Speaker Biographies

Mark Olson

Co-Chairman
Corporate Risk Advisors, LLC
Keynote Luncheon Address: The New Shape of the Legislative Regulatory Landscape and Its Impact on Corporate Finance & Treasury
Mark Olson's distinguished financial services career has spanned 40 years. He joined Corporate Risk Advisors after three years as Chairman of the PCAOB, five years as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee, and after serving as staff director of the Securities Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban affairs. Mark holds a BA in economics from Saint Olaf College

Gary Gensler

Chairman
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Keynote Address: OTC Derivatives - Transparency & Trading
Gary Gensler was sworn in as the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on May 26, 2009. Chairman Gensler has served at the U.S. Department of the Treasury as Under Secretary of Domestic Finance and as Assistant Secretary of Financial Markets.  He subsequently served as a Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reforming corporate responsibility, accounting and securities laws. Prior to joining Treasury, Chairman Gensler worked for 18 years at Goldman Sachs, where he was selected as a partner; in his last role he was Co-head of Finance. He holds a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and received a MBA from the Wharton School's graduate division. 

Brad Airing, CFA

Managing Director
Banc of America Securities, LLC
Roundtable - Investing in the New Normal
Brad Airing is a Managing Director with Banc of America Securities, LLC, where he is the Global Short Term Fixed Income Sales Manager for the Large Corporate Segment and manages a team of investment professionals that are dedicated to serving the investment and liquidity needs of large corporations and financial institutions throughout the United States, Latin America, and Canada. Brad received a B.A. from the University of Virginia. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the North Carolina Society of Financial Analysts.

Michéle Allman-Ward, CTP, ICM Cert

Managing Partner
Allman-Ward Associates, Inc.
Roundtable - Hot Topic Discussion: Global Cash and Treasury Management
MIchéle Allman-Ward, CertICM is Managing Partner at Allman-Ward Associates, Inc., a company specializing in strategic planning, training, and project management, with emphasis on international treasury management.  She has 20+ years of experience in banking, having held senior positions with J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo. She earned a joint, double honors BSc. Degree from the University of Southampton in England and a MBA in international finance from Fordham.

Kerry D. Biggs

Treasurer
Global Container Terminals
Roundtable - Operating Treasury in the New Normal: Expectations and Goals
Kerry Biggs is responsible for the company's treasury and finance, tax planning and risk management activities. Previous to this Kerry spent considerable time working with two of Canada's premier energy and heavy equipment companies with experience at both Finning International and Enbridge Inc. where he was responsible for corporate finance, risk management, treasury and financial planning & analysis. Kerry holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business in Canada.

Ira Birns, CTP, CPA

Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
World Fuel Services Corporation
Opening General Session - Challenging Assumptions: How the CFO Is Dealing with the "New Normal"
Ira Birns is Executive Vice President and CFO at World Fuel Services Corporation in Miami, FL. He was formerly Vice President & Treasurer/Vice President - Investor Relations at Arrow Electronics, Inc., headquartered in Melville, NY. Ira has been a member of the AFP Board of Directors since 2002. He served as Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Chairman of the Finance Committee from 2004-2006. In the past he has served as a member of the Finance Committee, the Strategic Alliance Committee and the Audit Committee. He served on the AFP Global Corporate Treasurers Forum Task Force in 2006 and 2005. Ira has been a speaker at several national AFP conferences and he has been named to the AFP 300 from 2004-2008. He has been a member of AFP since 1991.

Matt Brusch

Vice President, Communication
National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI)
Roundtable - Hot Topic Discussion: Investor Relations
Matt Brusch's experience includes managing investor relations and corporate communications for public companies in the government services, financial services and technology industries. He held regulatory and marketing roles with the NASDAQ Stock Market including director of market services. He holds an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland and a B.S. in Management from the Pennsylvania State University.

Brian Barnier

Principal
ValueBridge Advisors
Roundtable - Governance, Risk & Compliance
Brian Barnier has over 20 years experience in both business line and IT roles across financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, oil & gas and health care. Brian has led teams to nine US patents and developed deep financial models. He is a contributor to Risk Management in Finance (2009) by Wiley & Sons. He is a co-author of ISACA's Risk IT based on COBIT Framework and Practitioner's Guide.

Laurie Campbell

Managing Director, Debt Capital Markets
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
General Session Panel - Short Term Liquidity versus Long Term Capital Needs
Laurie is a Managing Director in Debt Capital Markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She is head of the group responsible for coverage of investment grade companies in the General Industries Group as well as the Technology sector. Prior to this, Laurie was a Managing Director in Debt Capital Markets at Goldman Sachs; a Principal with Morgan Stanley in their Debt Capital Markets group; and an Associate in Corporate Finance at Salomon Brothers. Laurie received an M.B.A. from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University.

Rob Ceske

Associate Principal
McKinsey & Company
Roundtable - Counterparty Risk: Evaluating Partners
Rob Ceske recently joined McKinsey & Company as an Associate Principal. Prior to McKinsey, he served as Chief Risk Manager for General Electric's Treasury and Global Funding Operations which serves GE's financial and industrial businesses. Prior to GE, he was Managing Director of NetRisk, where he created and led its operational risk and insurance services businesses. He has a BA from Cornell University and an MBA from New York University.

Ron Chakravarti

Managing Director, GTS
Citi
Roundtable - Hot Topic Discussion: Global Cash and Treasury Management
Ron Chakravarti is responsible for the design and delivery of integrated global liquidity management solutions to Citi's corporate and financial institution clients. Prior to joining Citi, Ron was a principal at Treasury Strategies, in their global corporate consulting practice, and held positions at ABN AMRO and Standard Chartered Bank in corporate relationship management, transaction banking product management, and business strategy. He has authored numerous articles on treasury, risk and working capital management and is a frequent speaker at treasury conferences.

Mark Glenn

Vice President, Treasury
EMC Corporation
Roundtable - Global Expansion: Financing Opportunities
Mark Glenn has been in the Corporate Treasury Department of EMC Corporation for seven years. Prior to joining EMC, Mark spent 10 years at The Gillette Company in various roles in corporate treasury, operations and investor relations. He has a BA in Economics from Bucknell University and an MBA from Duke University.

Julia Kirby

Editor at Large
Harvard Business Review
Opening General Session - Challenging Assumptions: How the CFO Is Dealing with the New Normal
Julia Kirby has been with Harvard Business Review for nearly a decade and has worked with hundreds of expert authors to bring their ideas to the magazine's managerial audience. Most recently, she coauthored the lead story in HBR's April 2010 issue: Leadership in the Age of Transparency. Prior to HBR, Julia worked in the management consulting industry, helping to produce and communicate research-based insights on reengineering, knowledge management, and the business applications of complexity science.

Steve Klueg

Treasurer
World Fuel Services Corp.
Roundtable - Operating Treasury in the New Normal: Expectations and Goals

Steve Klueg has served as Vice President and Treasurer of World Fuel Services Corporation since August, 2008. Steve joined World Fuel Services from Ingersoll Rand where he held the position of Assistant Treasurer. Prior to that, Steve served in various managerial capacities including Assistant Treasurer of SPX Corporation from 1999 until 2005. Steve holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Ohio University and an MBA from The Ohio State University. In addition, Steve is a certified public accountant and a certified managerial accountant.

Kevin Laczkowski

Associate Principal
McKinsey & Company
Closing General Session - Perspectives of a World-Class Global Corporate Treasury
Kevin Laczkowski serves industrial clients on topics related to corporate finance, strategy and performance transformation and is a leader in McKinsey's Finance Transformation service line. Prior to McKinsey, Kevin worked in Product Development at Ford Motor Company and Eaton Corporation.  He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, a MS in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan, and a BS in mechanical engineering from Western Michigan University.

James Lam

President
James Lam & Associates.
Roundtable - Risk Agility: Giving Life to the Process of Risk Management
In his twenty years in risk management, leading consultant James Lam has advised many prominent institutions, including Bank of China, Citigroup, the Federal Reserve, First Data, and the World Bank. He is widely noted as the first ever "chief risk officer" and is the author of Enterprise Risk Management: From Incentives to Controls. James holds a BBA from Baruch College and an MBA from UCLA.

