A Partner at Troutman Pepper, David Anthony has more than 30 years of experience leading a national litigation practice, representing consumer financial services companies in matters surrounding cutting-edge claims under the FCRA, FDCPA, TCPA and other consumer protection privacy statutes. Having served as lead counsel in more than 1,200 lawsuits in courts across the U.S., his specific experience includes handling matters involving bet-the-company litigation, solving the unique challenges of class actions lawsuits and mass litigation, issues of first impression, and the overlap between class action lawsuits and regulatory litigation by federal and state regulators. A prolific speaker and a trusted resource for media, he has delivered more than 200 presentations to clients and industry groups and has authored more than 100 articles in leading national financial and legal publications.

As Vice President of Education Services, Anita Appel (Popwell) oversees all operational aspects of the Department. She focuses on keeping the Association’s audiences abreast of the latest developments in regulatory compliance by managing the development and maintenance of CDIA’s educational training programs, identifying new education projects and priorities, and partnering with leading law firms to develop events covering current issues and industry best practices. With CDIA since 2000, Anita has played a key role in growing CDIA’s compliance training programs, expanding the education services offered not only to the Association’s members, but also to financial institutions such as data furnishers and data users.

James C. Barnacle serves as Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) in the Criminal Investigative Division, overseeing operations, policy, initiatives, and guidance of the FBI’s Financial Crimes, Public Corruption and Civil Rights programs. Mr. Barnacle is also responsible for all Covert Operations. Prior to being named DAD, Mr. Barnacle was Chief of the Financial Crimes Section, overseeing the FBI’s Complex Financial Crimes program, including money laundering, virtual assets, corporate and securities fraud, financial institution fraud, intellectual property rights crime, healthcare fraud, and the forensic accounting programs.

Mr. Barnacle began his FBI career as an investigator of securities fraud, commodities fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering violations in the New York Field Office. Mr. Barnacle’s cases resulted in the recovery and return of nearly $1 Billion in assets to victims of fraud. Mr. Barnacle is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University

Michael Crockett, Chief Operating Officer at Xactus, directs the company’s operations and manages several departments, including credit, verifications, tenant screening, and more. Providing the strategic direction around Xactus’ operations and data strategies, Michael also leads the company’s Quality Assurance/Quality Control initiatives. He spearheads Xactus’ internal and external customer experience strategies, where he focuses on improving its service quality, delivery, and technical support. Michael has more than 25 years of experience developing products for the mortgage industry to help lenders mitigate risk.

Dan Cunningham is the Team Lead for Data Management Services at Innovis. Dan has been with Innovis for 6 years. In 2021 Dan became a data steward on the Innovis Data Governance Team and has recently become a member of the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) Metro 2® Format Task Force on behalf of Innovis.

Eric J. Ellman is the Senior Vice President for Public Policy and Legal Affairs at the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) in Washington, D.C. Eric also served two stints as the Interim President and CEO of the association. Among other things, Eric leads the government affairs program, runs the legal department, and participates in the management of the association. Eric has been with CDIA since January 1998.

Jeffrey Feinstein, Ph.D., is Vice President of Global Analytic Strategy at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. He oversees domestic and global statistical development and thought leadership for financial services and related industries. Dr. Feinstein leads a team of over 100 data scientists in the US, Europe, and Brazil. Jeffrey leads teams supporting Product R&D, Capability Innovation, and Thought Leadership. Besides the implementation of sophisticated algorithm development methods such as AI and ML, Jeffrey supports missions to increase financial inclusion; refine algorithms preventing identity fraud, first party fraud, and synthetic fraud; and optimize FCC compliance processes. Jeffrey joined LexisNexis Risk Solutions in 2009, where he oversaw the transformation to apply machine learning and advanced analytics to LexisNexis Risk Solutions data assets. Prior to LexisNexis Risk Solutions he worked in development and research areas at Fair Isaac, now FICO. Jeffrey has been a leader in the industry over 20 years. He earned his undergraduate degree at University of Buffalo, and his Ph.D. in Behavioral Science (with a minor in Applied Statistics) at Ohio State University.

