Roger recently ended his 16-year tenure as Chairman of the Executive Committee of American Express National Bank, after serving as Chairman of the Board and chairing all major committees, including Audit, Risk and Compliance. Roger currently serves as a board member and as an executive advisor with multiple companies in industries as diverse as biotech, consumer goods, fintech and real estate.

After getting his law degree, Roger joined the corporate lending business at Citicorp in 1969. He spent the next seven years in various management positions, leading a high-risk leveraged buyout team and becoming the youngest senior credit officer at Citicorp. In 1977 Roger joined the new consumer banking group headed by John Reed, where he served in a variety of more senior positions until 1983. He left the company to become CEO of a troubled California community bank, recapitalizing the bank and returning it to profitability.

From 1986 to 1990, Roger was a partner in a boutique consulting firm specializing in developing strategy for domestic and foreign banks. In 1990, at the request of regulators, he joined a $12 billion savings bank on the cusp of failure, where he was responsible for the workout of troubled real estate and a large retail and middle-market portfolio. He then joined NatWest Bancorp, at that time the 15th largest bank in the US, as Executive Vice President responsible for its branches, middle-market lending, private banking, credit cards, and non-bank distribution. After NatWest Bancorp sold, he started a direct marketing company, growing it to $700 million in sales and profitability before it was sold in the year 2000.

With over four decades in board level, executive and advisory roles, Roger has guided many companies and their teams to sustainable long-term value by focusing sharply on employees, customers, communities and shareholders. Organizations rely on his deep expertise and his strong operational background as CEO and COO to increase market capitalization and revenue, boost profitability and employee engagement. He has led multiple companies to additional market cap and increased a Top 25 bank’s revenue by 25% and grew a startup profitably. Widely respected for his thought leadership and change-management expertise, Roger champions a culture that is based on trust, accountability and transparency to build more vibrant and valuable businesses.

Roger served as Chairman of the Board and Chairman Emeritus for Lighthouse International, a charitable organization dedicated to vision rehabilitation. He is past Board Chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes research.