Our Team

Maria Suggett

Maria Suggett (President and Founder) has 25 years experience in teaching financial literacy and workplace readiness education. Beginning her career as a high school/adult school business educator, she moved into the career academy arena, and worked at the National Academy Foundation as Western Region Director, followed by a 9 year stint as Vice President for the SIFMA Financial Education Foundation, a New York-based non-profit that delivers The Stock Market Game, an online financial literacy program for grades 4–12.

Marc Abelard

Marc Abelard has spent the last fourteen years working with top leaders in K-12, post secondary, private and public sectors. He successfully established strategic partnerships with local, state, federal, and international officials, in development of a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) pipeline. Mr. Abelard spearheaded key Career and Technical Education initiatives with the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology and later with the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Marc is a member the Massachusetts Governor’s STEM Council and serves on the advisory board of the ACE Mentoring Program. Currently, Mr. Abelard is the Director of the National Academy Foundation, Academy of Finance program in Boston. Mr. Abelard received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and his M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Northeastern University. Mr. Abelard is a proud decorated veteran of the United States Marine Corps.

Michele Berson

Michele Berson is the Founder and Owner of a Registered Investment Advisory Firm, Berson Money Management, with over thirty years of experience in the field of finance. Financial education and financial wellness have always been the foundation to the work she does. She has started several businesses; in addition, she has worked in the field of finance with some of the top firms in the industry. Michele has taught and led many financial wellness education workshops to groups and individuals. In the mid 2000s, she worked as an educator in the Conejo Valley Unified School District teaching SIMFA Financial Education Foundation’s Stock Market Game to students. Michele has a degree in Economics from UCLA. She received her series 6, 65, and 7 designations, and in 1991 she became a Certified Financial Planner (CFP). In 2000, she became a Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coaching Federation.

James “Jim” Greco

Jim Greco has 40 years of educational experience as an elementary and secondary classroom teacher, college instructor, school and district administrator, California Department of Education (CDE) educational programs consultant and administrator, and educational consultant. He was a National Science Foundation fellow for mathematics and science integration, instructor and co-coordinator for a Master’s program in educational technology, and curriculum and professional development provider for Gifted and Talented Education, mathematics, and technology.

Kathy Floyd

Kathleen Floyd is currently Senior Vice President: Education and Wellness for the Church Pension Group where she is responsible for all financial, health and wellness education. Previous to this position, she worked for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as a Sr. Advisor for Financial Education. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Director for Investor Education at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). After joining the SEC in 2009, she started the SEC Graduate Program, a professional development program for teachers, among other initiatives. Prior to working at the SEC, Ms. Floyd worked for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Foundation where she served as the Executive Director of the Stock Market Game. Previously, she was Director of Baltimore Academies for Baltimore City Public Schools.

James Lewis

The Honorable James B. Lewis was the 29th Treasurer of the state of New Mexico. He was elected to his second term on November 7, 2006, and assumed the position of State Treasurer on December 15, 2006. He was re-elected in November 2010, serving a four-year term ending December 31, 2014. Mr. Lewis also served as the 24th Treasurer of the state of New Mexico; in December 1985 he was appointed as Treasurer by then Governor Toney Anaya. He was subsequently elected to a full four-year term in 1986, and served as Treasurer in 1987-1990. Mr. Lewis is the first and only African American appointed and then elected three times to a statewide office in New Mexico. In 1986, Mr. Lewis is the first and only African American appointed and then elected three times to a statewide office in New Mexico. In 1986, Mr. Lewis was the first African American to be elected to a statewide office, and he was one of five African Americans elected as statewide officials in the nation. Mr. Lewis is the first African American to serve as Chief of Staff to a Governor in the state of New Mexico, and one of two African Americans in the United States to serve as Chief of Staff to a Governor, in 1990. Additionally, he was the first African American to be elected County Treasurer for Bernalillo County—New Mexico’s largest populated county, which currently has a population over 650,000 citizens.

Wayne Marks

Wayne Marks has worked in finance and financial education for more than 23 years. At the National Academy Foundation’s Academy of Finance he rose to Director of the program, and oversaw the creation and implementation of a comprehensive financial curriculum program, while managing programmatic needs for these school-to-work programs across the country. As Director of Administration for the SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game he helped oversee and edit a major re-launch of financial education curriculum. Other relevant experience includes content creation positions at ValuEngine.com, Prudential Securities, and KPMG.

Dr. Nicky Kay Michael

Dr. Nicky Kay Michael (Culture and Language Specialist) holds her PhD in history from the University of Oklahoma, 2010, her MA from Oklahoma State University, 1999, and her BA from Stanford, 1994. She worked in community service with the Stanford American Indian Organization. She also worked with the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma from youth guidance to Vocational Rehabilitation and Self-Governance. She worked for her Tribe, the Delaware Tribe of Indians as the Grants and Compliance Officer. In 1997, Dr. Michael worked with the Udall Foundation with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s office, and in 1999 with Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO). She contributed to the development of the Lenape Talking Dictionary, an on-line resource for the Lenape language funded by the National Science Foundation. Dr. Michael works with tribal nations, education institutions and businesses regarding Native American cultures, languages and governance. She is the Vice-Chair of the Delaware Tribe of Indians Trust Board and consults with the Delaware Nation language program.

Allison Schwabish

Allison Schwabish (Associate) started her career in corporate marketing for a skincare cosmetic company. She has 25 years of business education and teaching financial literacy. Since 1994, she has been the Director of the Academy of Finance Program, which focuses on work based learning and career readiness. Her program has achieved Distinguished Status by the National Academy Foundation; one of twenty-two schools out of 585 programs across the country. Ms. Schwabish spent a year consulting the Stock Market Game and helped to align the national standards with each of the 50 states in the area of English Language Arts and Economics education. She has provided many professional development activities and created an Employer Handbook for businesses to address internships.

Dr. Anton Treuer

Anton Treuer (pronounced troy-er) is Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University and author of 14 books. His equity, education, and cultural work has put him on a path of service around the region, the nation, and the world.

Presentation Expertise - Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask, Cultural Competence & Equity, Strategies for Addressing the "Achievement" Gap, Tribal Sovereignty & History, Ojibwe Language & Culture

Background - B.A. Princeton University, M.A. & Ph.D. University of Minnesota, 40+ prestigious awards & fellowships, including: American Philosophical Society, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, Bush Foundation, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation