I’m celebrating my 46th anniversary in the futures and options industry this year. From running orders on the old Mid-Am exchange to FCM executive to owning my own shop...it's a great career! I currently serve on the NFA IB Advisory and Hearing Committees; I have testified before Congress, the CFTC and in court numerous times to stand-up for the NIBA community; and, I am the author of The Complete IB Handbook, now in its 9th Edition. I founded NIBA in 1991 to give derivatives professionals a voice in their own regulation and to provide education in order to better serve their clients, stay in compliance and grow their businesses. I’m also an attorney focused on Intellectual Property and a proud grandmother. Contact me at melinda@futuresrep.com.
Mark Shore, Executive Director, Arditti Center for Risk Management/Clinical Professor of Finance
Mark Shore, a well-known expert on alternative investments with over 30 years of experience in the capital markets. He is currently a Clinical Professor of Finance at DePaul University, teaching courses on alternative investments and risk management. He is also the Executive Director of the Arditti Center for Risk Management, and Chief Research Officer of Shore Capital Research.
Mark contributes research to several global organizations on topics regarding asset allocation, commodities, macro events, volatility, due diligence, and alternative investments. He also conducts educational workshops, webinars, and is frequently invited to speak at industry and academic conferences.
Mark is currently a doctoral candidate at DePaul University with his dissertation topic related to alternative investments. He received his MBA from the University of Chicago.
Yuri Zamostin, Co-Founder, CEO, Coinifide
Mr. Zamostin Is the Founder and CEO of Coinifide, an Initio Ventures Company. Coinifide was founded in 2016 with the sole purpose of helping Individuals and businesses learn about Blockchain and how the revolutionary technology Is Impacting businesses globally. As the company has grown and evolved, Coinifide now provides content, courses, hands-on labs and certification to universities, corporations and retail consumers.
Prior to founding Coinifide, Mr. Zamostin was previously part of 4 other start-ups with 2 successful exits. His experience In product development, global strategy, Innovation and emerging technologies are the driving force behind his previous success.
Jeff Gilfillian, VP Business Development, Phillip Capital
Jeff has been an exchange traded-futures professional since 1992. Beginning as a runner at the CBOT grain floor, he served as a client facing futures broker for 20+ years. Since 2017 he has developed business for a broker dealer and full-clearing futures commission merchant, Phillip Capital. Jeff enjoys anything outdoors, including running and golf.
Michael Phillips, Co-Founder, CISO, vSEC, LLC
Co-Founder of vSEC, LLC and Owner of Luminant Group, LLC. Michael is also an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media where he teaches multiple courses in the master’s curriculum including Information Security Management and Information Systems Auditing. Michael is an active member of FBI InfraGard, High Tech Crime Consortium, & USSS Chicago Electronic Crimes Task Force and former Head of the Judges Committee for the Chicago Area CISO of the Year Program.
Michael has a master’s degree in Business Administration from Northwestern’s, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Computer Sciences from Northwestern University and received his first Technical Degree from DeVry Institute of Technology. He also holds the C|CISO, CISSP, CISA, NSA IAM Certifications. He serves on the Advisory Board of the National Introducing Brokers Association (NIBA), Wealthblock.AI, Witfoo Security, the Illinois Digital Privacy Alliance and serves as a Strategic Advisor for OCA Ventures, an early stage (Seed, Series A, and Series B) venture capital firm.
Matt Kluchenek, Partner, Mayer Brown LLP
Matt Kluchenek is a Partner in Mayer Brown’s Derivatives and Litigation and Dispute Resolution practices. He counsels derivatives, digital asset and securities markets participants, including exchanges, dealers, brokers, advisers and end-users, on regulatory and enforcement (civil and criminal) matters. Matt is also an adjunct professor at Northwestern Law School, where he teaches the Derivatives Law course.
Donna Funk, CPA Principal/Partner, Pinion Global
Working with forward-thinking closely-held manufacturing and biofuel businesses throughout the United States, Donna identifies opportunities to grow businesses and meet goals whether through strategic planning and advice, accounting and tax-consulting, or business acquisition.
Mark Haraburda, CEO of Barchart
Mark Haraburda has been CEO of Barchart since May 2016. He previously served as Managing Director of Business Development & Sales at Barchart from 2007. Previous experience includes roles with the Chicago Board of Options Exchange (Cboe) and Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). Mark has a Master of Financial Markets degree from Illinois Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Bradley University.
Steve Petillo, Manager, Pinion Global
Steven is currently a Manager at Pinion Global, an accounting and risk management firm in the agriculture and livestock industries. Steven has been in the commodity space representing IBs, FCMs and CTAs for 25 years and a proud supporter of the National Introducing Brokers Association.
Mike Burke, CEO, HighGround Trading, LLC
Mike is the CEO and one of the founding partners of HighGround Trading, LLC. He has been involved in senior management positions within the futures industry for over 25 years, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with an accounting emphasis from St. Mary’s College in Winona, Minnesota, as well as a CPA certification.
Outside of HighGround Trading, Mike is heavily involved with various boards and committees, including the National Introducing Broker Association (NIBA) Board of Directors (where he serves as President), and the National Futures Association Board of Directors as the Independent Introducing Broker Representative. Previously, he was a member of both the CBOT and CME FCM Committees, the CBOT Clearing Corporation Operations Task Force, and has served on the NFA Nominating Committee and the NFA/FIA Best Practices Committee.
Conference Committee Members:
Melinda Schramm, NIBA
Jeff Gilfillian, Phillip Capital
Steve Petillo, Pinion Global
Ryan Griffeth, AgOptimus
Katie Tervin, Zaner Group
Mark Shore, DePaul University
Eric Holst, DePaul University
Thank You to our 2022 Conference Sponsors
