Ben Soccorsy is the Founder of Bolinas Advisors and a senior advisor to BCG and Nyca Partners. A banking, payments, and fintech executive with more than two decades of experience, he has led open banking, digital payments, and data-access initiatives at Mastercard and Wells Fargo. Ben advises banks, technology platforms, and fintech innovators on open finance and digital banking strategy, and previously served as Executive Vice President at Mastercard and as SVP and Head of Digital Payments and Open Banking at Wells Fargo.

Breno Braga is a Senior Fellow and economist at the Urban Institute, where he leads research on household financial well-being and consumer debt. He directs the Debt in America project and co-created the American Affordability Tracker, national data platforms that help policymakers and industry better understand financial stress and inequality. His work integrates real-time data and policy analysis to examine how financial systems and regulation shape economic opportunity for American families.

Brian Enneking is Chief Operating Officer at First Electronic Bank, where he helps lead the bank’s mission to build an inclusive and effective financial services ecosystem. A financial services executive with more than 30 years of experience, Brian has held senior leadership roles across risk, credit, lending, marketing, and consumer experience. Prior to First Electronic Bank, he served as Head of Risk and Chief Credit Officer at Orchard Bank, President of Lending at Genesis Financial Services, and CEO of Jump Start Finance, focused on expanding access to affordable child care financing.

Brian W. Jones is President of Merrick Bank, where he oversees the bank’s operations, strategy, and risk management. Merrick Bank is a leading credit card issuer and merchant acquirer in the United States, serving millions of cardholders and extending billions in credit nationwide. Brian joined Merrick Bank in 2005 and previously served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Prior to Merrick, he held leadership roles in financial services and technology organizations, including Credit Suisse and Zions Bancorporation. Brian holds a B.S. in Finance and a J.D. from the University of Utah, as well as an LL.M. from Baylor University.

Jānis Skrastiņš is an Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business and an empirical financial economist. His research examines how credit market design, financial technology, and institutional structures shape credit access and real economic outcomes. His work has been published in leading academic journals, including the American Economic Review, Journal of Finance, Journal of Political Economy, Review of Financial Studies, and Management Science.

Jason Henrichs is the CEO of Alloy Labs, a consortium of community and midsize banks focused on advancing innovation through startup partnerships and strategic investments. He is co-host of Breaking Banks, the world’s largest fintech podcast, and a frequent speaker on financial innovation, regulation, and compliance as competitive advantage. Jason has served on fintech advisory boards for the City of Chicago, AARP, the Financial Health Network Innovation Lab, and the SXSW Accelerator, and teaches at leading banking and digital finance programs across the United States.

John M. Griffin is the James A. Elkins Centennial Chair in Finance at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, and a leading expert in forensic finance. His research focuses on fraud, market manipulation, and misconduct across financial markets, including cryptocurrencies and structured finance, and is widely cited by academics, regulators, and the media. He is also CEO of Integra FEC, Integra Research Group, and Integra MED Analytics, advising government agencies and private entities on forensic investigations.

John Sun is the Founder and CEO of Spring Labs, an AI-first conversation intelligence and automation platform for financial institutions. He works with banks and fintechs to improve customer understanding through advanced AI, and Spring Labs hosts the annual AI-Native Banking and Fintech Conference in Salt Lake City. Previously, John held senior roles in consumer fintech, including Head of Analytics at Enova and co-founder and Chief Risk Officer at Avant, and has been recognized as an innovator in financial technology by Inc. 30 Under 30 and Crain’s 40 Under 40.

Jonah Crane is a regulatory and public policy executive focused on building frameworks that support financial innovation. He works at Stripe and previously served as a partner at Klaros Group, advising clients on business strategy and regulatory governance. Jonah serves on the Advisory Board of the Digital Dollar Project and has held senior roles at the U.S. Treasury Department and as a policy advisor to U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer.

Jordan Wright, serial fintech entrepreneur and CEO and Co-founder of Atomic.

Kent Landvatter is the Executive Chairman at FinWise Bank. He leads a team of professionals who dedicate themselves to serving the banks’ mission of financial inclusion for all. A veteran of the financial services industry with a career spanning over four decades, Kent joined FinWise Bank in 2010. Previously, he presided over three industrial banks, two of which were de novos including World FinancialCapital Bank (nowComenityCapital Bank) and Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Kent earned his MBA from the University of Utah.

Matt Bisanz is a bank regulatory partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington, DC office. He counsel fintechs and innovators on all major aspects of the operations of an insured depository institution, its affiliates, and its partners. He also advises clients on novel bank charters, new bank product design, Dodd-Frank Act and other prudential banking compliance issues, and balance sheet optimization transactions. Further, he has experience counseling clients on various insolvency, derivatives, and regulatory reporting issues and is a certified public accountant.