Dwight Fettig is a Partner of Porterfield, Fettig & Sears, LLC (PFS). He has had a long career in DC, splitting his 36 years in DC between working in the House and Senate for 16 plus years for then Congressman and Senator Tim Johnson, as well now 20 years of private sector government relations experience, including 12 years as a PFS partner. Dwight’s roles on Capitol Hill in the Johnson office include as a House LD, Senate LD and Senator Johnson’s first Staff Director on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in 2011 and 2012. A native of Bismarck, North Dakota, Fettig graduated with a B.A. degree in Political Science from Minnesota State University Moorhead. Dwight is known to his colleagues and friends in DC as both an avid sports fan who loves stats and numbers, as well as a fan of data in politics and campaigns.

For nearly the past 4 years, Ursula has served as a Data Steward at Equifax where she and her team are responsible for defining, maintaining quality, and ensuring compliance and security of the credit data. As an individual, she has created processes, best practices and successfully worked with cross-functional teams. Before joining Equifax, Ursula Gatewood had nearly 13 years of experience in the credit/payments sector as a Financial Analyst and a credit processing Research Analyst, responsible for ensuring data integrity and compliance within an authorization system. Ursula brings with her enthusiasm and the desire to help people live their best credit life.

Steven Gawthorpe, PhD, is a data scientist with more than ten years of experience. He specializes in open-source intelligence techniques for investigating financial crime and corruption. His technical expertise includes machine learning (ML) and natural language processing, and he plays a pivotal role in the development of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) solutions at BRG. His work spans a diverse range of AI/ML applications, from information retrieval and named-entity recognition to text generation and computer vision. Before joining BRG, Dr. Gawthorpe served as the senior data scientist and project lead for the Drugs Monitoring Platform (DMP) at the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. In this capacity, he developed an innovative AI solution that continuously extracts global news content related to illicit drug seizures. His contributions to the project were highly valued, and the DMP has had an impact on combating drug trafficking and abuse.

Jeremy Grant brings more than 25 years’ experience at the intersection of identity, privacy, and cybersecurity, having served in a range of leadership positions spanning government and industry. Grant previously established and led the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC), housed in NIST; NSTIC was the first new cybersecurity program launched by the Obama administration. He is a Managing Director in Venable LLP’s Technology and Innovation Group, supporting clients on a range of business, technical, policy, and finance issues related to identity, privacy, and cybersecurity. Grant also serves as Coordinator of the Better Identity Coalition, an organization focused on developing and advancing consensus-driven, cross-sector policy solutions that promote better solutions for identity verification and authentication.

Laura Gray has built her career over the past 23 years at TransUnion, with 18 years in Data Operations. Laura has supported various customers across all tier levels, was a Team Lead for the National and Strategic customer vertical in Data Operations, managed the Client Technical Support Group and was the liaison between Batch Credit Services and IT. Due to her years of experience, she has a vast knowledge of credit reporting and TransUnion data processing systems. In 2017, she was tasked to lead the Data Furnisher Monitoring program in Data Operations. Laura was a CDIA Task Force Member from 2006 to 2008 and rejoined the Task Force in 2018.

Sheila M. Greenwood is the Senior Vice President of Congressional Affairs and Chief of Staff at the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA), a trade association representing the U.S. consumer reporting industry. At CDIA, Sheila leads federal government relations and connects Capitol Hill with CDIA’s advocacy efforts. As Chief of Staff, Sheila executes strategic planning, operations, and budgeting. Sheila is an experienced senior executive with over 25 years of extensive federal government, management, public affairs, public policy, and legislative experience.  Her government experience includes senior roles at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) as the agency’s Chief of Staff. Sheila’s private sector experience has primarily centered on financial services, housing, insurance, and consumer banking for various Washington, DC-based corporate offices, and trade associations, including Citigroup, Prudential Financial, and the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents.

Drawing on nearly two decades in enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and in-house at a global diversified financial services corporation, Melissa Baal Guidorizzi advises traditional financial institutions and emerging financial technology (fintech) companies on consumer financial services compliance, regulatory investigations and enforcement actions and litigation. During Melissa’s tenure at the CFPB’s Office of Enforcement, she developed supervision and enforcement priorities, identifying subjects for examinations and investigations. She also shaped federal consumer financial laws that impact cryptocurrency markets, new payment technologies, and established financial institutions, including the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Melissa also spent nearly a decade in-house at a large multinational financial institution, where she was responsible for implementing regulatory compliance initiatives, defending enforcement actions and managing regulatory examinations.

