SPEAKERS

Jay Gubrud is a high-octane catalyst for performance, leadership, and joy-driven success.

As a dynamic keynote speaker, seasoned trainer, author, and trusted consultant, Jay has spent over two decades helping individuals and organizations break through barriers and thrive. His presentations are more than just insightful—they're a spark that ignites real transformation, encouraging people to lead with authenticity and tap into what truly energizes them.

Jay believes that when people find and follow their joy, performance takes care of itself. His work inspires audiences to reconnect with what makes them come alive and use that energy to fuel collaboration, innovation, and results.

A few fun facts about Jay:

• He’s been riding motorcycles since the age of 7.

• He once made an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

• He’s taken a ride in a rare Ferrari F40—valued at over $3 million.

• He’s never missed a speaking engagement in over 20 years.

• He doesn’t like mushrooms (yet), but he’s still giving them a chance.

Crisis Leadership Authority and Global Affairs Expert; Former USS Cole Commander

The resilient leader who saved the USS Cole from sinking during its devastating al Qaeda attack, Commander Kirk Lippold shares strategies for leading decisively, strengthening team performance, and navigating risk—as well as real-time geopolitical and national security insights.

On October 12, 2000, Commander Kirk Lippold led the USS Cole when it came under a devastating al Qaeda suicide attack in Aden, Yemen—which came to be known as one of the most brazen acts of terrorism prior to the September 11 attacks.

Under Commander Lippold’s leadership, he and his crew saved the USS Cole from sinking, demonstrating extraordinary resilience, accountability, and decisive action under extreme pressure. This defining moment serves as the foundation for his powerful leadership insights and real-world strategies.

Today, Commander Lippold is a sought-after keynote speaker who helps organizations navigate uncertainty, risk, and rapid change. Engaging audiences as a compelling storyteller, he translates his experience into practical frameworks for leading through crisis, building accountability, and driving high-performance teams.

As one of the news media’s most in-demand national security and geopolitical analysts, Commander Lippold frequently appears on major television networks to provide expert insight on global conflict, military strategy, U.S. foreign policy, and emerging threats impacting business and world stability. He brings these up-to-the moment insights to his live audiences—along with practical ways to navigate uncertainty and assess risk.

Product Manager, Miter

Rachel Banton leads research and development for Miter Payroll. Her team manages all of the moving parts that go into Miter's payroll calculations, including prevailing wage, certified payroll reporting, tax compliance, OT calculations, and more. She works to ensure Miter Payroll meets the complex, construction-specific needs of contractors in a helpful, approachable, and reliable way. Her favorite part of working on payroll is translating complicated and unique requirements into something tangible that Miter's engineers can build, and workers can see on their paychecks. Rachel lives in Brooklyn, NY and spends much of her free time walking in local parks with her lab mix, Ulysses.

Account and Relationship Manager, Shepherd Agency

Matt Burke specializes in obtaining, managing, and servicing surety bond programs for construction contractors in the Mid-Atlantic region. Matt’s main responsibilities include negotiating approval for single/aggregate bond programs with sureties to maximize bond support for clients at the most favorable terms, performing in-house underwriting analysis to best advise and advocate for clients, review contract documents and bond forms for onerous provisions, and assist with year-end, succession, continuity, and subcontractor risk mitigation planning for clients.

Matt started with the Shepherd Agency (acquired by Gallagher in 2025) in 2016 assisting Dave Kane and Rick Shepherd with their books of construction surety clients. In addition to managing his own clients, Matt assumed Dave’s position as the main point of contact at the Shepherd Agency for Dave’s clients upon his retirement in 2024.

Matt earned his bachelor’s degree from Saint Joseph’s University, is a member of the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA), National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP), Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), General Building Contractors Association (GBCA), Contractors Association of Eastern Pennsylvania (CAEP), and has served on the board of the CFMA South Jersey Chapter and the charity committee of the CFMA Philadelphia Chapter.

Founder and CEO, Falkler Advisory

Karen Falkler is the Founder and CEO of Falkler Advisory, an internationally recognized executive-coaching and leadership-development firm serving high-performing leaders across the globe. She has worked with global entrepreneurs, leaders, royalty, Fortune 500 executives, and rising leaders in both corporate and family offices who carry significant responsibility and seek an objective, confidential partner to help them lead—and live— well.

Karen is known for integrating wellness directly into leadership strategy through her proprietary Falkler Formula, which aligns physical vitality, mental resilience, communication, relationships, and long-term energy, sustainability, and performance. Her work helps leaders sustain clarity, authority, and impact while building organizations, legacies—and lives—that outlast them.

Her background spans executive coaching, leadership development, and clinical expertise in orthopedic and neurological rehabilitation, giving her a rare, deeply practical perspective on human performance under pressure.

