The Arriba Advisors Team

Working with Arriba Advisors gives you partner-level engagement with an incredible team of financial consulting experts ... a team that has more than 100 years of cumulative leadership experience in the fintech and vendor marketplace.

With more than 600 vendor/technology evaluations and 1,500 successful contract negotiations, we have the knowledge and expertise to guide your bank or credit union through the tactical elements of the vendor selection and optimization process.

Contact us to learn how Arriba Advisors can help you reset cost structures to market competitive and confidentially evaluate your options – on your terms.

100+ Years of Fintech Experience

George McGourty

Originally from Boston, and now based in Tampa, George spent his entire 30-year career helping financial institutions evaluate, select and implement enterprise technologies. He has held senior sales and executive leadership positions with …

Rachel Landrum

An accomplished senior leader, Rachel has more than 20 years of experience with privately held, high growth and Fortune 500 companies that serve the financial services market. She has deep technology and service experience with a strong …

Tom Russell

A native of Miami, Florida, Tom Russell spent the past 20 years helping financial institutions navigate complex technology and professional services decisions to create efficiencies and gain competitive advantage. Tom held senior sales roles at TWS …

Mark Gray

A native of Lakeland, Florida, Mark spent more than 20 years in the banking technology industry, most recently as CIO of a large financial institution in Central Florida. His responsibilities included …

Karishma Karediya

Karishma Karediya is a highly regarded financial services professional and experienced team leader with a demonstrated history of working in financial service Industry. Karishma has an …

Kevin Mondlane

Originally from Mozambique, Kevin arrived in Florida in 2016 and earned a B.S. degree in Finance, followed by his master’s in Communication from the University of Tampa. Kevin’s expertise in …

Chassidy Butler

Chassidy joins Arriba Advisors as a well respected, experienced industry consultant. She has served as a Senior Payments Consultant since 2017 owning and delivering on all Credit, Debit and …

Jenn Cox

Born and raised in New York City as a first generation Vietnamese American, Jenn values perseverance and building diverse relationships. She received a B.A. in History​ …

Burcu Patel

Burcu is a Senior Financial Analyst at Arriba Advisors. Passionate about numbers, Burcu combines her business and finance background helping our clients to understand …

Kris Carlgren

A Kansas City native, Kris’ previous tenure as the brand licensing director for one of the nation’s top-ranked consumer brands, coupled with her pivotal role in crafting a …

George McGourty

Originally from Boston, and now based in Tampa, George spent his entire 30-year career helping financial institutions evaluate, select and implement enterprise technologies. He has held senior sales and executive leadership positions with Fiserv, FIS, CSI, Deluxe and Open Solutions, as well as co-founding an IT services firm that was later acquired by a Fortune 1000 technology company.

George co-founded Arriba Advisors to help community financial institutions understand and evaluate their technology options so they can gain the most value from their technology investments. He is an accomplished negotiator, having personally negotiated more than 1,000 technology and services contracts while sitting on the vendor side of the table.

When he is not on the job, George enjoys scuba diving, CrossFit and motorcycles, and he has finished several marathons including the 2013 New York Marathon. He also volunteers with several Tampa-based non-profit organizations. George earned a BS in Finance from the University of Phoenix and an MBA from the University of Florida. He is married with two grown sons.

Rachel Landrum

An accomplished senior leader, Rachel has more than 20 years of experience with privately held, high growth and Fortune 500 companies that serve the financial services market. She has deep technology and services experience with a strong and proven track-record in leadership, strategy, business development, research and development, acquisitions and mergers and operations, resulting in significant business growth and margin expansion.

Rachel has a long history of leading and motivating diverse teams to achieve superior results with a laser focus on developing relationships for life. Her career began in banking, leading to senior executive roles at Kirchman, Metavante and FIS. Her passion for helping banks obtain the best return on their investments in the fast-paced technology world led her to refine her focus as a strategic advisor to financial institutions.

Working with Arriba Advisors allows Rachel to build on the integrity and trust of established long-term relationships. She helps banks identify, evaluate, verify, negotiate and execute the best possible solutions to their long-term business strategies.

Rachel is dedicated to giving back through community organizations. She serves as the chair for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Central Florida Light the Night event; and as the Chief Corporate Champion and One Walk Event Chairman for the JDRF organization. She is a member of the JDRF Board of Trustees, served as board president and received the Community Partner of Hope Award. Her community involvement, coupled with her recognized leadership skills and success in business, earned Rachel “Women of the Year in Technology” honors from the Women’s Executive Council of Orlando.

Tom Russell

A native of Miami, Florida, Tom Russell spent the past 20 years helping financial institutions navigate complex technology and professional services decisions to create efficiencies and gain competitive advantage. Tom held senior sales roles at TWS Systems, Open Solutions and Fiserv, where he managed complex enterprise sales valued up to $25M.

In his role as co-founder and partner at Arriba Advisors, Tom helps our clients understand how to match their needs and budget with the options available in the market to secure the right solution at the right cost of ownership, while identifying and managing the risks inherent in a complex technology purchase.

In his spare time, Tom is an accomplished triathlete and Ironman World Championship qualifier. Based in Dunedin, Tom is married with two sons. He graduated from the University of South Florida with a BS in Accounting.

