John Bissell is President/CEO of Greylock Federal Credit Union, a $1 billion financial institution with 12 branches throughout Berkshire County, Mass. As CEO, he leads an organization of more than 250 employees, between the credit union’s core banking business and several subsidiaries offering insurance and investment services for families and businesses, as well as marketing and IT services for credit unions across the country. Under his leadership, Greylock earned its Juntos Avanzamos designation in 2019 for its commitment to serving and empowering Hispanic and immigrant consumers.
Previously, John worked with a team of Greylock managers and consultants to earn Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) status from the US Treasury, enabling Greylock to increase its capacity for lending to people of low to moderate income. John’s passion for helping underserved communities extends into his volunteer work as well. In 2012, John co-founded Pittsfield Promise, an early literacy initiative. John currently serves as chair of 1Berkshire (a regional economic development organization), he sits on the Board of Directors for Berkshire Health Systems where he also chairs the audit committee, and he received a Freedom Award from the Berkshire County Chapter of the NAACP in 2017.
Danny García-Vélez is Senior Marketing Program Manager at MGIC. He and his team are responsible for developing and executing MGIC’s community lending efforts. Additionally, Danny is responsible for leading and organizing MGIC’s business and marketing strategies across the organization’s various customer channels including Credit Unions, Community Banks, and Housing Finance Agencies.
Kimberley Parsons is a senior learning strategist with Tech College at Capital One with a passion for helping leaders and teams maximize their growth. In over 10 years as an IT professional (doing everything from delivering code to leading people) and nine years of coaching and training, she has sharpened her talents in leadership and team development, change leadership, strategy execution, learning and development, and coaching. Kimberley obtained her leadership coach certification from Georgetown University. She holds an MS in information systems from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BBA in computer information systems from Georgia Southern University.
Gregory Perryman Sr. has served on the Board of Directors for the Greater Cleveland Community Credit Union, Cleveland, Ohio for the past 18 years. He now serves as the Board Chairman for one of the fastest growing credit unions in northeast Ohio. Gregory brings 20 years of experience in Economic Development and Finance with the City of Cleveland. He received his Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Human Resources from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio. Gregory is deeply committed to building of low income communities through small business development and partnerships.
Heather Powell leads communication, design and engagement with Tech College at Capital One. She has over 8 years of experience as at learning strategist in IT supporting Cyber and more recently Cloud. Heather holds her Certified Scrum Master certification and a certificate in project management from the University of Delaware.
Thomas R. Settino is Vice President and Director of Sales at the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York. He is responsible for managing a team of Relationship Managers who provide product support to banks and credit unions located throughout the FHLBNY district, which includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tom has been with the FHLBNY since January 2011. Tom’s experience includes a long tenure working in the Banking Supervision Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Tom was also employed at the United States Trust Company of New York where he worked as VP of Treasury Services in charge of Cash Management and Asset/Liability Management. Tom earned his undergraduate degree from Manhattan College in New York City and also earned his MBA at Pace University in New York City.
Dawnnesha Smith leads the Center for Financial Empowerment (CFE) within the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA). In this role, Dawnnesha oversees initiatives to improve the financial wellbeing of low to moderate income County residents through cross-sector collaborations. She is also responsible for guiding the operations of the department’s foreclosure prevention unit. A longtime consumer advocate, in her previous roles, she served as a Supervising Investigator overseeing real estate fraud and identify theft investigations, some of which lead to prosecution. She also implemented the department’s first-ever Consumer Education and Public Outreach Unit and spearheaded initiatives to support the financial education and consumer protection needs of foster youth. Dawnnesha is an alumnus of the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in Sociology and received her Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California.