DonateSliding into Finance Announces its Inaugural Slate of Board of Directors
Sliding into Finance has announced the formation of its inaugural Board of Directors — a founding group of leaders who share our commitment to advancing financial literacy among young people. As a newly established organization, we are building our foundation on the guidance and governance of these individuals, whose combined expertise in finance, sports and community engagement will help shape who we are from the very start.
Together, they will guide Sliding into Finance through its early growth, ensuring a strong, mission-driven foundation for years to come.
Founding Board Members
Ari Burstein
President and CEO, Sliding into Finance | General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer, Imperative Execution
Ari Burstein is General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer of Imperative Execution, which he joined in July 2021, and where he is responsible for legal, regulatory and policy issues impacting Imperative Execution and the IntelligentCross ATS.
Prior to joining Imperative Execution, Mr. Burstein was President of Capital Markets Strategies, representing investment advisers, broker-dealers, hedge funds, securities exchanges and trade associations before regulators and policymakers, in the U.S. and globally, and providing advice on trading, best execution, and capital markets issues.
Prior to starting Capital Markets Strategies, Mr. Burstein was Head of US Regulatory Affairs for Kreab, a leading global consulting firm. He also was Senior Counsel for capital markets issues for the Investment Company Institute (ICI) and ICI Global, the global trade associations for the regulated fund industry. Prior to joining ICI, Mr. Burstein was an attorney in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management from 1997 to 1998 and the Division of Market Regulation from 1992 to 1997.
Joshua Burstein
Co-Founder, Sliding into Finance | Student-Athlete at Kenyon College
Joshua Burstein is a rising Freshman and student-athlete at Kenyon College, where he will be focusing on applied mathematics and statistics (pre-engineering) and is a member of the baseball team. He also is a member of the Kenyon STEM Scholars Program and has received the Kenyon Excellence Award.
Joshua graduated Cum Laude from the Landon School in Bethesda, MD in 2026 with a 4.0 GPA, and received the Robert Long award for excellence in Math. He also received Honor Roll I (highest honors) in each semester in high school. Joshua was a 4-year Varsity starter at catcher for the Landon baseball team as well as a member of the Varsity indoor track and field team.
Joshua also enjoys skiing and is a former alpine ski racer, having received multiple ski racing awards and honors, and is an avid golfer.
Zachary Burstein
Co-Founder, Sliding into Finance | Student-Athlete at Bates College
Zachary Burstein is a rising Freshman and student-athlete at Bates College, where he will be focusing on business and economics and is a member of the baseball team.
Zachary graduated from the Landon School in Bethesda, MD in 2026 where he received highest honors (Honor Roll I and Honor Roll II) in each semester in high school. He was a member of the Landon Varsity baseball team as well as a member of the Varsity indoor track and field team.
Zachary also enjoys skiing and is a former alpine ski racer, having received multiple awards and honors, and is an avid golfer.
M. Kevin Cronin
Strategic Leader | Investment Expert | Advocate for Innovation and Governance
Kevin Cronin is a highly accomplished leader with over 30 years of experience in global investment management, strategic innovation, and organizational transformation. Bringing a wealth of expertise from high-impact roles at leading financial institutions, Kevin has a proven track record of driving growth, enhancing investment performance and governance, and fostering sustainable success.
As a former Head of Equity Investments at Invesco Ltd, Kevin managed over $250 billion in assets and led diverse teams of more than 120 investment professionals. Notably, he oversaw the seamless integration of Oppenheimer Funds’ equity business, achieving significant improvements in investment performance and operational efficiency.
Kevin also led the creation and oversight of Invesco’s global trading desk, widely recognized as one of the industry’s first, most capable and truly global, multi-asset trading desks. In his tenure as Global Head of Trading, Kevin was responsible for the oversight and successful implementation of over $10 Trillion in notional trades.
