Board of Directors

William Kennedy, CFA*

Chair

William Kennedy is the co-founder, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer of RiskBridge Advisors, an independent, full-service investment office serving insurers, endowments and foundations, and individual investors. He is responsible for RiskBridge’s business and investment activities and has over 30 years of capital market research and investment experience.

Holly Wade*

Vice Chair of Programs

Holly Wade is the executive director of the NFIB Research Center, where she has 17 years of experience conducting original research on the small business sector focusing on small business economic conditions, business operations, and public policy issues impacting small firms.

Sean Heberling, CFA*

Treasurer

Mr. Sean Heberling, CFA is President of Marion Street Capital, a boutique investment firm. He is a Director at the CFA Society of Philadelphia, a member Society of the CFA Institute, the preeminent organization for Finance professionals

Dana Peterson*

Secretary

Dana Peterson is the Chief Economist & Center Leader of Economy, Strategy & Finance at The Conference Board. Peterson joins The Conference Board from Citi, where for many years she served as a North America Economist and later as a Global Economist.

Kathleen Stephansen*

Vice Chair of the College of Central Bankers and Chair Emerita

Kathleen Stephansen is GIC Chair Emerita, Senior Economist for Haver Analytics and Trustee of EQAT Trust Funds. She is the former Chief Economist of Huawei Technologies, Chief Economist of the American International Group (AIG) and AIG Asset Management’s Senior Strategist and Global Head of Sovereign Research.

Lisa McIntire Shaw*

Lisa McIntire Shaw is a founding partner of Cygnus Asset Management, LLC based in Charlotte, NC. She has more than 30 years of experience in the financial arena. Her areas of special interest include international markets; charitable trusts; strategic wealth preservation; and domestic, corporate, government and municipal bonds.

Manuel Balmaseda, Ph.D.

Manuel Balmaseda is the chief economist at CEMEX, a leading global building materials corporation. Previously he served as chief economist for Spain and Europe at BBVA, chief economist for Capital Markets at BBV, professor of economics at CEMFI and visiting researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis.

Julia Coronado

Julia Coronado founded MPP because she believes independent research can provide the most objective and relevant analysis to inform decision making in an uncertain world. Julia is a Clinical Associate Professor of Finance at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. She has more than a decade of experience as […]

William Costigan

Mr. Costigan is a managing director at Guggenheim Partners with expertise in structured credit and private debt. He is a frequent speaker at investment conferences. Prior to joining Guggenheim in 2013, he working in investment banking at KeyBank and institutional strategy at Vanguard. He earned an M.B.A. from Loyola Marymount University.

Mary Graham Davis

Mary Graham Davis founded the Davis Consulting Group LLC in 1996 to focus on the implementation of strategy through effective organization structure: the alignment of business units with the strategy, business unit mobilization and performance management to achieve annual operating plan objectives, and senior leadership coaching.

Michael Drury

Michael Drury is the chief economist for McVean Trading & Investments, LLC. He joined the firm in 1992, after serving for five years as senior economist with Allen Sinai at Shearson Lehman Brothers and its successor firms.

Lori Esposito Murray, Ph.D.

Dr. Lori Esposito Murray is President of the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board. Murray brings to CED extensive experience at the highest echelons of domestic and international policy. She most recently served as an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations’ (CFR). Prior to her role at CFR, she held […]

J. Paul Horne

Paul Horne is an active independent international market economist since retiring as a managing director and European equity market economist at Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup in London.

Ali A. Houshmand, Ph.D.

Dr. Ali A. Houshmand became Rowan University’s seventh president in 2012 after serving for approximately six years as provost/senior vice president, CEO and interim president. Houshmand is a dynamic leader whose personal connection with students, employees, alumni, government leaders, the business community and the public has become a hallmark of his presidency.

David R. Kotok

David Kotok co-founded Cumberland Advisors in 1973 and has been its Chief Investment Officer since inception. David’s articles and financial market commentaries have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and other publications. During his career, he has been a frequent contributor to Bloomberg TV and Bloomberg Radio, Yahoo Finance TV, […]

Benjamin Leavenworth

Benjamin has over 20 years of professional experience in Latin America, from governmental roles to entrepreneurial ventures and finance. He is a founding partner of Afina International and also serves as Honorary Consul of Chile in Philadelphia.

Vibhas Madan, Ph.D.

Vibhas Madan is the Dean and R. John Chapel Jr. Dean’s Chair and Professor of Economics at the LeBow College of Business at Drexel University.

Leland Miller

A leading authority on China’s economy and financial system, Leland Miller is the co-founder and CEO of China Beige Book, the world’s leading data analytics firm focused on China, as well as operator of the largest proprietary data-collection network and private database ever developed to track the Chinese economy.

Donald Rissmiller

Mr. Rissmiller is a founding Partner of Strategas and has directed the Firm’s macroeconomic research efforts since 2006. He oversees Strategas’ thematic research as well as high-frequency econometric forecasting.

Brian A. Rankin

Brian A. Rankin, principal of Rankin Law & Policy, has over 30 years of legal and corporate experience as a policy advocate and legal counsel, including as a senior legal executive for Comcast Corporation, a Fortune 30 global media and technology company. He is an attorney, MBA, experienced corporate executive and has served on multiple nonprofit boards.

George Tsetsekos, Ph.D.

George Tsetsekos is dean emeritus and the Francis Professor of Finance at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business.

Michael Veloric

Michael Veloric has served as the president of Veloric Holdings since 1997. He holds an MBA in health Care administration from Temple University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Drew University.

Maryanne Waldman

Maryanne Waldman is a First Vice President – Financial Advisor for RBC Wealth Management/Consulting Group and has been in the financial services sector serving private clients for over 30 years. Prior to her current position, Maryanne was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

Advisory Council

David Altig

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Steven J. Batzer, CPCU, CLU

WBD Investment Group

Julian Callow

Rokos Capital Management

Mary Caraccioli

Central Park Conservancy

James Clancy

Wells Fargo

William Dunkelberg, Ph.D.

National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)

Justin Hyde

Bronze Buffalo Companies

Philippa Dunne

The Liscio Report

Kevin L. Kliesen

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Stephanie Mackay

Federal Reserve Board of Governors Community Advisory Council

Catherine L. Mann, Ph.D.

Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England

Stephen Sexauer

San Diego County Employees Retirement Association

John Silvia, Ph.D.

Dynamic Economic Strategy

William Strauss

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (Ret.)

Daniel G. Sullivan

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Timothy Weckesser, Ph.D.

Sino-Consulting

Mine Yücel

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (Ret.)

*Executive Committee Member