Melissa is the Director of Digital Assets at StoneX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: SNEX), an institutional-grade financial services franchise offering advanced digital platforms, end-to-end clearing and execution services and global market expertise to their clients worldwide. Melissa spent nearly 10 years in electronic trading and technology before starting her own women’s cycling and triathlon apparel company that combines her love of endurance sports and design.  She attended UC Davis and Parsons School of Design.

Chris has been providing network services to the financial services industry for the last 34 years. Mr. Marino began his career as an individual contributor at MCI. In 1988, he went on to lead the financial services vertical as Sales Director at TRT/FTC Communications (TRT was acquired by WorldCom in 1992). In 1995, Mr. Marino joined his first entrepreneurial venture (IXnet) and led that investment’s sales efforts, growing the company’s revenues to $100 million in less than six years. IXnet was acquired by Global Crossing for $3.8 billion in 2000. Chris left Global Crossing to lead another start up opportunity as the Sales Leader for Con Edison Communications in 2002 where he developed the company’s first financial sales vertical building a business with over $32 million in annualized revenues within 5 years. Mr. Marino left CEC in 2007 to lead the sales efforts for another entrepreneurial venture of his own TRM (sold in 2010 to CS Technology). While at TRM, Mr. Marino Co-Founded Wall Street Network Solutions, sold to GTT in 2014. In 2018 Chris founded AQUABLUE Networks where he is currently the Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Marino lives in Northwest New Jersey where he is married with three children and a golden retriever. His passion is Running, Triathlons, and Endurance Events.

Rob is the Head of Business Development at Fireblocks, an enterprise-grade platform delivering a secure infrastructure for moving, storing and issuing digital assets. Rob has over 18 years of experience in electronic trading, with a focus on U.S. Exchanges. Prior to joining Fireblocks, Rob was the Head of Business Development at BitGo and CoinList.  Before that, Rob spent 5 years at IEX where he helped launch an ATS in 2013, and subsequently a new U.S. equities exchange in 2016. Prior to joining IEX, Rob worked at Citadel, Nasdaq, Bloomberg Tradebook and Charles Schwab. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to getting involved with the ride, he did not own a bike and had not ridden one for 15+ years. He loves the challenge and sees it as a future hobby due to this event. He’s proud to be a part of the advisory team and believes in the important work of the Autism Science Foundation.

Jos is best known as the Co-Founder, President & CEO of the NEO Exchange, a leading and disruptive Canadian exchange group that became part of the US based Cboe group in June 2022. At Cboe, Jos continued to lead the Canadian operations while, in parallel, designing and establishing the foundation of the first ever global listings offering, leveraging multiple Cboe platforms across the globe. In November 2023, Jos stepped back from his leadership role at Cboe to focus on his family and philanthropic endeavours.

Prior to the NEO Exchange, and in the role of President & CEO, Jos formed the Canadian Alpha exchange group that became part of the Canada based TMX group. This followed his role as EVP Head of the Americas and Global Head of Capital Markets for a global professional services company focused on the financial services industry, where he acted as strategic advisor and Director of Operational and Technology Programs for some of the largest stock and derivatives exchanges, clearing houses, alternative markets, data vendors, and broker-dealers around the globe. Prior to this, Jos held leadership roles in the capital markets industry in Europe.

Jos has a strong commitment to the community as Chair of the Bay Street Rides FAR Board and member of the global Rides FAR Board; as Chair of the board of The Prosperity Project, a Canadian NFP focussed on enabling the economic empowerment of women with an intersectional lens; as a champion of the UN Global Compact and UN Women "Women's Empowerment Principles"; and as a former board member of the Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation in Toronto. Jos was also a board member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC, now CIRO) and a member of advisory boards to the Ivey Business School at Western University and to the École des Sciences de la Gestion at Université du Quebec A Montréal.

Brad is the Head of Digital Assets for Hudson River Trading. A 20-year veteran in the electronic trading and technology space, Brad was brought in to grow HRT’s presence in the digital asset business. Prior to joining HRT, Brad was Director of Capital Markets with NextShares Solutions LLC, where he was responsible for working with market participants in the ETF ecosystem to build and launch the first actively managed, exchange-traded products. Before that, Brad spent 8 years at Nasdaq in various senior roles such as Head of Global Software Development for INET, and Head of Business and Strategy for NASDAQ’s 3 U.S. equity markets. Brad began his career at Trilogy Software in Austin, Texas before moving to New York in 2001 to begin working at the Island ECN and then at Instinet before being acquired by Nasdaq. Brad earned a B.S. from the University of Texas. He holds Series 7, 63 and 24 FINRA licenses.

