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Over 30 years of trade experience across business management, product development, client sales & operations & risk control in banking. Experience includes In-depth banking industry and working knowledge, including product development, relationship management, business understanding, strong product knowledge, and impact of key market trends on business strategy. Current responsibilities Heading team of Product and Technology team building a software solution (SaaS) automating trade finance processing.

Ashley Allen, Vice President and International Banking Manager for Arvest Bank, graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Master of Business Administration, in addition to holding a Bachelor’s in Marketing from the University of Oklahoma. Ashley thrives on providing technical advice for payment risk mitigation and coaching those new to international trade on best practices. She is experienced in all aspects of international banking and trade finance, including import and export commercial letters of credit, international and domestic standby letters of credit, documentary collections, and foreign currency advisory services. Ashley maintains a CDCS certification (Certified Documentary Credit Specialist) from the International Chamber of Commerce. Actively involved in the community, Ashley serves as Treasurer of the Oklahoma District Export Council, which utilizes business experience in support of the Nation’s export expansion effort. In her personal time, Ashley enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, reading, and traveling.

Gabe Amundson is a Director in Cargill’s Trade and Capital Markets (TCM) business group. He joined Cargill in 1999 and has held various roles within the company including his current role managing relationships as part of TCM’s Risk Investors Group. His primary focus is working with partners interested in supporting Cargill’s trade finance activities including banks, non-bank investors, and ECA’s.

Andy joined Huntington Bank in 2009. He has responsibility for Huntington’s Global Advisory segment; consisting of the Structured Working Capital Finance and Global Trade & Treasury lines of business. He is a member of the board of directors at Huntington International Inc. He has extensive corporate banking, structured finance, financial institution risk, country risk and cross-border business experience dating back to 2001, primarily at GE Corporate Finance and ABN AMRO prior to Huntington. He earned an MBA from the Carey School of Business at John’s Hopkins University and is a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking. He earned post-graduate certificates in Executive Leadership from the Wharton School of Business and Fintech from Harvard University. Andy holds several industry certifications including Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) as well as the Certifications in Supply Chain Finance (CSCF) and Payments (CertPay), both issued by the London Institute of Banking and Finance.

Mr. Tom Beube is Senior Vice President and Director of Wintrust Financial Corporations International Services Group. The Wintrust International Services group supports the banks commercial and retail bank customers for all activities involving cross border trade finance, Foreign Exchange payments and hedging strategies, global payments, Standby letters of credit and cross border guarantees. Mr. Beube joined Wintrust 10 years ago after spending 14 years with ABN AMRO Bank and 3 years with Bank of America. While Chicago is his home, Mr. Beube has had assignments in Hong Kong, Detroit and Shanghai during his time with ABN AMRO. His banking career began in the international department at the First National Bank of Chicago.

Eddie is responsible for covering regional banks and FinTech’s in the North American market at Swift. He leads a team that covers over 800 diverse institutions across the NAM region. Eddie has been working with the regional bank community in both the United States and Canada for over 4 years on a wide range of topics, from ISO 20022 to Payment Innovation, to Financial Crime & Compliance to Trade. Before joining Swift, Eddie worked at Payoneer, a payments fintech specializing in cross-border payments, where he managed key banking and corporate relationships globally.

Tod Burwell is the President and Chief Executive Officer of BAFT. Prior to being promoted to CEO, he served as the Senior Vice President of Trade Products with oversight of all trade-related initiatives including the Global Trade Industry Council, Trade Committees, and other strategic initiatives of the organization. Mr. Burwell has over 25 years of trade, supply chain and cash management experience as a banking practitioner, as well as serving as a consultant to global corporations and suppliers of strategically integrated trade solutions. Prior to joining BAFT, Mr. Burwell was a Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase and held senior global management roles responsible for trade operations, launching the logistics business and managing global product sales for trade finance and logistics management.

Peter Clement is the Senior Vice President for International Financing at Rosenthal & Rosenthal, Inc., with Headquarters in New York, New York. Residing in Northwest New Jersey with his wife and two children, Peter specializes in providing expertise in trade finance for international corporations. In this role, he is responsible for the continuous growth and retention of the trade finance sales channel for North America. Rosenthal & Rosenthal is the leading factoring, asset-based lending, purchase order financing, d2c and e-commerce inventory financing firm in the United States. Founded in 1938 by Imre J. Rosenthal, the firm is now led by the third generation of the Rosenthal family. As a privately held company, Rosenthal is committed to providing personalized service and flexible lending to clients across a broad range of industries. Prior to joining Rosenthal, Peter spent 15+ years with industry leaders in the trade credit/trade finance space holding multiple positions on the national director level. He was dedicated to developing bank, broker, and direct relationships that resulted in sustainable and profitable business.