Karen’s humanitarian and leadership contributions have been internationally recognized. She was formally admitted to the Imperial Military Civil Order of the Rose in the Rank of Dame by the Imperial House of Brazil, awarded the Gold Medal of Humanism by the Albanian Red Cross for her humanitarian work, honored as a World Woman Leader in Wellness at the Who is Who International Awards in Athens, and previously recognized by the International Association of Sciences and Collaboration in Vatican City-State.

She regularly moderates and contributes to high-level leadership dialogues, including panels at the World Economic Forum, and is a sought-after speaker on leadership sustainability, executive presence, and human performance.

In addition to her advisory work, Karen is an adjunct professor for the graduate program teaching courses in Management, Leadership, and Communication at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and is the author of The Relationship Coach and The Professor.

While her firm has deep expertise supporting leaders in construction, architecture, and engineering—industries where performance, trust, and longevity are critical—Karen’s work is industry-agnostic, serving leaders wherever complexity, responsibility, and growth converge.

Co-CEO & Co-Founder, First Rule

Rhonda Huismann is the Founder and Co-CEO of First Rule Contract Manager, an AI-powered contract lifecycle and risk management platform built for the construction industry. A recovered tax partner, she spent 28 years at Crowe LLP specializing in construction taxation before leaving tax behind to delve into building the technology that would become FRCM — which, after three years in development, she ultimately acquired the IP and co-founded First Rule in October of 2024. Rhonda is passionate about construction tech and equally passionate about CFMA, where she has been a member for over 26 years, and has served in leadership roles at both the local and national level, including 7 years as local treasurer, the National Executive Committee, National Secretary, and many years on the National Conference Planning Committee.

President, Hullfish Cornerstone Advisors

Kimberly A. Hullfish is President of Hullfish Cornerstone Advisors, a fractional CFO and strategic advisory practice serving construction firms in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. With more than 28 years of financial leadership in heavy highway, sitework, demolition, environmental remediation, and recycling, she is known for building robust financial controls, strengthening ethical practices, and implementing practical solutions that improve operational efficiency for public- and private-sector clients. Her work includes succession planning, ESOP implementation and administration, 831(b) captive insurance design, bank and surety strategy, WIP reporting, and ERP modernization.

A dedicated CFMA member for more than 20 years, Ms. Hullfish is a founding member and past president of the South Jersey Chapter and currently serves as Co-Chair of the 2026 CFMA Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. She has taught the CCIFP Overview Course for the New Jersey, South Jersey, and Philadelphia Chapters and at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. She has served on the CCIFP Board of Trustees and chaired the exam development committee. Her contributions have been recognized with the CFMA Joe Quigley Memorial Award, the inaugural CCIFP of the Year Award, and the Mid-Atlantic David Casey Founders Award.

A native of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, she holds a B.S. in Business Administration (Finance) and an M.B.A. from Rider University. In her personal time, she enjoys the lively company of her part-Pomeranian, part-Tasmanian Devil dog, Anastasia Noel.

Shareholder, Schneider Downs

Carl has over 20 years of experience working as a cybersecurity practitioner and strategist. He has operated across numerous industries and has recently been focused on advising healthcare, life sciences and financial services clients on solving complex challenges associated with data protection and compliance concerns. Carl has led a large array of projects during his career, transforming and enhancing client cyber programs to achieve their desired state of maturity.

Carl has extensive knowledge and direct experience across the lifecycle of cybersecurity disciplines and related frameworks, as well as regulatory and compliance considerations, including, but not limited to, FedRAMP, CMMC, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, NIST, ISO, CIS and HITRUST.

Carl has accomplished a great deal throughout his career in cybersecurity. Some of these achievements include:

» Serving as the National Cyber Security Healthcare leader for a Big 4 Consultancy

» Leading a global Pharmaceutical Industry initiative to transform paper-bound processes into a digital and non-repudiation-based transaction model across the global pharmaceutical industry, saving the industry billions of dollars in lost patent-protected revenue

» Successfully leading several global initiatives, including a large scale, global cybersecurity transformation effort for the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, spanning multiple years across more than 80 countries

» Founding and managing several successful cybersecurity start-ups

In various leadership roles, Carl spends time advising client executive, audit and compliance boards on the state of their programs, industry challenges and leading strategies to help protect their information assets from bad actors. He also serves as a frequent guest presenter on cyber podcasts, webinars and industry roundtables.

MISA—Finance, Marketing and IT, Carnegie Mellon University–Tepper School of Business

Account Executive Officer, Travelers

Justin Leisure is an Account Executive Officer with Travelers, focused on construction surety for commercial contractors in Central Pennsylvania. With more than 20 years of experience in surety and insurance, Justin leverages a dual background as both a former surety bond agent and a current underwriter to help contractors secure bonding capacity, manage risk, and align surety support with their business plans. Justin holds a BSBA from Shippensburg University, the AFSB and RPLU designations, and serves as Chapter President of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of CFMA.

Senior Manager, Security & Compliance Services

Ashley brings over a decade of experience in business development, client relations, and operational strategy—now focused on helping Defense Industrial Base (DIB) organizations meet and maintain cybersecurity compliance as part of the Government Compliance Team at Aprio. We are both CMMC C3PAO and a FedRAMP 3PAO - supporting companies of all sizes at every stage of their compliance journey—from readiness and remediation to the formal audit itself.