Marc is head of Global Trading at T. Rowe Price and a member of the firm's Global Trading, Best Execution, Ethics and Risk and Operational Steering Committees. He is responsible for trading desks in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. These teams execute transactions across multiple asset classes, including equity, fixed income, foreign exchange, and derivatives. In addition, Marc oversees the Investment and Trading Solutions, Systematic Trading and Market Structure, Derivatives and Multi-Asset Trading Solutions, and Trading Analytics. He is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.

Marc has over 30 years of investment experience, four of which have been with T. Rowe Price. Prior to joining the firm in 2017, he was the director of the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, where he oversaw examinations of investment advisors, investment companies, broker-dealers, and other financial companies. Before the SEC, he was a partner and senior portfolio manager in the London office of Stark Investments, a multi-strategy hedge fund where his responsibilities included oversight of portfolio construction, trading and risk management.

Marc is President of the Board of Directors for the Baltimore Lab School which serves students with unique strengths and diverse learning needs. He is also a Board Member of Catholic Charities of Baltimore.

Marc earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Delaware and an M.B.A. from Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business. Marc also has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Jennifer is Head of Equities at DASH Financial Technologies, where she is responsible for driving and managing equity product growth and development initiatives, as well as educating necessary stake holders to support DASH’s sales, business development, and operational efforts. In addition, Jen manages the listed options execution and technology leader’s Concierge team, helping to drive efficiency and top-level service for clients throughout the onboarding process. Prior to joining DASH, she spent five years with Clearpool Group as a Director of Execution Services and Head of Product, helping to build the strategy, design, and development of their Algo Management System and Venue Analysis products. Jen began her career at Barclays as a market maker on the NYSE, after receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Michigan in 2000.

Pranav Trivedi is the Managing Partner of the London office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (Skadden), one of the world’s leading law firms. He leads a team of over 200 lawyers based in the UK capital who deliver cutting-edge transactional and dispute resolution advice to public and private corporations, financial sponsors, and other major international entities.

His personal focus is on international corporate finance, including initial public offerings and privatisations, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and private equity. He regularly represents U.S. and Western European companies in corporate finance and M&A transactions involving companies throughout Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia.

Pranav is regularly highlighted as a market-leading lawyer in all reputable independent rankings publications in the legal sector, including Chambers Global, Chambers UK, Chambers Europe, IFLR1000, and The Legal 500 UK. He is also a fluent Russian and Gujarati speaker.

Chris Heffernan is the Head of Fixed Income at Trading Technologies (TT).  Chris has extensive experience and knowledge of the fixed-income market, having spent over twenty years in various senior roles on the sales and trading desks of Flow Traders, SumRidge Partners, and Morgan Stanley.  

Chris graduated from Villanova University in 2001 with a degree in Finance. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and three daughters.

Christina Sanchez is a seasoned professional with 23 years of expertise in Equity and Equity Derivatives. Currently serving as the Business Manager for ICAP US Equity and Equity Derivatives, she brings a wealth of experience from her prior role as a Senior Listed Option Broker. In addition to her financial acumen, Christina is dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion, leading TP ICAP's employee volunteer networks. As a Certified EMR, she generously volunteers with her town's first aid squad and fire police, showcasing her commitment to community service. Christina is also a passionate mentor, leveraging her knowledge and skills to make a positive impact. A proud alumna of the University of Delaware, she continues to thrive in the dynamic world of finance and community engagement.

Mark is a Managing Partner at Forefront Communications, an integrated marketing and PR firm specializing in the capital markets and institutional fintech. The firm helps dozens of the industry’s most influential companies differentiate their brands, create meaningful content and amplify it through expertly executed campaigns.

Mark brings more than 20 years of communications experience to the board, working with a wide swath of prominent fintech brands on projects spanning the marketing and communications spectrum. Prior to founding Forefront, Mark built REDI’s marketing platform following its spinout from Goldman Sachs. Before that he spent nearly a decade with Nomura’s Instinet subsidiary, repositioning its brand from ECN to technology-enabled agency broker-dealer. Along the way he also helped launch the firm’s Chi-X exchange businesses globally.

Mark is a graduate of Boston University. He lives in Maplewood, NJ with his children, Jack and Maggie, and wife Kathy.