Jackie Gulley is an experienced executive in strategic communications, public policy and legislative/government affairs, brand and reputation management and policy issue campaign strategy with a demonstrated history of leading and developing strong teams. Most recently, she managed Strategic Communications Engagement for Moody’s Investments Service with responsibility for showcasing the Moody’s brand, talent, and content strategies and campaigns. Previously, she held roles in communications and government affairs with S&P Global leading messaging, developing coalitions and partnerships, and award-winning advocacy campaigns. While working at Verizon, she focused on advocacy for wireless related issues such as payment innovation and broadband deployment.

Kari Hall is a partner in the Financial Services—Investigations, Regulation, and Litigation group at Paul Hastings, and is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. Ms. Hall counsels financial services companies on regulatory, compliance, and enforcement matters, with a focus on consumer lending and retail banking. Ms. Hall advises banks and non-banks on complex regulatory matters, risk management, and enforcement matters across deposits, payments, mortgage, auto lending, and open-ended credit. Ms. Hall has particularly deep experience advising on deposit account and card products, services, and disclosures, electronic fund transfers and other electronic transfers and payments, fair lending, fair servicing, and unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP). Ms. Hall advises clients regarding product development and compliance and represents clients in internal reviews and investigations, as well as examinations, investigations, and enforcement actions by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and state regulators.

Erin Jeweler serves as Deputy Assistant Director in the CFPB’s Office of Supervision Policy, managing the Bureau’s supervisory work in the Consumer Reporting, Collections, Data Aggregator, and Furnishing markets. Erin has worked at the Bureau since 2012, previously serving as supervision and policy counsel for mortgage and auto servicing examinations. Prior to her service at the Bureau, Erin served as a policy analyst at the Department of Treasury during the height of the mortgage crisis and played a key role in the development of mortgage servicing policies in the Office of Financial Stability’s Home Preservation Office. She earned her undergraduate and law degree from the University of Maryland.

Brent Lattin is a Deputy Assistant Director in the Office of Regulations at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he has worked since 2015. Before joining the Bureau, Brent worked at the Federal Reserve Board and in private practice. At the Bureau, Brent works principally on installment lending, student lending, and debt collection issues.

James is the Chief Operating Officer of the respected Identity Theft Resource Center, a national nonprofit that provides free assistance to victims of identity crimes and objective research on identity & privacy issues. Prior to joining the ITRC, James served as Executive Vice President, Director, & Company Secretary for Irish cybersecurity company Waratek; SVP & Chief Public & Consumer Affairs Officer at data pioneer ChoicePoint (now LexisNexis); the global Director of Public Affairs & Communication at International Paper Company; and, on the advisory boards of five tech start-ups. James led two working groups for the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) on identity management and privacy.

Michelle Macartney is the CCO and Managing Partner at Bridgeforce and oversees the U.S. practice, ensuring that Bridgeforce’s consulting engagements optimize value for its clients. Michelle has led numerous engagements focused on consumer reporting compliance from disputes operations improvements to establishing Center of Excellence credit reporting organizations to detailed Metro 2® data mapping and data furnishing accuracy controls. With over 30 years in the industry, Michelle’s extensive experience has resulted in numerous requests to deliver presentations on this topic for years at CBA LIVE (2015–2018, 2022, 2023, 2024), at conferences hosted by CDIA, insideARM, America’s Credit Unions, ACA, NCCR, and SBFE, and during best practices forums with some of the largest furnishers in the U.S.

Yolanda D. McGill joined Zest AI in 2023 as Deputy General Counsel & Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs. Yolanda brings to Zest AI her extensive experience at the intersection of advocacy, research, government, and the private sector to achieve common policy goals. For the last two decades she has focused primarily on credit, debt, and consumer financial products and services. During that time Yolanda led state legislative campaigns, built national coalitions, and educated policymakers and the public on complex problems and the possibilities for sustainable solutions for them. Immediately prior to joining Zest AI, Yolanda was leading the regulatory initiatives on credit cards, payday and small dollar lending, marketplace lending, Military Lending Act, and UDAAP as a supervising attorney in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office of Regulations. Before taking on the CFPB role in 2015 Yolanda was manager and coalition leader of the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network, the first-ever consumer protection project at the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington, D.C.

