As we head further away from the pandemic lockdowns and the disruption it caused to our professional and personal lives, our chapter thought it would be appropriate to address and highlight the current makeup of our board and our focus for the future. Our board’s mission is to strengthen the Central Florida financial crimes community by providing educational opportunities on hot industry topics, networking opportunities for members of our community to connect and collaborate, and support for members of our community who are in the process of preparing for their Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) examinations. In order to best work toward that mission, the chapter recently added several new board members, realigned board positions and elected new co-chairs. We are all excited to continue building relationships with our members and provide value through service to this community.
The Current Central Florida Board:
Co-Chair:
Zachary Wolfram, Raymond James
Co-Chair:
John Clary, Aston Carter
Secretary:
Erin Mulligan, DTCC
Treasurer:
Amalia Bracho, USAA
Communications Director:
Andrew Malowitz, Citigroup
Co-Communications Director:
Kathalin Carvalho, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Hispanic Advisory Council
Co-Communications Director:
Leslie Ambs, Raymond James
Programming Director:
Melissa Leeds, Citigroup
Membership Director:
Olga Bolet, Citigroup
Co-Membership Director:
Janet D’Iorio, Raymond James
Law Enforcement Advisor:
John Dumas, Homeland Security Investigations
In the spirit of providing educational opportunities for our members, the chapter held a special virtual event on September 16, titled “Sanctions: Forging an Ever-Changing Landscape.” The event was moderated by Howard Spieler, the co-chair of our New York chapter, and the panel included Peter Piatetsky from Castellum.AI, Slim Ben Debba from MUFG and Daniel Tannebaum from Oliver Wyman. The chapter is also planning to hold two other virtual events before the end of the year centering around human trafficking and cryptocurrency. These events will be highly informative and attendees will be able to use the information and ideas discussed in their professions.
To help our Central Florida community become more closely connected and collaborative, our board is excited to hold our first in-person networking event later this year. We are finalizing the dates of this event at our upcoming board meeting and will communicate those details to our chapter quickly afterward to ensure a large turnout. We cannot wait to meet and network with our chapter in person!
Lastly, we are going to be kicking off a month-long study hall to help our chapter members prepare for their upcoming CAMS examinations. Melissa Leeds from Citigroup is leading this initiative.
In closing, we are excited about our plans through the end of this calendar year and believe the current board is set up well to continue providing value to this growing community in Central Florida. Do not hesitate to contact our board members with questions or recommendations!
The Executive Board of Directors, ACAMS Central Florida Chapter, cfchapteracams@gmail.com
