Speaker Biographies

 

Keynote Speakers
	Jeanne Hogarth Jeanne Hogarth is the manager for the Consumer Education and Research Section of the Division of Consumer and Community Affairs at the Federal Reserve Board. She joined the Federal Reserve in 1995. Her previous experience includes 7 years of high school teaching, a year on the Extension faculty at the University of Illinois, and 13 years on the consumer economics faculty at Cornell University. During her tenure at Cornell, she was responsible for community education programs related to family financial management and consumer economics through Cornell Cooperative Extension. At the Federal Reserve Board, she is responsible for research and outreach initiatives related to consumer financial services. Her recent projects include initiatives on consumers’ use of banking services, focusing on lower income and immigrant households, the “unbanked” and underbanked, and adoption of electronic banking and payment services, consumer protection strategies, focusing on consumer/financial literacy and education; credit, mortgage, and leasing products; and consumer privacy issues consumer testing for comprehension and usability of disclosure notices. Jeanne is responsible for the Board’s consumer information materials on financial services, both in print and on the web. She is the author of numerous scholarly research articles as well as consumer education resources on financial management. Both her research and her consumer education programs have received awards for their excellence. She is the recipient of the AFCPE Mary Ellen Edmondson Educator Award and was named a Mentor and a Distinguished Fellow by the American Council on Consumer Interests.
	Nancy Smith Nancy Smith is currently Vice President, Investment Services, at AARP Financial. AARP Financial is a new company providing financial services to AARP members. Prior to joining AARP Financial, Ms. Smith was a consultant on financial, regulatory, compliance, and legislative issues. From 2002 to 2003, she co-founded and directed RestoreTheTrust.com, a non-partisan campaign funded by the Rockefeller Family Fund to educate investors on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. From 1999 to 2002, she served as Vice President of FOLIOfn, an online brokerage, managing the start up and launch of its Web site, developing products and services, and supervising its Research Department. From 1994 to 1999, she served as Director of the SEC’s office of investor education and assistance, leading the SEC’s plain English initiative and representing consumer views on rulemaking and other initiatives. From 1991 to 1994, Ms. Smith served as the Director of Securities for the State of New Mexico. From 1987 to 1991, she served on the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance of the U.S. House of Representatives, with responsibility for securities legislation and oversight activities, leaving as Senior Finance Counsel. Ms. Smith received her BA and JD from Georgetown University.
	James Scurlock James Scurlock, is the Director/Producer of the critically-acclaimed documentary film, Maxed Out, and the author of the companion book based on his interviews and travels while making the film, Maxed Out: Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders, published by Simon & Schuster in 2007. James attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania from 1989-1993 as an undergraduate and has no formal film training. An entrepreneur since his sophomore year in college, James opened several successful restaurants which he later sold. He has also contributed as a freelance writer to several magazines and newspapers. Maxed Out is his second feature documentary. In a 2006 interview with Newsweek magazine, Scurlock was asked why he made a movie about credit card debt. His reply was: “Debt is the one issue that affects all of us, rich or poor, black or white, gay or straight, liberal or conservative.” Scurlock also noted that “the financial industry has changed a lot in the last generation, … we’re in a totally different time now where we’re deluged every day with offers of credit….I think people need to start getting active with Congress and [pressuring them] into changing the balance that’s been so weighted toward the financial industry and against the consumer.” One reviewer noted: “Maxed Out succeeds is breathing life into abstractions, creating a powerful narrative without straying into polemical territory. … It complicates suspiciously simple notions of personal responsibility by showing how American culture connects personal worth to consumerism only to imprison the impoverished in a system of credit that’s structurally similar to the debt treadmill of sharecropping.” Terry Sawyer, Pop Matters. For more information about the movie, go to www.maxedoutmovie.com. A free screening of Maxed Out will be at 7:30pm on September 26 in UW’s Arts and Sciences Auditorium with a discussion by Scurlock to follow.
