Michael Benoit is a partner in the firm’s Washington DC office. He advises banks, sales finance companies, auto dealers, credit lead providers and other creditors and technology providers on a wide range of consumer financial services law, including the Truth In Lending Act, the Consumer Leasing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and the Dodd-Frank Act. In addition, his practice covers operational and compliance matters involving federal and state laws relating to electronic commerce and online lending, privacy, telemarketing, personal and real property finance, and leasing and collection practices, as well as matters involving the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Ann Bybee is Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility for Toyota Financial Services (TFS).

Bybee oversees the development of mid to long-term strategy for the company, including strategic research, competitive intelligence, business planning – corporate scorecards, public relations, government affairs, internal communications and corporate social responsibility. She reports to Dave Pelliccioni, Senior Vice President, and Chief Administrative Officer.
Bybee leads the company’s drive towards becoming a more deliberate and focused organization.  She has implemented the development of a rolling five-year plan for each line of business to better inform the five-year financial plan.  She is also an executive sponsor for GALA (Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Bisexual), a business partnering group at Toyota.

Bybee currently serves on the American Financial Service Association’s (AFSA) Vehicle Finance Board, along with the planning committee, as well as on AFSA’s Education Foundation Endowment Committee to further financial literacy.

Bybee joined Toyota in 1990 starting with Toyota Motor Sales, USA as a member of the Long Range Market Planning group.  She has since served the company in several managerial roles in both Product Planning and Corporate Planning areas.  In 1999, she was selected to be part of an international management development program and moved to Tokyo, Japan to serve as the Chief Brand Strategist and oversee global ad campaigns for Toyota Motor Corporation.  In 2001, Bybee returned to the U.S. as Corporate Manager for Lexus Advertising and Brand Strategy.  She remained at Lexus for five years, overseeing the national and dealer advertising, media, brand renewal, managing incentives and product positioning, resulting in record sales for all five years for the luxury division.

Prior to joining Toyota Motor Sales, Bybee was employed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration as an International Economist. 

Rick Cowart is Executive Manager, Sewell Infiniti of Dallas, Texas where he manages the daily operations and works directly with department managers who are responsible for 200 associates. He has worked with Sewell Automotive Companies since 1981 starting as a new car salesman. He successfully managed the transition to the Sewell culture after Sewell purchased the Cadillac, Oldsmobile, and Infiniti dealerships in 1998. 

Don Goin is Chief Information Officer for Capital One Auto Finance. Mr. Goin is responsible for leading Capital One Auto Finance enterprise wide information systems initiatives to support future growth and maximize the return on information technology investments. Prior to his role at Capital One, he was the CIO of Santander Consumer and CIO of Halifax Bank of Scotland subsidiary Drive Financial. He also has held various positions IT management and business development positions at Southwest Airlines, Raytheon E-Systems and IONA Technologies. Don serves as a member of the Executive Council and Dallas Fort Worth Advisory Committee of CIO Magazine, the Governing Body of the CIO Executive Council and the Technology Advisory Committee of St. Jude Charities. Mr. Goin holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas, Dallas and completed MBA graduate studies at Duke University. He also served honorably in the Unites States Marine Corps.

George holds a B.S. in Physics from the Pennylvania State University and an M.S. in Management from the University of Southern California. After graduating from Penn State, he accepted a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps. From there, he went to USC, and then joined Ford Credit in Dearborn, Michigan.

At Ford Credit, George served as Vice President of Global Strategic Planning, where he directed strategy and planning, business intelligence, and business development and restructuring. George managed seven Northern European financing operations from the Regional Headquarters in Amsterdam. As Executive Director of Ford Credit Europe, George centralized European marketing activities and developed a project management system now used worldwide at Ford and Ford Credit. He directly managed IT, marketing, education and training, insurance, project/program management, and full-service leasing. He also matrix managed all sales operations activities for 23 national markets.

George has been involved in leadership positions within AFSA for many years. He served as a member of AFSA's Executive Committee and Board of Directors and continues to serve on the AFSA Vehicle Finance Board. He was a founding committee member of Americans Well-informed on Automobile Retailing Economics (AWARE) and helped to spearhead the AFSA initiative on standards for electronic contracting that resulted in the ANSI standard for the transfer of location of electronic contracts finalized this year. In October 2008, George was awarded AFSA's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award (DSA). 
 

