Joseph (Joe) Giunta is a Founding Partner at New Bridge Consulting Group (NBCG). He is an operations, technology, risk management, cybersecurity and business transformation expert across industries, with a strong record leading business, operational and tech teams. He has developed result driven teams, new products and services that have contributed to the bottom line of the world’s largest and most recognized global financial institutions.

Prior to NBCG, Joe was Senior Vice President and the Deputy Head of the Operations and Technology Division at Fannie Mae. In this capacity he led operations, technology production support, and risk & controls. Some of Joe’s leadership highlights included the creation of the cyber security program; and establishment of program management, enterprise data, and risk and control organizations. He hired the first Chief Information Security Officer and first Chief Data Officer at Fannie Mae. These changes resulted in significant risk reduction and stronger cyber preparedness. He and his team provided operations and technology support for a $3 trillion-dollar balance sheet comprised of 18 million mortgage loans.

Before joining Fannie Mae, Joe was Managing Director at Merrill Lynch, where he led the firm’s transformation initiatives, global risk/control for the operations team, and offshoring functions. He also successfully led the operations integration program during the Bank of America acquisition of Merrill Lynch in 2009.

Prior to Merrill Lynch, Joe served as Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure Solutions at Citigroup’s Corporate and Investment Bank, where he was responsible for managing strategic investments across operations, technology, finance, and risk.  In this role, Joe focused on identifying opportunities for risk reduction, efficiency gains, and leveraging technology to solve complex problems while reducing the fixed costs.

Earlier in Joe’s career at Citigroup, he was Managing Director in the Corporate Treasury Department where he was responsible for Global Cash Management, Bank Relations; as well as Debt Issuance and Hedging. He began his career at Salomon Brothers in Mortgage Operations and moved into the Fixed Income Division where he had global oversight of Operations, Technology, and Product Development supporting Salomon’s financing businesses.

Joe has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Fordham University. He serves on the Board of Trustees for Odyssey House. This social services agency offers programs assisting families dealing with substance use disorders, mental illness, homelessness, and other medical problems. He has also been the founder and executive sponsor of multiple employee development, diversity, and pipeline programs throughout his career. He has been profiled in Diversity Journal Magazine.

Vafa Vahid is a Founding Partner at New Bridge Consulting Group (NBCG). He is a proven business executive with experience within major financial institutions including Citigroup, Fannie Mae and BNY Mellon. His areas of expertise include: finance, operations and technology, metrics-driven business intelligence, strategic expense management, business resiliency and continuity, and risk and regulatory requirements.

Prior to NBCG, Vafa was a Managing Director at BNY Mellon, responsible for a firm-wide resolution and recovery project to create a clearly defined service company structure that enabled streamlined, resilient and efficient management both in business-as-usual and resolution environments. Before that role, he led Cost Management and Analytics for the Client Service Delivery organization at BNY Mellon.

Additionally, over the course of his career, he has held various senior roles at leading organizations such as Infrastructure Chief Financial Officer at Fannie Mae, Director of Operations Strategy and Transformation at Citigroup Institutional Clients Group, Global CFO of Capital Markets Operations at Citigroup and Global CFO of Operations & Technology at Private Bank, Citigroup.

Vafa holds an MBA from Fordham University with concentration in International Finance. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Hobart & William Smith Colleges. He serves as a Board member at the Tiegerman School & Community Services in Glen Cove, Long Island. The organization’s goal is to substantively transform the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities from preschool throughout adulthood by providing an enduring opportunity for exceptional instruction, education and support to ensure that they achieve their potential in life.

Edward (Ed) Watson is a Founding Partner at New Bridge Consulting Group (NBCG). Ed is a seasoned finance executive with over 30 years of experience in finance, operations, and technology leadership in global financial services. He has held senior level executive roles at Citigroup, BNY Mellon, FIS/Capco, and Fannie Mae. Ed is also a Limited Partner and Advisor at Nyca Partners, a FinTech focused venture capital firm.

Ed was a senior executive at Citigroup for many years where he held senior positions including CFO of publicly reported segments. He was also Head of Citigroup’s Capital Markets & Private Client Operations as well as General Services. Upon Fannie Mae entering conservatorship, Watson was appointed as Executive Vice President and Head of Operations & Technology and General Services. He was a member of the Fannie Mae Executive Committee. At Fannie, Ed put in place a multi-year plan focused on reduced risk and increased efficiency.

Ed also proudly serves on the board of directors at Odyssey House, a non-profit organization, and is an adjunct professor of finance and accounting at New York University.

