Meet Our Advisors

Geoff Blaisdell is an experienced digital leader and executive with over 30 years working at the intersection of finance and technology, including 20-plus years in Chief Information Officer roles with global, world-class organizations.

Early in his career, Geoff performed many hands-on technical roles, allowing him to develop a strong appreciation and insight into the required disciplines of successful IT organizations. Highlights of his early career include being a key senior architect and developer of the leading portfolio management platform for investment management firms.

With 25 years in senior roles within financial services firms, Geoff has developed expert knowledge in critical business domains including portfolio management, trading, client service, risk management, investment operations, as well as traditional corporate functions.

Over the course of his career, Geoff has designed, developed, and led many large-scale efforts within the technology domains of application development, data, information security, and infrastructure.

Geoff is a recognized change leader and innovator, with significant proven successes deploying digital strategies including agile, data science, business intelligence, citizen enablement, RPA, cloud, and design thinking.

Geoff leverages his business domain expertise and forward-thinking approach to technology to consistently design, develop, and deliver solutions tailored to achieve desired business outcomes.

Geoff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Tom Filarski is a patent trial lawyer and partner at the international law firm of Steptoe & Johnson. For over 30 years Tom has litigated or patented pharmaceutical, chemical, silicon and mechanical technologies.

Tom is routinely recognized by peers such as Managing Intellectual Property, IAM Patent 1000 and Best Lawyers in America in Patent Law.

Tom led the Licensing Executives Society (USA and Canada), an association dedicated to bringing new technology ideas from the laboratory to the consumer; served on the advisory board of the Clean Energy Trust, which helps sustain early stage companies; and held various executive committee and board positions throughout his legal career.

Tom also authored several articles and book chapters related to patent law and technology development.

Tom holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Loyola University of Chicago, an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University and a J.D. from DePaul University School of Law.

COMPANIES

• Steptoe & Johnson

Frank is a retired senior partner from Ernst & Young, LLP (“EY”), where he served in a combination of practice management, operations management, client service, innovation, and internal initiative management roles throughout his 38-year career

Admitted into the partnership in 1994, Frank spent a significant part of his career at EY developing and leading many of EY’s most significant strategic transformational initiatives for the Global and Americas regions. Included in these roles were leading the Global Gross Margin Initiative (a sub-component of EY’s Global Vision 2020 strategy), and chairing the development of both EY’s Global Assurance and Americas Risk strategic plans.

Frank held significant management roles for several practice areas in the U.S. and abroad, including: Senior Partner for the EY Latin America Financial Services Advisory practice (redefined the business strategy and model, and restructured the practice); Americas Chief Operating Officer for the Assurance Practice ($4.5 billion practice with over 15,000 professionals and 1,350 partners); and, Americas Chief Operating Officer for the Assurance and Advisory Business Services Practice ($6.3 billion practice with over 22,000 professionals and 2,100 partners).

Frank is a skilled financial professional who has represented and served a broad range of clients in both audit and non-audit engagements. In combination with his leadership responsibilities at EY, he has served as a Global Client Service (Coordinating) Partner and/or a Senior Advisory Partner for multinational institutions, private equity funds, and high-growth clients in the energy, industrial products, automotive, financial services, and consumer product industries.

Frank’s diverse and broad ranging strategic, transformational, operational, and market leadership responsibilities at EY have provided him with unique insights into global markets, client needs and cultures, and innovation, as well as the experience and understanding of what is required for success in executing broad scale business strategies.

He has led and participated in numerous community activities, including serving as the Audit Committee Chairman for the Hawken School in Gates Mills, OH, and as a Board Member for the March of Dimes in Pittsburgh and the Achievement Center for Children of Cleveland.

Frank holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Duquesne University.

COMPANIES

• Ernst & Young, LLP

Douglas Hunt is a Managing Director at Consilium Partners where he is focused on advising business owners in the Tech Enabled Services sector that are considering exit options to gain liquidity. In addition, Doug provides operational and strategic recommendations to help companies maximize enterprise value in advance of a transaction

Prior to Consilium Partners, Doug was the Global Business leader at IBM Watson where he built a startup inside IBM focused on the transformation of the Education Industry by leveraging Watson Cognitive Capabilities to make personalized learning a reality. In this role, Doug had full P&L responsibilities including strategy, offering management, sales/marketing and delivery of the Watson Education portfolio.

Doug has also held senior leadership GM positions at IBM Software Group, IBM Global Business Services, IBM Consulting, and several other highly notable groups. In his time at IBM, Doug became an IBM Certified Consultant, where he was recognized with six Golden Circle Awards, and two Systems Engineering Symposium Awards.

Doug has his FINRA, 62, SIE, and 79 licenses.

Doug holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Manhattan College.