Nate Herman is currently an Executive Director and Chief Administrative Officer of Military and Veterans Affairs at JP Morgan Chase & Co. In this capacity, he is responsible for leading the development and execution of a firm-wide Military and Veterans Affairs strategy.

Prior to joining JP Morgan Chase, Mr. Herman held several positions within the US government - most recently as the Chief of the Tactics and Capabilities Division at the Department of Defense’ Cyber Command.  Before joining the US Cyber Command, he held several positions at the Federal Bureau of Investigation to include Special Advisor to the Assistant Director of Intelligence; Chief of the Strategy, Policy and Performance Unit within the Directorate of Intelligence; Chief of Staff to the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office; and Chief of the Domain, Collection and HUMINT Technical Unit.  In all these roles, he was deeply involved with the FBI’s post 9/11 transformation efforts from a law enforcement agency to a national security agency. 

Mr. Herman is veteran of the United States Marine Corps.  Trained as an armor officer and Latin American Foreign Area Officer, he served more than 8 years on active duty.  Upon completion of the Basic School and Armor Officer Basic Course, he was assigned to 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division.  While a member of the battalion, he held various positions to include platoon commander, company executive officer and battalion assistant operations officer.  From September 2002 to February of 2003 he served on the staff of the Coalition Forces Land Component Commander before rejoining 1st Tank Battalion to execute combat operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Upon his return from the Middle East, he was assigned to the U.S Naval Academy where he served first as the senior military assistant to the Academic Dean and Provost and later as the aide-de-camp to the Superintendent. 

Mr. Herman received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Spanish Literature from Villanova University and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.  He is married to the former Kathleen Corrigan and has two young sons – Isaac and Xavier.  He remains active in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and is currently assigned to Marine Forces South.
 

Bill and his government relations team have enhanced AFSA’s presence in the political debate affecting a number of issues that impact member companies’ ability to offer affordable credit options to American consumers. He has been called on to sit in the hot seat at the witness table in congressional hearings and has served as an industry spokesman on a number of pressing topics.

Bill came to AFSA in 2004 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he headed the congressional relations office. Prior to joining HUD, Himpler was director of legislative affairs for BGR Holding, LLC, where he worked as a lobbyist for Haley Barbour, who is now the governor of Mississippi. While on Capitol Hill, he served as tax counsel and legislative director for Rep. Jerry Weller of Illinois, as well as a senior legislative assistant with Rep. Charles Canady from Florida. 

Bill holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Steubenville, a master’s degree from Dominican House of Studies, and a law degree from The Catholic University of America.

Karen oversees the Marketing, Market Planning, Brand and Loyalty departments.  She is responsible for all Toyota and Lexus Financial Services’ marketing activities, including market planning, direct marketing, interactive marketing & social media, advertising, brand engagement, and incentive & recognition programs.  She reports to Mike Groff, Group Vice President, Sales, Marketing & Product Development – Americas Region.

Karen leads the company’s focus on loyalty marketing and customer experience initiatives.  She and her team are responsible for supporting sales by delivering targeted marketing programs that drive customer brand engagement and loyalty.

Her career with TFS began in 1988 and has included various management positions in Marketing.  She was instrumental in developing and growing the Marketing department through initiatives such as the launch of the TFS brand, various product launches, Scion Solutions and the Consumer Portal.  In 2006, Karen was appointed National Manager, Corporate Communications where she and her team significantly expanded and improved the company’s internal communications, media relations and philanthropic endeavors.  In 2007, the California State Senate recognized Karen’s role in expanding TFS’ charitable activities, particularly in “Making Life Easier” for the youth of the Boys & Girls Clubs of East Los Angeles.

Karen is actively involved in the Toyota’s Business Partnering Group (TBPG) mentoring program and is a formal mentor through the TFS/North Torrance High School mentor program.  She continues to serve as Executive Co-sponsor for Toyota’s involvement in Aids Walk Los Angeles.  Additionally, she is actively involved in the Assistance League, Assisteens which promotes community responsibility and fosters leadership development of girls in the 7th – 12th grades.
Karen is a member of the American Marketing Assoc.; the International Assoc. of Business Communications; the UCLA Alumni Assoc.; and TBPG - TORQUE.

She earned her Master’s in Business Administration - Finance and Marketing from Pepperdine University, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, at Los Angeles. 

