Featured Congressional Speaker

Congressman Patrick McHenry

Ranking Member
House Financial Services Committee

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Congressman Patrick McHenry is serving his ninth term as the representative for North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District which comprises all or parts of eight counties in North Carolina, from the suburbs of Charlotte on Lake Norman to the Piedmont Triad region on the Virginia border.

In the 116th Congress, Congressman McHenry was elected as the Republican Leader of the House Financial Services Committee, a committee he has served on since he was elected to Congress. In the 117th Congress, he continues to serve as Republican Leader advocating for innovative solutions that increase access to banking services and credit for American families and small businesses.

Prior to serving as the Republican Leader, Congressman McHenry served as Vice Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, a position he was appointed to at the beginning of the 114th Congress by then Chairman Jeb Hensarling (TX-05).

In 2015, Congressman McHenry was selected by then House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (LA-01) to be the Chief Deputy Whip. As Chief Deputy Whip, Congressman McHenry directly assisted Majority Whip Scalise by building consensus for the conservative policy agenda of the House Republican Conference. One of his proudest accomplishments as Chief Deputy Whip was the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which helped to fix our nation’s broken tax code and provided much-needed tax relief to American families and businesses.

During the 113th Congress, Congressman McHenry served as Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. In this role, he provided oversight of the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other federal financial regulators. Congressman McHenry was previously a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

In addition to his leadership roles on the Financial Services Committee, Congressman McHenry has successfully passed important legislation into law that helps entrepreneurs and startup investing. In the 114th Congress, Congressman McHenry authored the “RAISE Act” (Reforming Access for Investments in Startup Enterprises), which was signed into law by President Obama, providing the means for startup employees to sell their stock options to private investors.

Additionally, Congressman McHenry authored the primary legislation to legalize equity-based crowdfunding in the United States. The crowdfunding language he first authored in 2011 was eventually included in the JOBS Act which President Obama signed into law in April 2012. In recognition of his work supporting crowdfunding, Congressman McHenry was presented with the 2013 “Crowdfunding Visionary Award” by the Global Crowdfunding Convention. Congressman McHenry was also awarded the Crowdfunding Leadership Award by the University of California at Berkeley Fung Institute’s Program for Innovation in Entrepreneurial Finance in 2013.

Congressman McHenry’s interest in crowdfunding and capital formation more broadly developed as a child, when his father attempted to grow a small business but struggled for financing. It was this experience—and the lack of small business financing in rural western North Carolina—that drove Congressman McHenry to become a leader on crowdfunding, capital formation, and other forms of disruptive finance. Recently this has expanded to encompass fintech as he works with industry leaders to discover innovative ways to combine finance and technology with the goal of expanding access to capital for America’s entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Throughout his career, Congressman McHenry has been a vocal and effective advocate for the men and women who wear the uniform of our country. He received awards from the North Carolina Chapters of the American Legion and Marine Corps League for his extensive work in bringing a veterans’ health care clinic to his district after nearly two decades of delay. The National Guard presented Patrick McHenry with the Charles Dick Medal of Merit for his exceptional service to the North Carolina National Guard.
Congressman McHenry has been recognized as a leader of the conservative movement in America. Having never voted for a tax increase in his career, Congressman McHenry is continually recognized as a “Hero of the Taxpayer” by Americans for Tax Reform.

Congressman McHenry is the recipient of several additional awards including: the National Association of Manufacturing’s “Manufacturing Legislative Excellence” Award, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council’s “Small Business Champion” Award, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “Spirit of Enterprise” Award, the 60 Plus Association’s “Guardian of Seniors’ Rights” Award, the Family Research Council’s “True Blue” Award, and Citizens Against Government Waste’s “Taxpayer Hero” Award. In 2009 he was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the “40 Under 40,” a list of rising stars in American politics.

Most importantly, Congressman McHenry continues to listen to the voters of the 10th District and act as their voice in Washington. His main focus is to provide the highest level of constituent services at home in western North Carolina.

Prior to being elected to Congress in 2004 at the age of 29, Congressman McHenry represented the 109th District in the North Carolina House of Representatives. He also served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, a post he was appointed to by President George W. Bush.

