2023 Speaker Faculty

Head of Delivery, US Automotive Alfa Alex Cooper joined Alfa in 2006 from a humanities background. Based initially at the London HQ, his linguistic ability and love for travel quickly led to international opportunities. Over the next seven years, Alex […]

Co-Founder & CEO Tenet Alex Liegl is the co-founder and CEO of Tenet. He leads the climate financing platform’s efforts to accelerate the mainstream adoption of electrification technologies by making them more accessible, starting with EV car loans for consumers […]

Senior Vice President & Chief Data Science Officer Black Book Dr. Alex Yurchenko, Senior Vice President, Chief Data Science Officer, leads Black Book’s Data Science and Data Operation teams. His responsibilities include the development and support of all in-house machine […]

Editor Auto Finance News Amanda Harris is a writer and editor based in South Carolina. Her work has appeared in multiple publications in the state. Before joining the auto finance team, Amanda was a longtime reporter covering education and community […]

VP of Operations Nissan Motor Acceptance Company Andre Medeiros is vice president, NMAC Operations, for Nissan Motor Acceptance Company LLC (NMAC). Appointed to this role in August 2023, Medeiros is responsible for managing NMAC’s day-to-day operations focusing on growth, strategic […]

National Credit Director Chase Auto Anne Alburo is the National Credit Director for Chase Auto. She transitioned to this role in May 2023 and is responsible for managing underwriting teams across the nation for the Dealer Services team. Prior to […]

Head of Consumer Lending Axos Bank Anthony Capizzano is Head of Consumer Lending at Axos Bank. He is an executive with extensive experience spanning retail auto, banking, and tech industries. He has served in the capacity of CEO, COO, EVP, […]

Director of Servicing SameDay Auto Finance Armando Hidalgo is the Director of Servicing at SameDay Auto Finance, a subprime lender based in Irving, Tx, with over 30 years of experience in consumer auto finance collections and servicing.  Before joining SameDay […]

President of Chrysler Capital & Auto Relationships Santander Consumer USA Betty Jotanovic joined Santander Consumer USA in August 2018, with more than 20 years of experience in the automotive and financial services industries specializing in senior level leadership in underwriting, funding, […]

President Origence Lending Services Brian Hamilton has 30 years of experience with financial institutions, contact centers, and fintech start-ups. He has managed all facets of consumer lending operations and has led key initiatives in the development of groundbreaking on-line applications, […]

President & CEO Fimanco, Inc. Although semi-retired, Bruce Newmark was most recently Chief Advisor to Vroom Automotive and United Auto Credit in January of 2023.  He has also been writing a monthly column for Auto Finance News named “Off the […]

Partner Autotech Ventures Burak Cendek has worked with more than 200 entrepreneurs over the course of his career. His broad business and technical experience position him as an expert on growth strategies, financial/business modeling, and fundraising. As a partner, Burak […]

SVP Corporate Development and Servicing for Others Santander Consumer USA Chris Mitcham currently serves as the SVP of Corporate Development & Service for Others at Santander Consumer USA (SC). In this role he leads SC’s strategic corporate development efforts including […]

Head of Indirect Lending Fifth Third Bank My entire career has been in the automotive finance business.  It began over 30 years ago as an F&I Mgr for a dealer group in Park Ridge, Il.  I started my banking career […]

Sergeant in Auto Theft Division – Vehicle Fraud Unit Houston Police Department Sergeant Darren Schlosser has been in law enforcement for nearly 26 years and currently supervises the Houston Police Department – Auto Theft Division – Vehicle Fraud Unit.  Their […]

Head of Research Structured Finance Association In her role as Head of Research, Elen Callahan is responsible for directing the Structured Finance Association’s research strategy and furthering the mission of general education on the securitization industry. Prior to joining Structured Finance Association, Elen held […]

Sr. Director, Business Development & Strategic Partnerships Turo Gerry Quinn is an automotive OEM and financial services executive with deep industry knowledge spanning three decades of experience building global automotive financial service businesses and developing innovative credit, sales, and marketing […]

Chief Global Economist Deloitte Dr. Ira Kalish is the Chief Global Economist of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. He is a specialist in global economic issues as well as the effects of economic, demographic, and social trends on the global business […]