Concurrent Session Presenters
	Tom Cowan Tom Cowan is the Securities Division Director with the Wyoming Secretary of State. The Securities Division staff investigates white collar investment crime cases as part of Wyoming’s white collar crime task force, comprised of federal and state law enforcement agencies, and the United States Attorney. Tom received his Bachelors of Science degree in general business administration and later a Masters of Business Administration, both from the University of Wyoming. He received specialized training involving securities compliance, auditing and financial investigation techniques including the federal Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Training in Washington, D. C. and numerous corporate finance and broker-dealer auditing programs sponsored by the North American Securities Administrators Association. He has spoken to many service organizations, has been a guest lecturer at Laramie Community College investments class and at the Casper College Paralegal Research Class.
	Cole Ehmke Cole Ehmke is an Extension Specialist with the University of Wyoming’s Cooperative Extension Service and is based in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. His work covers personal financial resource management topics as well as agricultural entrepreneurship. Cole was a Fulbright Scholar to the University of Sydney, Australia, where he received his MS degree, and received his BA from Bethany College. Prior to joining the University of Wyoming was at Purdue University.
	Norma Garcia Norma Garcia is a Senior Attorney at the West Coast Regional Office of Consumers Union, nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. Since joining the Consumers Union staff in 1992, Garcia has concentrated on legislative and regulatory advocacy on behalf of consumers, especially in the areas of credit and finance. She is the author of several publications on topics including the usage of credit scores in insurance, reverse mortgages and predatory mortgage lending. She was Consumers Union’s principal lobbyist for the passage of SB 2045, and AB 489, making California the second state in the nation to adopt a statewide anti-predatory lending law. Ms. Garcia was honored as a 2000 National Trial Lawyer of the Year Finalist by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice for her contribution to the public interest by serving as co-counsel on the litigation team which successfully defended Consumers Union in a multi-million dollar SLAPP suit brought by Isuzu Motors Ltd.
	Anthony Gold Anthony Gold is a 2002 graduate of the University of Wyoming College of Law, where he was an articles editor of the Wyoming Law Review. He has clerked for Wyoming’s 8th Judicial District Court, and worked for an AV-rated Cheyenne law firm. He is now in solo practice in Laramie, where he emphasizes business and financial planning and litigation, and debtor’s rights. Anthony received a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Wyoming in 1999.
	Jennifer Hanft Jennifer Hanft graduated from the University of North Carolina with a BA in Speech Communications in 1990 and JD from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1996. She is licensed to practice in both Wyoming and Colorado. Her work experience includes clerking for the Wyoming Supreme Court. She currently is in private practice specializing in Small Business law in which she frequently participates in 1st and 3rd party collections and issues involving the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
	Michele Hankins Michele Hankins is the Assistant United States Trustee for the Cheyenne Office, District of Wyoming. She has been working for the United States Trustee Program for approximately 18 years, first as a trial attorney in the San Francisco Office, and subsequently as the Assistant United States Trustee for the Oakland Office in California and for the Phoenix Office in Arizona. Ms. Hankins is a member of the Wyoming Bar, the Washington Bar, and the District of Columbia Bar; she earned her law degree cum laude from the Seattle University School of Law in Washington State. She is also a certified mediator in basic mediation skills and was a Volunteer Mediator for the Superior Court of Arizona for the County of Maricopa in Phoenix, Arizona. The United States Trustee Program is a component of the Department of Justice that seeks to promote the efficiency and protect the integrity of the federal bankruptcy system. To further the public interest in the just, speedy and economical resolution of cases filed under the Bankruptcy Code, the Program monitors the conduct of bankruptcy parties and private trustees, oversees related administrative functions, and acts to ensure compliance with applicable laws and procedures. It also identifies and helps investigate bankruptcy fraud and abuse in coordination with United States Attorneys, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies. It is composed of 21 Regions nationwide, covering all federal judicial districts except Alabama and North Carolina. The Cheyenne Office is a component of Region 19, which covers the States of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado, with its Regional Office located in Denver, Colorado.
	Paul Hunter Paul Hunter is a bankruptcy attorney in Cheyenne, Wyoming representing individuals and businesses. Previously he was with the US Trustees Office for the District of Wyoming as a staff attorney. Paul is a frequent lecturer and author on bankruptcy topics. He earned his BA from the University of Colorado and his JD from the University of Wyoming College of Law.
