Leading the Future of Banking

Sherrie Rees serves as Chief Executive Officer of First Electronic Bank and brings more than 30 years of experience in financial services leadership, with a career spanning banking operations, financial management, and executive governance. She is recognized for her ability to lead organizations through growth while maintaining a strong focus on regulatory discipline, operational excellence, and long-term sustainability.

Prior to becoming CEO, Sherrie served as Chief Financial Officer of First Electronic Bank, where she played a key role in strengthening the bank’s financial foundation and supporting its strategic expansion. Her leadership has been instrumental in aligning financial strategy with business objectives, enhancing operational controls, and positioning the bank for continued growth in a highly regulated environment.

Earlier in her career, Sherrie held senior finance and leadership roles at financial institutions including Edward Jones Bank (in formation) and Medallion Bank, where she gained extensive experience in banking operations, regulatory engagement, and financial oversight. Her background provides a deep understanding of both traditional banking models and evolving financial services strategies.

Sherrie holds an MBA and was a Certified Public Accountant. Her leadership style emphasizes accountability, collaboration, and disciplined execution, and she is committed to fostering a culture of integrity, performance, and customer-focused innovation.

Arlene Dzurnak serves as Chief Compliance Officer of First Electronic Bank and brings more than 30 years of experience across banking, financial services, and financial technology organizations. She is a highly accomplished executive with deep expertise in regulatory and consumer compliance, enterprise risk management, internal audit, and corporate governance.

Throughout her career, Arlene has led compliance and risk functions for both traditional banks and high-growth fintech companies, including roles at Bond, Affirm, Comenity Capital Bank, Celtic Bank, and GE Capital Bank. She has extensive experience building and scaling compliance programs in complex, highly regulated environments, including early-stage and pre-IPO organizations.

Arlene holds an MBA and is a Certified Public Accountant. She is recognized for her collaborative leadership style, strong regulatory relationships, and ability to balance rigorous compliance with business innovation. She has been recognized as one of the Top Women Leaders in Financial Technology and is an active advocate for leadership development and governance excellence.

Candice Pitcher serves as General Counsel of First Electronic Bank, where she advises executive leadership and the Board of Directors on legal, regulatory, and corporate governance matters. She brings extensive experience supporting financial institutions through complex regulatory environments, strategic transactions, and enterprise-wide risk management initiatives.

Prior to joining First Electronic Bank, Candice held senior legal and compliance leadership roles at Rakuten Bank America (a bank in formation), Blackstone Residential Trust, and Select Portfolio Servicing. In these roles, she guided organizations through sophisticated commercial transactions, regulatory examinations, regulatory and operational change management, enterprise compliance, corporate governance, mergers, and complex litigation. Her work has consistently focused on enabling business growth while maintaining strong regulatory and governance standards.

Earlier in her career, Candice practiced financial institutions and business law at Jones Waldo, where she advised clients on regulatory compliance, litigation, and business planning. In addition to her legal practice, she has served on nonprofit and professional boards, reflecting her commitment to community engagement and ethical leadership.

Candice is known for her pragmatic, business-oriented legal approach and her ability to translate regulatory requirements into clear, actionable guidance for executive teams. Her leadership supports sound decision-making, effective governance, and sustainable growth.

John Chalekian serves as Chief Credit Officer of First Electronic Bank and brings nearly 25 years of experience at the intersection of analytics, data science, and consumer credit risk. He is an entrepreneurial analytics executive with deep expertise in predictive modeling, portfolio valuation, and risk strategy across financial services and fintech environments.

Prior to joining First Electronic Bank, John spent nearly 15 years at Encore Capital Group, where he served as Vice President of Credit Risk and Research. In that role, he led teams of statisticians and data scientists, guided portfolio valuation efforts, and supported the profitable deployment of more than $3.5 billion across domestic and international markets. He also co-founded Jump Start Finance, a fintech company focused on improving access to affordable, high-quality childcare.

John has also held academic and research roles, including serving as a lead statistician at UC San Diego on NSF and NIH-funded research and as adjunct faculty at San Diego State University, where he was named Adjunct Teacher of the Year. He currently serves on advisory boards for fintech companies and is recognized for his ability to translate advanced analytics into practical business outcomes.

Brian Enneking serves as Chief Operating Officer of First Electronic Bank. In his role, Brian oversees core operational functions and works closely with executive leadership to ensure the bank’s infrastructure, processes, and risk framework support sustainable growth and innovation.

Brian brings more than 28 years of experience in the financial services industry, with a career that spans banking, consumer finance, risk management, and customer experience. He has held senior leadership roles across a diverse range of organizations, including Head of Risk and Chief Credit Officer at Orchard Bank, President of Lending at Genesis Financial Services, and Head of Marketing and Consumer Experience at Encore Capital Group. His experience reflects a rare combination of credit discipline, operational leadership, and customer-centric strategy.

Earlier in his career, Brian also served as Chief Executive Officer of a mission-driven finance company focused on expanding access to affordable childcare—an experience that reinforced his commitment to building financial solutions that are both responsible and impactful.

At First Electronic Bank, Brian is known for his ability to align strategy with execution, bringing clarity, structure, and collaboration to complex operational environments. His leadership supports the bank’s mission to serve a broad and evolving financial ecosystem while maintaining strong governance and operational integrity.

Chris Joley serves as Chief Information Officer of First Electronic Bank and has led the bank’s technology organization for more than two decades. He brings deep institutional knowledge and extensive experience in banking technology, systems architecture, and IT operations.

Throughout his tenure, Chris has guided the evolution of the bank’s technology platforms to support growth, security, and regulatory expectations. His leadership has been instrumental in building reliable, scalable systems that enable both operational efficiency and innovation. Chris is recognized for his steady leadership, technical expertise, and long-standing commitment to the organization.

Jacy Simpson serves as Senior Vice President and Head of Human Resources at First Electronic Bank, where she leads people strategy, talent development, and organizational culture. She brings extensive experience designing and executing HR programs that align workforce initiatives with business objectives.

Throughout her career, Jacy has partnered closely with executive teams to build high-performing organizations through strategic staffing, compensation and benefits design, leadership development, and culture-building initiatives. Prior to joining First Electronic Bank, she held senior HR leadership roles at Henriksen Butler, Western Governors University, and Leucadia National Corporation.

Jacy is known for fostering people-first cultures, championing continuous learning, and building scalable HR frameworks that support long-term organizational success. She also serves on non-profit boards where she provides expertise on building and sustaining people operation initiatives and programs that impact organizations in her community.

Mike Martin serves as Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at First Electronic Bank and brings nearly two decades of experience with the organization. In this role, he focuses on building and managing strategic relationships that support the bank’s growth and long-term objectives.

Mike holds an MBA from the Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Utah. His deep institutional knowledge, financial background, and relationship-driven approach enable him to effectively align partners, strategy, and execution.

Justin Crowley serves as Chief Financial Officer of First Electronic Bank, bringing more than 30 years of financial leadership experience across banking, mortgage servicing, and financial services. He has a proven track record of building scalable financial organizations, strengthening governance, and supporting sustained growth in highly regulated environments.

Prior to joining First Electronic Bank, Justin spent nearly 15 years as Chief Financial Officer at Select Portfolio Servicing, where he led all accounting, finance, treasury, and financial reporting functions during a period of significant expansion. Under his leadership, the company scaled its servicing portfolio from $30 billion to more than $160 billion, consistently generating over $350 million in annual revenue. He also led major financing initiatives, including raising $2 billion in debt capital, and served as a primary leader on multiple buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions.

Earlier in his career, Justin held senior finance leadership roles at Comenity Bank and Associates Capital Bank, where he helped build financial infrastructure during de novo growth, established securitization programs, and implemented key risk management and accounting policies. He is known for driving operational efficiency through automation, disciplined financial controls, and data-driven decision-making.

Mark Matheson serves as Senior Corporate Counsel at First Electronic Bank, where he advises executive leadership on legal, regulatory, and corporate matters supporting the bank’s operations, strategic initiatives, and partner relationships. He brings deep experience across banking, consumer finance, and financial services, with a career focused on managing risk, enabling growth, and navigating complex regulatory environments.

Mark has held senior legal leadership roles across a wide range of financial institutions, including serving as Chief Legal Officer for both First Electronic Bank and Renovate America. Earlier in his career, he held roles as Head of Fintech Lending and Associate General Counsel at Axos Bank, Associate General Counsel at Enova International, and Assistant General Counsel at Cash America. These positions gave him broad exposure to lending, payments, consumer finance, and bank regulatory matters.

In addition to his in-house leadership experience, Mark served as General Counsel for Debit Plus, LLC and began his legal career as a litigation attorney at Newmeyer & Dillion, where he developed a strong foundation in complex legal analysis and dispute resolution.

Mark is known for his pragmatic, business-focused legal approach and his ability to partner effectively with operational and executive teams. At First Electronic Bank, his guidance helps ensure strong governance, regulatory alignment, and thoughtful execution as the bank continues to grow and innovate.