Facilitators

Steve Williams
Principal
Cornerstone Advisors, Inc.

As a co-founder of Cornerstone Advisors, Steve Williams serves as CEO and Partner with Cornerstone where he leads firm growth and thought leadership efforts while remaining actively involved with major clients in the areas of strategy, technology, and performance improvement. Steve has assisted hundreds of banks and credit unions in their efforts to become highly efficient, top-performing financial institutions. An experienced private banker with a commercial and consumer credit background, Steve’s more than 25 years of experience in the financial services and consulting industries have provided him with a deep working knowledge of bank operations and delivery systems, particularly in lending processes. He is an experienced facilitator for management retreats and board planning sessions and is in great demand as a speaker at industry conferences and seminars.

Steve is among the authors of The Cornerstone Performance Report, an annual benchmarking study for mid-size banks and credit unions. He writes regularly for GonzoBanker, Cornerstone’s blog, and has been published in numerous industry periodicals, including American Banker, Bank Director, BAI Banking Strategies, and CU Management.

Steve served as a faculty member at the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking and the Management Institute of the Credit Union Executives Society. He taught at the National School of Banking in Fairfield, Connecticut, and the CUES School of Product and Channel Management.

Steve holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance, Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in business journalism from Northern Arizona University.

Stacey Bryant
Director
Cornerstone Advisors

Stacey Bryant brings nearly 20 years of fintech and financial services expertise spanning operations, retail banking, marketing and business development to Cornerstone Advisors. A planner and strategist who knows how to convert grassroots ideas into executable steps and ultimately meaningful initiatives, Stacey delivers consistent growth as an effective leader of processes, products and professionals.

Before joining Cornerstone, Stacey held an executive position at CheckAlt, a B2B banking and fintech firm, where she led the credit union relationships division. While there, she helped financial institutions develop their digital transformation strategies and identify strategic payments and treasury solutions partnerships. Prior to that, she was with American Airlines Federal Credit Union, where she served as lead member service/business development representative followed by roles in business development, consumer lending and branch management. She began her career in financial services as a personal banker at JP Morgan Chase.

Stacey is a member of the African American Credit Union Coalition. She holds an Associate of Arts Degree in Business Administration from Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York.