Board of Directors

Mr. Plush serves as the Company’s Chairman, President, and CEO since June 8, 2022, having served previously as Vice-Chairman & CEO since March 20, 2021, and as Vice Chairman since February 15, 2021. Mr. Plush is a highly respected financial services industry professional with over 35 years of senior executive leadership experience. From January 2019 to February 2021, he was a partner at Patriot Financial Partners, a private equity firm where he sourced new investment opportunities and served on the board of directors for multiple portfolio banks, finance and fintech companies. In 2018, he served as CEO for Verdigris Holdings, Inc., leading this start-up through the regulatory application, organization, and initial funding processes. Mr. Plush’s other prominent leadership roles include his tenure with Santander US from 2014 to 2017, initially as CFO and Executive Committee member, and subsequently as Chief Administrative Officer. He served on the board of Santander Consumer from 2014 to 2016, and as a director for the FHLB of Pittsburgh from 2016 to 2017. Mr. Plush previously served as President, COO and Board Member for Webster Bank, beginning in July 2006 as EVP and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to Webster, he spent over 11 years with MBNA America, most recently as Senior Executive Vice President & Managing Director of Corporate Development and Acquisitions, and before that, as CFO—North America.

Mr. Plush holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He currently serves on the board of directors of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Miami Host Committee, the Orange Bowl Committee, and the Broward Workshop. He is also a member of the CEO Council of the Greater Ft. Lauderdale Alliance.

Odilon Almeida Júnior is a global leader with more than a decade experience serving on boards of public and private companies. Currently, he works in private equity as the Managing Principal of AJ. Holdings Co. and as an Operating Partner at Advent. He is the former President, Chief Executive Officer and Board member of ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), and prior to that, during his 17-year tenure at The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), he advanced through a series of general management roles of increasing responsibility. He last served as President of Western Union Global Money Transfer. In this role, he led Western Union’s $5 billion consumer business across more than 200 countries while expanding the company’s digital footprint to 90 Countries in only three years. Mr. Almeida is a member of the Board of Directors of NCR Atleos (NYSE: NATL) where he serves on the Audit and Nominating and Governance Committees.

Dr. Dana has served as Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives at the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, a Florida-based research institute engaged in artificial intelligence, robotics, sensory substitution, data mining, and related technologies, since 2007. Previously, Dr. Dana served as the Executive Director of the Florida Governor’s Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development from 1999 to 2007 and Florida’s Chief Protocol Officer from 2002 to 2007. Dr. Dana served as Assistant and Deputy Secretary of the California Trade and Commerce Agency from 1995 to 1999. Dr. Dana has served as Vice Chair of the board of directors of Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc. since 2013, which is overseeing the distribution of $1.5 billion in BP oil spill settlement payments awarded to Florida, and is Chair of the Scripps Florida Funding Corporation Board, where she has also served as a member of the Audit Committee, since 2007. She has been a Trustee of the Florida Chamber of Commerce Foundation since 2007, a member of the Florida Sports Foundation Board (2011-2019), and a member of the International Economic Development Council since 2007. From 2006 to 2009, Dr. Dana was a Trustee of the University of West Florida and was a voting member for Florida on the U.S. Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council from 2011 to 2016.

Dr. Dana holds a Ph.D. in International Development and Economics from the University of Southern California, a master’s in administration, planning and policy from Harvard University and a bachelor’s in sociology and social work from California State University, Chico.

Erin Knight is President of Monument Capital Management (“Monument”), a fully-integrated real estate management and private equity firm that has acquired and managed over $1B of real estate assets across 15 states. In her role she is responsible for Monument’s operations, its growth strategy, and investor relations.

Ms. Knight has over 20 years of financial services experience, spanning across risk analysis and management and strategic growth, having served on both credit and investment committees.

She began her career with SunTrust Bank as a commercial analyst and subsequently held leadership roles at Regions Bank and SouthTrust (now Wells Fargo). Prior to its successful sale to Centennial Bank, Ms. Knight led Stonegate Bank’s expansion into Miami, opening de novo offices and serving as Market President for the organization.

