About Us
Board of Directors
Governance
Stewart A. Stockdale – Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO
Stewart A. Stockdale is Chairman & CEO of Rellevate. He is responsible for the company’s vision, strategic planning, and business growth. He is also responsible for overall fiscal management.
Stockdale brings broad experience with world-class companies in the payments, financial services, and consumer products sectors. He was named one of the Top CEO’s of tomorrow by Bloomberg / Business Week. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer of The J.G. Wentworth Company. J.G. Wentworth is a diversified consumer financial services company specializing in mortgages, structured settlements, payment systems, and personal loan options. There he stabilized, diversified and restructured the enterprise.
Previously he was President at the Western Union Company, where he ran Western Union’s Money Transfer and Consumer Payments businesses across five global regions (North America, Latin America & the Caribbean, Europe & CIS, Middle East Africa, and Asia Pacific). At Western Union, some of his successes included repositioning and turning around the U.S. Domestic Money Transfer and Consumer Payments businesses and returned them to growth after years of steep declines as well as launching the U.S. Prepaid Card business, delivering almost one million cards-in-force in the U.S. alone.
Stockdale also held roles such as Senior Vice President, Global Marketing & Product Management at MasterCard Worldwide, among other positions at leading multinational companies such as Simon Property Group where he launched and built the largest Visa Giftcard program in the United States, American Express, and Procter & Gamble.
Stockdale holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in marketing from the University of Denver and completed The Executive Program at the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. He resides in Darien, Connecticut with his wife and six children.
Greg Schneider – Co-Founder & CIO
Greg Schneider serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Rellevate.
Previously he was Chief Information Officer for The J.G. Wentworth Company, a position he held since 2014. Prior he served as a consultant to SCA Promotions Inc., a marketing agency.
Greg was Senior Vice President, Marketing Information Management at The Western Union Company from 2008 to 2012. At Western Union he also led the prepaid card opportunity that yielded over 1 million cards.
Prior to these engagements, Mr. Schneider held senior leadership positions in consumer and financial services businesses, including Simon Property Group (built Simon Giftcard Program, which at the time was the world’s largest Visa giftcard program), Conseco and Banc One Corporation dating back to 1984.
He holds a B.B.A. with honors from Ohio University and lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Peter Longo
Peter Longo is a senior managing director of investments at Connecticut Innovations, Inc. (CI) and has spent over 25 years in numerous roles at CI. Peter is currently responsible for evaluating investment opportunities, structuring investments and monitoring portfolio companies through active board participation. Peter currently sits on the boards of: Aureus Analytics (insurtech analytics), Aeromics (clinical stage stroke therapeutic), Continuity Control (financial regulatory compliance software), COVR Financial Technologies (digital insurance), DiA Imaging Analysis (AI medical software), Iridia (DNA data storage), OdinAnswers (analytics software platform), Payveris (mobile banking software) and Rellevate (digital bank). Peter is also a board observer of: Paygilant (financial fraud prevention platform) and Splitty (travel tech).
Peter’s past CI investments include: Achillion Pharmaceuticals (IPO then acquired by Alexion), Cardium Health (acquired by Centene), CYA Technologies (acquired by enChoice), Aventri (acquired by HGGC), Device42 (acquired by PE syndicate), NeuVis (acquired by Rational Software), Nufern (acquired by Rofin-Sinar), SilverSky (acquired by BAE Systems), PCC Technology Group (acquired by Clearview Capital), and Post-N-Track.
Peter also serves on the board of the College Street Innovation Fund and the investment review committee for Invest Michigan preseed fund.
Peter received his B.S., Business Administration from the University of Connecticut and his M.B.A. from the University of Hartford. Peter is a Certified Public Accountant and a Charter Financial Analyst. In addition, Peter served 8 years in the Connecticut Army National Guard.
Mark Parsells
Mark Parsells serves as Rellevate’s first Independent Director. Mark is a FinTech and financial services expert with deep experience in operations, marketing, technology, regulatory compliance and data privacy. Mark is the former President of Citigroup’s #1 Ranked Citibank Online and Head of Online Banking technology globally in 52 countries. He led multi-billion-dollar business units at American Express and Bank One (acquired by Chase). He was also Chair and CEO of three venture-backed Financial Technology (FinTech) businesses backed by firms including Bain Capital Ventures and Goldman Sachs. As a Marshall Goldsmith Top 100 Global Executive Coach, he advises CEOs and senior leaders at some of the world’s leading companies and academic institutions. He is Founder and Managing General Partner of the financial intermediary and strategic consulting firm Montpelier Ventures, based in Wilmington, DE.
Adam Schneider
Adam focuses on the intersection of digital technology and financial services combining technology and business expertise with the practical realities of ‘getting things done’. He has over 40 years’ experience across financial services including as a Partner at Oliver Wyman, as a Managing Director at BlackRock, and as a Partner at Deloitte. In these roles he worked with buy-side firms, sell-side firms, FinTechs, banks and custodians in a wide range of assignments including strategy, regulatory, cost management, technology/operations, and program implementation.