Dave Ledwell is a professional with 25+ years of progressively increasing management experience, including seven years of P & L responsibility. Dave is a leader with an entrepreneurial flair who can see both the forest AND the trees.
Dave's career path has allowed him to develop a broad range of skills and experience. Dave has: built organizations from the ground up, including the development and installation of operations, sales, and marketing infrastructure; developed successful brands, introduced new products and processes, and developed new markets; developed and led successful sales teams and marketing organizations; successfully developed and led daily business operations in regional retail finance centers located across the US; engineered turnarounds and expansions for large and small organizations; developed marketing initiatives from the ground up, including trade show, print, direct mail, and general advertising campaigns.

Dave is a generalist experienced in building organizations, developing operating models, and implementing business plans. Dave is presently enjoying the opportunity he now has to put all of these skills to work in a strategic way at Navy Federal Credit Union, which, at $40 Billion in assets, is the largest Credit Union in the world.

Lou Loquasto brings over 14 years of comprehensive experience in the finance industry - most recently as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Wells Fargo Auto Finance where he led the department responsible for marketing the indirect and direct businesses in the US and Canada. In addition to his financial services background, Lou has held industry leadership positions on the National Auto Finance Association’s (NAFA) board of directors and served as the association’s president from 2004 to 2005.

Rajeev Ravindran is group vice president of Information Technology Services (ITS) for JM Service Center, LLC (JMSC), a subsidiary of diversified automotive company JM Family Enterprises, Inc. (JM Family). In this position, Ravindran is responsible for ITS Operations, Portfolio Management Offices and driving the overall technology strategy for JM Family and its subsidiaries.

www.jmfamily.com a diversified automotive company ranked No. 27 on Forbes’ list of “America’s Largest Private Companies.” It is currently ranked No. 16 by FORTUNE® as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, its 13th consecutive year on the list. Primary subsidiaries and divisions include: Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC, the world’s largest independent distributor of Toyota and Scion vehicles; World Omni Financial Corp., a diversified financial services company; JM&A Group, one of the largest independent insurance and extended warranty groups of companies in the U.S.; JM Service Center LLC, the company’s internal shared services center; and JM Lexus, the largest volume Lexus dealership in the world.  Headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Fla., JM Family has major operations in Jacksonville and Margate, Fla.; Commerce and Alpharetta, Ga.; Mobile, Ala.; and St. Louis, Mo.
 
 

Alex Sarafian is currently a Senior Risk Officer at Ally Financial (formerly GMAC).  In this role he is responsible for business oversight of Ally’s global Basel II retail initiatives. 

Alex has held a variety of finance, operating, consumer credit, and strategic positions at Ally.  Prior to his current role, Alex led the Consumer Credit team within Ally’s North American Operations, responsible for credit policy and scoring, operations support, and acquisitions policies, programs, and systems. Prior to this position, Alex was the Director of Finance for Ally’s North American Operations, spearheading the business unit finance team during the majority sale of GMAC to Cerberus.  Previously, Alex was the Director of Business Management, responsible for strategic corporate initiatives, including the founding of RouteOne LLC. Prior to joining Ally in 1997, Alex held a variety of positions in the mortgage services industry.

Alex holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing and a Master of Business Administration in Corporate Strategy and Finance from the University of Michigan Business School (now Ross School of Business).
 

Vince Sheehy is the president of Sheehy Auto Stores, representing 21 franchises in 16 locations in the Mid-Atlantic region with $900 million in annual sales on over 26,000 vehicle sales per year.

A graduate of Dickinson College with an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Sheehy began his career in group insurance for Prudential in the early 80’s. He later became a Brand Manager for General Mills from 1984-87 and worked on well-known brands including Total Cereal, Yoplait Yogurt and Gold Medal Flour.  Sheehy left corporate life in 1987 to join his father in the family business in 1987 as a sales representative at Sheehy Ford in Marlow Heights, Maryland. Over the next decade, he rose to become the dealer principal of three Sheehy stores in the rapidly expanding group, and in 1998 he became president of Sheehy Auto Stores.  Since taking over operations, the company has doubled in size through acquisitions and internal growth.