James joined Commerce Bank in 2005 and serves as the manager of the bank’s foreign exchange group. His responsibilities include overseeing all sales and trading related functions of the FX desk. After graduate school, he began his banking career in trade finance at Banc One International Corp. in Dallas, TX. He subsequently worked for two state economic development agencies in the Midwest where he assisted companies in developing new export markets throughout Latin America. James returned to banking when he joined Commerce and has spent the last 19 years working closely with commercial clients to help them navigate the world of cross-border payments and FX market risk mitigation.

Mr. Douglass serves as Vice President of Sales and Business Development at The Clearing House. Prior to joining The Clearing House, Mr. Douglass spent 14 years at BNY Mellon, where he held various roles within BNY Mellon’s Private Wealth Management, Asset Management and Treasury Services groups. He also spent 1.5 years as a Sales and Relationship Officer in PNC’s Treasury Management – Strategic Partners division. Mr. Douglass has been with The Clearing House since October, 2020. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and Economics from the University of Pittsburgh and holds the Certified Treasury Professional designation from the Association for Financial Professionals.

Mark Garfield’s current role is Head of Global Financial Institutions at Zions Bancorporation responsible for foreign bank relationship development. He joined Zions Bancorporation in 2005. He has over 30 years of banking experience with 25 years in international banking management covering trade finance, trade services, foreign exchange, correspondent banking and product development. Throughout his career he has worked closely with corporate and commercial entities in the Midwest and Western U.S. providing banking support for cross-border trade. Mr. Garfield currently serves as a Director of BAFT and Chair of the Utah District Export Council. He served on the DEC National Advisory Board and Board of the World Trade Center, Utah.

Chris joined smartTrade in 2020 as Director of Payments with responsibility for smartTrade's Commercial Banking and Payments platform which sits at the intersection of foreign exchange, cash management, and payments. CBP delivers FX, and cross-border payments to financial institutions globally while Chris delivers product demonstrations and captures feedback from anyone with an interest in FX and payments. Prior to smartTrade, Chris spent close to 20 years in Commercial and Wholesale Banking in Toronto and holds an LLB from the University of British Columbia.

Brian Gordon started his banking career at National Bank of Commerce in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1989 while attending the University of Nebraska. In 2000 he joined Wells Fargo (via acquisition) where he focused his calling in the 7 states surrounding Missouri as a business development officer for the Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank. He then joined Sovereign Bank in the Mid-Atlantic & New England markets to build from scratch a structured trade finance group. Before returning to the Midwest to join Commerce Bank, he was with HSBC in New York City as an international business development officer covering CT, NJ, NY, PA, MD, VA, and Washington DC.

Gerardo Gutierrez-Olvera joined Grupo Financiero BANORTE 11 years ago as Executive Director, responsible for Trade Finance and International Business. BANORTE is the second largest bank in Mexico, and the only one among the 6 largest banks in the country that is managed by a Mexican management team. Gerardo joined BANORTE after more than 20 years of comprehensive and substantial experience in the international banking arena with Banco Santander and Bank of America, working for those institutions both, at a local and regional level, in Mexico City, Monterrey, New York City, Madrid (Latin American Division) and Hong Kong (Asia-Pacific regional hub). His main focus has been on the development, management, sales, operations, and growth of business lines related to trade & supply chain finance, global payments, corporate banking, financial institutions, correspondent banking and treasury services. Under Gerardo’s leadership Banorte was named Best Service Trade Finance (Mexico) in Euromoney’s Trade Finance Survey 2024, and Best Trade Finance Provider in Mexico by Global Finance in 2019.

Mr. Nigel Hook grew up near Bletchley Park, in the United Kingdom. This led him to study computer science, cryptography, and of course, Turing machines. After graduating, he self-emigrated to the United States and founded DataSkill in 1981, in pursuit of applying artificial intelligence (AI) to solve intractable problems. One area, combatting complex crimes using data science to find clues in vast amounts of data led to clients, including the US DoD, SPAWAR, FBI, and other international intelligence agencies. Mr. Hook founded TradeSun in 2018 to apply these AI and IoT technologies to trade finance where the automation of document examination drives real-time interception of fraud, money laundering and compliance infractions.

