PIC 2024 Guest Speakers
Steve Gilmore
Ascension
AVP, Treasury
[email protected]
Steve Gilmore serves as AVP of Treasury and Deputy Treasurer for Ascension, overseeing the system’s centralized debt financing, equipment leasing, and banking/cash management. With nearly three decades of experience in healthcare finance, Mr. Gilmore manages Ascension’s $7 billion centralized debt program and has led the issuance of over $17 billion in healthcare revenue bonds. Since November 2022, he has developed extensive hands-on experience with AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), collaborating closely with Ascension’s technology team to implement practical AI use cases in Treasury and Finance operations. Mr. Gilmore frequently presents these AI use cases at internal and external forums, showcasing the practical applications of AI in healthcare and municipal finance from an issuer’s standpoint. He joined Ascension’s predecessor organization in 1995 after working in investment banking and played a key role in forming Ascension Health’s original capital structure. Mr. Gilmore holds a BSBA in Finance-Economics from Rockhurst University (1989, with honors) and continues to pursue professional development by providing AI thought leadership to co-workers and peers in the evolving landscape of healthcare financial management.
Sam Goldstein
RBC Capital Markets
Vice President – Higher Education Finance
[email protected]
Sam Goldstein is a Vice President in the Higher Education & Nonprofit Finance Group of the Global Investment Banking Division of the Royal Bank of Canada. Sam has nearly 10 years of investment banking experience, all dedicated to the higher education and nonprofit sector. He holds the FINRA SIE and Series 52, 63, and 79 licenses.
As a member of the Higher Education & Nonprofit Group, Sam has led innovative transactions for a number of higher education institutions, with a focus on public debt capital markets transactions. He also brings experience advising higher education institutions on infrastructure monetization, M&A, and college athletics.
Sam holds a BA in Economics from Tufts University.
Christopher Good
RBC Capital Markets
Co-Head – Higher Education Finance
[email protected]
Christopher is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Higher Education & Nonprofit Finance in the Global Investment Banking division of the Royal Bank of Canada. Christopher has over 15 years of investment banking experience advising academic institutions, institutional investors, government entities and non-profit organizations on a range of strategic and capital markets transactions. Christopher holds the FINRA SIE and Series 7, 50, 42, 53, 63, and 79 licenses.
The Higher Education & Nonprofit Finance practices is known for its innovative approach to financing, including structuring the higher education sector’s inaugural issuance of sustainability bonds and advising institutions on infrastructure monetization, M&A, and public private partnerships.
Dr. Good holds a masters with focus in public finance and a doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania and teaches at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. He is the Trustee of a Private, Non-Profit NCAA Division 1 Doctoral / Research University.
Kirsten Muller
University of Minnesota
Tax Director
[email protected]
Kirsten M. Muller joined the University of Minnesota Tax Management Office in 2011 and now serves as University Tax Director. Kirsten advises and consults University departments and units on various business tax issues, ranging from unrelated business income, employment and fringe benefits, scholarships, private business use and other tax issues with tax-exempt debt.
Prior to coming to the University, Kirsten was at a private university, the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, for twelve years and served as Tax & Compliance Director. She started her career in public accounting for Coopers & Lybrand and then PricewaterhouseCoopers in the tax practice, primarily serving tax-exempt organizations.
Kirsten has a JD from DePaul University College of Law and a BA in mathematics from St. Olaf College. She is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Raigen Padayachee
TD Bank
Managing Director
[email protected]
Raigen joined TD Bank after serving as Treasury, Director-Debt & Investments with Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest healthcare system in the State of Texas. During his tenure at BSWH, he managed the System’s $3 billion debt and $1 billion swap portfolios and $600 million private capital investment portfolio.
Previously, Raigen served as investment banker to leading not-for-profit education, research institutes, and other cultural and social service organizations across the Western U.S. He has also held a variety of corporate banking roles supporting clients ranging from media & telecommunications to financial institutions at NationsBank, HBW Merchant Banking, and Lehman Brothers.
Raigen holds an MBA from UC Berkeley-Haas, BA from Southern Methodist University and has earned the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation.
Chris Pings
The University of Arizona
Assistant Director for Treasury Accounting
[email protected]
Chris Pings is the Assistant Director for Treasury Accounting at The University of Arizona in Tucson. Throughout his 14 years at the university, Chris has experienced all aspects of the bond cycle including preparing for issuance, rating review, booking of completed financings, claiming proceeds from trustees, arbitrage-related spending reviews, private use tracking, processing debt service payments, federal interest subsidy submissions, annual continuing disclosure submissions, and modeling for future issuances. In addition to debt management and capital finance, Chris also leads the central plant fund accounting and endowment accounting teams. Chris received an undergraduate degree in Accounting from The University of Arizona Eller College of Management and has held an active Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) designation since October 2023.
Tom Tight
Public Trust Advisors
Managing Director
[email protected]
Tom is a Managing Director for Public Trust where he leads the investment advisory practice. He works closely with clients to provide portfolio strategy solutions based on their unique investment guidelines, cash flows, and risk tolerances. He also serves as a liaison between the client and the Portfolio Management and Credit Research teams. Prior to joining Public Trust, Tom worked at Cutwater Asset Management for ten years where he was responsible for business development nationwide and specialized in public-sector and insurance company asset management solutions.
He also worked in the fixed-income sector for both UBS PaineWebber and A.G. Edwards & Sons where he specialized in fixed-income portfolio management, structured fixed-income products, and public finance transactions. Tom received both a Bachelor of Science in Finance and a Master of Business Administration from St. Louis University. He is a corporate affiliate advisory member for the National Association of State Treasurers, a member of the Government Finance Officers Association, and a member of the State Finance Officers Foundation.