VP of Indirect Lending BECU Jayson Amandus is a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the financial services and indirect lending industry. As the Vice President of Indirect Lending at BECU, Jayson plays a pivotal role in […]

Executive Vice President of Ford Pro FinSimple Ford Motor Credit Company Jim Drotman is Executive Vice President of Ford Pro FinSimple, Ford Motor Credit Company’s commercial financing organization. He is responsible for serving Ford Credit commercial customers globally with financial […]

President Western Funding Jim Murray is the President of Western Funding. Mr. Murray has nearly 20 years of specialty finance experience in operations, analytics and finance/treasury roles. Prior to working for Western Funding, he spent 5 years as the CFO and […]

Founder & Chief Executive Officer Royal Media JJ is Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Royal Media, Auto Finance News‘ parent company. He has a BS in Economics from Yeshiva University and a Master’s from the Columbia University Graduate School of […]

Editor Auto Finance News Joey Pizzolato is a writer and editor based in New York. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in a variety of print and online publications. Before reporting on auto finance, he covered the mortgage and housing […]

Senior Manager, Economic and Industry Insights Cox Automotive  As Senior Manager of the Economic and Industry Insights group, Jonathan Gregory leads a team to find solutions for the industry posed by Cox Automotive clients and solve for business solutions internally. […]

Director of Industry Solutions J.D. Power Kristen Lanzavecchia joined ALG in 2015 and is currently the Director of Industry Solutions within J.D. Power’s Valuation Services division. Kristen is responsible for ALG’s relationships with OEMs and Captive Finance companies. She provides […]

Chief Executive Officer Arivo Acceptance Landon Starr is a well-recognized expert and leader across a variety of verticals. Landon has been asked to share his insights and leadership philosophies at events such as the Utah Governor’s Economic Summit, Moody’s Analytics […]

Partner McGlinchey Mark Edelman serves as Chair of McGlinchey Stafford’s national Financial Institutions Compliance practice and is resident in the firm’s Cleveland office. He represents clients in state and federal regulatory compliance for consumer documentation, CFPB supervision preparedness, and regulatory, […]

CPO & CTO Autonomy Martin is a cooperate and startup Executive with a 15+ year track record of successfully building and launching novel products and services. Most recently as CPO and CTO at Autonomy Martin built the team and technology […]

Chief Strategy Officer Tricolor Holdings Mauricio Delgado serves as Chief Strategy Officer at Tricolor Holdings. During his 10-year tenure across various roles at Tricolor, Mauricio has played a pivotal role in leveraging an unrivaled data-driven understanding of Tricolor’s consumer to […]

Associate Attorney Husch Blackwell Natalia Kruse is an attorney at Husch Blackwell, in the Minneapolis and Madison offices.  She is a member of Husch Blackwell’s Consumer Financial Services team, representing clients that include motor vehicle finance companies, banks, credit unions, […]

Founder & CEO Rodo Nathan’s past projects and roles include Founder and CEO of Dstrux, an acclaimed platform for self-destructing files on the web, as well as Kurrenci, the internet’s first virtual currency platform. Nathan founded Rodo after his first attempt […]

ABS Investments Metlife Investment Management Priya is responsible for ABS credit underwriting at MetLife Investment Management’s public structured finance group. MetLife Investment Management is the institutional asset management business of MetLife, Inc. and had $579.8 billion of total assets under […]

Associate General Counsel & Compliance Officer Veros Credit Raymond “RJ” Naples is the Associate General Counsel and Compliance Officer at Veros Credit, LLC, a leading provider of auto financing in the sub-prime and near-prime space. RJ provides legal guidance and […]

Senior Associate Editor Auto Finance News Riley earned his journalism degree at Michigan State University where he minored in sports journalism and broadcast journalism. He started at Auto Finance News as an intern during summer 2021 and began full time […]

CEO & Co-Founder SpringFree EV Sunil Paul, CEO and co-founder of Spring Free EV (www.springfreeev.com), is at the forefront of revolutionizing electric vehicle financing. By leveraging technology, Spring Free EV provides specialized financial products tailored for high-mileage drivers and small […]

Chief Executive Officer Vroom An expert in supply chain, logistics, data analytics and change management, Tom Shortt serves as Vroom’s Chief Executive Officer and member of its board of directors. In his 18-month tenure to-date, Mr. Shortt launched and leads […]