Speakers
2025 Keynote Speaker
Christopher Thornberg, PhD
Founding Partner - Beacon Economics, LLC
Christopher Thornberg founded Beacon Economics LLC in 2006. Under his leadership the firm has become one of the most respected research organizations in California serving public and private sector clients across the United States. Dr. Thornberg also served as Director of the UC Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development and was an Adjunct Professor at the School from 2015-2023.
An expert in economic and revenue forecasting, regional economics, economic policy, and labor and real estate markets, Dr. Thornberg has consulted for private industry, cities, counties, and public agencies. He became nationally known for forecasting the subprime mortgage market crash that began in 2007, and was one of the few economists on record to predict the global economic recession that followed. Dr. Thornberg holds a Ph.D in Business Economics from The Anderson School at UCLA, and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
The Future of College Athletics
Greg Christopher, Panel Moderator
Vice President for Institutional Strategy and Director of Athletics, Xavier University
In this new role, Greg will be particularly focused on Xavier’s positioning, as XU continues on its path of institutional and strategic advancement. He will continue to serve on the president's leadership cabinet and oversee Intercollegiate Athletics. Greg who has served as Director of Athletics since May of 2013, took over as AD as Xavier was preparing for its first season in the BIG EAST Conference. He oversees Xavier’s 19 intercollegiate athletic programs and 300 student-athletes. Under his guidance, Xavier Athletics has won 27 BIG EAST Conference team titles, including tournament and regular season championships, in XU's first 11 years in the conference. Following the 2017-18 season, Greg was named the Division I-AAA Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year.
Prior to joining Xavier, Greg spent the previous six-and-a-half years as the Director of Athletics at Bowling Green State University and worked at Purdue University from 1997-2006 as Associate A.D. for External Relations and the John Purdue Club Director. Greg earned a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from nearby Miami University in 1988 and earned his MBA from Miami in 1991.
Jennifer Fraser
Vice President, Division I Governance, NCAA National Office
In Jennifer’s current role she serves as primary liaison to the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and Division I Council. During her previous tenure at the NCAA, she supported the Division I Committee on Academic Performance, where she played a significant role in that committee’s academic reform efforts. Before joining the national office, Jennifer was an assistant commissioner at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, and assistant athletics director/senior woman administrator at Metropolitan State College of Denver. She also served as the assistant commissioner and senior woman administrator at the California Collegiate Athletic Association. She holds a sociology degree from California State University, San Bernardino
Pat Forde
Senior Writer - Sports Illustrated
Pat Forde is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who covers college football and college basketball as well as the Olympics and horse racing. He also cohosts the College Football Enquirer podcast. He previously worked for Yahoo Sports, ESPN and The (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Forde has won 28 Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest awards, has been published three times in the Best American Sports Writing book series, and was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. A past president and Hall of Fame member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and member of the Football Writers Association of America, he lives in Louisville with his wife. They have three children, all of whom were collegiate swimmers. His youngest child, Brooke, swam for the United States in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and earned a silver medal.
Val Ackerman
Commissioner - BIG EAST Conference
Val Ackerman was named the fifth Commissioner of the BIG EAST Conference on June 26, 2013. She previously served as an attorney and executive at the National Basketball Association, was the founding President of the Women’s National Basketball Association, and is a past President of USA Basketball, which oversees the U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic basketball program. She also served for two terms as the U.S. representative to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). She has been inducted as a contributor into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2021), the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (2011) and the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame (2023) and received the Billie Jean King Leadership Award from the Women’s Sports Foundation (2016). Val is a 1981 graduate of the University of Virginia, where she graduated with high honors with a B.A. in political and social thought and was a three-time captain and Academic All-American on the women’s basketball team. She received her law degree from UCLA in 1985.
Previous Speakers
2024
Keynote Speaker
Christopher Thornberg, PhD
Founding Partner - Beacon Economics, LLC
Christopher Thornberg founded Beacon Economics LLC in 2006. Under his leadership the firm has become one of the most respected research organizations in California serving public and private sector clients across the United States. Dr. Thornberg also served as Director of the UC Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development and was an Adjunct Professor at the School from 2015-2023.
