Presenters

 

The 2023 Fall Conference Presenters are listed in order of appearance.

David Graham has served as Greene County Auditor since 2011. Prior to becoming auditor he worked as the chief deputy auditor for ten years. He also worked for the Ohio Auditor of State where he was responsible for performing and supervising audits of local governments in the Miami Valley. David is a graduate of Wright State University and has a degree in accounting and finance.

Chris Klein began his career with the Lawrence County Auditor’s Office through the JTPA program in 1988 and 1989, and then worked for the County’s appraisal firm, John G. Cleminshaw, Inc., from 1990 to 1991. Chris was then offered a job with the Lawrence County Auditor’s Office in April 1991, working in the real estate division of the office. In 1999, Chris was promoted to Chief Deputy Auditor where he was responsible for the operations of both the real estate and financial divisions of the office. In 2017, Chris was appointed to the position of County Administrator while maintaining his position in the Auditor’s Office, where he continued to perform both functions for the county through 2022.

Douglas Drabick is a senior strategist within Fixed Income Solutions for Raymond James. He authors timely investment publications including the Bond Market Commentary, the Fixed Income Quarterly, monthly webinars, and provides strategic commentary for various firm publications. Doug is a member of the firm’s Asset Allocation Committee and Investment Strategy Committee. He supports financial advisors by providing research analysis and idea-driven portfolio strategies. Joining the industry in 1986, Doug has a diverse background including roles as a retail specialist, analyst, and sales representative with major regional firms.

Tom Jalics, CFA, is the Chief Investment Strategist at Fifth Third Bank where he is responsible for leading the Investment Management Group’s asset allocation process, both strategic and tactical, which informs the management of the $40+ billion in assets under management (AUM) at the bank.

Jonathan Azoff joined Meeder earlier this year as Senior Vice President, overseeing the investment team. Prior to joining Meeder, Jon served as Chief of Finance & Senior Counsel at the Ohio Treasurer of State’s office, where his responsibilities included managing the Treasurer of State’s investment and debt portfolios.

Michael Zuren is the Lake County Treasurer. He has an MBA from Lake Erie College and PhD. From Capella University. He has 4 children, the oldest is a civics teacher in the Akron area and the youngest is extremely active in volunteering in Lake County. He is the author of 8 books and serves on numerous boards for non-profits throughout Lake County. Mike has lived in Lake County for the past 40 years and was recently inducted to the Lakeland Community College Alumni Hall of Fame.

Victor Anselmo joined Siegel Jennings as a partner and manages the firm’s Ohio practice. He has over twenty years of experience in the field of ad valorem property tax litigation and has represented clients in this field at the administrative trial court and appellate levels. In 1990, he became a Magistrate in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations. Victor returned to private practice in 1991 and has successfully litigated cases before all levels of Ohio courts and administrative tribunals, including several jury verdicts of seven figures, and representing taxpayers before the Ohio Supreme Court.

Kieran Jennings is Managing Partner at Siegel Jennings Co., L.P.A. Previously a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Kieran focuses his practice on real property taxation and general state and local tax litigation. He has successfully tried cases before administrative boards, tribunals, courts, and appellate courts, including the Ohio Supreme Court. Kieran has experience in managing real property tax appeals throughout the U.S. and Canada and assists clients in due diligence property acquisitions, tax planning, and structured agreements between taxpayers and taxing jurisdictions.

Dorinda Byers is a Deputy Director on the Ohio Performance Team at the Ohio Auditor of State. With over 20 years of experience, she has a proven track record of increasing organizational effectiveness, shaping cultures, strengthening teams, and positioning clients for sustainability and growth. Dorinda installs the processes, policies, systems, and service offerings to create a solid infrastructure on which to continue to build solutions and bottom lines for clients. Her diverse employment background includes workforce, outreach, sales, and economic development in community colleges, manufacturing, and universities. Dorinda holds a Masters degree from Muskingum University and a Bachelors from Ohio State University.

Sam Lamancusa is the Treasurer of Trumbull County, a position he has held since 2001.

Bart Hamilton has served as Richland County’s Treasurer since 2006 and is the Chair of the Richland County Land Bank.

Don Rankey has served as Delaware County’s Treasurer since March of 2021.

Ric Wasserman is Athens County Treasurer and Chair of the Athens County Land Bank.

Shawn Carvin is the Executive Director of the Ohio Land Bank Association, where he leads advocacy, lobbying, and technical assistance support to Ohio’s 66 county land banks. Prior to his role at OLBA, Shawn spent 10 years as the Trumbull County Land Bank Director at Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership. Shawn led the organization from its infancy, and he made significant strides in transforming his community through blight remediation, homeownership opportunities and creative vacant land reuse projects. Shawn is a U.S. Air Force Veteran and graduate of Youngstown State University.