	MaryAnne Heyman, CFP (R), MSFP  MaryAnne Heyman began working with families and individuals in 1992 as a Certified Family and Consumer Sciences college and community educator. She earned a Master of Science degree in Financial Planning from Golden Gate University to better enable her to help families of all economic levels navigate the confusing financial jargon of investments, insurance, and other financial planning tools. Through personal and professional experiences, she has witnessed the effect of daily financial issues on the well being of individuals and families, especially during transitional times throughout the lifespan. Recently published in the Wyoming Lawyer and a frequent speaker, MaryAnne is especially versed in the comprehensive financial issues of the disabled and the elderly. MaryAnne, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, dedicates her practice to providing sound financial solutions with Financial Design & Management, Inc. in Fort Collins, Colorado.
	John Patton John Patton is a Cheyenne, Wyoming attorney with Patton and Davison and a graduate of the University of Wyoming College of Law. His areas of practice include general civil practice throughout Wyoming and Colorado at the trial and appellate level, with special emphasis on bankruptcy (creditor's rights only serving creditors for 29 years), foreclosure, collections, real estate (contracts for deed, notes & mortgages, and all other real estate matters), utilities, contract, commercial, business, trust and estate planning, probate, employment, municipal, and administrative law.
	Dee Pridgen Dee Pridgen is Associate Dean and Professor of Law, at the University of Wyoming’s College of Law. Her subjects include Consumer Protection, Contracts, Antitrust, Communications Law, Constitutional Law, and Internet Law. She received her Juris Doctorate in 1974, from New York University, and a B.A. in 1971, from Cornell University. Pridgen's publications include two treatises aimed at practicing attorneys, Consumer Protection and the Law, and Consumer Credit and the Law, both published by Thomson/West, and updated yearly. She is also a coauthor of a law school casebook entitled Consumer Law: Cases and Materials (Thomson/West 3d ed. forthcoming 2007). She has written articles and reports on consumer law, and has given presentations at international consumer law meetings in Helsinki, Finland and Auckland, New Zealand. She has also presented at and been the co-chair of the Consumer Issues Conference held yearly at the University of Wyoming since 2001.
	Tim Summers Tim Summers is the Associate State Director for Advocacy in the AARP Wyoming State Office. He has been with AARP for ten years, six of those years in Wyoming, working on key state and federal issues that impact AARP Wyoming members. Before coming to AARP, he worked with Project 2000, a Utah-based consensus building organization, working on health care policy and federal land-use issues. Tim is a graduate of Utah State University and holds a joint masters degree in Public Administration and Health Services Administration (MPA/HSA) from the University of Utah.
	Elaine Welle Elaine Welle is a Professor of Law at the University of Wyoming College of Law. She teaches commercial law courses, including Contracts, Payment Systems, Bankruptcy and Secured Transactions. Professor Welle’s scholarship and current works for publication focus on commercial law and securities law topics. A dedicated classroom teacher, Professor Welle is the recipient of the University of Wyoming’s John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Teaching Award and was honored four times as Outstanding Faculty Member by the UW College of Law. Professor Welle graduated with honors from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1986. In 1981, she earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Colorado. Professor Welle received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, with distinction, from the University of Colorado in 1977.
	Jan Michael Zavislan   Jan Michael Zavislan is the Deputy Attorney General for Consumer Protection at the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. In that capacity he oversees attorneys and staff working in the areas of consumer fraud, antitrust, public utilities, consumer credit, and collection agency practices. He has been with the Attorney General’s Office since 1988, and has worked on numerous antitrust and consumer fraud matters during the past 18 years. He led a team of attorneys in prosecuting mutual fund investment advisers under Colorado’s consumer protection statutes and is currently heading up the Attorney General’s initiatives on mortgage and foreclosure fraud. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Northern Colorado in 1978 and with a J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law in 1981. He spent two years following law school clerking for Chief United States District Court Judge Sherman G. Finesilver.