Beyond his corporate accomplishments, Kevin is deeply committed to advancing ethical leadership, education, and thought leadership in financial markets. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on equity market structure, served on advisory boards for the SEC, and chaired industry committees at the NYSE, NASDAQ and the Investment Company Institute (ICI). He was also one of the founding members of Luminex, the industry’s first buyside-owned and operated crossing system.
Shelley Eleby
Chief Marketing Officer, Mosaic Platforms
Shelley Eleby is Chief Marketing Officer at Mosaic Platforms with over two decades executing marketing strategy and delivering differentiated client experiences.
At Clearpool Group, she developed the brand and built out the marketing function and team — positioning the firm for growth and successful acquisition by BMO Financial Group. Post acquisition, she continued as Managing Director and Head of Marketing for Electronic Trading at BMO Capital Markets. Before returning to financial services, Shelley worked in advertising technology, overseeing marketing, business strategy and client services during the formative years of three venture-backed start-ups.
Shelley brings a proven early-stage playbook and best practices for creating brand vision, accelerating user adoption and establishing cross-functional marketing culture.
Rich Steiner
Managing Director, Head of Market Structure and Electronic Trading, Piper Sandler
Rich Steiner manages the Piper Sandler electronic trading desk and leads Piper Sandler’s equity market structure efforts. He promotes the firm’s thought leadership by educating and informing clients on timely and relevant market structure topics, and is focused on improving trading performance by incorporating micro-market structure nuances across the trading platform.
Rich has a thorough understanding of equity market structure and the regulatory environment. He has regularly advocated for more transparent and efficient markets for all industry participants and is also recognized for his contributions on industry committees including SIFMA, Security Trader’s Association, and the National Organization of Investment Professionals (NOIP).
Rich currently serves on a number of industry groups, including the SIFMA Equity Markets & Trading Committee, and is a board member of NOIP. Prior to joining Piper Sandler, Rich held electronic and program trading positions at RBC Capital Markets, BNP Paribas, ITG and Goldman Sachs.
Meredith Rainey Valmon
Assistant Athletic Director and Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, Potomac School
Meredith Rainey Valmon is an NCAA Champion and two-time Olympian in Track & Field in the 800m event. She represented Team USA at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games as well as at several World Championships and other international events during her career, including the 1999 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina, where she won the gold medal. After an NCAA Championship and All-American career at Harvard University, Meredith competed professionally for 10 years on the international circuit, earning top ten world rankings and competing across the globe. She remains one of the top ten fastest 800m runners in U.S. history.
Valmon became an Assistant Athletic Director and Director of Track and Field and Cross Country at the Potomac School in McLean, VA in August 2023. Her professional career also includes a stint as a sports management executive with the regional Olympic bid committee. Prior to Potomac, Meredith has been a head coach of track and field at the Holton-Arms School as well as a volunteer assistant for the University of Maryland Track and Field team since 2003.
Her other volunteer activities have been focused on increasing opportunities for young people with organizations such as The Avenue Program, founded with her husband and fellow Olympian Andrew Valmon, and Voices for Children Montgomery, a child welfare organization that advocates for children in foster care.
Rochelle Whelan
Owner and Board Member, Overall Management Company
Since 2006, Rochelle (Shelley) Whelan has been an owner and board member at Overall Management Company, a multigenerational family office that invests in businesses and real estate across the Pacific Northwest. Prior to her work at OMC, Shelley spent nearly 10 years with Intel Corporation in a broad range of senior marketing roles. Shelley joined the Board of Girl Scouts of Western Washington in 2019 and became the Board Chair in 2024. Shelley was previously a board member with the Alliance of Angels (2012–2020) and an advisory board member with the University of Washington Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship (2014–2020).
A lifelong tennis player, Shelley was an NCAA DIII women’s tennis singles and doubles champion and will be inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 2024. She is the head coach of the Mercer Island High School girls tennis team and is a founding advisor to Pomona-Pitzer’s Athletic Leadership Council. Shelley received her BA from Pomona College and her MBA from the University of Washington.