrowers, including repayment guides, online calculators, and debt-counseling software. Earlier in her career, she worked as a journalist, including 10 years as an economist and consumer finance writer at U.S. News & World Report. She holds a Master of Business Administration and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science, both from Indiana University-Bloomington.


Aisha SmithAisha Smith, Financial Services Counsel, Davis Wright Tremain LLP

Aisha Smith provides sound transactional and regulatory compliance advice to a broad clientele in the financial services sector, including banks and other lenders, trusts, loan servicers, payment processors, and fintechs. She has extensive experience guiding clients through complex matters before state banking regulators, federal agencies, and congressional committees and focusing on de-escalation. She does so by delivering legal analysis in an approachable way, fine-tuning advocacy plans by working to understand her clients’ current and future business needs. In particular, Aisha leverages her knowledge of a wide range of federal and state laws regarding privacy, higher education, debt collection, credit reporting, military benefits, consumer safeguards such as UDAAP protections, commercial transactions, and mergers and acquisitions. She offers keen insight on fast-changing emerging law, including in the crypto, buy now/pay later, and alternative lending spaces, keeping her finger on the pulse of CFPB interest in regulating competitive markets, web3, junk fees, overdraft rules, and privacy and data protection. Before joining DWT, Aisha’s practice focused on managing risks related to clients’ operational practices, product development, compliance management systems, and consumer communication. As an in-house counsel leading a loan servicer’s regulatory legal team, Aisha managed recruitment and supervision of 14 attorneys and analysts; she also co-chaired the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion program. Outside of financial services, she has served as guardian ad litem in a divorce custody proceeding referred from the Children’s Law Center.


Lance TeinertLance Teinert, CEO, CURevl LLC

Lance is a 30-year veteran of consumer and education finance, having worked in executive positions since 1995 when he became the founding student loan operations executive with LoanStar Education Loans.  He has held senior and executive level positions with Cology, First Marblehead Corporation, Education Credit Management Corporation, and ReliaMax Holdings as well as co-founding FUTR Corporation.  Lance not only brings executive experience, but also an entrepreneurial spirit, having founded or co-founded several successful ventures including a nationally recognized education finance consulting firm and private education entity that partnered with several investment banks to originate, service, and securitize federal and private education loans.

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS

Continuing Education Credits (e.g. CLE, CPE, CME, etc.) may be available for iiBIG conference attendees. Upon request conference attendees will be provided with a “Certificate of Attendance” and a copy of the conference agenda, showing topics, length of sessions, and name(s) and professional affiliation(s) of presenter(s) for each session. Attendees wishing to apply for continuing education credits for attending this conference may submit this documentation to the relevant organization in his/her state when applying for such credits.

CE Credits
International Institute for Business Information & Growth LLC is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.