Ken Meiser is Vice President of Market and Industry Insight at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, with deep experience in identity fraud detection and alternative credit, with a focus on data and algorithmic governance, inclusion, and fair lending practices. He has provided expert testimony to State and Federal regulators on the best practices in Identity, lending inclusion and the use of public records and private consumer data and is a regular speaker on risk, data use and algorithmic best practices. Mr. Meiser is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Texas School of Information.

Meg Nicholls is a partner at Hudson Cook’s Fort Worth, Texas office. She advises businesses on compliance with consumer financial services and consumer protection laws. She is experienced in developing and maintaining robust compliance programs that are essential to proactively comply with the myriad of complex consumer financial services industry laws. Prior to joining Hudson Cook, Meg served as the head of compliance and privacy for GIACT Systems, LLC, an identity verification and fraud prevention company, where she designed, implemented, and maintained a compliance management system to ensure compliance with federal and state consumer reporting and privacy laws. Meg also previously served as corporate counsel for CoreLogic and as an attorney in the consumer financial services practice at a national firm.

Ryan O’Hara is a Manager in Data Operations at TransUnion. He has been with TransUnion for over 12 years, all within the Data Operations area, and has developed a strong knowledge base in all things credit reporting. Ryan currently manages a team supporting strategic accounts which encompasses large banks, credit unions, auto furnishers, and collections. In early 2017, he joined the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) Metro 2® Format Task Force on behalf of TransUnion where he continues to put his knowledge of the industry to use.

Jennifer counsels businesses on compliance with federal and state regulations and consumer protection laws, including, among others, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Acts and prohibitions against unfair, deceptive acts and practices. Jennifer also represents clients in government investigations and enforcement actions, as well as litigation before state agencies. Jennifer has represented financial services companies in federal and state court litigation matters, defending claims involving the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Acts, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Truth in Lending Act, mortgage lending, bankruptcy law and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. She represented a broad range of companies in complex commercial litigation regarding allegations of theft of trade secrets, business conspiracy claims and breach of fiduciary duties.

Ben Schneider is a leading expert in the Data Science field. He is a specialist in concepts such as: natural language processing, unsupervised machine learning, regression analysis, social network analysis, geospatial analytics, and data warehousing to transform data into solutions. Mr. Schneider has partnered with various global organizations to provide solutions and analytical insights. Mr. Schneider has utilized various advanced software and technologies to support clients’ needs. Mr. Schneider has ideated, constructed, and deployed machine learning algorithms for production-level use across numerous engagements and use cases. To further facilitate these advanced techniques, he has developed automated processes to extract, transform, and load structured and unstructured datasets into consolidated and legible formats. Mr. Schneider has real applicable expertise deployed and used by clients in , but not limited to, natural language processing (NLP), statistical testing, graph theory, supervised and unsupervised machine learning and data warehousing / data lakes. Additionally, Mr. Schneider provides clients with clear visualizations of results from the analysis utilizing Tableau, PowerBI, Kepler GL, and NetworkX. Mr. Schneider holds a M.S. in Applied Data Science from Syracuse University and a B.S. in Systems Information Science from the School of Engineering at Syracuse University.

Dawn Sears is a Partner and Counsel of Porterfield, Fettig & Sears, LLC (PFS). She joined PFS in 2006, but she first received her start off the Hill off as Legislative Counsel for the Independent Community Bankers of America, where she successfully advocated on behalf of community banks before Congress and federal financial regulators. Prior to that, Dawn worked on Capitol Hill for the Senate Judiciary Committee and served as Legislative Counsel on financial services and Commerce policy for Representative Lee Terry, who then served on the House Banking Committee. A native of Rhode Island, Sears is a graduate of Roger Williams University and Roger Williams University School of Law. She is admitted to practice law in Connecticut and before the United States Supreme Court.

David Silberman is a Senior Advisor to the Financial Health Network and the Center for Responsible Lending and a Lecturer in Law at the Harvard Law School where he teaches a course in consumer financial protection law. From 2011 to 2020 he served as Associate Director for Research, Markets, and Regulations at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Before joining the CFPB David was involved I the business of consumer finance first as President and CEO of Union Privilege, a non-profit arm of the AFL-CIO, and later as General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Kessler Financial Services. David began his legal career as a law clerk to Chief Judge David Bazelon of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Pavneet Singh is a Deputy Assistant Director in the Office of Regulations at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She focuses primarily on consumer reporting and privacy. She joined the CFPB in 2011. Prior to joining the CFPB, she was a Senior Attorney in the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, where her work involved the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, data security, and online privacy. She previously practiced law with the firm of WilmerHale in Washington, D.C. She received her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Virginia.

Andrew Smith is a Partner at Covington & Burling in Washington, DC. He is a former Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, and he counsels banks, non-banks, and financial technology providers on consumer financial services issues, including privacy, unfair and deceptive trade practices, credit reporting, fair lending, payments, and internet delivery of financial services. He has testified frequently before Congress on these issues, and regularly represents clients before the FTC, CFPB and State Attorneys General in law enforcement and rulemaking proceedings. He is the former Chair of the American Bar Association’s Consumer Financial Services Committee.

Dan Smith is president & CEO of the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA), a trade association representing the U.S. consumer reporting industry. At CDIA, Dan is responsible for the leadership, direction, and overall management of the organization. Dan guides CDIA’s efforts to enhance the public’s recognition and understanding of the consumer reporting industry and its vital importance to consumers nationwide. Dan is a leading authority on federal and state legislative and regulatory processes and has an in-depth knowledge of consumer financial protection laws and regulations. Dan joined CDIA from the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), where he was Executive Vice President and Head Regulatory Affairs.

Joel Strickland serves as Director of Client Relations for Online Data Exchange LLC, and is responsible for client management with respect to Data Furnisher customers using e-OSCAR®.  Mr. Strickland and his team work to monitor delivery against contractual obligations, ensures the platform is meeting the service needs of Data Furnishers, drives customer learning and outreach, supports key initiatives, and drives improvements in the areas of customer experience, control, receivables management and expense.  Prior to joining Online Data Exchange, Mr. Strickland had a 12-year career at Citibank and had broad experience across North American Cards Customer Service, Global Collections Operations, and Global Consumer Bank Operations & Technology.

Jeff Van Schoyck is the Director of Data Management Services at Innovis. A graduate of The Ohio State University, Jeff has been with Innovis for 25 years. In 2004 Jeff transitioned the Data Management department from Houston TX to Columbus OH, building a team to support data furnishers and assist with data quality. In 2017 Jeff became a Data Steward on the Innovis Data Governance team and has been a member of the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) Metro 2® Format Task Force on behalf of Innovis for 18 years.

Over the last 17 years working in Data Operations, Risk Management and Governance, Jared Week’s industry experience spans across core credit data general industry knowledge, reporting best practices and business functions. In addition, Jared has held a position for the past 10 years on the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) Metro 2® Format Task Force while also participating in multiple Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) collaborative initiatives and customer roundtable engagements.

Darin Wharton is a Manager within the Global Data Contributor Services group at Equifax. During the 30 years he has worked at Equifax, his duties focused on consumer and commercial reporting and included such responsibilities as the supervision of data reporting teams, data processing, training, as well as customer data consultation and support and project management. In 2022, Darin took on a new role as Manager. He joined the Metro 2 Task Force in 2017.

A Partner at Troutman Pepper, Chris Willis is the co-leader of the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Regulatory Practice Group. He advises financial services institutions facing state and federal government investigations and examinations, counseling them on compliance issues including UDAP/UDAAP, credit reporting, debt collection, and fair lending; and defending them in lawsuits brought by consumers and enforcement actions by government agencies. Chris has a practical focus to his advice informed by a strong knowledge of the business of consumer finance and a deep understanding of the practical priorities of regulatory agencies. Chris has been featured in numerous publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, American Banker, and the National Law Journal. He is also the host of Troutman Pepper’s highly successful weekly podcast, The Consumer Finance Podcast.