Congressman McHenry is a graduate of Ashbrook High School in Gastonia, N.C. and Belmont Abbey College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in History. Congressman McHenry and his wife Giulia live in Denver, N.C. and worship at Holy Spirit Church. They are the parents of two daughters, Cecelia Rose and Therese Anne (who goes by Rese).

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Additional Congressional Speakers

Congressman Andy Barr

Member
House Financial Services Committee

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Andy Barr has served as the U.S. Congressman for Kentucky’s Sixth Congressional District since January of 2013. Congressman Barr is a senior Member of the House Financial Services Committee and is Ranking Member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. In the 117th Congress, Congressman Barr also began serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and serves on the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia and Nonproliferation.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congressman Barr has fought to deliver resources to frontline healthcare heroes, small businesses, workers and families throughout Kentucky. Congressman Barr helped craft and supported five bipartisan COVID-19 relief packages. An early supporter of Operation Warp Speed (OWS), Congressman Barr voted for $10 billion in funding for OWS, which led to the development of multiple safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines in less than a year. Congressman Barr also voted for $48 billion for vaccine distribution in schools, small businesses and healthcare providers shortly after COVID-19 vaccines were approved for emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December of 2020. 

Additionally, Congressman Barr helped devise the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which delivered over $1 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses and kept paychecks flowing to thousands of workers and their families in the Sixth District.

In response to the outbreak of the pandemic, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) created the House China Task Force (CTF). CTF was established to examine the origins of the pandemic and provide policy recommendations to better position the U.S. against the emerging military, economic, political and technological threat posted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Congressman Barr was selected by Leader McCarthy to help lead the CTF, Co-Chairing the Subgroup on Competitiveness and the Subgroup on Economics and Energy.

CTF issued its final report and recommendations on September 30, 2020, which included five bills introduced by Congressman Barr ranging from protecting COVID-19 vaccine research from CCP hackers to enhancing coal mining permits to support the mining of rare-earth elements used to produce military weaponry such as the F-35 fighter aircraft. Congressman Barr’s work on the CTF was instrumental in his selection to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee during the 117th Congress.

Throughout his time in Congress, Congressman Barr has been a staunch advocate for veterans. In the 116th Congress, Congressman Barr served on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. In 2019, he introduced and helped enact into law amendments to the Edith Nourse Rogers Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Scholarship as part of the Forever GI Bill. These amendments lowered the credit hour requirement in the scholarship that made it more accessible to student veterans across the country. Congressman Barr also worked to address the crisis of veteran suicide, successfully expanding equine assisted therapy (EAT) as an innovative treatment for veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other invisible wounds of war. Barr’s efforts culminated in historic EAT provisions being included in the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act.

Despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic in meeting with constituents face-to-face, Congressman Barr remains committed to his Accessibility Initiative. Congressman Barr created several constituent coalitions focused on finding solutions that will help Kentucky’s veterans, signature industries, and combat the ongoing drug epidemic. In 2020, a meeting with the Sixth District Veterans Coalition led to Congressman Barr authoring the Veterans Benefits Fairness and Transparency Act of 2020, which protects veterans applying for VA disability during the pandemic. This law, inspired by a local Kentucky veteran, was introduced, passed, and signed into law by President Donald Trump all within a calendar year.

Congressman Barr is also focused on strengthening Kentucky’s signature bourbon, equine, coal, agriculture and manufacturing industries, and serves as co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Horse and Bourbon Caucus’. In 2020, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, led by Congressman Barr was signed into law by President Trump. This represented the most transformational and consequential reform of the thoroughbred horseracing industry since enactment of the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 and solidifies the industry for decades to come. Congressman Barr also secured the passage of legislation that made permanent the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA) in December of 2020, which was set to expire at year-end. This legislation lowers the Federal Excise Tax (FET) rates for distillers and includes Congressman Barr’s  AGED Distilled Spirits Act (ADSA), which is a huge boost for the Kentucky bourbon industry.

Congressman Barr graduated from Lexington’s Henry Clay High School in 1992, earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and Philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1996, and received his law degree from the University of Kentucky in 2001.