Obrea Poindexter is a highly regarded payments and lending attorney specializing in financial services regulation, privacy, and payments systems. She advises banks, fintechs, retailers, and technology companies on complex regulatory and transactional matters involving credit, debit, prepaid, and emerging payment systems. Recognized by Chambers USA and Chambers FinTech, Obrea is known for her strategic insight and practical guidance, and currently serves as President of the American College of Consumer Financial Services, with prior leadership roles within the American Bar Association’s Consumer Financial Services Committee.

Paul LaRusso is the CEO of Akoya, a technology platform that enables secure, consumer-permissioned financial data sharing for banks and fintechs. Previously, he spent more than a decade at JPMorgan Chase, where he led the firm’s open banking strategy and built infrastructure supporting secure data access at scale. Paul also served as Board Co-Chair of the Financial Data Exchange (FDX), helping shape industry standards for financial data sharing.

Phil Goldfeder is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Fintech Council (AFC), representing responsible fintech companies focused on expanding access to safe, affordable financial services. He has nearly two decades of experience shaping financial services policy, regulation, and innovation across the public and private sectors. Previously, Phil served as Senior Vice President of Global Public Affairs at Cross River and as a member of the New York State Assembly.

Prashant Fuloria is the Chief Executive Officer of Fundbox and a product and technology leader with more than 25 years of experience. He was an early member of Google’s product management team, where he helped build Google AdWords, established the company’s first global payments network, and led product initiatives across APAC. He later held senior product and monetization roles at Facebook, Yahoo, and Flurry, spanning advertising, commerce, and data platforms. Prashant holds advanced degrees from Stanford University and earned his BTech from IIT Delhi.

Pratik Soni is an Assistant Professor in the Kahlert School of Computing at the University of Utah, specializing in cryptography, privacy, and security for blockchain and machine learning systems. His research focuses on zero-knowledge proofs, secure multi-party computation, and advanced digital signatures, with work published in leading security and cryptography venues. Prior to joining the University of Utah, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University and earned his Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara.

Renaud is the co-founder and CEO of Upgrade, Inc., a fintech company offering mobile banking and responsible credit to everyday consumers. Under his leadership, Upgrade has delivered over $42 billion in affordable credit to 7.5 million customers in just over 6 years and kept bringing product innovation to market, with new product offerings in BNPL, credit card, mobile banking, home improvement financing, personal loans and auto finance. Upgrade was ranked the fastest growing company in the Americas by the Financial Times in 2021 and is one of the most valuable private US fintech companies with a valuation that reached $7.3 billion in its latest financing round.

Rhett Roberts is the Co-Founder and CEO of LoanPro. A serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in financial services, he brings deep expertise serving fintechs, banks, credit unions, and other lenders. Since founding LoanPro with his brothers, the platform has grown to serve more than 600 customers, including Best Egg, SoFi, and Intuit, and now manages over $58B in loans while processing more than $2B in payments each month. Rhett also serves on the Fintech Committee at the University of Utah.

Ryan Christiansen is Senior Director of the Fintech Center, where he leads the center’s labs, incubator, and academic initiatives. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Data Access Partnerships at Mastercard, overseeing consumer-permissioned financial data and playing a key role in founding the Financial Data Exchange (FDX). Ryan also held senior leadership roles at Zions Bank, including Senior Vice President of Private Banking, where he managed one of the bank’s largest credit portfolios.

Sima J. Gandhi is a seasoned tech executive and serial entrepreneur with nearly 20 years of experience building disruptive, category-defining companies. She brings a rare combination of operating and policy expertise to organizations in highly regulated industries. Sima is the President and Founder of Alton Strategies, advising companies on regulatory, policy, go-to-market, and M&A strategy, and is a Senior Advisor at FS Vector, where she founded the Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards. She holds a JD and LL.M. from New York University and earned undergraduate degrees from Stanford University.

Simon is the creator of Fintech Brainfood, a widely read weekly newsletter for fintech operators, founders, executives, and regulators. He leads market development at Tempo and brings two decades of experience at the forefront of financial services innovation, spanning mobile and cloud technologies to stablecoins and agentic commerce.

Taylor Randall is the 17th President of the University of Utah and the first alumnus in five decades to lead the institution. Since assuming the role in 2022, he has advanced a vision to position the university among the nation’s top public research institutions with broad societal impact. Under his leadership, the University of Utah launched Impact 2030, a strategic plan focused on transforming the student experience, accelerating research and innovation, and expanding the university’s health and community footprint across the state.