Center on Municipal Capital Markets Advisory Board
Dwight D. Burns
Treasurer, Dallas Area Rapid Transit
Dwight Burns, a 1995 LBJ graduate, is the Treasurer of Dallas Area Rapid Transit and has 25 years of wide-ranging experience in governmental finance. He served as Executive Director of the Texas Public Finance Authority, as Vice President/Senior Analyst at Moody’s Investors Service and in numerous roles as an investment banker and financial advisor in the municipal bond industry. Burns is a sixth-generation Texas native.
Kimberly Edwards
Public Finance Manager, Treasury Operations Division, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
Kimberly Edwards has over 30 years of experience in public finance and fixed-income capital markets. She joined the Texas Comptroller’s Office in January 2024 as the Public Finance Manager in the Treasury Operations Division. Previously, she was a Managing Director at Piper Sandler & Co., serving state agencies, cities, and educational institutions in Texas and Oklahoma. Edwards has also led the Texas public finance practice for Fidelity Capital Markets and held leadership roles with the Texas Public Finance Authority and the Municipal Advisory Council of Texas. She holds degrees from Rice University, UT Austin, and the LBJ School of Public Affairs.
Don Gonzalez
Senior Managing Director, Estrada Hinojosa
Don Gonzales is a Senior Managing Director, Shareholder, and Vice Chairman of the Board at Estrada Hinojosa & Company, Inc., a Dallas-based investment banking firm. He leads client development and serves as the Lead Banker for key clients like CPS Energy, San Antonio Water System, and University Health. With over 30 years of investment banking experience, Gonzales also completed the first U.S. financing through the North American Development Bank. A Certified Public Accountant, he has testified before the U.S. Congress and spoken on public finance issues nationwide.
Paul Jack
Senior Managing Director, Estrada Hinojosa
Paul Jack is a Senior Managing Director and Board member at Estrada Hinojosa, with over 25 years of experience in structuring and issuing debt for political entities in Texas and across the U.S. He has managed or supported over $35 billion in bond issuances for projects ranging from transportation and city infrastructure to utilities, schools, and hospitals. Prior to joining Estrada Hinojosa, Jack worked at J.P. Morgan, Public Financial Management, and Citigroup. He also served as a U.S. Navy officer before his public finance career.
R. Paul Kinscherff
Special Advisor, The University of Texas at Austin
Paul Kinscherff has served as a special advisor in the Office of the President at The University of Texas at Austin since August 2022, previously leading the development of UT Austin's strategic plan, "Change Starts Here." He joined the university in 2017 as an executive in residence at the LBJ School and McCombs School of Business. Before UT, Kinscherff held senior finance roles at Boeing, including corporate treasurer. He holds degrees from USC and UT Austin, where he actively supports advisory councils, the Texas Exes Investment Committee, and the Kinscherff Fellows endowment.
Michael Nicholas
Chief Executive Officer, Bond Dealers of America
Michael Nicholas is the CEO of the Bond Dealers of America, a D.C.-based trade association representing securities firms and banks in the U.S. bond markets. He oversees all aspects of the BDA, including federal lobbying, advocacy, strategy, and member relations. Previously, he spent a decade as Managing Director at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and Vice President at The Bond Market Association. Nicholas also worked at Morgan Keegan & Company and served as a district field representative for U.S. Representative Don Sundquist. He is a graduate of the University of Memphis with graduate work at Duke University.
Robin Redford
Senior Managing Director, Ramirez & Co., Inc.
Robin Redford is a Senior Managing Director at Ramirez & Co., Inc., where she leads the Texas Finance Group and co-leads the national Affordable Housing Finance Group. With over 20 years of experience in housing finance, she has provided advisory services to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. Before her finance career, she conducted research at the Urban Institute’s Housing Policy Center and managed projects for the Austin Parks Foundation. Redford serves as Vice-Chair of the Texas Municipal Advisory Council and is a founding member and past president of the Texas Chapter of Women in Public Finance. She has received the Women’s Bond Club of New York’s “Rising Star” award and has served on the boards of several charitable organizations. Redford holds degrees from Rice University and the LBJ School at UT Austin and is licensed for Series 7, 53, and 63.
David Saustad
Vice President, HJ Sims
David Saustad is a Vice President at HJ Sims, an investment bank that provides capital sourcing and advisory services to healthcare organizations and charter schools. He helps not-for-profit senior living organizations implement strategic initiatives by structuring and sourcing capital for expansion, advising on acquisitions, and managing mergers. Prior to joining HJ Sims, Saustad worked at MuniCap, Inc., where he supported economic development projects for local governments and real estate developers, focusing on project management, financial modeling, and revenue studies for bond financings. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Boston College and a master's degree in public affairs from the LBJ School at the University of Texas at Austin.
