Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Brandon Tobman is the chief executive officer of GetCovered, an insurance technology company that builds software solutions to simplify policy management, compliance and customer experience for the property insurance sector. GetCovered acts as a bridge between insurance and real estate, with clients that include insurance carriers, insurance agencies, property managers, landlords and membership associations.

Cameron Fowler is the CEO of Early Warning, the company behind the peer-to-peer payment service Zelle, and Paze, a digital wallet.

As director of account anagement, Jill Dobbe builds strong relationships with Orgvue clients, guiding them to enhance their organizational planning capabilities through technological solutions. With more than two decades of expertise in strategic planning, human resources, and organizational development—including extensive experience supporting Fortune 100-500 organizations and serving within John Deere and a non-profit healthcare system—Jill is dedicated to empowering organizations to define and achieve their future strategies. Her comprehensive background encompasses successful leadership of initiatives in strategic workforce planning, analytics, organizational design, transformation, and change management across diverse industries and global environments.

Jeff is responsible for leading Simply Business's U.S. insurance product function, with a focus on advancing the company's mission of closing the coverage gap for small businesses through innovation and a customer-centric approach.

With nearly two decades of leadership experience, Jeff has a proven track record of developing and scaling digital insurance solutions at industry-leading companies, including Liberty Mutual, Plymouth Rock Assurance and Lemonade.

Throughout his career, he has specialized in leveraging technology to simplify complex coverage decisions and deliver robust, data-driven insurance products. An entrepreneur at heart, Jeff co-founded Sagewell Financial, a fintech company designed to help retirees navigate complex financial landscapes. This firsthand experience as a business owner provides him with a unique perspective on the challenges faced by the customers Simply Business serves.

Chad Scott is a consulting manager at The Bonadio Group with more than 13 years of public accounting experience serving financial institutions, SEC registrants, and privately held companies. Chad specializes in strategic advisory, including CECL implementation and modeling, financial planning and analysis, internal audit, and fraud investigations.

R. Dale Hall, FSA, MAAA, CERA, CFA is Managing Director of Research for the Society of Actuaries Research Institute (SOA). In his role, Dale is responsible for managing research projects and experience studies across the SOA's wide variety of actuarial practice areas and markets and coordinating strategic research partnerships. Additionally, Dale hosts the SOA's Research Insights Podcast and has appeared on behalf of the SOA in a variety of media outlets including NPR, C-SPAN and National Geographic. 

Prior to joining the SOA in 2013, Dale spent over 20 years in the US insurance industry, primarily as Chief Actuary for the Life/Health companies of COUNTRY Financial and as an adjunct professor in the actuarial science program at Illinois State University. 

Catherine Leffert covers all things banking, including credit scandals, mergers and acquisitions, compliance blunders and the wonkiest accounting rules you've never heard of. She joined American Banker in 2022, and is based in Washington, D.C.

Obsessed with understanding why banks do what they do, Catherine has investigated the nuances of commercial real estate risk, and covered the mechanics of synthetic risk transfers and private credit. Her coverage of TD Bank's novel money-laundering failures dug into a never-before-used regulatory process to revoke banks' charters — an oddity that Sen. Elizabeth Warren flagged to the Justice Department weeks later. 

Previously, Catherine covered banking and private equity in Dallas, where she was born and raised, at a time when the region was one of the fastest-growing economies in the country.

Catherine graduated from Syracuse University, and was managing editor of the city's independent, student-run newspaper, The Daily Orange. Her reporting has been honored by the American Society of Business Publication Editors and the Society of Professional Journalists. She's also been chosen for fellowships by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.

Email Catherine at catherine.leffert@americanbanker.com. Reach her on Signal at @catherineleffert.01.

President and CEO Jill Castilla led a 180-degree turnaround at Citizens Bank of Edmond through her approach to Fintech and social media. She changed the story of the Bank from one of near collapse and failure to one of great success and innovation. Jill has told the story of the turnaround at conferences nationwide and to 5,000+ people in various industries. Jill broke virtual radio silence through the power of social media by leading the bank from having no audience to more than 30,000 followers who engage with the Bank through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Jill was named “Most Admired CEOs in Oklahoma"; “Most Innovative CEOs in Banking”; "Community Banker of the Year"; and "Most Powerful Women in Banking" in 2015. She ranks #1 on ICBA’s list of Twitter influencers. Citizens’ community appreciation event implemented by Jill, “Heard on Hurd,” had more than 100,000 attendees in 2015 and generated more than $2.4 million in economic activity. Jill previously served in the U.S. Army and Oklahoma Army National Guard as a construction and civil engineer. Prior to joining Citizens Bank, she was at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and with a community bank in Minnesota. Her academic background includes a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Oklahoma and she is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Graduate School of Banking. Jill is a distinguished alumna of Hawaii Pacific University.

Ali Baydoun, a partner at UHY, is a leader in the firm's enterprise business services practice, where he delivers advisory, tax and attest services to middle-market clients in various industries. He provides audit and assurance services as well as crisis management services.

Mike Fish is head of employee benefits at The Hartford. He is responsible for the strategic direction, management oversight and financial results of the business segment. The Hartford is a leading provider of fully insured group life, disability and supplemental health insurance, paid family and medical leave insurance, as well as absence management administration.