President, Performance Construction Advisors

Marshall Minoux serves as President of Performance Construction Advisors (PCA), where he leads a national team of senior advisors delivering operational due diligence, strategic advisory, and risk mitigation services to contractors across the construction industry. Their focus is  on mid-market contractors, the segment where ownership decisions, leadership transitions, and financial discipline have the greatest impact on long-term viability. 

Marshall brings more than 20 years of construction surety and risk management expertise, built through his parallel career as Vice President of Risk Mitigation Services at Travelers Bond & Specialty Insurance. That vantage point, evaluating thousands of contractors across general contracting, heavy highway, and specialty sectors, gives Marshall a distinctive lens on what separates contractors who scale successfully from those who struggle.  

A recognized thought leader in construction risk and strategy, Marshall has presented at national industry conferences including the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) National Conference, the Association of General Contractors, and the Small Business Administration and USDOT Bonding Education Program. His session topics have ranged from go/no-go due diligence frameworks and joint venture pitfalls to large project profitability trends and subcontractor prequalification. He has also co-facilitated CFMA continuing education for CFOs and controllers and previously served on the Small Business Advisory Council for the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). 

Marshall graduated from St. Mary's College of California with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with an Honors Concentration in Financial Services. He lives in Collinsville, CT with his wife, three sons, and daughter. Outside of work, he is his kids' most enthusiastic coach and biggest fan and can frequently be found chasing warm destinations in the summer and ski slopes in the winter.

Managing Director, CBIZ Advisors, LLC

A 30 year experienced professional serving the construction industry in financial management, accounting, and auditing. A CPA and Shareholder with CBIZ CPAs P.C., an independent CPA firm and Managing Director of Construction Industry Services with CBIZ Advisors, LLC in the Philadelphia office.

Also experienced in providing attest services for employee benefit plans.

Managing Director of Investment Banking, Schneider Downs Capital

Imran S. Mohiuddin leads transaction execution, business development, and client service for SD Capital's middle-market investment banking practice. Drawing on more than 25 years of operational and transactional experience, he takes a hands-on approach to helping business owners navigate mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, and other strategic transactions. He holds an M.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a B.A. in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Chief Financial Officer, RJB Contracting

Matt Monzo is CFO of Ecotech Hydro Excavation, based in Quarryville, PA, with 28 years of experience in the construction industry. Prior to joining Ecotech, he held financial leadership roles with self-performing contractors Allan Myers and The Tri-M Group, as well as general contractor RJB Contracting. Throughout his career, Matt has excelled at managing both the operational and financial sides of the business, and he is passionate about driving operational excellence by building strong partnerships between operations and accounting teams.

Matt holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Saint Joseph's University and an MBA from Widener University, and he completed the Drexel/Myers Construction Management Program at Drexel University. He is the past president of CFMA Philadelphia and is active with Habitat for Humanity, where he serves on the board of directors as treasurer.

Owner, Stagliano Consulting LLC

A leading expert in construction industry financial management and tax consulting, Tony recently retired as a Shareholder at the accounting firm Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. (MHM) and Managing Director of Architects Engineers & Constructors (AEC) services for CBIZ MHM, LLC (CBIZ).

He consults exclusively to the A/E/C industry on financial and operations matters.

Partner, Welby, Brady & Greenblatt, LLP

Thomas S. Tripodianos is a Partner at Welby, Brady, & Greenblatt where he is involved in all aspects of construction, labor and employment law. Doing a good job for the range of clients we represent—buyers, sellers, lenders, developers, general contractors, construction managers, owners, architects, engineers, subcontractors, suppliers, sureties and other entities—means going beyond essential legal services to developing relationships and a deep understanding of client goals and needs. 

As a first-generation Greek American, Mr. Tripodianos’ interest in real estate and construction law grew out of his early responsibilities managing properties for his family’s business in Queens. Mr. Tripodianos is a mentor for the next generation of attorneys, providing thoughtful leadership, actively participating in industry organizations and committees, and making connections. Putting two clients together who may not otherwise have joined forces and seeing their ventures succeed is one of his most satisfying aspects of work. Mr. Tripodianos prides himself on going beyond essential legal services to developing relationships and a deep understanding of client goals and needs.

Account Executive Officer, Travelers Bond & Specialty Insurance

Abby Weinberg is an Account Executive Officer with Travelers Bond & Specialty Insurance, specializing in contract surety with more than 10 years of industry experience. She has served on the Board of the CFMA South Jersey Chapter and the NAWIC Philadelphia Chapter 145, contributing to the advancement of the construction and surety communities. Outside of work, Abby is a busy mom to two teenagers and a dog, and she enjoys spending time at the beach and traveling with her family. She values making memories through shared experiences and brings that same energy and enthusiasm to the relationships she builds in her professional life.