BHG Financial Leadership

Tyler Crawford is the President of BHG Financial. He is a seasoned executive with more than 15 years of experience in financial services, business building, product strategy, and business development. Since joining BHG Financial in 2012, Tyler has held numerous executive roles across the organization, most recently as the Chief Operating Officer, as well as launched new office locations and led internal initiatives focused on enhancing customer value, expanding market reach, and optimizing business efficiencies.

His deep-rooted understanding of the lending industry has enabled BHG Financial to set records in origination, revenue, and income, forging multiple new products, partnerships, and business development initiatives. These include BHG Financial's credit card program and consumer lending, which have collectively served hundreds of thousands customers and generated billions of dollars in revenue.

Tyler participates in the company's strategic partnerships and investments as a board member at ApplePie Capital and Apiture. His expertise has been quoted in top tier publications, including Forbes and CBS News. Tyler earned a bachelor's degree from Gettysburg College.

Dan McSherry is the Chief Financial Officer for BHG Financial, overseeing the firm’s accounting and finance functions, capital markets activities, and growth and investments strategy. Since joining the company in 2013, he has served in management roles for analytics, reporting, and business intelligence before transitioning to CFO. Dan is instrumental in many aspects of BHG Financials successes, including having closed eight asset-backed securitization transactions over the last few years.

Prior to BHG Financial, Dan spent four years at Lockheed Martin Corporation and has significant experience in the financial services industry, having spent time with CIBC World Markets Inc., UBS Financial, and Charles Schwab & Co. He earned a MBA and bachelor’s degree in finance and economics, both from Syracuse University.

Juan Carlos Ortigosa is the Chief Revenue Officer for BHG Financial, where he leads the revenue strategy, as well as designing and launching new revenue programs. Juan Carlos joined BHG Financial in 2012 as the Senior Vice President of risk management, followed by a tenure as Chief Credit Officer. These experiences paved the way for his current position, where he is crucial in steering the company's revenue trajectory.

His impact on BHG Financial is defined by developing the company's first credit scoring model and introducing a suite of models driving revenue strategies. He is recognized for building one of the country's most agile data and analytics departments and expanding his team from one to 300 employees.

Prior to joining BHG Financial, Juan Carlos developed and trained the credit and analytics team at Bank Atlantic. In this role, he managed risk for a $5 billion portfolio and developed predictive models for estimating delinquency and loan loss.

Emphasizing the importance of teamwork, Juan Carlos ensures his team works together toward common goals — making BHG Financial a leading financial services company and positively impacting customers' lives. His strategic insights and dedication to innovation and mentorship position him as a driving force behind BHG Financial's ongoing pursuit of excellence in the financial services sector.

Zachariah Raus is President of the Lending Division at BHG Financial. He is a results-driven leader with over a decade of experience with growth and innovation in lending. Zachariah drives the organization's overall sales and client services strategy, overseeing the development and leadership of BHG Financial’s high-performing sales and customer service teams to deliver exceptional client satisfaction.

He first joined BHG Financial in 2012, establishing a solid foundation and building the health and wellness department, later transitioning into collections, patient lending, card services, and loan origination. His results led to rapid advancement and recognition, rising from sales manager to national sales manager, culminating in his current executive role.

Zachariah has established a highly successful organization with proven results – facilitating billions in business and personal loans. Recognized for his visionary leadership, genuine passion for developing top-tier talent, and extensive lending experience, he continues to be a driving force in BHG Financial's innovative strides and is a pivotal figure in propelling the lending industry forward.

Meghan Crawford-Hamlin is President of the bank division at BHG Financial, where she leads business development, placement operations, bank marketing, national events, and regulatory relations. A results-driven executive, she oversees all institutional-facing functions and drives strategy, execution, and relationship development across the division. Since assuming her current role in 2020, she has facilitated the placement of over $13 billion in assets to over 30% of banks nationwide, positioning BHG Financial as a market leader in delivering high-quality loan sale opportunities to institutional partners. She led the division to expand its national footprint, deepen its regulatory engagement, and instilled meaningful revenue growth through operational scale and strategic alignment.

Meghan joined BHG Financial in 2015 and rapidly advanced through leadership roles, initially managing the firm’s largest institutional portfolio, which included hundreds of community banks. Her career spans sales, strategy, and client success at scale.

Prior to BHG Financial, Meghan served as a Director at The Fitch Group Company, where she was responsible for growth across the firm’s largest North American client portfolio. She began her career at IAC, a global media and internet holding company operating across 100+ countries. She sits on the boards of Pathfinder Bank and Risk Management Solutions Group (RMSG), a regulatory advisory firm.

Meghan is an active member of the American Bankers Association and Independent Community Bankers of America and contributes to community leadership as a Woman of Impact Team Member for Go Red for Women. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University.

April Brissette is the Chief Risk Officer at BHG Financial. She is responsible for safeguarding BHG Financial’s interests and reputation by effectively managing and mitigating its business risks. In this role, she oversees Compliance, Fraud & Financial Crimes, BSA/AML, Quality Assurance, Model Risk Management, and Special Projects. April has held various leadership roles throughout her 18+ year tenure with the company, including chief of staff to the CEO, president of Fund-Ex Solutions Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of BHG Financial, and chief credit officer of BHG Financial.