Craig N. Martin

Executive Director
Corporate Treasurers Council
Roundtable - Open Discussion
With over 25 years of experience in finance and treasury, Craig Martin is responsible for developing and implementing executive programming for AFP, including the Corporate Treasurers Council (CTC), the Global Corporate Treasurers Forum, The Executive Institute at AFP's Annual Conference, and the Society of Canadian Treasurers. Craig also heads up AFP's Treasury Practice. Prior to his position at AFP, Craig served as CFO for the largest subsidiary of Cadmus Communications, Cadmus Journal Services. Before switching to manufacturing from banking, Craig was the Treasurer and CFO for Citibank, MD where he was responsible for accounting, budgeting, funding and interest rate risk management. Prior to that Craig worked for over a decade at a number of financial institutions in New York and Maryland on both the buy and sell sides of the fixed income cash, futures and swap markets.

Stanley Pasternak

Senior Vice President & Treasurer
Canadian Tire Corporation, Ltd.
General Session Panel - Short Term Liquidity versus Long Term Capital Needs
Stan Pasternak is Senior Vice President and Treasurer for Canadian Tire Corporation with management responsibilities for Treasury and Taxation. The corporation operates an inter-related network of businesses, including: Canadian Tire Retail, PartSource, Canadian Tire Financial Services, Canadian Tire Petroleum, Mark's Work Wearhouse, and L'Equipeur. Stan has more than 25 years of financial and banking experience.

Anita M. Prasad, PhD

General Manager, Treasury Capital Management
Microsoft Corporation
General Session Panel - Short Term Liquidity versus Long Term Capital Needs
Anita Prasad is responsible for corporate finance, capital structure, share buybacks and dividend policy, structured investments, global cash and treasury operations, and worldwide credit services for online business. Previously, Anita served as Vice President of Treasury and Tax at LSI Logic Corporation, formulating and implementing long-term strategies enabling the execution over $5 billion in debt and equity financing. She holds a Bachelors and Masters in Economics, an MBA in MIS, and a PhD in Finance and International Business.

Ishaan Seth

Principal
McKinsey & Company
Closing General Session - Perspectives of a World-Class Global Corporate Treasury
Ishaan Seth serves a range of clients in the financial institutions and professional services sectors and is a leader in McKinsey's Finance Transformation Service Line. Prior to McKinsey, Ishaan worked in investment banking with Morgan Stanley & Co. as a senior analyst in their Leveraged Finance group.  He has an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar. He holds a BA in History magna cum laude from Harvard University.

Laura Smith

Vice President & Treasurer
Plum Creek Timber Company
General Session Panel - Short Term Liquidity versus Long Term Capital Needs
Laura oversees capital raising, lender relationships, strategic planning, cash management and Board communications.  Previously, Laura spent ten years in investment banking and two years as the Business Unit Manager for the Seattle Private Wealth Management office at Goldman, Sachs & Co.  Laura researched and wrote the original business plan, including strategy, market study and financial model for Goldman's Seattle office. Laura received her MBA from Columbia University and her B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Duke University.

Gordon M. Stetz, Jr., CPA

Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
McCormick & Co., Inc.
Opening General Session - Challenging Assumptions: How the CFO Is Dealing with the "New Normal"
Gordon M. Stetz, Jr. is the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of McCormick & Co. Inc., responsible for Controllership, Financial Accounting and Reporting, Tax, Treasury, Mergers and Acquisitions, Financial Planning and Analysis, Internal Audit and Financial Shared Services. Prior to his current position, he served as Vice of Finance, President and Chief Financial Officer of Europe, and Vice President of Finance - European businesses at McCormick & Co., Inc. He is a graduate of Bucknell University majoring in Economics and French and has an MBA from the University of Michigan with a focus on finance and interest in accounting.

Ben Teicher

Chief Financial Officer
Ratner Companies
Opening General Session - Challenging Assumptions: How the CFO Is Dealing with the "New Normal"
Ben Teicher is the Chief Financial Officer for Ratner Companies where he led the implementation of a new banking partnership to enhance cash flow for the organization. Ben is a member of the Executive Committee and provides guidance on strategic and financial planning, accounting and business development. Prior to Ratner Companies, Ben served as Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer for Discovery Education. He earned an MBA from Loyola Marymount Graduate School of Business, and a BA in Economics from the University of California, San Diego.