Team

Matthew Almeida

Senior Backend Engineer

Designs and implements Neocova’s software solutions systems that meet the business requirements of our partners.   

Developed state machines for event-sourced investment platform; created a new tax form communications process to improve security around customer PII.

Planned and refactored chargeback processes to ensure FINRA compliance for a core platform and wrote software to generate monthly statements.

Received his BA from Boise State University and BS in Computer Science from Oregon State University.

Joseph Bala

VP of Cloud Services

Experienced technology professional who has designed, built and implemented technology solutions across a number of industry verticals.

Responsible for spearheading Neocova’s cloud services management, software/application development and technology strategy development.

Former Enterprise Architect with Tag, an international marketing services company.

Established himself in the technology marketplace as a partner in a technology startup and IT management for a specialty retail convenience chain.

Graduated from West Virginia Northern Community College.

Matthew Beecher

President

A 25-year fintech serial entrepreneur, innovator, operator and investor.

Former CEO of Vault, co-founder of Redstar Ventures, co-founder of SCS Financial (acq NASDAQ:FOCS), and early employee at myCFO (acq NYSE:BMO).

Proficient in growing and scaling financial service companies that help tackle financial challenges such as: retirement, student debt, financial education, and wealth transfer.

Engineers the Neocova team on establishing and safeguarding advanced operations and procedures uniquely designed to expand and deliver the vision.

Raymond Chandonnet

Chief Revenue Officer

Seasoned banking executive with over 30 years’ experience at the nexus of financial strategy and bank technology with community and regional banks.

Founded an advisory business working with early-stage technology companies focused on community banks and credit unions. Previously Head of Bank Strategy for Sandler O’Neill, J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, First Union Capital Markets and FHLBank Boston. 

Responsible for driving Neocova’s go-to-market strategy, as well as aligning all revenue-related functions including business development, sales, pricing, product delivery and revenue management. 

Began banking career designing enterprise technology for a Boston-area community bank. Currently serves on the Board of Directors of Kearny Bank / Kearny Financial corp where he chairs the Asset-Liability Management committee and serves on the Enterprise Risk Management committee.

Received his BS in Computer Science from Merrimack College and his MS in Finance from Bentley University. 

Lauren Covell

Director of Accounting/Finance

Leads Neocova’s day-to-day accounting and finance activities and collaborates with senior leadership to build robust accounting functions. 

Oversaw all corporate accounting areas, including debt, leases, fixed assets, prepaids, and expense accruals for a direct-to-consumer health care start-up. 

Managed consulting and auditing services to consumer lenders with PwC’s Consumer Finance Group. 

Received her BS in Accounting from Providence College and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Gregory Harris

Senior Director of Product, AI

Manages Neocova’s technology development to ensure effective leveraging of AI/ML, initially to improve community banks’ AML/BSA, compliance, and fraud mitigation.

Co-founded Endjinn, which raised $1.3 million to test out the economic incentive structures of Ethereum smart contracts and tokens with 10Ks of agents running the AI model type used first by Deep Mind’s AlphaGo.

Accepted into Dubai Future Accelerators program in 2016, obtained seed funding and designed and led development of Spindle, a breakthrough in integrated machine learning and data management suite.

Chief Product Officer at Machine Colony, helping build an end-to-end automatic data preprocessing and MLaaS platform adopted by Fortune 500s and multiple federal governments. 

Received his BS in Sociology from Florida State University and an MA in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dennis Hild

Chief Risk Officer

Over 25 years of experience working with financial institution regulatory policy.

Serves as direct liaison to federal financial service regulators and legislators, manages trade association activities and establishes strategic industry partnerships.

Former Managing Director, Regulatory Affairs with Crowe’s Financial Services Risk Consulting Practice, where he monitored updates to regulatory guidance and evaluated the impact on financial institutions.

Spent nearly fifteen years with the Federal Reserve serving as a Commissioned Safety and Soundness Examiner and Supervisory Policy Analyst.

Received his Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Temple University and an MBA from The George Washington University.

Lee Keith

President Banking Services

Former commissioner of the Missouri Division of Finance with a banking career spanning nearly four decades.

Led several Midwest banks as President & CEO.

Experience includes areas of strategic planning, capital raising, asset management, mergers and acquisitions and compliance with state and federal banking requirements.

Serves as Neocova’s ambassador to the financial institutions, regulatory organizations and key actors that make up our ecosystem.

Received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Lindsay Lockhart

Chief of Staff

Industry thought-leader and co-founder of Apiary + Co., with specialties in brand strategy, brand identity, market research, content marketing and social media.

Partners with global brands and corporations like True Refrigeration, Bacardi, The Wine Group and Monsanto as digital brand expert and marketing strategist.

Former COO of Hatch, a market research firm specializing in B2B and B2C qualitative and quantitative insights and analytics.

Peter Longo

SVP Banking Solutions

Entrepreneur and former bank executive with 14 years experience in retail and digital banking.

Former VP of Digital Banking & Marketing for Axiom Bank where he led the development and growth of all digital banking solutions, including the bank’s digital brand AxiomGO and its surrounding ecosystem partners.