Additionally, Congressman Barr is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Lexington and has served on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden and President of Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky.

He and his late wife, Carol, have two daughters, Eleanor and Mary Clay.

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Congressman Bill Foster

Member
House Financial Services Committee

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Congressman Bill Foster is a scientist and businessman representing the 11th Congressional District of Illinois, a position he’s held since 2013. He also represented the 14th Congressional District of Illinois from 2008 to 2011. He is the only PhD physicist in Congress.

Congressman Foster serves on the House Financial Services Committee where he advocates for consumer protections and an economy that works for everyone. In response to the Great Recession, he helped create several important reforms in the financial services and housing markets, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Congressman Foster serves as chairman of the Financial Services Committee’s Task Force on Artificial Intelligence. 

He also serves on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee where he has fought for evidence-based policies and forward-thinking approaches to some of our country’s most pressing issues, including climate change and energy innovation. He is a champion for sustained federal funding for scientific research.

Congressman Foster serves as the chairman of the Science Commitee’s Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee, which is empowered to investigative and oversee federal scientific research.

In the wake of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, Congressman Foster was named to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus. The Select Subcommittee is charged with examining the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, including the use of taxpayer funds to mitigate the public health and economic consequences of the pandemic.

Congressman Foster’s business career began at age 19 when he and his younger brother co-founded Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc., a company that now manufactures over half of the theater lighting equipment in the United States.

Before he became a Member of Congress, Congressman Foster worked as a high-energy physicist and particle accelerator designer at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). He was a member of the team that discovered the top quark, the heaviest known form of matter. He also led the teams that designed and built several scientific facilities and detectors still in use today, including the Antiproton Recycler Ring, the latest of Fermilab’s giant particle accelerators.

Congressman Foster lives in Naperville with his wife Aesook, who is also a physicist. Bill has two grown children, Billy and Christine. Bill’s father was a civil rights lawyer who wrote much of the enforcement language behind the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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Congressman Josh Gottheimer

Member
House Financial Services Committee

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Josh Gottheimer represents New Jersey’s Fifth Congressional District in the northernmost part of the state, which includes parts of Bergen, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren counties. He was sworn in on January 3, 2017.

In Congress, Josh serves on two Committees — the House Financial Services Committee, where he is a member of the National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy Subcommittee and the Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets Subcommittee. He also serves on the House Homeland Security Committee, where he is a member of the Intelligence and Counterterrorism Subcommittee and the Transportation and Maritime Security Subcommittee.

In February 2017, Josh was elected Co-Chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, where he works to bring the group of 24 Democrats and 24 Republicans together across party lines to find areas of agreement on key issues including lowering taxes, cutting burdensome and unnecessary regulation, lowering health insurance premiums, and improving infrastructure to help the American people.

In March 2017, just months after being sworn in, Josh passed his first amendment in the House, which was later signed into law, to accelerate the hiring of post-9/11 veterans at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In April 2018, Josh’s bipartisan FRA Safety Data Improvement Act passed the House by a unanimous vote. The Act brings consistency and the power of big data to help improve rail safety in North Jersey and across the country.

Josh is committed to lowering taxes and getting Fifth District residents a better return on the tax dollars they already send to Washington. Working with Fifth District mayors, councils, first responders, and towns, Josh has helped the Fifth District claw back $290 from Washington for every household in the Fifth District—a 16% increase from what the District has historically received. These dollars help first responders protect the community while offsetting the strain on local budgets and property tax bills.

For his support for pro-growth policies in Congress, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce awarded Josh its Spirit of Enterprise Award. For his consistent work on both sides of the aisle and as Co-Chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, Josh was recognized as the most bipartisan Democratic freshman Member of Congress by the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University.

Josh was raised in North Caldwell, the son of a preschool teacher and a small business owner. Growing up, Josh worked in his father’s store and, like your average New Jersey kid, treasured summer vacations at the Jersey Shore. His first concert was at the Meadowlands to see the one and only Bruce Springsteen!

Josh graduated from West Essex High School before attending the University of Pennsylvania, later becoming a Thouron Fellow at Oxford, and then paid his way through Harvard Law School.

