Speakers

Melissa Ashley

President / CEO

A visionary and steadfast leader, Melissa is a strategic driver of growth in her role as President and CEO at Corporate One. Melissa joined Corporate One in 1999. During her time with the organization, she has served in various roles, including controller, vice president of finance, and EVP/CFO. Melissa became Corporate One’s president/CEO in 2018.

Melissa serves on the board of directors of Corporate One’s wholly owned credit union service organization (CUSO) Lucro Commercial Solutions. She also serves on two of The Clearing House's committees: the RTP Business Committee and the Rules Enforcement Committee. Melissa is also a board member for eDOC Innovations and the chair of the Corporate Credit Union Alliance. From 2019 through 2024, Melissa served on the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council (CDIAC), offering valuable insights and perspectives from community depository institutions to the Cleveland Fed.

Prior to joining Corporate One, Melissa worked at a Big Four accounting firm. She has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting with a minor in Computer Science from The Ohio State University. She has also achieved the Certified Chief Executive designation from the Credit Union Executive Society (CUES) and is a certified public accountant in the state of Ohio. In her free time, Melissa likes to help on her family’s sweet corn and produce farm. She enjoys being outside and working the land, teaching her kids the value of a hard day’s work, and gathering with extended family over delicious meals at harvest time.

Christine Mayes

Chief Member Engagement Officer

A focused and strategic leader, Christine is responsible for business development growth and overseeing the Marketing and Communications, Member Success, and Member Experience teams.

Christine joined Corporate One in 2020 and quickly developed a passion for credit unions and forging deeper relationships with the member institutions Corporate One serves. Dedicated to credit union success and to helping members achieve their respective business goals, she ensures the Member Success team strategically aligns with and supports members so that they receive the utmost value out of their membership in Corporate One. She is committed to helping credit unions remain competitive and innovative by adopting digital and real-time payments.

Before joining Corporate One, Christine served in sales and sales management for Brink’s, Inc., supporting financial institutions of all sizes. Christine lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and two dogs. She enjoys golfing and all water and outdoor activities in her free time.

Aaron Shaner

Strategic Project Leadership

Aaron Shaner is a Program Manager specializing in strategic project leadership and data analytics at Corporate One Federal Credit Union. With over eight years of experience driving innovation in analytics, data science, and product management, Aaron has led the successful implementation of Immediate Payments for more than 100 credit unions nationwide. His expertise lies in leveraging data-driven insights to deliver transformative payment solutions and enhance member experiences. A passionate advocate for credit unions, Aaron also serves as the founding Executive Chair of GRID, Ohio’s young professional credit union group, fostering leadership development and industry growth.

Elena Whisler

Chief Client Officer at The Clearing House

Elena Casal is the Chief Client Officer at The Clearing House, responsible for creating and managing the holistic experience for its customers and partners. The role is focused on promoting the company’s work to its diverse target segments, including growing the RTP® network across U.S. financial institutions, evolving the customer engagement model for all payments networks, as well as overseeing business lines focused on payments education, accreditation services, consulting and risk assessments.

Elena has deep experience with product and customers in the payments industry.  Prior to joining The Clearing House, Elena held regional and global product management positions at FIS, Clear2Pay and Fiserv where she was focused on building products and services across the global enterprise payments landscape. She also worked at the Federal Reserve Bank within the Retail Product Office and Monetary Policy Divisions with a focus on cross-border activities and economic policy in Latin America.

Elena currently serves on the P20 Board as well as the Girls on the Run Central Ohio non-profit Board. Elena holds a B.A. in Economics and International Affairs from Denison University and an M.S. in International Affairs from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Tracy Nelson

President/CEO Aspire Talent Group

Tracy Nelson, MSOD, SPHR, CPTD, is a senior level human resources, organizational development, and learning/talent development leader with over 30 years of experience in a variety of industries including healthcare, financial services, insurance, hospitality, manufacturing, and non-profit. She has served as Vice President of Talent Solutions for the UW-Madison Wisconsin School of Business Center for Professional & Executive Development as well as adjunct faculty at the Wisconsin School of Business teaching in the Management & Human Resources MBA and undergraduate programs. She served over 10 years on the Board of Directors of the Madison Area Chapter of the Association for Talent Development, including a year as President, and is currently President on the Executive Board of Directors for Greater Madison Society of Human Resources Management.
Tracy was one of the first in the nation to earn the Certified Professional in Learning & Performance/Certified Professional in Talent Development designation through the Association for Talent Development. While serving as Vice President of Organizational Development for a Madison-based financial institution, Tracy’s learning team twice earned the international ATD BEST Award. Tracy was also twice featured in national Training & Development magazine for her programs.