Ms. Knight graduated from Florida State University, is a Certified Financial Planner™ and holds a NASD Series 7 license. She serves on the Board of Governors for Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the Board of Directors at The Miami Foundation and the Baptist Health Foundation, and is a member of the International Women’s Forum (IWF).

Jack Kopnisky brings more than 40 years of financial services industry leadership experience, having served in senior executive leadership roles at small to midsize banks and financial services companies. Mr. Kopnisky is currently a senior advisor at Patriot Financial Partners. Previously, from 2022 to 2024, he was Executive Chairman of Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE: WBS) and its principal banking subsidiary, Webster Bank. From 2011 until 2022, he served as President and CEO of Sterling Bancorp prior to the merger of Sterling with Webster. Under his leadership, Sterling became a regional bank growing from $3.2 billion in assets to $32 billion through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions.

Prior to joining Sterling, from 2009 until 2011, Mr. Kopnisky served as Chief Executive Officer of SJB Escrow Corporation, a $1.1 billion investment pool.  From 2005-2008, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of First Marblehead Corporation, a provider of outsourcing services for private education lending.

Before joining First Marblehead, Mr. Kopnisky held several top executive positions at KeyCorp, Society National Bank and AmeriTrust Corporation. Mr. Kopnisky started his career with Pittsburgh National Bank (now PNC) with increasing management responsibilities in commercial and retail banking. 

Mr. Kopnisky served on the Board of Directors of Webster Financial Corp (NYSE: WBS) and Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL – merged into Webster). Mr. Kopnisky has chaired and served on many non-profit boards throughout his career focused on inner-city development and youth services.

Mr. Marturet has served as the owner and CEO of Martuga Corporation, a general consulting services company since December 2021. In 2017, he co-founded Unison Asset Management LLC (an SEC registered US equity fund manager), an affiliate of Canepa for which he served as CEO and Co-Portfolio Manager until the end of 2021. From October 2016 until November 2021, Mr. Marturet was a Director of Canepa Funds ICAV in Dublin, Ireland. From 2012 until 2017 Mr. Marturet served as the Portfolio Manager of the Canepa Equity Select Fund, an investment fund. Previously, Mr. Marturet served as the Head of Private Banking and Asset Management at the Bank from 2008 to 2012, and as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank’s securities broker-dealer subsidiary from 2002 to 2010. Mr. Marturet served as a director of MSF from 2014 to 2018. Mr. Marturet also served in various roles at Verizon Investment Management, a corporate pension manager, and Bankers Trust Company, a New York-based bank.

Mr. Marturet is a graduate of the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello (Venezuela), Yale University, and Hult University.

Patricia “Patty” Morrison is a highly respected information technology executive with a track record of success across multiple Fortune 500 companies. She most recently served from 2009 to 2018 as Executive Vice President, Customer Support Services and Chief Information Officer at Cardinal Health, where she led global information technology operations and customer support functions. In this role she was responsible for acquisition integration and digital strategy activities as well as for overseeing the transformation of several business segments.

Previously, she held senior leadership roles at Motorola, Office Depot, PepsiCo, Quaker Oats, General Electric, and Procter & Gamble, overseeing significant IT functions and large-scale IT projects.

Mrs. Morrison is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) where she serves on the Audit and Nominating, Corporate Governance and Public Policy Committees. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Trinity Life Sciences (private), a company that provides advisory and analytics services within the life sciences industry. Mrs. Morrison has over 20 years of board experience having served on the boards of several publicly traded and privately held corporations.

Lisa Lutoff-Perlo is a South Florida trailblazer in the global hospitality industry with nearly 40 years of leadership experience. Most recently, she served as the President & CEO of FIFA World Cup 2026TM Miami Host Committee until November 2024. Ms. Lutoff-Perlo spent 40 years in progressive leadership positions at the Royal Caribbean Group most recently as Vice Chairman of External Affairs, having previously served from 2014 until 2023 as President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises (2014–2023), one of Royal Caribbean Group’s multibillion-dollar subsidiaries. Ms. Lutoff-Perlo is currently a member of the Board of Directors of AutoNation (NYSE: AN) where she also serves on the Audit and Corporate Governance and Nominating Committees. She is also the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Hornblower Group.