After finishing college, Josh went on to work in the Clinton White House as one of the youngest presidential speechwriters in history. Josh wrote speeches on topics ranging from the global economy to technology and innovation to combating crime; he also helped draft two State of the Union Addresses.

After leaving the White House, Josh worked at the Ford Motor Company, where he helped rebuild the iconic auto company’s image and worked on the first American hybrid. Josh was also a Senior Advisor to the Chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and published the book Ripples of Hope: Great American Civil Rights Speeches.

Josh later served as Senior Counselor to the Chairman at the Federal Communications Commission. During his tenure, he was the first Director of Office of Public-Private Initiatives, partnering with private companies to break through roadblocks and solve national problems. These partnerships saved taxpayers money while helping law enforcement, boosting digital education, and creating jobs. Josh worked on cybersecurity, broadband adoption, combating cell phone theft, creating a new public safety emergency alert system, and expanding wireless spectrum. Josh used that experience to help create a nonprofit, JerseyOn, that has expanded access to high-speed internet for low-income New Jersey students to help them compete in the 21st Century economy.

Before running for Congress, Josh worked at Microsoft as General Manager for Corporate Strategy, where focused on the company’s expansion into the cloud, e-commerce, and privacy. He was also a member of both the Ridgewood and New Jersey Chambers of Commerce, the Rutgers Business School Advisory Board, and was a visiting fellow at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology. He also taught history at the University of Pennsylvania.

Josh’s approach to public service is rooted in his experience in both the public and private sectors. During his time working with President Clinton, Senator Frank Lautenberg, and Speaker Thomas Foley, he saw that, by seeking common ground, it’s possible to find a bipartisan path forward without compromising your core values. Josh firmly believes that it doesn’t matter if an idea comes from the Democratic or Republican side of the aisle, only whether it will help the communities and people of the Fifth District.

Josh now lives in Wyckoff, New Jersey with Marla, his wife who was a federal prosecutor, and their two young children, Ellie and Ben.

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Congressman French Hill

Member
House Financial Services Committee

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A ninth generation Arkansan, French Hill is the 22nd Member of Congress to represent central Arkansas in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected on November 4, 2014, and began his first congressional term in the 114th Congress on January 3, 2015. He won reelection to serve in the 115th and 116th sessions of Congress.

He is a member of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services where he serves as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy. Rep. Hill serves alongside Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Congresswoman Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), and Bharat Ramamurti on the Congressional Oversight Commission established by the CARES Act. In 2019, Rep. Hill was selected to be a member of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Republican House Whip Team.

Prior to his congressional service, Rep. Hill was actively engaged in the Arkansas business community for two decades as a commercial banker and investment manager. He was founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Delta Trust & Banking Corp., which was headquartered in Little Rock and recently merged with Arkansas-based Simmons First National Corp.

Prior to his community banking work in Arkansas, Rep. Hill served as a senior official in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. From 1989 until 1991, Rep. Hill served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Corporate Finance, where one of his key assignments was representing the United States as a negotiator in the historic bilateral talks with Japan known as the Structural Impediments Initiative (SII).

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Rep. Hill led the design of U.S. technical assistance to the emerging economies of eastern and central Europe in the areas of banking and securities. In 1991, at the age of 34, President Bush appointed Mr. Hill to be Executive Secretary to the President’s Economic Policy Council (EPC), where he coordinated all White House economic policy. For his leadership and service at the Treasury and the White House, Rep. Hill was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas Brady in January 1993. Prior to his Executive Branch Service, from 1982 until 1984, Rep. Hill served on the staff of then-U.S. Senator John Tower (R-TX) as well as on the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs.

Throughout his career, Rep. Hill has been active in civic affairs. He is a past president of the Rotary Club of Little Rock and served as the 2013 chairman of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce.

He has received numerous awards and recognition for his long-time support of the Boy Scouts of America, the arts and humanities, tourism, and historic preservation in Arkansas. He is an avid outdoorsman, boy scout, and spends recreational time outside hiking, fishing, and more.

Rep. Hill is a magna cum laude graduate in Economics from Vanderbilt University. He is married to the former Martha McKenzie of Dallas, Texas, and they have a daughter and a son. The Hill family resides in Little Rock.