Jazzmin Eva Lamas is a Director at New Bridge Consulting Group (NBCG). Jazzmin is a finance, business strategy and data professional with over ten years of experience in capital markets, investment management and business analytics. She is a successful leader with operations experience in roles across a variety of industries, from VC backed startups to hedge funds and financial institutions. 

Jazzmin has held a number of strategy, risk, research, and financial services focused roles throughout her career with an emphasis on operations, M&A, growth strategies and financial and risk modeling. Her roles have ranged from founder, to research analyst, to head of business intelligence at firms such as Schecter Capital, HSBC, Diamondback Capital and more recently at AskWonder.com.

Jazzmin holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, where she co-authored a case on real estate development in low-income areas, Making Lemonade in Chicago’s Troubled Neighborhoods.  She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development from Cornell University. She has also held various technical certifications including Series 7, 63, 52, 55 and FSA.

Ray Vazquez is a Senior Advisor at New Bridge Consulting Group.  He is an accomplished and entrepreneurial cybersecurity, business continuity, disaster recovery, governance and risk executive. He has extensive experience in leading strategy, implementation, remediation and regulatory compliance initiatives. Ray has had a balance of consulting and corporate roles that provides practical implementation of solutions to solve risk management challenges. 

Ray was a founding member of PricewaterhouseCoopers cybersecurity and hacking practice.  He distinguished himself by leading the firm’s efforts in the development of hacking guides for financial reporting systems.  Ray became an expert in bringing the relevancy of cybersecurity to the role of chief financial officer and the financial reporting organization. 

Subsequent to his role at PwC, Ray held corporate executive roles at TimeWarner/AOL and Fannie Mae.  Ray had responsibility for organizing and leading AOL’s business continuity program which included program design, operation and testing.  At Fannie Mae, Ray held several executive roles in cybersecurity, operational risk and compliance. Ray led the firm’s disaster recovery function, which included the execution of the firm’s disaster recovery testing in coordination with its regulator.  With over 600 enterprise applications, the disaster recovery program was a complex and far reaching initiative to support both the company as well as the mortgage industry.

Ray is currently the founder and president of Vertex11, a risk management consultancy leading the implementation of risk management strategy to help companies achieve their strategic objectives.  Ray has been leading the assessment and implementation of security and continuity standards for several industry facing organizations. His work includes the development of policies, procedures and processes for business continuity and disaster recovery incorporating industry best practices and regulatory requirements.  

Eddie Cairnie is a Senior Advisor at New Bridge Consulting Group (NBCG). A recognized expert in expense management for over 30 years, Eddie has a strong track record in data management and expense reduction programs focused on developing advanced analytical reporting systems and operations business plans. His successful programs have focused on providing cost-savings and unique insights into data issues within large companies. 

Eddie has successfully implemented large-scale efficiency initiatives across various industries at global organizations. His strong track record focuses on innovative solutions and providing analytics and data transparency. He has successfully managed and implemented strategic and  large-scale projects for multiple global organizations including Mobil Oil, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Salomon Brothers, Lehman Brothers and Citigroup. With a specialty in expense reductions, Eddie has designed methodologies in expense management aimed at linking teams, maximizing efficiencies and re-negotiating vendor contracts.

Eddie is a graduate of Glasgow Caledonia University. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

William (Bill) McCoy is a Senior Adviser at New Bridge Consulting Group (NBCG). Bill has over 30 years of experience in various executive-level positions across equity and debt capital markets at tier-one brokerage and bank-owned brokerage firms with extensive background in managing, building and restructuring business units.

Prior to NBCG he was a Senior Managing Director at Four Wood Capital Partners, where he was responsible for Corporate Client relationships and the Chief Compliance Officer.

Bill was a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management / Bank of America where he built out the Capital Markets business in the Bank of America Investment Services division within Global Wealth Management. For many years he was a senior executive at Citigroup and headed the Equity New Issue Desk within Capital Markets and managed corporate client relationships and directed share programs at Citigroup/Smith Barney. In addition, he spent three years in the financial advisory business while at Smith Barney. Bill started his career at Lehman Brothers in 1979.

Gianna Chan is a Junior Associate at New Bridge Consulting Group (NBCG).

She is currently a sophomore at Northwestern University studying Computer Science and Cognitive Science with concentrations in Artificial Intelligence and Interfaces. She is the Marketing Director of Northwestern’s BuildHer Hackathon — Chicago’s first student-run, all women’s hackathon. She helps organize and plan the annual affair, as well as manage BuildHer’s social media presence, journalism and correspondences. She also acts as Photo Director of Spoon University’s Northwestern chapter, a nationwide food publication for college students by college students. In her free time, Gianna also works as a freelance photographer and videographer for personal and professional portraits, events and performances.