Jason is recognized as an innovator in financial services, creating new business models, and using technology to drive change.He has experience as a founder, venture capitalist, enterprise executive, board member, trusted advisor, and startup mentor.
He is a frequent speaker on the intersection of regulation and innovation; leadership in times of change; and the future of fintech. He is also a host of Breaking Banks, the number #1 global fintech radio show and podcast, as well as his own podcast, Fintech5, on Provoke.fm.
Jason co-founded one of the world’s first neo-banks (PerkStreet Financial), paving the way for a new breed of digital-only banks and partnerships between incumbent financial institutions and startups. Jason was previously the head of innovation for First Marblehead where he spearheaded the move beyond lending, launched new products and integrated innovative technologies including the first moves into social media.
He is also the creator of FinTEx.org, a not-for-profit expanding the Midwestern fintech cluster, and a global investor & advisor in fintech. He began his Engineering studies at the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated with an A.B. in Engineering & Material Sciences from Harvard.
JP has been internationally recognized as a leading voice for innovation, strategy and leadership, and his work has been featured in some of the industry’s top publications and conferences across the country and around the world.
He is a trusted advisor to companies from startups to the Fortune 500, a popular writer and speaker, and is often quoted in the media. He is the creator and a top-rated instructor for a groundbreaking program on fintech and innovation at leading graduate schools of banking. He is also a host of Breaking Banks, the number #1 global fintech radio show and podcast on Provoke.fm.
JP held a number of key leadership roles at U.S. Bank during a 20 year period of rapid growth from $750M to $60B in market capitalization, most recently serving as Chief Private Banking Officer. He held management roles at Key Bank and PNC prior to that. He was also the creator of the Bank Innovators Council, which later became a part of Next Money, the global community for design, innovation, and entrepreneurship in financial services.
He holds a B.A. from the University of Akron, and an M.B.A. from Cleveland State University, where he conducted his research project at Buckinghamshire College in High Wycombe, England. He also completed the Leadership Excellence executive program at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Business, and is a graduate of the Cannon Financial Institute and the College for Financial Planning.
Amber loves translating complex subject matter into actionable insights. She believes deeply in the power of listening, and finds joy in asking questions that help others reframe their thinking.
Amber has expertise in creating and managing programs. Prior to joining Alloy Labs, she developed the FinXTech Connect platform and awards program for Bank Director. There, she interviewed banks and technology companies to write in-depth editorial profiles on over 300 fintechs, a series of articles on Innovative Banks, feature stories for Bank Director magazine and research reports. She also facilitated peer exchanges for bank leaders and moderated panels at the company’s conferences.
Previously, Amber served as the program director for the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville. There, she managed all aspects of the nonprofit’s operation including grant writing, accounting, event planning and social media. She worked closely with the board of directors, and supervised law students providing legal services to low-income artists. Amber most enjoyed helping creatives develop their business models through Periscope, the organization’s artist entrepreneur training program.
Amber graduated with honors and a certificate in intellectual property from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, and was admitted to the Tennessee State Bar in 2015. She attended the evening program at Lewis & Clark, and worked her way through school as a full time legal assistant for a boutique elder law firm. She has co-founded two 501(c)(3) organizations — the Oregon Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and Distraction Theatre Company.
Samer is a problem-solver attracted to the toughest challenges. He has spent his career solving clients' and consumers' problems with operational and digital solutions. Today he spends every day driving value for our member banks of the Alloy Labs Alliance. He facilitates peer member discussions and hands-on Workgroups from the discovery and problem definition phase through solution selection and implementing and commercializing the results into viable and scalable solutions.
Previously he spend five years financially engaging the world's unbanked as cofounder and Chief Operations Officer at Wala, where his team addressed issues that prevent the world's underserved from accessing basic financial services, utilizing the most innovative tools available in the market, including Dala, a blockchain-based cryptocurrency designed and launched by the Wala team.
Prior to that, he co-founded Unbranded Designs, a crowd-sourced furniture design company and built the world's first online furniture design community and, with that community, brought an innovative design approach to some of the world's most prestigious organizations. He began his career at ZS Associates as an operations-focused business consultant, working in a number of data-heavy roles and cofounding the process improvement practice.
He holds master's and bachelor's degrees in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and is a Tauber Institute for Global Operations Fellow and a Six Sigma Green Belt.
Emmett is a non-linear thinker who thrives in unstructured environments. A contrarian at heart, he continually pushes outward on the status quo and embraces new methodologies to attack old problems.