Mark Gray

A native of Lakeland, Florida, Mark spent more than 20 years in the banking technology industry, most recently as CIO of a large financial institution in Central Florida. His responsibilities included strategic planning, managing card programs and setting the technological direction of the multi billion-dollar institution.

Mark is now working with Arriba Advisors to share his experience and expertise to bring technological success to other financial institutions. He knows how to determine the needs of an institution and pair the appropriate solution to meet their needs. Using his experience, Mark is able to help financial institutions ensure their card programs offer the proper technology for their customers and operate efficiently. From the perspective of the financial institution, he has excelled at reviewing and negotiating many contracts, some of which include core systems, digital channels, card processor, brand and PIN along with many others.

Mark graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology. Mark is passionate about his family and the community. When he has free time, he enjoys CrossFit, aviation and automobiles. He is married with two sons and a daughter.

Karishma Karediya

Karishma Karediya is a highly regarded financial services professional and experienced team leader with a demonstrated history of working in financial service Industry. Karishma has an extensive academic background with a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Master of Management Studies in Finance from the University of Mumbai. Before pursuing an MBA at USF, Karishma was a core team member of financial reporting team in Morgan Stanley Fund Services, which relates to audit for large US based hedge funds that invest in varied market across the globe.

She managed audits with more than 25 clients and 100 funds assigned to her team and showcased both leadership and managerial qualities at a time when she had to work without a manager, reporting on her assignments directly to the head of the team. She was awarded a spot award not only for her outstanding performance at work, but also for facilitating training for new hires in the team and preparing training materials for global training.

Apart from her professional career, she volunteered for several NGOs and was a local member of “Aga Khan Education Service, India” where she worked with fellow volunteers in planning and organizing grassroots level literacy and career programs geared toward women and children. She particularly found resonance in the powerful expression of “Learn, Earn and Return” as being able to contribute to society has always been one of her goals.

Kevin Mondlane

Hailing from Mozambique, Kevin is a driven, charismatic, and consummate professional with a close attention to detail and a dedication to producing quality for the Arriba team and its clients. Kevin arrived in Florida in 2016 and earned a B.S. in Finance, followed by an M.A. degree in Communications from the University of Tampa.
 
Kevin joined the Arriba Advisors team with a background in Admissions Counseling and Recruitment at his alma mater, boasting an expertise in interpersonal communication, customer relations, and managing organizational workflow. He joined the Arriba team as a Project Coordinator to liaise our clients with potential partners, manage project-related communications and assure quality delivery of services to our clients.
 
In his free time, Kevin loves to play soccer and basketball, as well as focusing on personal fitness and training. He enjoys writing poetry and creative nonfiction and he takes pride in being devoted to family and building meaningful, long-lasting relationships in his personal life.

Chassidy Butler

Chassidy joins Arriba Advisors as a well respected, experienced industry consultant. She has served as a Senior Payments Consultant since 2017 owning and delivering on all Credit, Debit and ATM evaluations and renewals ranging in asset size from $150 million to $9 billion.

Chassidy is passionate about helping financial institutions and organizations succeed by identifying gaps and nurturing ideas to fruition to cultivate the ultimate engagement. Utilizing real life scenarios in parallel with her MBA in Business Management and Strategy, Chassidy tends to think outside of the box, ask knowledgeable questions with the ultimate goal to find a win-win for all parties. 

Chassidy Butler resides in Adel, Iowa, with her husband, two children , and their two dogs and two cats. In her free time, you can find Chassidy reading a book or at the lake.

Jenn Cox

Born and raised in New York City as a first generation Vietnamese American, Jenn values perseverance and building diverse relationships. She received a B.A. in History with a concentration in research, followed by a Graduate Certificate in Technical Writing and Communication. ​

Jenn Cox joins the Arriba Advisors team as a Financial Analyst with a professional background in accounting and data analytics. In her previous roles as a Pricing and Data Analyst, she specialized in creating financial models and reports for Card Processing negotiations. She prides herself on seeking answers to build models that are accurate, transparent, and comprehensive. Her academic communication background has proven to be critical in explaining the value and impact of any data and trends. ​

When Jenn wraps up her work, she seeks creative pursuits such as pottery, crocheting, and miniature house building. She is also an avid reader of comics and loves creative video games.

Burcu Patel

Burcu is a Senior Financial Analyst at Arriba Advisors. Passionate about numbers, Burcu combines her business and finance background helping our clients to understand the financial impact of very complex banking technology acquisitions and contract renewals.

Prior to joining Arriba, Burcu spent over a decade with Open Solutions and Fiserv. Leading their product pricing functions, creating many of the analytical tools used by Fiserv to manage pricing functions across the enterprise.

A native of Istanbul, Turkey, Burcu earned a BS in Business Administration from Marmara University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Hartford.

Burcu currently lives in Massachusetts with her family, she  is married and has a son. In her free time, you can find her taking dance classes, running, spending time at the gym or with her son.

Kris Carlgren

A Kansas City native, Kris’ previous tenure as the brand licensing director for one of the nation’s top-ranked consumer brands, coupled with her pivotal role in crafting a top-rated digital banking experience for a premier Midwest credit union, makes her a strategic advisor that fully comprehends what employees and consumers expect from their financial institutions.