An expert in economic and revenue forecasting, regional economics, economic policy, and labor and real estate markets, Dr. Thornberg has consulted for private industry, cities, counties, and public agencies. He became nationally known for forecasting the subprime mortgage market crash that began in 2007, and was one of the few economists on record to predict the global economic recession that followed. Dr. Thornberg holds a Ph.D in Business Economics from The Anderson School at UCLA, and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
The Fintech Fireside Chat: Insights From Industry Leaders:
Matthew Mann, CFA
Head of Corporate Development, Fin Capital
Matthew is the Head of Corporate Development at Fin Capital, where he assists portfolio companies with capital raises, M&A, and exits, in addition to helping source new investment opportunities. Prior to Fin Capital, Matthew served as a Vice President in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs, and as a Portfolio Manager at ClearArc Capital, where he co-created and managed their emerging market credit and foreign currency investing strategy. He also worked in Fifth Third's Private Bank creating custom portfolios for high-net worth clients, after developing a healthcare vertical market for Fifth Third Processing Solutions (now Worldpay). Matthew earned his M.B.A from Columbia Business School.
Angie Ammon
Co-Founder, Tesouro
Angie Ammon is the co-founder of Tesouro. She has seemingly always been on the forefront of embedded payments, having been a founding team member at FTPS' payment facilitator program back in 2009. She has spent her career advocating for software companies who want to embed payments and is passionate about customer experience and payments education. She has worked at Visa, she founded the embedded payments consultancy, Fintech 513, co-founder of Beanstalk, a debit routing company, which had an exit in 2021. She also was an early employee of Finix. Angie currently sits on the board of Cargas, a leading provider of Accounting, ERP, and energy software. Angie received her BS in Finance and minored in International Business at Miami University.
Matthew Swendiman, JD (Panel Moderator)
Chief Executive Officer, Key Bridge Compliance, LLC
Matt Swendiman is the Chief Executive Officer of Key Bridge Compliance, LLC (the successor to GCS). Prior to this, Matt served as the Chief Administrative Officer for Fifth Third's institutional investment management business and Secretary and Chief Legal Officer to the Fifth Third Funds. He also founded Graydon Compliance Solutions (GCS), LLC, an outsourced compliance consultancy offering services to RIAs across the United States and in the United Kingdom. Matt holds a BA in Political Science, as well as his JD, from The Ohio State University. He is proud to serve on the President Advisory Council (PAC) at Xavier University, as well as on the Investment, Audit, and Finance Committees for St. Elizabeth Healthcare, and is Chair of the Samaritan Committee for St. Elizabeth Foundation.
2023
Keynote:
Tom Jalics, CFA - Fifth Third Bank
The Business of Professional Sports in Cincinnati Panel:
Doug Healy - Cincinnati Reds
Elizabeth Blackburn - Cincinnati Bengals
Jeff Berding - FC Cincinnati
2022
Dual Keynotes:Michelle Meyer, Former Head of the U.S Economics, Bank of America, Forthcoming Chief Economist, U.S., Mastercard Economics Institute
Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist, LPL Financial
2020
Keynote:
Elizabeth (Liz) Koehler - Blackrock
2020 Investment Outlook Panel:
Charnella Grossman - Fifth Third Bank
Michael A. Condon - Fund Evaluation Group
James E. Russell, Jr. - Bahl and Gaynor
2019
Dual Keynotes:
Jason Trennert - Strategas
Bob Doll - Nuveen Asset Management
2018
Keynote:
Dr. Jeremy Siegel - WisdomTree Investments/University of Pennsylvania
FAANG Long/Short Student Investment Challenge:
Anthony Petretti
Matthew Tarka
Global Investments & Markets Panel:
Oscar Pulido - BlackRock Multi-Asset Strategies Group
Michael J. Oyster - Fund Evaluation Group
Scott Colbert - The Commerce Trust Company
Cybersecurity in 2018 Panel:
Marc Caccavale - FICD
Silka Gonzalez - Enterprise Risk Management