Dominic Janssens is an accomplished C-Level Executive known for his extensive strategic leadership experience in top tier global asset management companies ranging from $250 billion to $2 trillion in assets under management. He has served on Executive Management teams as a trusted advisor and has led large, diverse and high caliber teams across all major global locations. His experience includes overseeing the governance, administration and operations of fund complexes, including those with assets of over $500 billion, in the US and jurisdictions around the world. Highly regarded for successfully setting strategy and navigating complex change, he provides market leading, client focused and cost effective solutions to drive revenue, increase efficiency and support global growth.

Dominic was most recently the Global Chief Operating Officer of Macquarie Investment Management (MIM) with assets under management of over $250 billion globally, including the Delaware Funds in the US. He served on the Executive Committee, the most senior committee in the firm responsible for the overall business and strategy, and chaired the Global Operating Committee which was responsible for overseeing the firm’s fiduciary and risk management responsibilities, infrastructure strategy and business operations of the firm’s operating companies and fund complexes.

In this senior leadership role, he led the integration of 5 heritage firms with operations around the world which comprise MIM. This included the implementation of a global governance structure, streamlined organization, market leading technology and operating platform and assimilation of fund complexes.

Prior to joining MIM, Dominic led Global Investment and Institutional Client Services for T Rowe Price with over $750 billion in assets under management globally. This included responsibility for operations and technology serving the investment and trading organization, administration and accounting for the firm’s fund complexes globally including the T Rowe Price Funds, and servicing institutional clients globally.

At T Rowe Price, Dominic directly led a global team of over 600 associates and was responsible for implementing a global operating model to support the growth of the business. This included negotiating one of the industry’s largest outsourcing arrangements which generated significant efficiencies for both the operating company and fund complexes.

Prior to T Rowe Price, Dominic held executive leadership roles of increasing responsibility at State Street Global Advisors, Deutsche Bank and other top tier firms. Each of these roles combined strategy, operating and technology platforms and significant transformation to deliver organic and inorganic growth on a global scale.

COMPANIES

• Macquarie Investment Management, Inc.
• T Rowe Price, Inc.
• State Street Global Advisors, Inc.
• Deutsche Asset Management, Inc.
• Cargill, Inc.
• Deutsche Bank AG
• National Westminster Bank plc

Georgette D. Kiser, 53, is an independent advisor who helps lead due diligence and technical strategies across various private equity and venture capital firms. Previously, she was managing director and chief information officer (CIO) at The Carlyle Group, responsible for leading the firm’s global technology and solutions organization and driving IT strategies. She also led teams that provided creative solutions for investment front office, trading, and back-office operations at T. Rowe Price. Prior to T. Rowe Price, she worked for General Electric within their Aerospace Unit.

Ms. Kiser earned a B.S. in Mathematics, with a minor in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park, a M.S. in Mathematics from Villanova University, and an M.B.A from the University of Baltimore.

Ms. Kiser serves on the Board of Directors of Aflac, Jacobs Engineering Group, NCR, and Adtalem Global Education, as well as the Carlyle portfolio company, Claritas.

Ms. Kiser has served on various non-profit boards. Georgette currently serves on the Board for Year Up (National Capital Region). She also serves on the University of MD, College Park School of Computer, Mathematical & Natural Sciences board of Visitors and the Villanova University Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council. Georgette is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Board Leadership Fellow.

Mr. Kneeley is President and CEO of Driehaus Capital Management LLC.

Mr. Kneeley served as CEO of Context Asset Management, which offers liquid alternative investment solutions, and of Spider Management, which provides investment management services to endowments and foundations.

Prior to joining Spider Management, he was the CEO of Ardmore Investment Partners, a consultant to asset management firms on strategic initiatives. Mr. Kneeley was also a senior partner of Logan Circle Partners and the managing director of Brandywine Global Investment Management, a Legg Mason affiliate.

He also is a founder of Turner Investment Partners and served as its President and CEO. While at Turner, Mr. Kneeley was responsible for all non-investment activities of the firm. He began his career with The Travelers Companies.

Mr. Kneeley served on the University of Richmond's Board of Trustees from 2002 through 2010 and as Emeritus Trustee from June 2010 through 2012, and 2014 through the present. He also served on the Board of Spider Management is currently on the Investment Committee of Thomas Jefferson University.

Steve received a B.S. degree in economics and political science from the University of Richmond.

COMPANIES

• Driehaus Capital Management, LLC.
• Context Asset Management
• Spider Management
• Ardmore Investment Partners
• Logan Circle Partners
• Brandywine Global Investment Management
• Turner Investment Partners
• The Travelers Companies

Vercie recently retired as the Head of DST Financial Services where his team was accountable for delivering industry leading FinTech products and business process outsourcing services for approximately 100 million customers of Asset Management, Brokerage, Retirement, and Insurance firms located in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.  Under Vercie’s leadership DST Financial Services revenue grew from $750MM to approximately $1 billion.  He simultaneously focused on expanding operating leverage and client satisfaction. 