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Congressman Jim Himes

Member
House Financial Services Committee

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Jim Himes represents Connecticut’s 4th District in the United States House of Representatives where he is serving his seventh term. He serves as the Chair of the National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee.

Congressman Himes grew up as the child of a single working mom in a small town. As a member of Congress, Jim works hard to provide all American children the same opportunities he had to succeed: access to a first-rate public school, affordable and effective health care, a decent and safe home, and a supportive community.

Born in Lima, Peru in 1966 to American parents, he spent the early years of his childhood in Peru and Colombia while his father worked for the Ford Foundation and UNICEF. As an American abroad, he grew up fluent in both Spanish and English and was raised with an awareness of the unique position of the United States in the world. At the age of ten, he moved with his mother and sisters to the United States.

Congressman Himes graduated from Hopewell Valley Central High School and then attended Harvard University. After completing his undergraduate work, he earned a Rhodes Scholarship, which enabled him to attend Oxford University in England where he continued his studies of Latin America, including research in El Salvador.

Prior to his service in Congress, Congressman Himes ran the New York City branch of The Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the unique challenges of urban poverty. His team led the way in financing the construction of thousands of affordable housing units in the greater New York metropolitan region, often using new green technologies to achieve energy efficiency and reduce utility costs.

Congressman Himes’ experience at Enterprise spurred his involvement in politics. Putting his expertise in affordable housing to work, he served as a Commissioner of the Greenwich Housing Authority, ultimately chairing the board and leading it through a much-needed program of reforms. He went on to become an elected member of his town’s finance board, setting tax and budget policy for Greenwich. He has also served as Chair of his local Democratic Town Committee, organizing others in the community to become more active in the political process.

Congressman Himes began his professional career at Goldman Sachs & Co. where he worked his way up to Vice President over the course of a 12-year career. There he worked extensively in Latin America and headed the bank’s telecommunications technology group.

He lives in Greenwich with his wife Mary (and not frequent enough visits from his daughters Emma and Linley).

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STA Women in Finance Keynote

Jennifer Willey

Founder & CEO
Wet Cement

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Jennifer Willey is Founder and CEO of Wet Cement. Ms. Willey founded Wet Cement to help unlock fearlessness to unleash growth for individuals and organizations around the world. Their approach is informed by proprietary research, led by behavioral scientists from Wharton, to understand what fears hold people back professionally, and how that differs by gender. These findings are coupled with a comprehensive analysis of academic literature over the past 50 years.

What truly differentiates their training, coaching and consulting programs is Ms. Willey’s unique experience, which informs all of their curriculum and methods.  She has more than 20+ years of experience leading strategy, sales and marketing for innovative tech and digital media companies, including Verizon Media/AOL, WebMD, Yahoo, The Trade Desk and PWC. Before that, she learned a thing or two about overcoming fear and compelling communication as a TV news anchor and reporter.  And she started motivating others to achieve their goals, as a certified fitness instructor for 15 years.

Ms. Willey is committed to advancing inclusivity and gender equity. She has a B.S. in Communications from Cornell University, and earned her Diversity & Inclusion Certification in 2019.  She built in-house Women’s Leadership initiatives and championed ground-breaking programming while serving on the Boards of industry associations and extensive volunteer work devoted to Women’s Advancement, including the Alliance for Women in Media, NJ Covenant House Women Unite, Impact 100 Jersey Coast, Working for Women and SheCovery.

Ms. Willey lives in New Jersey with her husband and is the proud mom of two teenage boys and a Cavapoo.

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Additional Speakers

Derrick Chan

Head of Equities, Fidelity Capital Markets
Fidelity Investments

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Andrew D’Amore

Broker-Dealer Sales
Virtu Financial

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Andrew D’Amore has more than 20 years of industry experience in equity trading and sales. He currently works for Virtu, Broker-Dealer Sales, tasked with managing multiple retail equity relationships. Mr. D’Amore has been involved with Security Traders Association of Chicago (STAC) for more than 15 years, serving in various capacities including President in 2014. One of his main priorities in 2014 for the STAC Board and was to increase charitable giving. This will also be a main focus area in 2021 for the Security Traders Association team. Mr. D’Amore holds a Bachelor of Science in International Business from St. Joseph’s College and a Masters of Business Administration from Keller Graduate School of Management.

Away from work, Mr. D’Amore enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, golf and baseball. He resides in Gurnee, IL with his wife and three children.

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Angelo Evangelou

Senior Vice President, Chief Policy Officer
Cboe Global Markets

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Angelo Evangelou is Senior Vice President, Chief Policy Officer for Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe).

In this role, Mr. Evangelou leads the company’s Market Policy and Government Affairs group. His focus includes formulating policy positions on matters impacting Cboe, as well as advocating for Cboe to legislators, regulators and other policymakers.

Mr. Evangelou joined Cboe in 1999 as an attorney. He was later promoted to Deputy General Counsel and assisted in overseeing Cboe’s legal division. Mr. Evangelou took on his current role in 2017 and has since helped Cboe define markets by making its voice heard on major issues affecting the industry and markets. Mr. Evangelou has also led Cboe’s increased Environmental Social Governance efforts and has helped Cboe develop a more robust charitable giving program.

Mr. Evangelou holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from Boston University. He is licensed to practice law and sits on the board of Cboe Europe.

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Jim Hall

Executive Director, Government Relations
OCC

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Jim Hall is the Executive Director of Government Relations at the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). Joining OCC in 2014, Mr. Hall educates Capitol Hill policymakers and their staff on market infrastructure, risk management and clearing issues pertaining to the U.S. listed equity options markets. In this role, Mr. Hall also manages the U.S. Securities Markets Coalition, which monitors and analyzes legislative and regulatory developments in Washington that impact the U.S. options industry. Prior to his time at OCC, he was a 14-year veteran of Capitol Hill, working on a variety of policy and regulatory issues, most recently for former U.S. Representative Stephen Fincher of Tennessee, who served on the House Financial Services Committee. In 2012, Jim played a significant role in the passage of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, which established a new category of issuer known as “emerging growth companies” and made it easier for startup companies to raise capital. Mr. Hall is the recipient of the 2012 National Law Journal/Legal Times Hill Hot List of Top 15 Lawyers on the Hill. Mr. Hall received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bucknell University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois Chicago – John Marshall Law School.

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Hope Jarkowski

Head of Equities
New York Stock Exchange

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Hope Jarkowski is the Head of Equities for the New York Stock Exchange. In this role, she is responsible for market structure strategy, product development and relationship management across NYSE’s five equity exchanges, the TRF, Global OTC and NYSE Bonds. Before assuming her current role in December 2020, Ms. Jarkowski was the Co-Head of Government Affairs for ICE, leading ICE’s government affairs matters before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Treasury, and Capitol Hill. Prior to joining ICE in 2016, Ms. Jarkowski was senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee and advisor to Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) on matters related to securities and derivatives policy. She also served as counsel to SEC Commissioner Troy Paredes and in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission where she provided advice on federal securities law and policy issues across SEC Divisions and Offices with a specific focus on Trading and Markets matters. Ms. Jarkowski practiced securities law at a Fortune 100 law firm prior her time in government service. 

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Jonathan Kellner

Chief Executive Officer
Members Exchange

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Jonathan Kellner joined Members Exchange (MEMX) in February 2019 as CEO and the company’s first employee with responsibilities for strategic vision, management and execution. Under his leadership, the company has grown to 50 people, received SEC approval to operate a U.S. equity exchange and, while working remotely, developed a simple, transparent and efficient market model with a goal of serving all investors. MEMX has raised more than $135 million since inception from a diverse and influential group of sell-side, buyside, retail and independent market participants.

Before joining MEMX, Mr. Kellner was CEO at Instinet Inc., leading a global team of 800 people for nearly five years at the institutional agency-only broker and independent equity trading arm owned by Nomura Holdings. He previously served as President for more than six years. Mr. Kellner spent a total of 15 years under the Nomura umbrella, including four years as Head of U.S. Sales Trading at the parent firm before moving to Instinet.

Previously, he held technology and equity trading roles at global financial services firms such as Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley.

An avid sports fan and basketball player, Mr. Kellner holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.

