Senior Management Bios
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bruce MacFarlane – Chairman of the Board of Directors
Bruce has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is a founding member of Aquiline Capital Partners and Venturion Capital, both private equity funds focused on the financial services industry globally. He also founded Venturion Capital, a private equity investment firm specializing in the financial services industry. Previously, he served as a mergers and acquisitions specialist and a Senior Advisor with Smith Barney. Prior to Smith Barney, he was the Director of Financial Institutions and as Senior Advisor to the President for the Cabinet-level RTC Oversight Board which set the strategy, policy, and regulatory framework for the $100+ billion savings & loan clean-up. Bruce received a B.A. from Harvard College and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Gil Zitin – Director, Board of Directors
Gil is the retired Chairman, President and CEO of Aon Credit Services. Prior to joining Aon, he was President and CEO of Subaru Financial Services, Inc. Early in his career, Gil started Middle Atlantic Credit Corp., a commercial finance and equipment leasing business, which he later sold to Associates Corporation, where he stayed as a Senior Vice President until he left to join Subaru. He is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Rob Konrad – Director, Board of Directors
Rob was one of the principals of Allen Konrad Asset Management and is now president of Alterna Capital. He has overseen and managed several private investment funds, including a Southeast-based private equity fund, a triple net lease fund, a "hard equity" commercial mortgage fund, a mezzanine debt fund, a real estate development fund, a hybrid securities and commodities fund, and a multi-disciplinary hedge fund. He graduated with a degree in Consumer Studies - Business from Syracuse University and began his career in the financial services industry during his career in the NFL. While playing in the NFL, Rob served as a long time elected representative for the Miami Dolphins for the NFLPA. In 2007 he was appointed by the governor to the Florida State Board of Administration – Investment Advisory Council. His term on the Council runs to 2011.
EXECUTIVE & SENIOR MANAGEMENT
Balaji Rajan – President and Chief Executive Officer
Balaji, generally known as Raj, is considered an expert in the receivables management industry for both government and private sector receivables. His growth to becoming CEO of his own company is highlighted by its organic nature, having started as an entry level skip tracer in 1990. In the intervening years, Raj has provided leadership to organizations and clients in the areas of receivables management, government improper payment error reduction, systems design and implementation, organizational turnarounds, financial and project management. Since 1990, he has overseen large contracts for government receivable management contracts, integrated operations after mergers, and managed system conversions. His experience includes revenue enhancement projects involving Medicare and Medicaid for states and the District of Columbia; integrated smart card and GPS tracking technologies and implemented Activity Based Costing projects for Federal agencies. Since starting at FMS, he has grown a small consulting firm with revenues of $250,000 annually to a highly successful, diverse company with revenues projected at over $33 million and with staff from 3 to 380 employees; along with business units that include debt collection, loan servicing, and payment error reduction and data cleansing for Federal agencies.
Maureen Peterson – Executive VP and Chief Operating Officer
Maureen has managed accounts receivable management organizations in increasingly senior positions for the last 20 years. As the Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of FMS Services, LLC she is responsible for Financial Management Systems and The i3 Group, LLC. Her responsibility spans operations from supplemental loan servicing and government student loan debt collections to data cleansing and Treasury Offset Program enhancement projects performed by these Companies. Since joining FMS in 2008 she has grown the Company by over 200 percent with increasing efficiencies in all areas. Maureen is also a Director in the FMS Board of Directors. Prior to joining FMS, Maureen served as the President of Van Ru Credit Corporation and grew the organization in that role to over 1,400 employees and top ranking among all clients. She has contributed and operated in all facets of debt collection – from first party servicing to purchased debt collections in near-shore facilities. In recognition of her contributions to the industry and her success, Maureen was voted one of “The Top 50 Most Influential People in the Collection Industry” in 2007.
Troy Hardeman – Chief Technology Officer
With over 12 years in the IT field, including eight years in receivables management, Troy has successfully led numerous project implementations, calling for complex system integration requirements. He oversees FMS’ in-house team of programmers, network engineers, technicians, analysts, and security administrators. Troy is well versed in achieving compliance with a variety of data security and privacy standards including, ISO 17799 (27002), GLBA, FACTA, HIPAA, Patriot Act, Bank Secrecy Act, ECOA,, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and PCI DSS. Troy holds a B.S. degree in Management Information Systems from Millikin University.