Sheehy has been very active in the dealer community, and has served as the Chairman of the Washington Area New Auto Dealers Association and Chairman of the Washington, D.C. Dealers Group Insurance Trust.  He is currently the Chairman of the Automotive Dealer Education Institute, whose mission is to cultivate future technicians and other aspiring dealership employees.   Mr. Sheehy also served on the Virginia Auto Dealers Association Board for 9 years.In 2000, Mr. Sheehy was appointed by the Governor to the Virginia Motor Vehicle Dealer Board, a government-industry partnership which oversees and regulates new and used car dealer activities in the state. 

Sheehy was one of the founders of the successful Capital Automotive REIT, a public company which was formed in 1998 to acquire dealership properties around the country.  He served as a Trustee and a member of the Audit Committee until the company was purchased and taken private in 2005.

He currently serves on the board of Forddirect, an internet company dedicated to providing a platform for Ford and its dealers to succeed in the world of e-business.

Mr. Sheehy and his dealerships have been the recipients of numerous automotive wards, including Nissan’s Circle of Excellence, Ford’s Blue Oval Dealer, Elite of Lexus and others.  For his outstanding leadership role in his industry and community, Mr. Sheehy received the 2007 TIME Magazine Quality Dealer Award (TMQDA) at the 2007 NADA Convention, following in his father’s footsteps from 30 years earlier.
 
Sheehy Auto Stores and Mr. Sheehy have been very active in the local community, making a significant difference with several charities and schools.  Each year Sheehy Auto Stores runs a sales event named the Sheehy 5000, which spans 50 days.  The event is dedicated to Race for the Cure, the Susan B. Komen Foundation, which works to find a cure for Breast Cancer.  During the past 14 years, Sheehy Auto Stores has raised and donated over $600,000 to the charity.  The other major charitable focus is to help under-privileged kids get the education they need to broaden their opportunities in life.  These institutions include Catholic University, Gonzaga High School, the Inner City Consortium, Washington Jesuit Academy, and Our Lady of Good Counsel parochial school.

For his consistently active involvement in educational programs, and his role as a change-agent for his industry in automotive technical training, Sheehy received the Northwood University Dealer Education Award in 2005.

Sheinbaum holds a BS degree in management science from the State University of New York–Albany and an MBA degree from New York University. He is married with two children and resides in the New York area. 

As the CIO, Kari is responsible for all aspects of technology for VCI’s US and Canada operations.  This includes IT strategy, operations, information security, processes and people.  Kari is leading VCI’s efforts to ensure the technology and processes are in place to enable and support Volkswagen’s 2018 growth strategy.  Kari assumed CIO responsibilities in October 2008.  Between 2005 and 2008 she held leadership roles within VCI including the GM of Application Development and GM of the Business Solutions Group.     

From 1996 to 2005, Kari was the President of Associated Solutions, a project and program management consulting firm for financial services software development and implementation.  Prior to this, Kari held various IT roles with Deutsche Financial Services in the US and with the US Government in Japan.

Marguerite has spent her career cultivating relationships within the auto finance arena and now works to share her experiences and connections to benefit clients and the industry. Marguerite's experience as an auto industry professional spans over twenty years. In 2006, she formed Connections Insights to focus on strategic partnering between auto finance sources and their business partners. She is also the Director of International Programs for the Automotive Dealership Institute.

Prior to forming Connections Insights, Marguerite managed the Auto Finance Practice at BenchMark Consulting International and the sales efforts at Equifax as SVP for the Automotive Division. At BarNone, a dealer marketing and non-prime financing company, Marguerite focused on building strategic partners for the company. Additionally, she spent ten years with Nissan North America and Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation in the U.S. and Japan.

Marguerite earned her BA from the University of California, Berkeley and her MBA from Pepperdine University. She serves on the American Financial Services Association (AFSA) Vehicle Finance Board and the Associate Member Advisory Board, serving as Chair from 2006-2009.Marguerite also sits on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the National Auto Finance (NAF) Association.
 

Melinda Zabritski is the director of Automotive Credit for Experian Automotive. In her role, she is responsible for the strategic development and marketing of all of Experian’s products and services specific to the automotive credit and lending industry.

Throughout her career with Experian, Melinda has overseen the marketing strategy for the development of Experian’s automotive credit vertical sales channel along with launching and managing numerous credit products geared toward automotive lenders and dealers. Additionally, she serves as Experian’s primary analyst and spokesperson regarding key automotive finance trends and is a frequent contributor to automotive and banking industry publications.