Prior to joining Alloy Labs, Emmett was on the founding team at MassChallenge FinTech, a Boston-based corporate innovation accelerator focused on creating and supporting meaningful corporate/fintech collaborations. He was responsible for growth and was the Head of Partnerships, working with and advising executives from Fortune 500 banks, insurers, and asset managers. In the summer of 2020, Emmett took lead on helping MassChallenge FinTech develop their Community Bank track, which gave smaller institutions access to their proven innovation framework.
Emmett has also worked at a leading custody bank supporting their innovation efforts and was an early employee at a startup in San Francisco, where he first realized his passion and excitement for innovation.
Emmett got his MBA from Boston College, with a concentration on Corporate Finance and Entrepreneurial Management. He holds a BA in English from Fairfield University. While he grew up in Los Angeles, he now calls Boston home and can be found either on the golf course or on Cape Cod with his wife and young daughter.
Kelsey tracks and monitors relevant fintech companies for potential partnership and investment opportunities, conducting due diligence and market and financial analysis. Most recently she was an Investment Banking Associate at Citigroup Global Markets, where she led day-to-day transaction coverage, including ratings analytics, investor outreach, relationship management, and syndicate coordination. She hold an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and graduated cum laude with BS in business administration from the University of Florida's Warrington College of Business.
Hannah works closely with our Director of Insights and Concept Lab team to identify and research fintech companies that match members' areas of interest. She conducts background research, and coordinates activities for our member banks, including demonstrations and diligence meetings. Hannah has previously served as a strategic consultant for the U.S. government, a product manager launching new digital products at Citibank, CEO of a technology startup, and most recently as a lead product manager at CVS working on Operating Warp Speed, helping fight the COVID-19 pandemic. She is currently completing her MBA degree at the Yale School of Management, where she is focusing her studies on Finance and Behavioral Economics.
FINTECH FELLOWS
Anshul Gupta is completing his BS in Applied Math and MS in Artificial Intelligence from Stanford University.
He’s worked on regulatory automation and macro-forecasting at the Federal Reserve, cloud identity at Microsoft, and most recently on PPP & COVID-19 stimulus for the Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury. Anshul has also been an advisor to the United Nations ITU on standards for digital currencies.
Anshul Gupta
Mihir Garimella is completing his BS in Computer Science from Stanford University.
He's worked on perception at Google’s self-driving car company Waymo; done AI research at Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, and MIT; built self-flying helicopters for NASA and the DoD; created autonomous drones for indoor mapping and search-and-rescue; and worked at Facebook on bringing the internet to those without access. Mihir also ran TreeHacks (Stanford's annual hackathon) in 2019.
Mihir Garimella
VENTURE PARTNERS AND ADVISORS
Debbie Bianucci is President and CEO of BAI, a nonprofit, independent organization, BAI delivers the financial services industry’s most actionable insights, enabling leaders to make smart business decisions every day.
Bianucci has worked in the financial services industry for more than 35 years and has held senior positions with several major financial services companies.
Debbie Bianucci
Trish has had a broad career in Financial Services, rising through the ranks of traditional banking, digital banking, fintech startups, and driving product strategy for one of the largest core software providers.
She is Chief Customer Officer for Nymbus, and an industry speaker and change agent who possesses a polished blend of technical and leadership qualities that affords consensus and provides results.
Trish North
Colleen has held leadership roles in product, product marketing, strategy, insights, and development; helping companies build, launch, and grow products, processes, people, and strategy to address critical strategic challenges.
Her specialities include product definition, new markets/opportunity assessment, building a product process, and go-to-market strategies in multiple industries.
Colleen Wilson
Andrew's deep expertise in banking and financial services marketing give him an innovative skill set and technology experience that helps clients bridge the digital marketing and fintech gap.
He is a dynamic data and results-driven strategist who loves to help guide and drive measurable profitability while optimizing user and customer experiences.
Andrew Witherbee
Santo Cannone
Santo Cannone’s technology experience includes leadership positions in sales, product
management and operations for businesses ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500.
An industry veteran, he has served as Chief Product Officer for Fiserv, Chief Operating Officer for ConnectWise, Senior Vice President, Real Time Systems for FIS and Managing Director at EDS.
Joyce Mehlman
Joyce is a banking professional with over 30 years of experience concentrated in Operations, Compliance and Project Management.
She has worked for banks of all sizes, both domestic and international, and across all areas and products. Her most recent focus includes the COO role and projects helping both incumbents and challengers like Simple and Moven.