Before joining DST Vercie served as the Chief Information Officer of Embarq Corporation, a Fortune 1000 telecommunications company servicing over 5 million U.S. households.  Prior to that he served in several senior IT executive roles at Hewlett Packard and Compaq Computer Corporation.  Vercie holds a bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Wright State University.

Vercie’s mission in retirement is to help low and middle-income Americans increase their wealth and financial security. To support his mission Vercie released his first personal finance self-help book, “Make It Rain,” and conducts free personal finance workshops to help hard-working Americans begin closing the wealth gap.  Vercie is also an Angel Investor backing several early-stage U.S. technology companies.

Vercie currently serves on the boards of Stamus Networks, The Heartland (KCK) Black Chamber of Commerce, Avila University, Kansas City Junior Achievement Foundation, and Wright State University’s Computer Science & Engineering Advisory Council.

Frank Mergenthaler was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of IPG. In his role as CFO, Frank had direct management responsibility for all areas of Global Finance, Information Technology and Investor Relations. In addition to his CFO role, Frank was Chairman of CMG, with operational responsibility for CMG operations, which included the company's public relations, sports and experiential marketing businesses.

Frank joined Interpublic with extensive experience in the media and entertainment industry, having played leadership roles at Columbia House, which was owned by the Blackstone Group, as well as The Seagram Company Ltd., owners of Universal Studios, Universal Music Group, and the Universal Theme Parks. In addition, he spent more than a decade at Price Waterhouse, becoming a partner in the Entertainment and Media practice of the firm in 1996.

From January 2009 to December 2018, Frank was a board member of Express Scripts Holdings (ESRX) and was Chairman of the Audit Committee. ESRX is a full-service pharmacy benefit management and specialty managed care company managing more than a billion prescriptions each year for tens of millions of individuals.

COMPANIES

• Interpublic Group
• CMG
• Columbia House
• Blackstone Group
• The Seagram Company Ltd.
• Universal Studios
• Universal Music Group
• Universal Theme Parks
• Price Waterhouse
• Express Scripts Holdings

Jeff Musgrove has spent his career at the intersection of business strategy, operations, and technology.  As a senior executive, he has a successful track record leading large transformational projects, bringing the vision necessary to effectively grow an organization, ensuring financial strength and operational efficiency. This includes extensive M&A deal team and integration experience, as well as a strong entrepreneurial spirit that has led to the startup and turnaround of multiple businesses- either standalone or within a large organization.

Prior to joining Think, Jeff held multiple senior roles at Broadridge Financial Solutions. Serving as the Chief Administrative Officer of the $1.5 billion Customer Communications unit he was responsible for strategy- and drove the business case to launch a Consulting business for the larger Broadridge Investor Communications segment. While serving as the Managing Partner of that business, Jeff was asked to take over 4 businesses to lead a turnaround effort and a transition to the newly created Broadridge Wealth Management segment. With a focus on strategy and optimization of the operating model, each business experienced vast margin improvements in the fiscal year and developed a product roadmap that drove client retention and new client acquisition. 

As a co-founding partner and Chief Operating Officer of Finix Business Strategies, Jeff was responsible for all aspects of the business while also serving as a Consultant on numerous engagements. After only 22 months of rapid growth, Finix was acquired by DST Systems in 2011. Jeff joined DST as part of the deal and became President of the combined DST Consulting business.  Asked to serve as internal consultant on the strategic review of the DST Customer Communications business that ended with a decision to divest, he then moved back into M&A mode as part of the deal team that led the sale to Broadridge Financial Solutions. Moving to Broadridge as part of the transaction, Jeff led the Integration Management Office (IMO)

Starting his career at Legg Mason, Jeff held multiple senior leadership roles across Operations, Technology, and the Wealth Management unit. He led Legg Mason into the Securities Lending business and expanding the new business offerings to include Prime Brokerage and Clearing.  Handpicked to serve as a deal team member in the large and complex M&A transaction with Citigroup, Jeff assumed ownership of the Transition Services Agreements and led the integration efforts.

Community service is very important to Jeff and he serves on the Board for several Non-Profits focused on children, education and intimate partner violence. As President of the House of Ruth Maryland, Jeff led the Board in support of the purchase of a second building and the Capital Campaign that created the funding. Most recently, Jeff has joined the Board of The Backside Leaning Center at historic Churchill Downs in Louisville where the focus in on enriching the lives of equine workers and their families through education, community and access to resources. He is also an avid owner of thoroughbred horses racing throughout the country.

Jeff and his wife Holly have a daughter who is a Freshman at the University of South Carolina.

