Senior Management Bios
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bruce MacFarlane – Chairman of the Board of Directors
Bruce has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is a founding member of Aquiline Capital Partners and Venturion Capital, both private equity funds focused on the financial services industry globally. He also founded Venturion Capital, a private equity investment firm specializing in the financial services industry. Previously, he served as a mergers and acquisitions specialist and a Senior Advisor with Smith Barney. Prior to Smith Barney, he was the Director of Financial Institutions and as Senior Advisor to the President for the Cabinet-level RTC Oversight Board which set the strategy, policy, and regulatory framework for the $100+ billion savings & loan clean-up. Bruce received a B.A. from Harvard College and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Gil Zitin – Director, Board of Directors
Gil is the retired Chairman, President and CEO of Aon Credit Services. Prior to joining Aon, he was President and CEO of Subaru Financial Services, Inc. Early in his career, Gil started Middle Atlantic Credit Corp., a commercial finance and equipment leasing business, which he later sold to Associates Corporation, where he stayed as a Senior Vice President until he left to join Subaru. He is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Rob Konrad – Director, Board of Directors
Rob was one of the principals of Allen Konrad Asset Management and is now president of Alterna Capital. He has overseen and managed several private investment funds, including a Southeast-based private equity fund, a triple net lease fund, a "hard equity" commercial mortgage fund, a mezzanine debt fund, a real estate development fund, a hybrid securities and commodities fund, and a multi-disciplinary hedge fund. He graduated with a degree in Consumer Studies - Business from Syracuse University and began his career in the financial services industry during his career in the NFL. While playing in the NFL, Rob served as a long time elected representative for the Miami Dolphins for the NFLPA. In 2007 he was appointed by the governor to the Florida State Board of Administration – Investment Advisory Council. His term on the Council runs to 2011.
EXECUTIVE & SENIOR MANAGEMENT
Balaji Rajan – President and Chief Executive Officer
With over 16 years experience in the financial services industry, Balaji has worked extensively with state and federal agencies in the areas of contract administration, systems integration, and process reengineering, with an emphasis on creating operational and organizational efficiency designed to enhance revenues and citizen services. His range of experience includes improper payment error reduction, financial and budget management, process control, federal entitlement programs, information systems management, and numerous project start-ups. As CEO of FMS, Balaji has fostered highly successful, innovative revenue enhancement and data cleansing partnerships with federal and state entities across the nation.
Maureen Peterson – Executive VP and Chief Operating Officer
Maureen has over 19 years of experience in the accounts receivable management industry in several key leadership roles, most recently as President of Van Ru Credit Corporation, one of the top 20 agencies in the industry, where she managed over $70 million in annual revenues. Maureen has extensive experience with the U.S. Department of Education Debt Collection Task Order, having directed the past three contracts at Van Ru, as well as with providing services and solutions to state level student loan Guaranty Agencies, bank card issuers, telecommunication providers, and health care entities. In 2007, Maureen was voted one of “The Top 50 Most Influential People in the Collection Industry”.
Troy Hardeman – Chief Technology Officer
With over 12 years in the IT field, including eight years in receivables management, Troy has successfully led numerous project implementations, calling for complex system integration requirements. He oversees FMS’ in-house team of programmers, network engineers, technicians, analysts, and security administrators. Troy is well versed in achieving compliance with a variety of data security and privacy standards including, ISO 17799 (27002), GLBA, FACTA, HIPAA, Patriot Act, Bank Secrecy Act, ECOA,, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and PCI DSS. Troy holds a B.S. degree in Management Information Systems from Millikin University.
