Fred Casissa is the SVP/Compliance & Anti-money laundering officer for United American Bank. He has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has served on a number of nonprofit boards that support community activity. Mr. Casissa has been involved in EFPN as a founding partner since its inception in 2000 and has served on the board for 8 years.
Photo Credit: Mona T. Brooks

Gary Dunn has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He serves on the boards of the Orange County Neighborhood Housing Services, Affordable Housing Clearinghouse, SoCal Reinvestment CDFI, Bankers Small Business CDC of San Diego, and Mary Erickson Community Housing. A founding partner of EFPN, Mr. Dunn has been instrumental in supporting the development of EFPN’s award-winning professional training and community outreach programs. He has ensured that his institution has been a core sponsor for EFPN’s five highly acclaimed Call to Action conference events in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Phil Holmes’s career at Bank of America spanned more than 25 years in paper and electronic banking payments processes. His responsibilities at the bank included electronic cash management sales support for California middle markets, and Chicago and Houston corporate cash management clients. That assignment also assumed product development responsibilities for ACH-based electronic cash management products and services. Prior, Mr. Holmes served as systems manager for the Bank’s 62,000 employee payroll/personnel computer systems professional staff. Earlier, the bank developed the first MICR computer-based check processing system at the San Jose ERMA center, where he was the operations manager responsible for supporting more than 60 BofA branches’ item processing needs in the early 1960s. 
After a second career at WesPay, Mr. Holmes retired in 2005, completing more than 18 years with the Association. During his WesPay tenure, he served as senior vice president and manager for Member Services & Education. In that capacity, he was responsible for the day-to-day management and oversight of WesPay’s operational areas, including development of its educational product offerings and related curricula, as well as services for delivery to members via the customer service help desk, other communications media, and WesPay’s member calling program. He represented WesPay’s member interests at the national level as a participant in the ACH Regional Payments Association’s Leadership Forum Group.

Determined to do something to help prevent older women from becoming victims of financial exploitation, Helen Karr attended law school instead of retiring (from the business world), and was sworn in to practice California law on her 64th birthday. Now she is a senior citizen advocate at the local, state, and national level. Ms. Karr served six years as a California Senior Assembly member and chaired its Joint Rules Committee. She is a member of the San Mateo County Long-Term Care Ombudsman Board. She is a past member of the State Bar of California’s Senior Lawyer’s Committee, and was appointed by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) as her delegate to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging. She received a 2005 National Spirit of Service Award from the Corporation of National and Community Service. Former State Assembly Member Gene Mullin named Ms. Karr as the Woman of the Year 2007 for the 19th Assembly District.
Ms. Karr retired from the San Francisco district attorney’s Elder Abuse Unit in June 2009. As a legal consultant, she researched the law and contributed to the development of the California State Bar’s publication Seniors and the Law, of which more than two million copies have been distributed in California. In 2003, the State Bar of California awarded Ms. Karr for "outstanding service." EFPN honored her with its 2007 Sentinel Award, a lifetime achievement award for an individual who has successfully advocated for positive change in public policy or in the judiciary concerning the protection of elders from financial abuse and exploitation. Her alma mater, San Francisco Law School, honored her as the alumni of the year in 2007.

Aaron Sisk is a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor-Wealth Management in Merrill Lynch’s San Francisco office. Prior to joining Merrill in 2010, Aaron was a financial planning specialist for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. He worked with high net worth individuals as their financial advocate seeking to simplify their financial situations pre/post retirement. From 2002 to 2006, Aaron was a fixed-income specialist at M.L. Stern & Company where he provided specialized tax-free bond investment advice to individuals seeking capital preservation and income objectives. He worked on the Options’ Floor of the Pacific Stock Exchange from 1995-2002. Aaron earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural and Managerial Economics in 1995 from UC Davis. Aaron is an active member of the Arlington Community Church where he has mentored the Youth Group. He volunteers at the Richmond Soup Center and is often the liturgist for Sunday sermons. Aaron is a member of the UC Davis Grid Club participating in a variety of events to support the Aggie football program.
In addition, Aaron participates in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and supports the efforts of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Green Peace. Aaron resides in San Francisco and enjoys hiking, mountain biking, snowboarding and golf. He is an aspiring oenophile with a thirst for educating his palate.

Sharon Tallon has had 8 years experience working in the financial industry with Patelco Credit Union. Her position within the Member Education and Business Development departments at Patelco has led her to various challenges and rewarding opportunities with education and community involvement.
Sharon began her career at Patelco coordinating hundreds of educational seminars to help serve their members. Her position soon evolved and grew to encompass an educational program that not only serves their membership but their 200+ Select Employer Groups throughout the Bay Area as well as various non-profit community based programs, educating pre-schoolers to adults on the importance of becoming financially literate.
Her involvement with such organizations such as Elder Financial Protection Network, the Foster Care Independent Living Skills Program, the SF Unified School District Advisory Board, City College Career and Technical Education Dept., Operation Hope and more continues with a momentum that reflects the growing needs within local communities.
A graduate of San Diego State University with a BA in Art, a graduate from the San Francisco Culinary Academy in 1981 with 14 years in the catering business, along with 9 years working in the wine industry, she brings a varied and unusual element to her financial outreach and the communities she serves. A mother of two daughters, her passions lie with family, cooking and community outreach.

Steve Vallejo is a Vice President and Corporate Security Investigations Manager for Bank of the West. In this position Steve manages all investigations to include: external and internal fraud; elder abuse investigations; and identity theft investigations. Prior to Bank of the West, he worked in investigative, supervisory, and managerial level positions in federal law enforcement. This included positions as an FBI Supervisory Special Agent and Program Manager, responsible for the implementation of the FBI’s Intelligence Program post 9-11. In this capacity, he managed teams of agents and analysts responsible for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information based on national and local intelligence requirements. In addition to this managerial experience, Steve has investigated and directed complex domestic and international investigations involving sophisticated criminal activities and security matters. Steve is very excited to serve as a new board member and will use his experience and abilities to promote the important mission of the EFPN.

Clare Smith is currently serving Elder Financial Protection Network as Interim Executive Director on a part-time basis. Clare was the President & CEO of California Health Advocates, a non-profit organization focusing on statewide Medicare beneficiary advocacy and education. Clare has several years of experience working with diverse non-profit community and social services organizations, government agencies and others e.g., consumer advocates, general public, media representatives and legislative staff. Clare has organized and directed several coalition-building and community-based educational campaigns resulting in successful media coverage and public awareness outcomes. Working as an independent consultant, Clare’s clients include the California Senior Legislature and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Current volunteer pursuits include the Older Women’s League of California, and the Sacramento County Adult and Aging Commission.

Nationally known elder justice advocate, Jenefer Duane, founded Elder Financial Protection Network (EFPN) in the year 2000 with a group of visionary bankers in Northern California. She resigned as CEO and Board Member in December 2011 to join the Office of Financial Protection for Older Americans, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

Photo Credit: Mona T. Brooks