AJ joined Trade Acceptance Group (TAG) in April of 2021 as a principal, after working in non-bank commercial finance for the past 7 years. With over 14 years of international sales, logistics and finance experience, AJ understands the wide-ranging needs of exporters and the vast opportunities in the global marketplace. His international career began in 2009 with an injection molding manufacturer, selling products in 18 different countries. During his time with the manufacturer , AJ traveled frequently to China, Canada, and Germany, and capitalized on the U.S. government's export development programs, such as the Gold Key Program to expand sales internationally. In 2014, AJ transitioned to international finance. During his time in international/commercial finance, he primarily focused on purchase order and accounts receivable financing. These financing solutions helped SMEs procure orders from both foreign and domestic suppliers while accelerating cashflow and growing overall sales.

Melissa Luster is the VP of International Operations at BOKF, NA, Melissa has been a member of the BAFT Southeast LC Subcommittee since 2012 which she currently sits as Secretary. She provides leadership and training to her Trade Operations Team at BOKF, NA working directly with the team members providing services for products such as participations, documentary collections and letters of credit both standby and commercial. Melissa also supports the back office system as well as font end trade platform, onboarding customers and provides training. Her career with BOKF,NA began in April of 2007 and she earned her CDCS certificate in 2013.

Erin Moore is a SWIFT Payments Product Expert supporting the execution of SWIFT’s strategy of fast and frictionless cross-border payments. She is responsible for promoting ISO20022 migration, gpi, SWIFT Go, Pre-validation and Case Management. She works closely with financial institutions to transform the end user’s payment experience, harmonizing systems and schemes and refining efficiency of operations. She is a member of Women in Payments and a SWIFT Diversity and Inclusion global ambassador. Prior to joining SWIFT in 2020, Erin worked for The Clearing House and Citibank, holding various roles in product management and sales support and operations and technology as both an individual contributor and manager.

Carlos Navarro has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Oregon and a master’s degree in international business from Florida International University. Carlos has worked in the Banking industry for over two decades in South America as well as in the US. He has worked in Retail Banking, Commercial Lending, Trade Finance, as well as in International Business departments. Over the last couple of years, he has become a Senior Financial Crime Compliance Expert at Swift working mainly with banks from the Caribbean, Central and South America. Carlos was born and raised in La Paz, Bolivia and has been living in the US for the past fifteen years. He is married to his wife Cecilia and has a sixteen-year-old daughter, Maria, and fourteen-year-old twins, Matias and Micaela.

Jeffrey Nowakowski serves as Senior Vice President and Foreign Exchange Specialist at BOK Financial, where he provides comprehensive international banking services tailored to the needs of BOK’s commercial clients. His expertise spans a wide range of services, including international wire transfers, foreign currency accounts, and currency risk management, ensuring that clients are equipped to navigate the complexities of global markets. With over 25 years of experience in the foreign exchange market, Jeffrey began his career as a currency options trader on the floor of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. Throughout his career, he has managed the trading desks of multiple Denver-based hedge funds and investment advisory firms, gaining deep expertise in currency trading strategies and risk mitigation. His hands-on experience in both trading and advisory roles has positioned him as a trusted resource for businesses looking to mitigate currency risks and optimize international transactions.

Daniel Pinho was appointed the Vice President of Operations and Business Management at BAFT on July 31, 2023. Daniel previously was the SVP & AGM at PNC's Trade Finance group.  He has over 20 years of experience in structured trade financing programs.  Prior to joining PNC, Daniel was a Manager at UPS Capital Business Credit where he supervised the Export Credit Agency Operations group.  He also served as the Director of Trade Finance at a consulting firm in Brazil. Pinho also previously served on BAFT's North American Council and co-chaired the Structured Trade and Export Finance Committee. He is a member of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting and is chair of the board of Ten Thousand Villages in Pittsburgh, a fair trade nonprofit organization.

Karen Pinkall serves as Director, Global Banking at FNBO. In that role, Karen manages a team that oversees trade finance operations for the bank. In addition to offering trade solutions to customers, Karen and her team conduct training to customers, prospects and bank professionals. Karen is a 1996 graduate of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in international affairs. She went on to earn a Master of Arts degree from Florida State University in 1997 where she studied international affairs. Karen’s previous work experience includes working in financial crimes compliance at FNBO, international trade at Wells Fargo Bank and retail banking at Wells Fargo Bank. In the community she is the immediate past president and serves on the board of the Midwest International Trade Association, an organization that promotes global trade through educational events, networking events, and an annual trade conference each year. She currently resides in Omaha with her husband Andy, and their children, Lily and Anna.