Since June 2015, Mr. Quill has served as a consultant to the International Monetary Fund (the “IMF”), an international organization with the aim of promoting international financial and monetary cooperation, where he previously served as a Senior Financial Sector Expert in bank supervision and policy effectiveness from 2013 to 2015. Prior to the IMF, Mr. Quill served in various capacities with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”), a U.S. financial regulator, from 1980 to 2011, including Deputy Comptroller from 2004 to 2011 and the chair of the interagency council that advised the United States Treasury as to banks that should receive funds under the United States Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. Mr. Quill was an independent director of Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust, Coral Gables, Florida from 2015 to 2018.

Mr. Quill earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of South Florida.

Ashaki Rucker is the Senior Vice President, Human Resources for NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises & Latin America where she is responsible for the development and execution of the Human Capital Strategy.

Ms. Rucker has 30 years of Human Capital experience partnering with C-Suite executives within global Fortune 100 companies. Her industry experience spans across financial services, professional services and media and entertainment. Ms. Rucker was recently recognized on Cablefax's Diversity list celebrating the most influential multi-ethnic executives in the media industry.

She started her career as an HR Associate at JP Morgan Chase and then held various senior HR leadership positions at UBS, Deutsche Bank, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Warner Media and The Walt Disney Company. She has distinguished herself as a strategic, courageous and innovative leader with the ability to inspire large teams to execute effectively.

Ms. Rucker graduated from Columbia University’s Teacher’s College with a Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University at Albany. Ms. Rucker is a Certified Corporate Director by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). Ms. Rucker serves on the Board of Directors for Rebuilding Together Miami, and also serves on the Advisory Board of University of Miami Herbert Business School’s Executive Education Program. She is also a member of Girls Inc for Greater Miami’s 150+ Women Strong.

Mr. Suarez is a lifelong resident of Miami. He recently retired after 40 years of public accounting experience spanning the consumer/retail, hospitality, transportation and international banking sectors. He was most recently a member of the Ernst & Young (EY) U.S. central region leadership team. Prior to that, Mr. Suarez served as EY’s markets leader for Florida and Puerto Rico, overseeing all services provided by EY in these two markets. Mr. Suarez was recently admitted as an executive member to the Latino Corporate Directors Association, is a board member of Industrial Rail Services, L.P., and has served over the last 14 years as the chair of the Florida Accountants Coalition. Mr. Suarez started his career in 1981 with Arthur Andersen and subsequently spent 15 years with KPMG, finally joining EY in 2004. During his career, he worked with management teams and board of directors across large multinational and SEC registrants and served on the board of Miami United Way and Florida international University (FIU) Foundation. Mr. Suarez was a founding member of corporate advisory boards at FIU and University of Miami.

Mr. Suarez received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from St. Thomas University

Mr. Wilson served as Chief Executive Officer of the Company from 2009 until March 2021, and as Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank from 2013 until March 2021. During his tenure as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wilson successfully led the Company through one of the most historically difficult times the financial industry has faced. Under his leadership, the Bank grew to $8 billion in assets, achieved a continuous upward trend in net income, and enhanced both the banking center network and product offerings to steadily increase lending and deposits. Previously, Mr. Wilson served, for over 30 years, in various roles with MSF including as Executive Director of International Business of MSF from 2013 until January 2018. Mr. Wilson served as a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Miami Branch from 2013 to 2019 and served as a member of the board of directors of Enterprise Florida, Inc. from 2009 to 2013, as chairman of the board of directors of the American Red Cross of Greater Miami and the Keys from 2001 to 2002 and as a director and treasurer of the Miami Dade College Foundation from 1999 to 2004.

Mr. Wilson is a graduate of Bradford University, England and the Harvard Business School Management Development Program.