Christopher Perry is President of Global Sales, Marketing and Client Solutions at Broadridge Financial Solutions.

As a member of Broadridge’s Executive Committee, Chris oversees all client and market facing activities globally and is responsible for delivering the company’s annual enterprise sales and revenue targets spanning all business units and product lines.

He joined Broadridge in September 2014 after more than 25 years of experience in banking, brokerage and financial information services. Over the previous 14 years, he held numerous general management and commercial roles at Thomson Reuters and its predecessor, Thomson Financial including: Global Managing Director of Risk for the Financial and Risk Division; President of Global Sales and Account Management of the Financial and Risk Division; and President, Americas for Thomson Reuters, and the prior Thomson Financial.

Earlier in his career, Chris worked in institutional trading and retail brokerage. He is also Chairman of BritishAmerican Business, a membership organization that enables trans-Atlantic commerce.

Chris is Secretary of the Board of Directors of The Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey and serves as a member of the Board of Directors for NPower, an organization that provides individuals, veterans opportunities to build tech skills and achieve their potential.

COMPANIES

• Broadridge Financial Solutions
• Thomson Reuters
• Thomson Financial
• BritishAmerican Business
• Make-A-Wish Foundation New Jersey
• NPower

Mr. Rosenfield is the Founder and CEO of The Panther Consulting Group, a firm focusing on real estate acquisition, real estate leasing, and special projects. Panther also provides business consulting and sales and marketing strategies for small to mid-size businesses.

Mr. Rosenfield was the co-founder of Lightning Golf & Promotions in 1990 where as the President and CEO, he led the company to become one of the largest independent promotional products companies in the U.S. In addition to providing a full spectrum of high quality name-brand promotional products to a distinguished customer base, Lightning Golf also implemented marketing and incentive programs for Fortune 500 companies across the country in the financial, healthcare, and wine and spirits markets. The company was sold to InnerWorkings (ticker INWK).

Mr. Rosenfield has a B.S. degree in Political Science and is involved in many charitable endeavors.

COMPANIES

• Lightning Golf & Promotions

Adam Schneider is a Partner in Oliver Wyman’s US Financial Services practice and previously a Principal in Deloitte. He focuses on the intersection of Digital Technology with Financial markets and has consulted in Decentralized Finance, e-commerce, and transformational change at major institutions across areas such as Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, Payments, Settlements, Capital Markets, Transaction Banking, Wealth & Asset Management, and Home Lending.

Adam has assisted firms in a wide range of needs including business start-up, product management, technology/infrastructure implementation, meeting regulatory requirements, and formulating growth strategies. Previously he was head of Technology and Operations at Chancellor Capital (now Invesco) where he was responsible for administration, information technology, operations, fund complex, and client servicing, and prior a technologist at Goldman Sachs. Adam is an industry leader in the LIBOR transition where he is a member of the Federal Reserve’s Alternate Reference Rates Committee and an Advisor to the Bank of Canada. In this role he has assisted a wide range of institutions in determining their transition strategy and then supporting implementation.

Adam has lectured at business schools and industry conferences on a wide range of topics. This has included conferences organized by financial institutions, the Federal Reserve, the Bank for International Settlements, leading academic institutions, and trade groups such as the ABA, AFP, SIFMA, ICI and the BAI. Adam holds a BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Columbia University.

Frank Strauss is a Managing Director in Accenture’s Strategy & Consulting business. Frank entered the consulting field in 2004 after a 20-year career as an Asset Management industry practitioner.

As a management consultant Frank advises the most senior level executives at many of the world’s largest Asset Managers and Global Custodian Banks on topics including strategies for sales of large outsourcing deals, new products, global resourcing/offshoring, and client retention. Frank has led successful the launch of several Asset Management firms and consults on target operating model and service model redesign including technology capabilities and architecture, as well as market assessments and competitive positioning.

Frank is a senior leader in the Asset Management industry with a deep portfolio of C-level relationships and a strong track record of driving growth and change both as an industry practitioner and a management consultant. He possesses deep domain expertise and a diverse skill set covering business strategy, M&A, financial, regulatory, technology, operational, and sales and marketing functions.

As an industry practitioner, Frank held several senior level positions at two Asset Management firms including Chief Financial Officer, Chief, Compliance Officer, Treasurer, and Vice President of Operations.

In 1995 Frank founded the Expect Miracles Foundation (EMF) a leading advocate for the Financial Services industry in the war on cancer. Frank has served as Chairman of EMF since its inception and has raised over $25 million in support of research, patient care, and young adult survivor financial literacy.

Frank holds an MBA from Boston College and a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston University.

COMPANIES

• Accenture
• Beacon Consulting Group
• Capital Growth Management (NATIXIS affiliate)
• Freedom Capital Management (John Hancock affiliate)
• The Boston Company (BNY Mellon)
• State Street