Howard Cure
Partner, Evercore Wealth Management
Howard Cure is a partner and Director of municipal bond credit research for Evercore Wealth Management. Previously, he worked at Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, the investment banking firm of Prager & Co., Moody’s Investors Service, and the New York State Senate Finance Committee. He has also written topical pieces and quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, Barron’s, Reuters and The Financial Times and appeared on CNBC, National Public Radio and Bloomberg News. Cure received a bachelor’s degree in economics from SUNY Albany and earned a joint master’s degree in public affairs and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
Steve Genyk
Head of Public Finance, Texas Capital Securities
Steve Genyk has over 30 years of leadership experience in the financial industry and currently serves as Head of Public Finance at Texas Capital Securities. Previously, he led the Public Finance group at UBS Financial Services and held senior roles in institutional middle markets and municipal trading. Genyk has also served as Head of Fixed Income Capital Markets at Janney Montgomery Scott and Managing Director of Public Finance at Bear, Stearns & Co. He holds degrees from Wesleyan University and the University of Pennsylvania, where he also taught public finance and served on industry boards.
Daniel Hartman
Chief Executive Officer, PFM Financial Advisors LLC
Dan Hartman is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at PFM, with over 30 years of public finance experience. Before becoming CEO, he led PFM’s Financial Advisory and Consulting practice and managed the firm’s national utilities group. Hartman has served as a financial advisor to major U.S. water, wastewater, and public power agencies, including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and CPS Energy. He has been involved in issuing over $75 billion in utility and revenue bonds and previously held senior roles at Bear Stearns and Citigroup. He graduated from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
Mark Kim
Chief Executive Officer, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board
Mark Kim is the President and CEO of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), overseeing the $4 trillion municipal securities market. Before becoming CEO, he served as Chief Operating Officer and was a member of the MSRB Board of Directors. Prior to the MSRB, Kim was CFO of D.C. Water, where he led an award-winning bond financing program. He has also held senior roles with the City of New York and worked as an investment banker at UBS and Goldman Sachs. Kim holds a Ph.D. from Harvard, a law degree from Cornell, and a bachelor's from Northwestern.
Julie Meyer
Assistant Vice President-Analyst, Moody's Investors Service
Julie Meyer is an Assistant Vice President - Analyst on Moody’s Global Project and Infrastructure Finance team, based in Dallas. She covers a range of infrastructure issuers, including public power, airports, toll roads, seaports, and project finance issuers. Previously, she worked on Moody’s Local Government team. Meyer serves on the Executive Council of the Texas Chapter of Women in Public Finance and is a member of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts. She holds a bachelor's degree from Washington State University and a master's degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin.
Laura Powell
Managing Director, Co-Head of Higher Education and Non-Profits, Jefferies
Laura Powell is a Managing Director at Jefferies in San Antonio, where she leads the firm's national higher education practice. With 25 years of public finance experience, she has managed over $30 billion in financings for higher education institutions, nonprofits, governments, and utilities. Powell previously worked at Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan, and UBS, and has expertise in various financial products, including variable rate debt and private placements. She holds degrees from Stanford, UT Austin, and Columbia Business School and serves on the boards of the San Antonio Parks Foundation and Arboretum San Antonio.
Richard Ryffel
Professor of Practice, Executive Director of Business Leadership, Mitchell E. Daniels School of Business, Purdue University
Richard Ryffel is the Executive Director of Business Leadership and a Professor of Practice at Purdue University, where he leads outreach efforts to the practice community. He previously served as a Professor of Finance Practice at Washington University in St. Louis and has over 35 years of experience in public and corporate finance and wealth management. Ryffel has advised various institutions on financings and capital structures, leading numerous taxable and tax-exempt financings, and managed investments for high-net-worth families and endowments. His industry background includes roles at A.G. Edwards, Bank of America, Edward Jones, and J.P. Morgan. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Tufts University and an MBA in finance from Boston University, and he founded several finance research conferences.
Laura Slaughter
Executive Director, Municipal Advisory Council of Texas
Laura Slaughter is the Executive Director at the Municipal Advisory Council of Texas (Texas MAC). Texas MAC is a membership organization whose purpose is to promote effective and efficient investment banking, underwriting, trading and sales of municipal debt by collecting, maintaining and distributing information relating to issuing entities. As Executive Director, Slaughter is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization and its thirty employees. She has been with Texas MAC since 1983 and is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin.