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Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
1000 Peachtree Street N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30309

February 27, 2025

Speaker Biographies

Brian Bailey is a subject matter expert in the Supervision and Regulation Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He is responsible for providing thought leadership and monitoring emerging trends in commercial real estate (CRE). He provides guidance on CRE's dynamics, valuation, operation, and finance issues. Brian has been actively involved as a lead wholesale reviewer in the annual stress test and capital review conducted on the nation's largest financial institutions. Brian has shared his insights on CRE at numerous venues including the Federal Reserve System, multiple US federal agencies, educational institutions including the Wharton School, industry conferences, and syndicated radio. Brian has extensive experience, spanning both the public and private sectors, with CRE valuation, transaction, development, and financial issues. Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Brian spent 15 years in various real estate industry positions. He was employed by the private equity firm Tavistock Group to oversee real estate finance and acquisitions. Before joining Tavistock, Brian was the director of real estate finance for Flagler Development Group, Florida's largest CRE developer. Brian's experience includes working for Ernst & Young, where he was an executive. Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Brian founded and operated an industrial development company that specialized in the acquisition, development, and refurbishment of industrial properties. Prior to that, Brian got his start in CRE as a local market appraiser. After receiving a bachelor of arts in business administration from Mercer University, Brian earned an MBA degree with concentrations in real estate and finance from the University of Florida. He has also attained the CCIM and CRE designations.

Jessie Bitetti is assistant vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In her current role, she is responsible for the Credit and Risk Management function. She oversees critical central bank operations including discount window lending and collateral management, counterparty risk monitoring, payment system risk management, and reserves administration. Before joining Credit and Risk Management, Jessie was with Federal Reserve Financial Services—Industry Relations, responsible for supporting adoption and growth of the FedNow® service through customer and industry engagement. Jessie joined the FedNow program at its inception in 2019 and led various customer engagement programs, including the pilot program, which was an essential component of the development and historic launch of the Federal Reserve's instant payments service in July 2023. Before the FedNow program, Jessie served as assistant vice president for the Federal Reserve's Retail Payments Office, with customer service and industry relations responsibilities for Check and FedACH services. Jessie holds a bachelor's degree in management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master's degree in business administration from Case Western Reserve University.

Scott Brennan is senior vice president and director of sales at FHLBank. He manages FHLBank Atlanta's sales and marketing teams and directs execution of the corresponding business strategies. Scott leads the bank's resources and strategies related to shareholder business development and outreach. He joined the Bank in 2001 as a relationship manager, providing customized funding solutions to member financial institutions in North Carolina and South Carolina. In 2005, he was promoted to regional sales coordinator with responsibility for more than 250 member financial institutions in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. Prior to joining FHLBank Atlanta, Scott worked for Fleet Boston Financial Corporation in Horsham, Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Franklin and Marshall College.

Adam Carlson is the senior vice president and chief financial officer at PriorityOne Bank, based in Magee, Mississippi. He has been with PriorityOne for eight years, serving the last five in his current position. Prior to joining the bank, he worked for a regional accounting firm specializing in financial institutions in the Southeast. Adam is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Mississippi. He earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Southern Mississippi and also earned a bachelor's degree in finance and MBA from Mississippi State University.

Joe Davidson is senior vice president over the Atlanta Fed's Supervision and Regulation (S&R) Division, where he oversees the Bank's supervision of state member banks, bank and financial holding companies, and US branches and agencies of foreign banking operations. He is a member of the Atlanta Fed's executive leadership committee and serves on the Federal Reserve System's Supervision Committee. Davidson came to the Atlanta Fed in February 2023 from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, where he had served as senior vice president of the Seventh District's S&R Division since 2018. In that role, he reported to S&R's executive vice president and oversaw the division's talent management, finance, business operations and analytics, quality management, conflicts of interest, applications and enforcement, and technology and records management functions. He joined the Federal Reserve in 1999 as a retail payments analyst in Chicago and later served as a compliance and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) examiner and managing examiner. He was promoted to assistant vice president of consumer compliance and CRA in 2010, and then to vice president in 2012. Davidson holds a bachelor's degree in in economics from Kalamazoo College in Michigan.