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Manisha Kimmel

Chief Policy Officer
MayStreet

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Manisha Kimmel is Chief Policy Officer for MayStreet. Ms. Kimmel is responsible for leading MayStreet’s regulatory policy efforts, leveraging her deep relationships within target markets including regulators and financial institutions to do so. She joined MayStreet from the SEC where she served as Senior Policy Advisor to the SEC Chair coordinating the SEC’s oversight of the self-regulatory organizations’ (SROs) creation and implementation of the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT). Prior to the SEC, Ms. Kimmel served as Head of Regulatory and Compliance, Wealth Management, at Refinitiv. While at Refinitiv she also served on the CAT NMS Advisory Committee and as a member of the SEC’s Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee (EMSAC). Prior to her time at Refinitiv, Ms. Kimmel served as Managing Director of the Financial Information Forum, where she worked with broker dealers, exchanges, and vendors on issues involving regulatory and market data technology issues. She has also held positions at Jordan & Jordan and Automatic Data Processing. 

Ms. Kimmel holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Engineering from Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

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Todd Lard

Managing Director
Charles Schwab & Co.

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Todd Lard has 28 years of retail brokerage experience joining Charles Schwab & Co. in 1993. As Managing Director of Trading Operations for Charles Schwab & Co., Mr. Lard has responsibilities for aspects of order routing, execution quality, regulatory trade reporting, and market structure issues for equity, options, and futures trading. He has been instrumental in the development of multiple aspects of Schwab’s trading experience. Mr. Lard has been a member of the STA Retail Advisory Committee since its inception, serving as Chair for 2019 and 2020. 

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Mahlet Makonnen

Government Affairs Specialist
Williams & Jensen

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Mahlet Makonnen is a Government Affairs Specialist at Williams & Jensen. She is an attorney with public and private sector experience in financial services, privacy, and cybersecurity issues.

Previously, Ms. Makonnen worked as Regulatory Affairs Counsel for the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) advocating on various regulatory developments from federal agencies, including the National Credit Union Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Federal Communications Commission. She advised financial institutions on a variety of regulatory and compliance issues as a NAFCU Certified Compliance Officer. In addition to her regulatory role, she drafted data privacy principles for federal legislation on behalf of credit unions. In the public sector, Ms. Makonnen served as an Attorney Advisor with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Ms. Makonnen has published extensively on privacy, technology, and international law issues. She received her B.A. from Syracuse University and her J.D. from College of William & Mary.

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Kate McAllister

Analytical Sales Professional
Global Liquidity Partners

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Kate McAllister is in Business Development at Global Liquidity Partners, a technology company focusing on equity electronic execution services. Ms. McAllister has more than 20 years of industry experience in equity trading and sales, including previous work at Virtu Financial (ITG), Citigroup and Merrill Lynch. Ms. McAllister has been involved with STANY and SFSTA for much of her career, and currently serves as Co-Chair of the STA Women in Finance committee.

Ms. McAllister currently holds the FINRA Series 7, 24, 55, and 63 and a BS in finance from The Charles F Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University. She resides in Little Silver, NJ with her husband and three children.

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Joe Mecane

Head of Execution Services
Citadel Securities

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Joseph Mecane is Head of Execution Services at Citadel Securities. In this role, he is responsible for the firm’s client-facing equity, options, FX, and ETF businesses.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Mecane was Global Head of Electronic Equities at Barclays. Previously, he worked for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for six years, most recently serving as the Head of U.S. Equities. His earlier career included roles at UBS Securities, Schwab Capital Markets, Knight Capital Group and Price Waterhouse.

Mr. Mecane is involved with numerous industry organizations, currently serving as Chairman of the Nasdaq Quality of Markets Committee and serving on the FINRA Board of Governors and the Board of Trustees for the Museum of American Finance. He is also a member of the National Organization of Investment Professionals and the SIFMA Advisory Council. He was previously a member of the SEC’s Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee and a member of the Nasdaq Exchange Board and BATS Exchange Board.

Mr. Mecane received an MBA, with honors, from the Wharton school of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from Pace University.

