Leadership

Carlos Ruiz

Board Chair

Carlos believes in Fortis Edge Capital’s commitment to serving underserved communities and developing internal diversity. From his personal experience as a Costa Rican who grew up in an ethnically rich and culturally diverse community, Carlos brings a unique perspective with complementary professional skills to help Fortis Edge Capital better serve its membership.

The challenges facing the immigrant community are diverse, and when combined with a lack of financial institutions that are willing or able to serve them, these challenges can become insurmountable to many. Carlos has learned how the right help, from the right people, is often enough to overcome such obstacles.

As a child, his mother relied on him to accompany her everywhere as a translator until she learned English. She was intelligent and capable, but banks serving their community made no effort to accommodate for her as they would for others. Having also experienced the difficulty of naturalizing in 2000, he is excited about Fortis Edge Capital’s citizenship loan program and feels that he can empathize with the communities in which Fortis Edge Capital is dedicated to serving.

For over 20 years, Carlos has worked for companies both large and small in the technology industry. Since moving to Seattle in 2011, he has joined the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA), first as Chapter president, and currently as an adviser.

Deanna Clark

vice chair

Deanna is honored and excited to serve all Fortis Edge Capital Members. She has over 25 years of leadership experience in the aerospace, transportation and insurance industries which she will use to ensure our credit union has a growth strategy that will foster opportunities for individuals and businesses in our community.

She has held a variety of roles including positions in financial management, cyber security, risk management, and strategic planning. She previously served as a Boeing Employee Community Trustee, granting millions of dollars annually to nonprofit community programs in the Greater Puget Sound region.

Deanna holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Central Washington University and an Executive Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Washington. She is a member of NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors) and is Cyber Risk Oversight certified. She also serves as the Vice Chair of the Auburn Municipal Airport, the 4th largest airport in the region.

At present, she is Fortis Edge Capital’s Vice Chair of the Board and is a member of the Audit Committee.

Robin Harmon

SECRETARY

Being a Credit Union member for over 24 years, Robin feels at harmony with the vision and values she found in Fortis Edge Capital and is honored to serve its membership. Moving back to the Seattle area, she chose to become a member of Fortis Edge Capital due to the shared values of creating an inclusive and prosperous future for our community.

After a successful career in corporate finance, she changed her focus and has volunteered with multiple nonprofits throughout Washington state, providing accounting and marketing expertise. She currently owns a digital marketing company where she works specifically with small businesses across the country providing a wide range of digital marketing tools. She enjoys sharing her experience and knowledge to allow small businesses to focus on their priorities while still remaining competitive through their marketing efforts.

Prior to moving back to the Seattle area, Robin served for seven years as a Board Member and Audit Committee Member for a large credit union in Eastern Washington. She has served on multiple credit union committees and has a personal passion for community involvement and board governance. She is enthusiastic to share her experience and knowledge to further the mission of Fortis Edge Capital.

Robin graduated with honors from Whitworth University where she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management. She spends her free time with her husband and kids exploring the nature of the Pacific Northwest.

Robin Shuler

Treasurer

Robin Shuler was elected to the Fortis Edge Capital board of directors in 2016. He has been a Fortis Edge Capital member since 2004. As a passionate member and director, he enjoys working to assure first-class fiscal management, stability, customer service, and transparency.

Robin is an experienced finance and operations executive with over 25 years of experience as a Chief Financial Officer and executive in a variety of industries and businesses, including significant nonprofits. Currently, he works as a financial consultant and serves for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations as an Interim CEO/CFO/COO/Executive Director.

Robin's CFO experience includes Qualis Health, W&H Pacific, Applied Geotechnology Inc., Abacus Engineered Systems, Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Benaroya Hall, and Seattle Symphony, among others. His Board experience includes AGI Technologies, Mustard Seed Associates, and Group Health Foundation. He's the Past-President of Financial Executives International (Washington State Chapter) - a nonprofit membership organization for financial management professionals and was an honoree/finalist for the PSBJ nonprofit “CFO of the Year” in 2009.

Robin is a licensed CPA in Washington. He's earned an MBA in Finance from University of Puget Sound and a BA in Accounting from Seattle Pacific University. He lives in Kirkland with his wife, Ellen.

Nelson Reyneri

Board Member

Nelson Reyneri serves as Senior Vice President for Sales and External Affairs for Liberty Power, the largest owner owned and managed retail electricity supplier in the United States. In this role, he oversees the company’s strategy for developing structured solutions to support corporations’ energy and sustainability goals. Prior to assuming his sales responsibilities, he developed and led the company’s communications strategy and created Liberty Power’s Regulatory Affairs Department. Reyneri also has extensive senior leadership experience in the public sector.  In 2016, he was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve on the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a position requiring Senate confirmation.