Cal Evans joined Synovus in 2008 as a commercial real estate consultant and has directed Synovus market intelligence initiatives since 2014. In 2021, he was named senior director of investor relations and market intelligence, responsible for the communication between executive management, Synovus investors, and the general investment community. He is also charged with determining how economic factors influence commercial real estate and commercial/industrial lending. Cal chairs the company's Economic Advisory Council and Economic Forecasting Committee, where he serves as a subject matter expert on commercial real estate and regional economics. He is also a regulatory liaison to the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank on economic and commercial real estate matters. Prior to joining Synovus in 2008, he worked as a commercial real estate appraiser and private consultant in the Athens, Georgia, area. He earned his BBA in economics in 1997 and his MBA in 2005, both from the University of Georgia (UGA). While completing his MBA, Cal taught undergraduate and graduate level finance classes at the Terry College of Business at UGA. In addition to conducting ongoing educational programs for several governmental, real estate, and business enterprises, he is a faculty member at the UGA/GBA Graduate School of Banking and the LSU Graduate School of Banking, where he teaches real estate markets and finance.

Alan Faircloth is an assistant vice president and assistant general counsel in the Atlanta Reserve Bank's Legal Department. Alan serves as counsel to the Bank's Supervision and Regulation Division. His work includes all things related to supervision and regulation for member banks, bank and savings and loan holding companies, Significant Service Providers, and foreign banking entities including, but not limited to, reviewing applications and notices filed with the Bank; providing guidance regarding the interpretation and application of laws, regulations and guidance; assisting with review and response to consumer complaints; assisting with consumer compliance examination and supervision matters; assisting with enforcement matters; and any other topics that involve legal issues or questions. Alan is the administrator of the Legal Department's summer internship program and administrator of the legal week of the Bank's system LEO training and certification program. Prior to joining the Reserve Bank, Alan served as the Regional Enforcement Counsel for the Southeast Region of the Office of Thrift Supervision from 2007 to 2011. In that role, Alan was the primary contact with responsibility for all formal enforcement matters in the Southeast Region and worked with law enforcement agencies in connection with criminal investigations and prosecutions of savings associations and their holding companies, employees and institution affiliated parties of savings associations and their holding companies, and external parties. His work included conducting formal investigations, drafting and negotiating enforcement actions, coordinating productions to federal law enforcement agencies, and litigating enforcement cases before the dedicated Banking Administrative Law Judge. Alan also represented the OTS in various bankruptcy cases before the US Bankruptcy courts. He has degrees in economics and finance from Valdosta State University and a law degree from Georgia State University. He has served as a course instructor for the ABA National and Graduate Schools of Compliance and was a coauthor of the 2009 FFIEC Mortgage Fraud White Paper. Faircloth also is a graduate of the Cannon Trust Schools certified trust compliance professional program and a certified anti-money laundering compliance specialist.

Gordon Fellows serves as president and CEO of the Mississippi Bankers Association (MBA), the state's unified voice for the banking industry. He works closely with MBA officers and board of directors on all governance and membership objectives. He oversees all aspects of the association, including the MBA's policy advocacy and government relations initiatives. In addition to leading the MBA's lobbying efforts at the Mississippi state Capitol and working closely with the Mississippi Congressional Delegation and national banking trade groups to support industry federal lobbying efforts. Active in both state and federal industry affairs, Gordon has served on various committees with American Bankers Association and is a past federal delegate board member of the Independent Community Bankers of America. He currently serves on the board of directors for the ABA's Voter Education Fund and on the ICBA's Bank Operations Committee. At the state level, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Business and Political Education Committee, more commonly known as BIPEC. Gordon also leads the association's various industry education and professional development programs. He serves as secretary of the MBA Education Foundation and in an administrative role at the Mississippi School of Banking held at the University of Mississippi. Additionally, he currently serves as a trustee for the Graduate School of Banking at LSU. Gordon joined the association in 2012 after working in the furniture industry for six years. During his career in the furniture industry, Gordon was based in China on two separate occasions working for different companies. During his time abroad, he managed a broad global supply chain, developed strategic sourcing relationships, and oversaw quality control and product development initiatives. A native of Tupelo, Mississippi, he earned a bachelor's degree in international studies at the Croft Institute at the University of Mississippi in 2006. During his time at Ole Miss, Gordon was elected Associated Student President and selected to the University of Mississippi Hall of Fame.

Hillary Fowler joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in 2012, where she leads the National Programs Team, responsible for the evaluation of credit underwriting, capital and liquidity planning, and stress testing processes of large and complex financial institutions. Prior to joining the Federal Reserve, she worked for several years in the financial services industry in New York at firms including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Bank of America. Hillary graduated from Duke University in 2003 with a bachelor of arts degree in economics and a minor in Spanish.

Michael (Mike) J. Highfield is the provost and executive vice president of Mississippi College. He also serves as an instructor and is the vice president for curriculum at the Graduate School of Banking at LSU. Mike holds a BBA and MBA from Mississippi State University, as well as an MS in economics and a PhD in finance from the University of Kentucky. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst, Certified Treasury Professional, and Chartered Banking Professional designations. Mike began his academic career at Louisiana Tech University before joining the faculty at Mississippi State University, where he served as a professor of finance and department head of finance and economics. Frequently invited to speak on leadership and professional development, Mike is a past president of the American Real Estate Society (ARES) and currently serves on the ARES Foundation Board of Directors. Additionally, he serves on the board of directors for both the Woodward Hines Educational Foundation and the Mississippi Higher Education Assistance Corporation.

Mitika Leblois is a consumer affairs director of examinations in the Supervision and Regulation Division at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. She is currently responsible for oversight of the Sixth District's Large and Regional Financial Institution (LRFI) consumer compliance supervisory portfolio, which consists of firms with assets greater than $10 billion. Prior to her current role, Mitika's oversight responsibilities included consumer complaints, resource scheduling, quality control, and other key consumer compliance business line operations. She joined the Reserve Bank in March 2015, serving as a dedicated resource on complex fair lending and large and regional consumer compliance bank examinations. Prior to the Reserve Bank, Mitika held various consumer compliance oversight roles in the mortgage industry. She currently serves as the chair of the board of directors of the Atlanta-based nonprofit New American Pathways. Mitika is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a bachelor of arts in international affairs and economics.

Brandon Milhorn is president and CEO of CSBS, appointed to that position by the company's board of directors in December 2023. Brandon has nearly three decades of advocacy, policy, legal, and regulatory experience, primarily in and around Washington, DC, including five years in critical senior leadership roles with the FDIC, seven years in the private sector with Raytheon, and more than a decade of public service as staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, general counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, as an attorney at the CIA, and in two prominent court clerkships.

Rajesh Narayanan's academic research focuses broadly on issues related to banking and financial markets. His research has been published articles in leading academic journals including the Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, and Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking. He has delivered lectures to and conducted seminars on various topics for executives and technocrats in Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, India, Malaysia, and South Africa. His interviews and commentary have been featured in national media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, CNN/Money, Bloomberg, and Fortune as well as in regional and local media outlets such the Times-Picayune, The Advocate, Baton Rouge Business Teport, WBRZ-TV, and WWL-Radio.

Peter Noteboom serves US regional and global financial institutions on a range of strategy, performance transformation, and growth topics. He leads McKinsey's mid-cap client service, focused on banks with from $10 billion to $100 billion in assets, and hosts McKinsey's mid-cap bank CEO and CFO roundtables. Peter's recent work includes executing a performance transformation across revenue and cost for a US regional bank, including diagnostic, design, and implementation phases. He led a business banking and commercial growth program for a US regional bank, with analytics-driven lead generation, a disciplined sales war room, and risk management training program. Peter also launched an agile marketing war room focused on relationship-deepening with a US regional bank's customers, targeting doubled penetration, and he developed a five-year enterprise strategy for a US regional bank—including growth plan and portfolio of initiatives across commercial, consumer, wealth, and other business lines—considering industry trends, revenue pools, bank capabilities, and competition. He designed a custom small business credit model that maximized automated approvals using bank and third-party data. Peter publishes insights on banking trends and is a regular speaker at industry events.

Lea Overby is head of US CMBS Research and ABS Research at Barclays. Her team covers agency and nonagency CMBS, as well as US ABS. Throughout her 20-year career, Lea has focused on various aspects of the securitized products market, including senior roles on the sell side, buy side, and at a rating agency. Prior to joining Barclays in 2021, Lea headed CMBS Research at Wells Fargo. Between 2016 and 2018, she oversaw CMBS analytics and research at Morningstar Credit Ratings, after heading CMBS and ABS research at Nomura Securities. Lea holds a master's degree in mathematics and completed coursework towards a PhD in mathematics at Vanderbilt University. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina.

Yashica Pope is the director of examination for the Applications and Enforcement Team in Supervision and Regulation at the Atlanta Fed, which she joined in 2011 after 10 years with the Office of Thrift Supervision, where she worked as a commissioned examiner and applications analyst. Yashica has a bachelor of arts degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from Clark Atlanta University.

Charles E. Potts is executive vice president and chief innovation officer for the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA). In this role, hes drives ICBA's innovation initiatives and financial technology strategies, working with ICBA leadership to develop impactful, value-added solutions that help community banks seize new market opportunities to meet customers' evolving financial services needs. Charles's extensive experience in banking and financial service firms provided the background he needed to start, cofound, or lead various fintech start-ups including digital banking, mobile engagement, financial management, and payments providers. A frequent speaker at national trade shows and conferences, Charles previously served as executive managing director at First Performance Global, where he led international business and corporate development activities for its card-control and fraud alert platform. Before that, he served as CEO for NetClarity, a start-up in the University of Florida's Business Incubation Hub. Prior to ICBA, he worked at the Advanced Technology Development Center, leading the fintech practice where he mentored startups as part of the Georgia Tech-based incubator. Charles attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, performed graduate studies at Georgia State University, and attended the Graduate School of Banking at LSU.

Hernan Pulido joined the Federal Reserve on August 1, 2010. During the 13 years prior to working at the Fed, Hernan worked in several leading positions at several community and international banks in the South Florida area, where he managed portfolio of loans, syndications, and deposits. Working at community and international banks allowed him to be exposed to many areas of lending, including corresponding banking, trade financing, C&I lending, commercial real estate lending, construction lending, and SBA lending. Hernan developed an expertise in underwriting, structuring, and management of commercial relationships. Between 2007 and 2010, Hernan became a workout officer in special assets, where Hernan developed the negotiating and structuring skills to manage troubled loan relationships of several kinds (including construction, commercial real estate, and C&I). Since joining the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Hernan has served across the four supervised bank portfolios, including the most challenging credit and asset quality assignments, serving as examiner in charge or asset manager in the most complex examinations includinging many times of severely troubled institutions, particularly during the Great Recession. Hernan has actively participated in the Shared National Credits program for the last 10 years, reviewing and rating the most complex and large credits in the US banking system. Hernan worked for two years as the co-lead of the Risk Council Affinity Group for the community banking supervision, monitoring and assessing the CBO portfolio's asset quality, capital, and credit risk. In 2023 Hernan was named the co-lead of the CRE Risk Program for the Sixth District, managing and coordinating the specialized supervision program to monitor and examine our CBO portfolio particularly in CRE risk. Hernan obtained a bachelor's degree in finance and international business from FIU in 1998, and a master's degree in finance from FIU in 2002. In addition, Hernan obtained appraisal review certifications from Golden School of Real Estate in 2004 and credit risk certification from the Risk Management Association in 2022. Hernan has participated in system training programs as an instructor for the International Training Program as well as for Atlanta Fed training programs. On an annual basis, Hernan participates as a Federal Reserve ambassador the Center for Financial Training program.

Jywanza Robinson is a lead examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, with more than 20 years of experience. He currently serves as cochair of the Market and Liquidity Risk Coordinators Group of the Federal Reserve System. In this role, he leads a group of market and liquidity risk specialists across the Federal Reserve System as they take actions to promote the highest quality supervision related to market and liquidity risk. Jywanza has participated in examination work related to banks with a broad range of asset sizes and complexity. Throughout his career at the Federal Reserve, he has provided substantial market and liquidity risk expertise, mentorship, and training to others in the Federal Reserve System.

Sherri A. Sackett began her financial career in commercial real estate. As a founding member of Select Bank, she has extensive experience across all areas of banking, having previously served as COO. Sherri's comprehensive background includes commercial lending, retail, and market development. With more than 20 years in the industry, she established two de novo banks by organizing capital raises and obtaining necessary regulatory approvals. Sherri's work in continued efforts to raise capital has been critical in supporting the overall success of Select Bank. She serves on the board of the Virginia Bankers Association and its executive committee, the board of trustees of the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University and serves as vice president of the executive committee, and the board of directors for Select Bank and the Select Bank Financial Corporation. Sherri also manages the PPT Scholarship Foundation. She holds a degree from the University of North Carolina and graduated from the Virginia School of Bank Management at the University of Virginia and the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University.

Danny Santivasci is a consumer affairs director of examinations with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He is currently responsible for oversight of CRA examinations across the Federal Reserve's Sixth District. Previously, Danny led the large and regional financial institution consumer compliance supervisory portfolio, which consists of firms with assets greater than $10 billion. Danny joined the Atlanta Reserve Bank as a consumer compliance examiner in 2011, specializing in CRA examinations for large, complex institutions. Prior to the Federal Reserve, Danny managed various areas of consumer compliance as banker in Miami, Florida. He is a certified regulatory compliance manager and holds an MBA in finance from Nova Southeastern University and a master of science in community development and political science from Illinois State University. Danny also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea, West Africa.

Allen Stanley is a vice president in the Supervision and Regulation Division at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He is the leader of the community and regional bank supervision group. He joined the Atlanta Fed in 1989 and has held positions of increasing responsibility within supervision and regulation. Allen earned a bachelor's degree in industrial management from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA in finance from Georgia State University. He also attended the executive development program at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Chad Tagtow is the senior vice president and chief innovation officer for Citizens Bank and Trust in Polk County, Florida. His areas of responsibility include technology, risk management, and operations. Before joining Citizens Bank and Trust, Chad worked for Raytheon NCS on multiple government projects in the areas of information assurance architectural design, risk management, security testing and evaluation, and security certification and accreditation. He began his career in the information security field developing and implementing network security policy for Boeing Aerospace at Kennedy Space Center in the late 1990s. He holds a bachelor of science degree in computer engineering from the University of Central Florida. He graduated from the Graduate School of Banking at LSU in 2009. He has been an (ISC)2 certified information systems security professional since 2002. He teaches the risk management and cybersecurity course at the Graduate School of Banking at LSU.

Joseph Vall-Llobera has been with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta since 2017 and is a director of examinations, currently serving as deputy specialized examination team lead in the Novel Activities Supervision Program, whose mission is to enhance the supervision of novel activities conducted by banking organizations supervised by the Federal Reserve, including banks' adoption of distributed ledger technology, engagement with crypto markets, and partnerships with nonbank fintech companies. Prior to this role, Joseph served as director of the governance and controls risk team with the Atlanta Fed and examiner at both large and community banks. Joseph holds a bachelor's degree from the College of William & Mary and a master's in business from Georgia Tech.

Cheryl Venable is first vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, a position she assumed on August 1, 2024. She oversees the Bank's day-to-day operations, including all operating and support activities at the corporate headquarters in Atlanta and at the branch offices in Birmingham, Jacksonville, Miami, Nashville, and New Orleans. She also serves as vice chair of the Atlanta Fed's executive leadership committee; a member of the Discount Committee, which reviews District discount window lending; and backup to the Atlanta Fed president in the execution of their monetary policy responsibilities. Venable has spent her entire career with the Fed, having joined the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in 1991 as a management trainee in the Accounting and Payment System Risk Department. She joined the Minneapolis Fed in 1996 and took on roles of increasing responsibility, including senior vice president over FedACH operations and automation. There, she also led the Information Technology Division and served on the Ninth District's management committee. Cheryl joined the Atlanta Fed as Retail Payments Office (RPO) as chief information officer in 2010. She was promoted to senior vice president and RPO product manager and member of the Sixth District's executive leadership committee in 2011. She was promoted to executive vice president in 2016. In 2021, Cheryl was named executive vice president and chief of payments operations for Federal Reserve Financial Services (FRFS). In this role, she led the team responsible for FRFS payments operations, including FedACH, checks, wholesale (Fedwire Funds Service, Securities, and the National Settlement Service), and FedNow. She also chaired the Federal Reserve's Business Technology Council for two and a half years.

Eric J. Wilson has dedicated more than 25 years of service to the Alabama State Banking Department, gaining extensive experience in the examination and supervision of both small community banks and large regional institutions. In 2014, Eric was appointed district supervisor, where he was responsible for overseeing the supervision of more than 40 banking institutions. In this role, he ensured that statutory examination timelines were met and that the department's standards, policies, and procedures were consistently followed. In March 2022, Eric was promoted to community banks division manager, expanding his responsibilities to include oversight of two districts, comprising 87 community banks. His role encompasses managing supervisory programs, contributing to CSBS committees and working groups, developing and implementing personnel policies, advising on budgeting and financial management, and supporting the department in legal and investigative matters. Eric holds a bachelor of science degree in accounting from the University of West Alabama. He is a graduate of the Alabama Banking School, sponsored by the Alabama Bankers Association, and has completed the American Bankers Association's Stonier Graduate School of Banking and the Wharton Leadership Program.