Amy Sahm joined Fulton Financial’s International Group in 2002 following a long-term career in the Japanese banking and trade industry. She works as department manager, overseeing product development, operations, sales and risk management. The International Group at Fulton is responsible for foreign exchange risk management and all international transactional products and services including Trade Finance for Fulton’s customer base. The International Group primarily serves import / export SME clients within Fulton’s five state footprint. She serves as a Board Member and Treasurer of both the World Trade Center of Harrisburg and the Mid-Atlantic District Export Council supporting the US Commercial Service Export Assistance Center. Amy is a member of the International Business Advisory Board of Elizabethtown College where she mentors students and presents guest lectures on international finance. Amy also holds a Board seat at BAFT as well as a Co-Chair position on the North American Council. In addition to BAFT, Amy is active throughout the North American regional bank network in several international banking industry groups.

Sue-Ellen Speight is a Senior Vice President at StoneX Inc, a global Fortune 500 financial services institution. Sue-Ellen specializes in Global Cross-Border Payments in emerging markets with a focus on Regional Banks and Fintech. Having been with StoneX in the Global Payments team for eight years, Sue-Ellen offers keen insight into the challenges facing the Banking Sector, prevailing technology trends and payments best practice. The global payment sector has benefited from recent initiatives to increase transparency and innovations spurred by Fintechs though in many Frontier Markets the regulatory and operational challenges remain. Sue-Ellen and StoneX are committed to bringing access and efficiency to the ‘final mile’ of payments in challenging markets. For Financial Institutions, this means accessing local market insight as well as improving operational efficiency to deliver payments to almost all markets within two days. Formerly a Partner in a UK Consultancy specializing in Operational Efficiency, then transplanted to San Francisco as Strategy & Operational roles in several start-ups, Sue-Ellen brings a global perspective and practical understanding of how human processes can be given Super-Powers through technology. She is an active participant in the Bay Area Payments community, regular contributor to the Australian-American Incubator Mentorship program run by the Australian Consulate and Activator for the SHE-EO Investment Network. In her down time, Sue-Ellen is an amateur astronomer and enthusiastic hiking buddy to an intrepid ten-year-old Brittany pointer. Sue-Ellen holds a Bachelor of Commerce - Business Finance & Commercial Law from the University of Queensland in Australia, graduated the Executive Program in Strategy & Organization Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and holds Certificates in Foundations of Design Thinking and Organizational Thought to Action from IDEO.

Marika Tassoni is the Business Development Director for international companies at Desjardins. Her mandate is to assist foreign companies wishing to open operations in Canada and help them to help them take advantage of the wide range of services offered by Desjardins. Prior to joining Desjardins, Ms. Tassoni has specialized in economic development and spent the last several years at Montréal International, where her role was to attract foreign direct investment and contribute to the international reputation of Greater Montréal. In this capacity, she has supported dozens of foreign investment projects in a wide range of industries from multiple markets. She has also led the development of a cybersecurity expertise for FDIs attraction within the organization and a working group in cybersecurity regrouping industry players, academia and community members. Prior to joining Montréal International, Ms. Tassoni held several positions at Global Affairs Canada as a trade commissioner and a policy advisor.

Ian Wyatt is a veteran economist with expertise in macroeconomic forecasting, industry analysis, economic data, commercial and corporate finance, and labor market trends. At Huntington, he is the Director of Economics for the Commercial Bank. In his role, Ian helps Huntington and its commercial clients navigate economic uncertainty and make better decisions through insights and data. Prior to joining Huntington, Ian served as the Principal Economist at the Metro Atlanta Chamber. His work covered a wide range of issues including the regional economic outlook and other key trends, municipal finances, educational attainment, and racial income gaps. Ian also led the economic development research team, which played a key role in recruiting hundreds of new corporations and their headquarters, factories, warehouses, and research laboratories – creating more than 10,000 jobs in a single year. Ian spent a decade at Bank of America in the Commercial Bank and Corporate Lending strategy and analytics, leading data efforts and helping commercial lending navigate economic challenges, such as the COVID-19 recession and understanding dynamics in the bank and non-bank lending market.

As the Senior Director of the International Banking Department at First Citizens Bank, Aaron is responsible for Trade Finance, Foreign Exchange and International Operations. Prior to his role at First Citizens, he was the Director of FX Sales in the Southeast US for TD Securities. Over the past 25 years he has had managerial and sales roles with The South Financial Group, Commerce Bank, and Bank of America. Aaron earned a master’s degree in International Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and a bachelor’s degree in Geographic Trade and Commerce from the State University of New York at Buffalo.