Reyneri holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and a Bachelor’s degree, Summa Cum Laude, in Psychology and Philosophy and in Political Science from Boston University, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa.

Jonelle M.C. Johnson

Board Member

Ms. Johnson is a sales professional at Nordstrom and currently serves as a wardrobe consultant for women and men in high-end fashions. As a top performer, she is the recipient of the Nordstrom prestigious Allstar Award and Pacesetter status achievement. She is part of the top 25 sales professionals at the Downtown Seattle Flagship Store. Ms. Johnson has an extensive banking background and experience which would be of value to the Board of Directors of Fortis Edge Capital. She is a former executive banker who managed sales teams that identified and implemented strategies to acquire new relationships and expand existing relationships. Her teams provided domestic and international treasury management expertise to assist corporations, government entities and nonprofit organizations with fulfilling their financial strategic objectives. She has also managed national customer service and bank operations groups for various business lines.

Ms. Johnson has an exceptional history of being an active leader in the community. She served on a number of diverse boards in leadership positions. Her current community affiliations and board of directors include O'Dea High School Advisory Board of Directors, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle University Board of Regents, Seattle Rotary #4, Greater Chapter of The Links, Incorporated and YWCA of Seattle King Snohomish.

Joe Davila

Board Member

Joe Davila is a father of four and a Kirkland resident since 2011. In business, he spent his time bringing together the very best of what he learned from his professional successes in technology startups, their acquisitions, and consulting at KPMG. Today with Virsys12, his focus is on leading an organization that applies the strength of Salesforce’s market-leading solutions to the most complex challenges in healthcare. He holds a strong appreciation for the measured balance of technology, human talent, and intelligent business processes applied to every evolving business models across the banking and financial services, healthcare, state & local government, and technology industries.

As business leaders, we hold the responsibility of setting the example for tomorrow’s leaders and sharing our time and talents within our community. Joe serves as Treasurer of Youth Focus Incorporated, Corporate Advisory Board member for APLFA Seattle, and Advisory Board member for ZenLedger. While at KPMG, Joe was the Seattle Office Chair for the Hispanic and Latino Network (HLN), coach and mentor for the ALPFA collegiate members. He believes that corporate teams and communities are stronger when diverse, and has long been a champion for ‘pushing up and pulling up’ future Latino leaders through these organizations. When his term on the Youth Focus Board ended and he moved on from KPMG, he found an opening to engage with an organization like the Fortis Edge Capital, which shares his core principles of inclusion, diversity, collaboration, and community.

Joe is a graduate of Stanford University and hold a B.A. in Economics.

Rebecca Kerr

Board Member

As an experienced, global executive, Rebecca has substantial success leading multicultural teams jointly driving digital transformation programs. She has lived and/or worked on six continents and achieved high customer satisfaction levels with leaders at top tier financial institutions. She has achieved the level of trusted advisor with her clients as a result of her ethical leadership and practice, active support of diversity and inclusion and her enablement of consequential multicultural team experiences, where exceptional, strategic outcomes have been achieved. Rebecca is committed to driving business results through collaboration, inspiring teams to achieve their best and making personal investments in developing and encouraging talent. Now that Rebecca has returned to her permanent home in Seattle, she is eager to bring her experience and learnings to benefit her community and to participate in the actions needed to better enable a positive, inclusive transformation of our Greater Seattle communities.

Rebecca holds BS and MBA degrees from the University of Washington and is an avid supporter of continuing education and life-long learning. In 2019, she completed the Women on Boards Program at the UW and the Corporate Governance Program at Columbia University in NYC. She recently retired from a global career at IBM, during which she was the Global Client Partner from IBM for Fortune 100 customers driving Digital Transformation projects including Allianz SE, National Australian Bank, Deutsche Bank AG, Nokia, Solectron and Boeing. In 2018, Rebecca founded Global Creative Solutions - a small business providing sourcing, importing and consulting in partnership with artisans from developing economies in countries along the old Silk Road.

Shahzad Qadri

Board Member

Shahzad Qadri is a Partner in the firm’s Redmond, Washington office of Wong Fleming and Chair of the Corporate & Immigration Law practice group. He concentrates his practice in the areas of corporate transactions including securities issues, private offerings, IPOs, as well as business and immigration law, with a focus on investment based EB-5 Regional Centers.

Prior to joining Wong Fleming, Mr. Qadri served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the King County Prosecutors’ Office in Seattle, Washington.