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Kimberly Russell

Vice President, ETF Capital Markets
State Street Global Advisors

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Kimberly Russell is a Vice President and Market Structure Specialist in the ETF Capital Markets Group at State Street Global Advisors. Based in New York, she is responsible for business development with exchanges, evaluating market structure and regulatory developments, and providing analysis on aspects of equity market structure that impact ETF liquidity.

Prior to joining State Street, Ms. Russell was a Director at Barclays Capital Inc., where she held various roles in the Equities division from 2008-2017. Ms. Russell started her career at Lehman Brothers as an investment banking intern in the Global Real Estate Group.

Ms. Russell holds a BA with Honors from Cornell University. She is a member of the Security Traders Association’s Market Structure Analyst Committee, Nasdaq’s Institutional Traders Advisory Council (ITAC), and Limit Up-Limit Down Advisory Committee. Outside of the securities industry, she serves as an officer of the Cornell Rowing Association’s Board of Trustees.

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Ronan Ryan

President and Co-Founder
IEX Group

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Ronan Ryan is President and Co-Founder of IEX Group. Mr. Ryan is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of IEX Exchange, including building and strengthening relationships with broker-dealer Members, institutional investors, and other external stakeholders.

Prior to co-founding IEX, Mr. Ryan was the Head of Electronic Trading Strategy at RBC Capital Markets where he used his prior experience in network, hardware, and co-location technology to build client-facing solutions. Mr. Ryan was also the Head of Financial Services Development at Switch and Data, and Head of DMA and Co-location solutions at BT Radianz, a leading network solutions provider. He is the co-host of IEX’s Boxes and Lines podcast, which unpacks topics related to financial market structure, policy, technology and emerging trends in the world of trading.

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Jim Toes

President & CEO
Security Traders Association

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Jim Toes is President and CEO of the Security Traders Association (STA), a grassroots trade organization which serves individuals employed in the financial services industry.

In his role, Mr. Toes maintains STA’s relationship with U.S. regulators and congressional policymakers. Since assuming his role in 2011, STA has written more than fifty (50) comment letters on a wide range of issues under the regulatory oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; Department of Treasury; Commodities and Futures Trading Commission; FINRA; and the Senate and House Financial Services Committees.

In addition, Mr. Toes has penned close to 100 articles on current events and human interest stories under STA’s Monthly Newsletter; Taking Stock and Lighthouse columns. Using a combination of data; personal experiences and humor, these articles resonate well with individual members and align with one of STA’s core principles, the relationship matters.

Mr. Toes has over 30 years’ experience in the securities business. Prior to joining STA, Mr. Toes was a Managing Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch for 18 years where he held various management positions in equity and options sales, trading and clearing while interacting with a broad range of clients that included – institutional and middle market asset managers; broker-dealers; and retail investors. Over the course of his career, Mr. Toes has served on various best execution and market structure committees and has testified before Congress. He was particularly active in the STA’s successful work on Section 31a fees.

Besides possessing a knowledge of market structure and the business models deployed across the industry, as a past President of the Security Traders Association of New York and a former Governor and Secretary of STA Mr. Toes brings has an understanding of the STA organization and the vital role its 24 Affiliate organizations in North America play in the success and mission of the Association.

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Joe Wald

Managing Director, Co-Head of Electronic Trading
BMO Capital Markets

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Joe Wald is responsible for BMO’s Electronic Trading vision and strategic direction. He identifies and executes on growth opportunities and shares responsibility for the overall growth and success of the electronic division. He has a proven track record, years of industry experience, thought leadership, and public speaking. Prior to the sale of Clearpool Group to BMO Capital Markets, Mr. Wald was the CEO and Co-Founder. He was executive vice president at GAIN Capital where he ran GTX, the institutional electronic FX trading business. Before Gain, he was managing director and head of Knight Direct, Knight Capital Group’s institutional electronic trade execution business. Before Knight Capital, he was CEO and co-founder of EdgeTrade Inc., the pioneer developer of agency-only, liquidity seeking algorithms and direct market access technologies for the U.S. equities market. EdgeTrade was sold to Knight Capital Group in 2008.  Mr. Wald holds a B.S. in Business, Management and Finance from Brooklyn College.

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