Adam is a veteran of industry change initiatives. He is on the Advisory Board for the Global Digital Asset & Cryptocurrency Association; is an author and member of the Future of Finance Working Group at the Bretton Woods Committee; is a member of the Federal Reserve’s Alternate Reference Rate Committee and an expert on LIBOR transition; he is also a member of the Canadian Alternate Reference Rates Working Group. He has made numerous presentations on key industry topics to the Federal Reserve, the Bank for International Settlements, the Institute of International Bankers, the Investment Company Institute, the Institute of International Finance, SIFMA, the Bank Administration Institute, the Wall Street Journal, the NY Times, USA Today, MIT, Columbia, Harvard Law, Bloomberg, and CNBC.
Adam has an MBA in Management from Columbia Business School and a B.S. in Management Information Systems from MIT and is based in New York.
Barbara B. Schoenfeld – Observer
Barbara Schoenfeld is a Strategic Advisor to Rellevate.
Barbara Schoenfeld is Managing Director of Saffron LLC, a consultancy for growth strategy. Ms. Schoenfeld has a background of over 35 years of experience in the financial services sector as a corporate lawyer, executive and board member.
She is an experienced angel investor with Cherrystone Angel Group since 2006 and has served multiple leadership roles. She is involved on the boards of portfolio companies Rellevate and Florence Health and is an advisor to Unruly Studios. Her financial services experience includes Chief Operating Officer of Brown Brothers Harriman’s Alternative Investment Group, with responsibility in the operation and distribution of private equity and hedge funds of funds; as well as Vice President for sales and marketing institutional asset management to endowments and foundations.
Ms. Schoenfeld served as Deputy Treasurer/General Counsel of Rhode Island. Her responsibilities included oversight of the public pension plans’ $6 Billion portfolio’s investment manager selection and oversight. Previously, Ms. Schoenfeld practiced corporate law at Edwards & Angell and at Ropes & Gray. She represented lending institutions, private equity firms and operating companies in financings, mergers & acquisitions, and general corporate matters. She established Saffron LLC as an executive search business in 2007, drawing on her industry expertise and contacts. Her clients included global banks, private equity and hedge funds for whom she placed leaders in operations, business development, sales, compliance, and board roles.
Ms. Schoenfeld is a board member of the Naval War College Foundation and the Newport Art Museum and is an Expert advisor to the Social Enterprise Greenhouse. Barbara has a Law degree from Boston University Law School and Bachelor’s degree, Master of Social Work and Master of City Planning degrees, all from the University of Pennsylvania.
Kevin King – Observer
Kevin King is a seasoned, successful corporate and community leader, investor and attorney with over 30 years experience recognizing opportunity in multiple business segments, designing growth strategies, implementing process improvements and positioning companies for sale or liquidity events.
His background includes leadership positions with ten privately-held companies and encompasses startups, acquisitions, turnarounds and high growth environments resulting in successful dispositions to publicly traded companies, private equity firms and strategic acquirers.
He serves on the board of directors of many private companies and major charitable organizations.
Mr. King began his career at Fulbright and Jaworski (now Norton Rose Fulbright). He has an undergraduate degree from SMU in Finance and JD from the University of Houston.
Joel Whitley - Observer
Joel Whitley is a Partner and Principal with IAG Capital Partners based in Charleston, South Carolina. Originally from Lexington, Kentucky, Joel has worked as an investor, counselor and lawyer, previously serving as a Director at Sherman Capital Markets in Charleston, as General Counsel of ASRC Energy Services in Anchorage, Alaska, and as an attorney at Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles. Joel graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and has a B.S. in engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
James Singh - Observer
James Singh is an investor with Tamiami Angels, and moved to Naples, Florida after retiring from BFAM Partners, a $2+ billion Hong Kong based manager of a multi-strategy hedge fund focused on Convertible Bond, Credit and Volatility strategies in Asia Pacific. He is one of the founding members of BFAM Partners, and served as its Chief Operating Officer until January 2018, and head of Investor Relations until December 2019. He served as a board member of BFAM’s Hong Kong management company and a board member of its Cayman-registered investment funds until January 2019. Jim interacted with key global regulators while serving on the Hong Kong Executive Committee of AIMA (The Alternative Investment Management Association) which is the global representative of the alternative investment industry until December 2021. He currently serves on the Board of the 1020 Multistrategy Funds, a recent Hong Kong based start-up.
Jim is a member of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong who spends his time focused on how emerging financial technologies can disrupt institutional capital markets, particularly with respect to derivative markets.
Jim has over 30 year’s global experience in finance and investment management including 20+ years in Asia Pacific. He’s built an expertise in driving best practices to meet changing demands from global regulators and leading institutional investors
Prior to the founding of BFAM Partners, Jim was the COO of its predecessor group, Nomura Principal Investments Asia Limited. Jim has also held senior roles at Gottex Fund Management, Lehman Brothers, and UBS Investment bank in Hong Kong, Tokyo and London.
Jim holds a Masters in International Development from the School of International Service at the American University and a BA in Political Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He enjoys skiing, tennis, golf, hiking and travel. Jim is married and has three grown children.
Eric Latin - Observer
Eric is Principal and Head of Investments at Naples Technology Ventures (NTV), a venture capital firm investing in early-stage enterprise software companies. Prior to joining NTV, he was Chief Operating Officer at Equable Shares, where he helped build the company and its business managing options trading strategies. Previously, Eric spent more than a decade at Attucks and HFR, where he developed and managed over $4 billion in hedge fund investment strategies for institutional clients including banks and pension funds. Additionally, Eric founded Turfmetrics, delivering software as a service to chemical companies, golf courses, and professional sports facilities.