April currently serves as treasurer on the board of directors for David's Refuge, a non-profit organization that supports parents and guardians of children with special needs or life-threatening medical conditions. April is a member of the 2020 class of Leadership Greater Syracuse, has won a Central New York 40 Under 40 Award, and was named "Outstanding Mentor" at the Central New York Business Journal's Successful Business Women Awards.

Matt Ondus is the Chief Compliance Officer for BHG Financial.

He oversees the compliance, regulatory, and legal teams that maintain the day-to-day operations, focusing on managing consumer protection, financial service, and federal and state banking laws.

An expert in consumer protection laws and regulations, Mr. Ondus has 38 years of senior-level financial regulatory experience working in the public and private sectors.

Before BHG, Mr. Ondus was a commissioned national bank examiner for the Office of the Comptroller of Currency. He also worked for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as the examiner in charge of overseeing two of the largest banks in the country. He then moved to the private sector as a director for Promontory Financial Group.

He is a member of the Alabama State Bar, holding his Juris Doctor degree from Cleveland Marshall College of Law.

Katie Barnes is the Chief Human Resources Officer at BHG Financial, where she leads the strategy and direction of the People Development department. As a key member of the executive leadership team, Katie plays a pivotal role in shaping BHG Financial’s dynamic workforce and fostering a high-performance culture that supports both business growth and employee success.

Under her leadership, BHG Financial has navigated rapid expansion while maintaining its core values and award-winning culture — recognized annually by Great Place to Work, Fortune, Inc., American Banker, and regional business journals. Katie has been instrumental in building a scalable HR infrastructure, driving initiatives in talent strategy, leadership development, total rewards, and organizational effectiveness. Her work has helped BHG Financial attract and retain top talent, support a successful transition to hybrid and remote work, and reinforce a culture of trust, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Katie earned a Bachelor of Science in Event and Hospitality Management from the University of Central Florida. She is also a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR).

Thomas Davis is the Chief Placements Officer for BHG Financial. He oversees all analytics and reporting for placements, placement team operations, and the funding team.

Mr. Davis's team manages the cost of funds (COF) for daily loan sales to more than 1,600 community banks nationwide and is responsible for all collateral regarding Capital Markets transactions – often called upon to administer custom buying and selling events.

He began his career at BHG as a lead analyst, providing insight into loan sale methodology, costs, auction trends, bank industry trends, and institutional marketing. Prior to this, Mr. Davis was a senior analyst at National Grid, providing analysis and contract management for D-Line construction and service contracts under the PM&CC group. He was vice president of Sedgwick Capital Corporation, managing operations related to providing construction and receivables financing for the resort timeshare industry.

Mr. Davis is a New York Air National Guard veteran and received a bachelor's in psychology from Le Moyne College.

Ed Durant is the Chief Credit Officer at BHG Financial, leading the Credit Risk Management and Risk Modeling teams. He oversees credit decisions on all BHG personal and commercial loan products.

A vital member of BHG Financial since 2003, Mr. Durant was the chief financial officer for over 13 years, where he helped grow BHG from under $5 million in revenue in 2003 to nearly $216 million in revenue in 2018. He was also the main contributor in developing BHG’s credit risk and pricing framework.

In 2018, Mr. Durant was named to Central New York’s 40 Under Forty list, recognizing leadership in the workplace and community. He also received an award from the Business Journal News Network recognizing private company CFOs.

Mr. Durant has a bachelor’s in economics from Colgate University.

Sarah Turner is the Chief Legal Officer at BHG Financial, where she leads the company’s legal affairs across a wide range of areas, including regulatory compliance, contracts, corporate governance, labor and employment, capital markets, collections, and litigation.

As a strategic advisor to the Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Team, Sarah provides guidance on managing legal risks while supporting key firmwide initiatives.

She began her legal career in New York City as an associate in the Real Estate practice group at Mayer Brown. From there, Sarah relocated to Rochester, NY. She served as Counsel in the Securities and Capital Markets team at Harter Secrest & Emery and also spent nearly 15 years in various roles at Manning & Napier, including at the executive leadership level as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, before bringing her expertise to BHG Financial.

Sarah earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law, where she also served as Notes & Articles Editor of the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science, magna cum laude, from Allegheny College and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

In 2020, Sarah was recognized with the Rochester Business Journal’s Corporate Counsel Award.

John Henrie is the Chief Regulatory Relations Officer for BHG Financial.

He plays a central role in navigating all regulatory matters, including reviews from various federal and state authorities. He also supports enterprise risk management programs and reporting.

Mr. Henrie joined BHG Financial in 2022 as senior vice president, regulatory relations officer, overseeing all business practices and ensuring regulations are properly understood and satisfactorily met.