Tim Adelman - Chief Financial Officer
Tim is a 26-year veteran of the financial service and risk management industries. His experience in accounting management encompasses both start up and global enterprise. Tim’s ability to effectively forecast, strategically plan, and manage rapid growth organizations have served him well throughout his career. Prior to joining FMS, Tim served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for InsuranceNoodle, Inc., an e-aggregator of commercial property and casualty insurance. After eight years, Willis North America, Inc. acquired the highly successful web-enabled brokerage at which time Tim took the position of Regional Financial Officer with Willis. Earlier in his career, Tim was CFO for AON Enterprise, a division of global insurance leader AON Risk Services, Inc. Tim holds a B.S. in Business from Illinois State University, an M.B.A. from DePaul University, and is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Brent Givens – Senior Vice President, i3 group, LLC
Brent has full responsibility for all operations and business development initiatives of the i3 group, LLC, a subsidiary of FMS, created specifically to provide services that help students avoid delinquency and default of their student loans. Brent leverages his student loan program knowledge at the school, guarantor, and lender level to enhance i3’s cohort management services, focusing on the Company’s data aggregation solutions and student outreach services. Prior to joining i3, Brent most recently served as Corporate Director of Student Loan Management with Career Education Corporation (CEC), a leading collection of higher education institutions serving over 100,000 students across 90 campuses. Before CEC, Brent held a series of escalating management positions during his 16 years with Sallie Mae., including Director of Lender Due Diligence, where he led a team of over 200 employees and managed over 500,000 student accounts monthly. While at Sallie Mae, Brent was also responsible for business development and service for United Student Aid Funds (USAF) among other national accounts.
Len Strepek– Vice President, Government Services
Len’s experience spans 20 years in the accounts receivable management industry. Most recently, Len held the position of Contract Administrator/General Manager for Van Ru Credit Corporation’s Department of Education task orders from 2002– 2008 and led the company to first place finishes in several competitive ranking periods. He has worked closely with Maureen Peterson and Balaji Rajan throughout his career. Len’s expertise in systems and process management are key to his successes. Len was responsible for a revenue budget of $30 million annually on the ED contract with over 400 employees and multiple branch offices reporting directly to him.
Paul Dodson – Director, Human Capital Management
Paul has over 20 years of senior management experience in the call center industry and has directed third-party services for the Department of Education at several companies. Paul was responsible for the highly successful startup of the Department of Education Task Order at three locations for CSC Credit Services (Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia), and grew its staff to over 200 dedicated employees. His background encompasses all aspects of human resource management, including training and ongoing professional development through various certification processes.
Gary Sowell Jr. – Director, Borrower Services
With over 14 years in the debt management industry, nine of which have been dedicated to federal debt portfolios, Gary is one of FMS’ most accomplished managers. His range of expertise includes systems and process design, systems conversion, and the professional development of front-line and managerial staff. In terms of student loan receivables, Gary has held key roles on various Guaranty Agency and campus-based portfolios. Earlier in his career, Gary served as Deputy Contract Administrator for the U.S. Department of Education Debt Collection Task Order while at OSI Collection Services, Inc.
Laura Adkins – Director, Federal Services
Prior to joining FMS, Laura was the Program Manager for the National Treasury Offset Program (TOP) Work Group for the Food and Nutrition Service, USDA. She retired with 38 years of federal service and now serves as liaison to FMS’ government clients and stakeholders. Laura's efforts have made FMS the exclusive provider of the Company’s proprietary AuthenticAID® (patent pending) solution, which has made significant impacts on data integrity and revenue results for a varied set of public agencies. In 2007, Laura was awarded the Secretary’s Honor Award from the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for “outstanding work…that led to the recovery of over $1 billion in delinquent debts…” The Honor Awards are the most prestigious awards given by the USDA.
John Kolakowski – Senior Manager, Private Sector Operations
John brings over 16 years of debt management expertise to FMS’ Private Sector operations. With expert knowledge in skip tracing, asset location, and advanced customer outreach techniques, John’s varied and hands-on experience have enabled the Company to launch and sustain successful recovery programs for some of the nation’s largest credit granters and asset management firms. John is a true innovator, having launched and managed everything from customer service and early stage delinquency projects to specialized balance transfer programs.
Mark Wieczorek –Senior Manager, i3 group, LLC
Mark is a seasoned receivables management professional with over 20 years experience in implementing and managing complex contracts for government and higher education entities. He is a motivated and dedicated leader, whose exceptional team-building skills have enabled the development of a default aversion staff capable of providing borrower-centric services on a varied set of student loan portfolios. His knowledge of operations management, process re-engineering, and focus on customer care are an invaluable asset to i3 group, LLC, a subsidiary of FMS. Mark holds a B.A. in Communications from Texas Lutheran College.