Adam Jutte is an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in the Office of Cuyahoga Co. Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley. He has been with the Prosecutor’s Office for over 15 years and has been serving as the Tax Foreclosure Unit Supervisor for the past two years. He represents the State of Ohio and Cuyahoga County in matters involving real estate tax foreclosure, bankruptcy, appropriations, Sheriff sale contempt proceedings and tax lien certificates. Adam received his undergraduate degree from Kent State University and his JD from Cleveland State University College of Law.

J. Brad Lewis brings 40 years of service and technology management experience to the clients of F&E PaymentPros. Throughout his career, he has been a consultant to, and worked with, thousands of clients from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies on accounting and business operations and process improvements. As President of F&E PaymentPros, Brad is responsible for the overall customer experience and oversees the seamless provision of solution sales, implementation, service and support to the customer base in more than 25 states.

Gary Norton founded Norton Technology/ReCo Cashiering in 1997, serving as the primary architect behind the system. He introduced secure remote assistance, reshaping the landscape of client support. Over two decades, Gary has been at the helm, steering ReCo to the forefront of technological solutions for US County and City Governments. The software he crafted for revenue collections re-imagines local governance, driving efficiency and fiscal prudence. Through his leadership, Gary Norton propelled Cashiering, setting new standards in government-oriented technology and service excellence.

John McManus is the Treasurer for Montgomery County in Dayton. He took office in September of 2021.

April Bowersock has served as the Treasurer of Auglaize County in northwest Ohio since December of 2004.

Jeff Brodsly is an entrepreneur and CEO with a wealth of experience in the technology industry. With over 15 years in the field, he has honed his skills in identifying the pain points of clients and providing them with innovative solutions to improve their businesses. Jeff is the owner and CEO of ReCo and 100GROUP, where he oversees and acquires FinTech companies. He is known for his ability to identify untapped opportunities and solve stubborn problems with innovative solutions.

Nathan Owens is the Senior Records Manager at the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, where he is responsible for developing retention schedules, assisting with records-related issues and litigation holds throughout the office, and managing of the office’s document/records management system. Nate is also a member of the of the Ohio Electronic Records Committee where he works on the development of standards and guidelines for electronic records for public entities in the state of Ohio. He received a Master of Arts in Public History from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Masters of Library and Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh.

Kirk Herath is Governor DeWine and Lt. Governor Husted’s Cybersecurity Strategic Advisor and Chairman of CyberOhio, the State of Ohio’s Cybersecurity Advisory Board. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at both Ohio State’s Moritz School of law and Cleveland State’s Cleveland-Marshall Law School. He retired as VP, Associate General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer for Nationwide after 32 years. Kirk has represented clients on many industry privacy and Cybersecurity policy groups and before legislative and regulatory bodies. He also served on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee from 2005 to 2011.

Bill Gardner joined KLaunch in April 2023 from Tata Consulting Services, where he was Principal Business Development Leader, Public Sector. Bill’s experience encompasses Application Services, Enterprise Portals, SaaS, BPO, eGovernment and ICTs, Payment Processing, and Digital Identity. Prior to KLaunch, Bill spent time with PCC Technology, NIC Inc., IBM, and Koch Industries in operations, division president, sales, and client relationship roles where he established new customers and business growth. He earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology, from Purdue University, Graduate work at Wichita State University, and a Mini MBA, from Belmont University.

Mark Epolito is a Client Executive at Google Cloud, where he has been working with public sector clients in Ohio for the past four years. He is passionate about using technology to solve real-world problems and excited to share his knowledge and experience with others. In his current role, he is focused on bringing Google Cloud’s portfolio of solutions, including Workspace, AI, and machine learning, to local units of government. All focused on improving the quality of life for residents. Epolito holds a BA in Business and Organizational Communication from Central Michigan University.

Robert Covey is the founder and president of the Ohio Innovation and Technology Association (OITA), an independent, non-profit and non-partisan group of technology and innovative companies. Kovey has spent his career in Ohio politics, working as as an aide in the Ohio Statehouse and on several campaigns. He is the Managing Partner of The Credo Company, a government relations consulting firm.

Jennifer Flatter is the Executive Director of OITA, with two decades of experience in government affairs. She served as the CEO of Impact Ohio, a statewide conference series that brought together government, business, and the nonprofit sector to focus on public policy issues important to Ohioans. She launched her own firm, JLF Advisors, in 2022, specializing in serving state associations, non-profits and businesses.