Before BHG Financial, he spent more than 34 years with the FDIC, most recently serving as regional director of FDIC’s Atlanta Region, handling every aspect of the FDIC’s supervisory activities. This role included managing risk management and compliance programs, overseeing regulatory applications and notices, and coordinating informal and formal corrective programs for financial institutions with assets of up to 500 billion dollars. He also led bank regulators and banking industry efforts to identify and respond to emerging, complex banking matters, including challenges arising during the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robert Stacey is the Chief Analytics Officer at BHG Financial, leading the firm’s
modeling, analytics, and revenue strategies.

Mr. Stacey joined BHG Financial in 2018 with significant financial and modeling
experience, previously developing models for GE Capital and JP Morgan.

A visionary leader adept at leveraging data to inform strategic decisions, Mr. Stacey
spearheads many mission-critical BHG initiatives, including credit risk and margin
models, marketing selections and eligibility, lead routing, pricing, fraud strategy,
production analytics, and commission benchmarks.

Mr. Stacey graduated first in his class at both the University of Miami and Stanford
University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, and management
science followed by his master’s degree in management science with concentrations in
finance and economics.

John Antonczak is an Executive Vice President at BHG Financial and a key advisor to the BHG Financial Board of Directors. He oversees corporate finance, capital structure management, and strategic initiatives throughout the organization. He also holds key roles on the 401(k) and Enterprise Risk committees.

John joined BHG Financial in 2019 with extensive experience in finance, capital markets, and corporate strategy. His background includes asset securitization, leveraged lending, and corporate banking, and he has closed over $5 billion in commercial financings over his career. He has held various senior leadership roles at large regional banks, including Flagstar Bank and Fifth Third Bank after having spent time with Royal Bank of Canada and Comerica Bank. He earned his MBA and bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Michigan and previously FINRA Series 7 and 66 licenses.

Hugh Queener is the Executive Vice President of Strategic & Risk at BHG Financial. Hugh was previously Chief Administrative Officer of Pinnacle Bank and Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. in Nashville, TN, a position he had held since the company was formed in 2000.

Prior to joining Pinnacle, Hugh spent 13 years at First American National Bank/AmSouth in a variety of positions, including Senior Vice President of Operations Support, Executive Vice President of general banking, Executive Vice President of operations and technology, and Executive Vice President of retail lending programs. Hugh has also held executive-level positions at software providers the Kirchman Corporation and Systeme Corporation. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Tennessee Wesleyan University.

Danielle Walker is Executive Vice President of Strategy & Operations at BHG Financial. She oversees revenue operations, data platform management, vendor and third-party relationships, strategic partnerships, and reporting.

Each year, Mrs. Walker is responsible for delivering the company's revenue roadmap. She works closely with product and technology to implement strategic organizational changes.  From data acquisition through visualization, she navigates business intelligence to ensure quality data is delivered to the company while conceptualizing new ways to expand BHG's marketable universe.

Since joining the company in 2012, she's been an integral figurehead within BHG, gaining experience in all divisions, including reporting, analytics, data, marketing, and sales operations.

Mrs. Walker completed Stanford University's Executive Education Program and graduated from The University of Florida's Warrington College of Business with a bachelor's degree in finance and business administration. In 2023, the South Florida Business Journal named her to their Most Influential Business Women list. She is actively involved in various charities in her community including the Boys and Girls Club, Salvation Army Angel Tree, and Make-A-Wish.

Christopher Capecelatro is the Senior Vice President of Credit Operations for BHG Financial.

Mr. Capecelatro leads the credit team in executing the broader strategic vision of the organization. Building out the company’s small business underwriting capabilities, he focuses on developing application pathways that are low hassle for borrowers, powered by technology, and scalable. Utilizing bank transaction data, he developed a process that has pushed the boundaries of the previously established medical professional borrower archetype to a more dynamic approach that includes more accurate decisions based on timelier financial information encompassing risks applicable to all businesses.

Before joining BHG, he was a founding employee at Funding Circle U.S. He spent eight and a half years as director of U.S. underwriting, building the underwriting function from the ground up and developing, launching, and managing the transition to proprietary web-based underwriting software. He also previously worked as manager of credit at AIG Global Risk Management, owning and executing strategies to collect outstanding collateral, legal documents, and other receivables while overhauling the underwriting processes to optimize risk-adjusted profitability.

Mr. Capecelatro holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of New Hampshire.

Jenny Mechali is the Senior Vice President of Shared Services at BHG Financial.

She oversees business operations and is a central figure focusing on leading transformational initiatives and process excellence, ensuring BHG is in the best position to meet its financial goals. Her role includes handling operational strategy and program management, helping to streamline BHG’s processes, and improving customer experiences. She is also responsible for the enterprise sourcing and vendor management function, which is comprised of vendor negotiations, contracts, sourcing, and RFPs. 

An experienced leader with a demonstrated history in strategy, operations, and financial and vendor management, she previously held roles at Ultimate Software and Citrix. 

Ms. Mechali has a Bachelor of Business (B.B.A.) from Florida Atlantic University and is certified in Six Sigma methodologies and agile delivery frameworks.