Championed the digital transformation of Surety Bank as Chief Operating Officer and helped architect the bank’s digital strategy to launch new products and platforms in the fintech space.

Received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and his M.B.A from Stetson University.

Sultan Meghji

Chief Executive Officer

Led the rebuilding of the entire banking platform, infrastructure and business process at American Express.

Responsible for building a new equities technology group focused on the NYSE, resulting in over $1.5b net revenue per year of NYSE traffic at ABN AMRO.

Worked on the first web browser, the largest cloud computing exit of its time, and the first cloud-based genetic analysis platform.

Advisor to G7, US Treasury, FBI, FDIC, OCC and others in cyber security, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence.

Present Washington University Adjunct Faculty member.

Cynthia Murdoch

Chief Human Resource Officer

Accomplished HR management executive who has served in senior leadership roles at leading companies including Centric Group, LLC – a division of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Nature’s Variety and AON.

Founded Murdoch Consulting Group, Inc., a turnkey human resources provider, where she worked with clients such as Lion’s Choice, Mercy Hospital Radiology, Lighthouse for the Blind and Speech and Language Learning Systems.

Executive Board Member for CASA of St. Louis, on the Advisory Board for the Bach Society of St. Louis and a Member of the National Charity League. She is also

Founder and President of the Smiles of Hope Foundation, which benefits cleft/palate patients and research at St. Louis Children’s Hospital

Past recipient of the MS Corporate Achievers Leadership Award and named St. Louis Business Journal’s Most Influential Businesswoman in 2006.

Bradley Nelson

Director of Operations/Strategy

Directs Neocova’s analysis and implementation of adaptably consistent operations and procedures across all aspects of the business to expand and deliver the company’s vision.

Managed business applications, developed internal processes and served as strategic advisor at high-growth fintech startup offering SaaS and DaaS analytics solutions to institutional investors.

Designed revenue operations program, orchestrated Salesforce architecture and managed system integrations to better track and evaluate organizational effectiveness.

Received his BA in Film & Media Studies from Washington University in St. Louis and completed coursework in Python development from New York University.

Robert O’Connor

Chief Information Security Officer

Security specialist with 30 years experience aligning global information infrastructure to business requirements incorporating cyber and physical security.

Founded three businesses and has worked in the public and private sector.

Spent a third of his career in government service, including as Chief Information Security Officer for the third largest County in the U.S. and Deputy Director of Enterprise Information Security at the Central Intelligence Agency.

Studied at Washington University in St. Louis, Georgetown University and the University of Vienna and has degrees in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, German and Music.

Maxwell Rebo

Chief Technology Officer

Four-time startup founder with over 12 years of experience in machine-learning development and research. 

Founder and CEO of Machine Colony, where he helped build an end-to-end automatic data preprocessing and MLaaS platform adopted by Fortune 500s and multiple federal governments. 

Oversees Neocova’s AI technology development and management to improve community banks’ efficiency and compliance protocols.

Sought-after public speaker on machine learning at worldwide forums including the Asian Leadership Conference in Seoul. Additionally, serves as an active advisor to a number of Masters and PhD students on advanced AI methods.

Received his Bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics from the University of Montana.

Penny Sanders

Director of Risk and Compliance

20 year track record of effectively managing the complexities of a highly regulated environment as a values based leader in the financial services industry.

Directed the Enterprise Wide Risk Management and internal audit function as the Chief Risk Officer of Axiom Bank.

Former Controller and Compliance Officer with Surety Bank where she maintained the bank’s general ledger and all financial records. Additionally, she was responsible for ensuring adequate internal controls, efficient accounting systems and compliance with generally accepted accounting practices. 

Oversees Neocova’s compliance strategy and execution and helps to achieve, maintain and demonstrate compliance with security standards.

Bianca Spangler

Director of Sales Operations

Oversees the optimization and scalability of operational processes across Neocova’s revenue-generating activities.

Completed Enterprise IT fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) before working at a risk and healthcare management firm.

Managed large-scale technology and cybersecurity implementations for Fortune 100 clients including Walmart, Cigna, and Charter Communications as a project manager and Certified Scrum Master. 

Worked to create strategic partnerships between community banks and fintechs at FinXTech alongside Neocova Co-Founder Kelsey Weaver. 

Received a B.A. with Honors in Philosophy, Politics, and the Public from the Honors Scholars Program at Xavier University and a Masters in Public Health from the University of South Florida. 

Kelsey Weaver

Chief Innovation Officer

Founder of Empact Innovation, a consultancy firm connecting banks and fintech companies for maximum success.

Former publisher of Bank Director magazine, the leading information resource for C-Suite and Directors of financial institutions across the U.S.

Founder and President of FinXTech, a media entity that helped banks navigate the fintech industry.

Current SebastianStrong Board Member, raising awareness and funds for childhood cancer cures.

Matthew Wheeler

Senior Strategic Account Executive

Manages Neocova’s software solutions sales cycle to best meet the business requirements of our partners and prospective partners.   

Drove sales for large corporate accounts at the C-level for financial services provider recently acquired by DocuSign.

Built teams of sales professionals producing consistent results through solutions-selling to end user accounts while providing hands-on leadership to senior account executives. 

Received his BA from the University of Texas at Austin.