Tracy’s experience and credentials include:

• SPHR – Certified Senior Professional in Human Resources, HRCI
• CPTD – Certified Professional in Talent Development, ATD
• Prosci Certified Change Management Leader
• DDI Certified Leadership Development Trainer
• Human Capital Institute Certificate – Strategic Workforce Planning
• President, Executive Board of Directors, Greater Madison Society for Human Resource Management (GMA SHRM)
• Adjust Faculty & Executive in Residence, Wisconsin School of Business, UW-Madison, Strategic Human Resources & Management
• Edgewood College Human Resources Program Guest Lecturer
• Certified CCL (Center for Creative Leadership) 360 Assessor & Coach
• Certified DISC Profile Assessor & Coach
• Certified in Big 5 Psychometric Testing
• Certified Human Synergistics Assessor & Consultant – Culture, Leadership, & Teams
• Certified Educator for Covey Leading at the Speed of Trust program
• Certified TRP (Totally Responsible Person) Educator
• Featured in ATD (formerly ASTD) National Training & Development Magazine
• Top 10 Finalist “Best in Class” Leadership 500 HR Award for Excellence in Leadership Development Programs

Erik Van Bramer

Senior Vice President and Head of Customer & Industry Relations for Federal Reserve Financial Service

As Senior Vice President and Head of Customer & Industry Relations, Erik Van Bramer is
responsible for setting and implementing the strategy for managing the relationships and
financial services offerings for financial institutions across the Federal Reserve System.
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Van Bramer joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in 1998 and transitioned to
the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in 2005. His tenure with the Federal Reserve has
encompassed multiple management areas including operations, internal support
functions, as well as business development. Van Bramer was promoted to assistant vice
president and national account executive in 2010. He was named vice president in 2014,
leading the group managing relationships for large and complex financial institutions.

Van Bramer holds a bachelor’s degree from The Colorado College, completed graduate
studies at The Lake Forest Graduate School of Business, The Booth School of Business,
and earned certification from the Graduate School of Banking at The University of
Colorado. He serves on several boards throughout the Denver metro area with particular
interest in injury prevention and underserved children and communities.

Jennifer Kline

Director, FI Payments, Risk & Compliance at EPCOR

Jennifer leads EPCOR’s Advisory Services, where she oversees the
development and execution of audit and risk assessment programs across
diverse payment channels working with Financial Institutions. In this role,
she manages operational, staffing, and financial aspects of the department.
Jennifer conducts comprehensive compliance audits and risk assessment
for a wide range of payment rails, including ACH, Remote Deposit Capture,
Wire Transfer, and the Instant Payments of RTP and FedNow landscape.
She is dedicated to ensuring strict adherence to industry rules, emerging
real-time payment standards, and complex regulatory guidelines
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Jennifer has been conducting audits and risk assessments with EPCOR for over 18 years. She began
her career in the financial services industry while earning her B.S. in Public Finance from Indiana
University, Bloomington. Jennifer’s prior banking experience spans over eighteen years with a strong
emphasis in payment systems management and backroom deposit operations. Jennifer is an
Accredited ACH Professional (ACH), Accredited Payments Risk Professional (APRP), National Check
Professional (NCP).

Fun Fact About Jennifer

Jennifer is such a payments geek that she loves to take certification exams. In 1997, she earned her
AAP certification and for fun, took the test again in 2007 and 2017. Jennifer was part of the inaugural
class of Accredited Payments Risk Professionals (APRP) in 2018, and for the Accredited Faster
Payments Professionals (AFPP) in 2025.

Rusiru Gunasena

SVP, Head of Business Development for The Clearing House

Rusiru Gunasena leads the business development efforts for service providers at The Clearing House, driving engagement and growth across TCH’s portfolio of payment solutions. In this role, Rusiru focuses on expanding adoption and fostering strategic partnerships with banks, credit unions, fintechs, and technology providers to enable seamless and efficient payment experiences.
Rusiru is a payments and fintech leader with more than 20 years of experience across multiple industries. He is a strong advocate for digital payment innovation and continues to influence the U.S. payment ecosystem.
With a background as both an entrepreneur and a corporate leader, Rusiru has worked across start-ups and Fortune 100 companies worldwide. Prior to his current role, he led RTP product management and strategy at The Clearing House, overseeing the network's growth. Before that, he served as the Managing Director of JHA PayCenter, where he led Jack Henry’s faster payments strategy and built a central payment hub for fintechs and financial institutions.
Rusiru holds an MBA with an Entrepreneurship concentration from the University of Louisville and a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom, where he was an honors recipient.