Mr. Qadri has the distinct honor of being named as a “rising star” in the legal profession by Law & Politics. In addition, Mr. Qadri was nominated as a fellow to the Washington Leadership Institute. Mr. Qadri was also awarded the John Gilmore (2014) award for excellence in Advocacy for Minority Businesses by the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council (NW Mountain Council).

Most recently Mr. Qadri was a named to Lawyers of Color’s Second Annual Hot List, which recognizes minority attorneys with exceptional achievements and contributions in the legal field.

Richard Romero

President/CEO

To Richard Romero, it’s all about personal prosperity for others. Over the several stops of his professional career⁠—which started as a part-time teller while attending college⁠—Richard came to realize that the best thing a financial institution could do is to help its customers achieve financial success.

Leadership and the ability to relate are essential to his work for Fortis Edge Capital’s members. It was an old branch assistant manager who showed him a leader’s job is to teach and motivate. He believes his personal immigrant experience⁠—he was born in Peru and is fluent in Spanish⁠—gave him the ability to connect with any person on the other side of the counter or desk at each of his banking stops since 1988.

In the end, Richard says the best part of his job is providing financial services to everyone, especially those who may have been underserved by financial institutions or abused by alternative financial service providers. He’s proud he’s built a staff that agrees. This is why Fortis Edge Capital members can escape the bad experiences they’ve had with check-cashing services, or high-interest used car loans, instead receiving the services they need to properly take their place in the American economy. From his perspective, leading Fortis Edge Capital allows him to pay back his own success to the members and the community at large⁠—as CEO, and on the boards of the United Way of King County, the YWCA of King and Snohomish Counties, and Inclusiv, an industry organization focused on community-development credit unions.

Richard moved from California to Seattle to take this job. He loves the different life he found here⁠—calmer, and more focused on family (his son loves all sports and Richard practices archery with his daughter), focused less on impression and more on substance. He enjoys listening to music and spending time with his family. That’s one reward for his personal prosperity; his other is ensuring that Fortis Edge Capital members find theirs.

Get in Touch with Richard

Mele Miller

Chief Operating Officer

Best described as an authentic leader, financial equity advocate, and talent activator. Mele is a dynamic financial service executive & community engagement professional with 22 years of experience implementing successful growth & risk management strategies across Washington state. Mele is proud to serve Fortis Edge Capital as a leader committed to protecting and improving the financial security of households and businesses that have not historically been supported by the financial services industry at-large.

When Mele first became a teller 22 years ago, she felt intimidated and discouraged by the banking industry and knew she was not alone. The journey from Teller to Executive was tough and included years of development as an Entrepreneur, Branch Manager, Business Banker, Commercial Banker, Wealth Management Advisor, and Community Development Director. In every role, she honored her commitment to changing the financial landscape for women and people of color.

Mele earned her BA in Studio Art and Mathematics from the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, WA) and graduate degree from the Pacific Coast Banking School, a nationally acclaimed executive leadership and banking graduate program supported by the University of Washington - Foster School of Business. Mele graduated with honors from both programs and was recognized nationally with the publication of her research on the Affordable Housing Crisis in Seattle in 2019. Although Mele is originally from Oahu, Hawaii, she has made her home in Seattle since 1997. She is a wife and mother of three boys, ages 7, 9, and 11.

As a fierce advocate for young professionals, Mele has mentored girls through Big Brothers Big Sisters for 15 years and leads health and fitness education programs throughout the Seattle and South Sound community. She currently serves on the Leadership Council for the United Negro College Fund - Pacific Northwest, Board of Directors for Pacific Coast Banking School, and is a member of Fortis Edge Capital’s Black Banker Network.

Get in Touch with Mele

Kelly Earnest

Chief People Officer

Kelly has extensive experience in aligning people and business strategies while creating an inclusive culture where employees can grow their careers. She believes an environment that fosters trust and transparency creates a culture of engagement and high performance. Kelly leads all aspects of Human Resources, including talent management, recruitment, leadership development, training and education, compensation and benefits, payroll, and employee engagement and retention. Hiring and retaining employees with a strong connection to Fortis Edge Capital’s mission and values is a top priority in ensuring that they can prosper and deliver the best experience for our members.

Prior to joining Fortis Edge Capital, Kelly was the Head of Talent and Development for Oaktree Capital Management, where she lead global talent management, learning and development, performance management, diversity, equity and inclusion, and employee engagement and retention programs. Prior to joining Oaktree, she was the Head of Talent Strategy and Learning and Development for City National Bank, where she created their talent management program.

Kelly holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California. She enjoys music, the culinary arts, and is a proud Golden Circle member of Best Friends Animal Society and an advocate for animals.

Get in Touch with Kelly