Tim Adelman - Chief Financial Officer
Tim is a 26-year veteran of the financial service and risk management industries. His experience in accounting management encompasses both start up and global enterprise. Tim’s ability to effectively forecast, strategically plan, and manage rapid growth organizations have served him well throughout his career. Prior to joining FMS, Tim served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for InsuranceNoodle, Inc., an e-aggregator of commercial property and casualty insurance. After eight years, Willis North America, Inc. acquired the highly successful web-enabled brokerage at which time Tim took the position of Regional Financial Officer with Willis. Earlier in his career, Tim was CFO for AON Enterprise, a division of global insurance leader AON Risk Services, Inc. Tim holds a B.S. in Business from Illinois State University, an M.B.A. from DePaul University, and is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Brent Givens – Senior Vice President, i3 group, LLC
Brent has full responsibility for all operations and business development initiatives of the i3 group, LLC, a subsidiary of FMS, created specifically to provide services that help students avoid delinquency and default of their student loans. Brent leverages his student loan program knowledge at the school, guarantor, and lender level to enhance i3’s cohort management services, focusing on the Company’s data aggregation solutions and student outreach services. Prior to joining i3, Brent most recently served as Corporate Director of Student Loan Management with Career Education Corporation (CEC), a leading collection of higher education institutions serving over 100,000 students across 90 campuses. Before CEC, Brent held a series of escalating management positions during his 16 years with Sallie Mae., including Director of Lender Due Diligence, where he led a team of over 200 employees and managed over 500,000 student accounts monthly. While at Sallie Mae, Brent was also responsible for business development and service for United Student Aid Funds (USAF) among other national accounts.
Len Strepek– Vice President, Government Services
Len’s experience spans 20 years in the accounts receivable management industry. Most recently, Len held the position of Contract Administrator/General Manager for Van Ru Credit Corporation’s Department of Education task orders from 2002– 2008 and led the company to first place finishes in several competitive ranking periods. He has worked closely with Maureen Peterson and Balaji Rajan throughout his career. Len’s expertise in systems and process management are key to his successes. Len was responsible for a revenue budget of $30 million annually on the ED contract with over 400 employees and multiple branch offices reporting directly to him.
Gary Sowell Jr. – Director, Borrower Services
With over 14 years in the debt management industry, nine of which have been dedicated to federal debt portfolios, Gary is one of FMS’ most accomplished managers. His range of expertise includes systems and process design, systems conversion, and the professional development of front-line and managerial staff. In terms of student loan receivables, Gary has held key roles on various Guaranty Agency and campus-based portfolios. Earlier in his career, Gary served as Deputy Contract Administrator for the U.S. Department of Education Debt Collection Task Order while at OSI Collection Services, Inc.
Laura Adkins – Director, Federal Services
Prior to joining FMS, Laura was the Program Manager for the National Treasury Offset Program (TOP) Work Group for the Food and Nutrition Service, USDA. She retired with 38 years of federal service and now serves as liaison to FMS’ government clients and stakeholders. Laura's efforts have made FMS the exclusive provider of the Company’s proprietary AuthenticAID® (patent pending) solution, which has made significant impacts on data integrity and revenue results for a varied set of public agencies. In 2007, Laura was awarded the Secretary’s Honor Award from the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for “outstanding work…that led to the recovery of over $1 billion in delinquent debts…” The Honor Awards are the most prestigious awards given by the USDA.
John Kolakowski – Senior Manager, Private Sector Operations
John brings over 16 years of debt management expertise to FMS’ Private Sector operations. With expert knowledge in skip tracing, asset location, and advanced customer outreach techniques, John’s varied and hands-on experience have enabled the Company to launch and sustain successful recovery programs for some of the nation’s largest credit granters and asset management firms. John is a true innovator, having launched and managed everything from customer service and early stage delinquency projects to specialized balance transfer programs.