Chrissy Lee serves as Chief Operating Officer of Merit Financial Advisors, where she oversees the day-to-day operations of the firm, scaling the firm’s infrastructure, and aligning strategy, people, and execution across the enterprise.

As a member of Merit’s executive leadership team, she plays a critical role in supporting the firm’s growth strategy while ensuring consistent, high-quality experience for advisors, teams, and clients. 

In her role, Chrissy oversees firmwide operations, technology, data, integration, and strategic initiatives, with a particular focus on enabling scalable growth through disciplined processes and thoughtful innovation. She is deeply involved in Merit's M&A integration efforts, helping newly acquired firms transition smoothly while preserving advisor autonomy and client service excellence.

Chrissy also partners closely with leadership to modernize systems and implement AI-enabled solutions.

Chrissy translates strategic vision into actionable execution. She is passionate about building strong teams, developing leaders, and designing operating models that balance efficiency with flexibility, allowing advisors to focus on what matters most: serving their clients. 

Lindsey Lewis is a trailblazing voice at the intersection of women and finance, empowering women to take ownership of their financial futures. As a Certified Financial Planner™ professional and Chartered Financial Consultant®, she combines technical expertise with a deep commitment to expanding representation and opportunities within the financial services industry.

She serves as Managing Director and Chair of the Center for Women in Financial Services at The American College of Financial Services, where she leads nationally recognized research and industry initiatives focused on inclusive leadership, advisor development, and attracting the next generation of talent. She also co-chairs the College’s Next Gen Advisory Task Force, helping shape the future of the profession.

With experience at a large RIA and Vanguard, Lindsey brings a practitioner’s perspective to her leadership and advocacy. Her impact has been recognized by InvestmentNews and other industry organizations, including the 2025 and 2023 InvestmentNews Hot List, the InvestmentNews 40 Under 40, the Excell Represents Rising Star Woman in Wealth Management award, and Aspioneer’s 20 Under 40 list.

Holding dual degrees in Personal Financial Planning and an MBA from Utah Valley University, Lindsey blends academic excellence with real-world advisory insight. As she returns to her roots in personal advising, she brings the full breadth of her experience to serve clients as a financial advisor, helping them design meaningful, financially confident lives.

Nikki Pirrello is the COO of DCIIA and also serves as the Executive Director for DCIIA’s Plan Sponsor Institute (PSI). She is part of the executive leadership team setting the strategy and executing the vision for the organization to deliver on the mission of improving retirement outcomes and delivering financial security for America’s workforce. Nikki is a visionary senior executive connecting thought leaders in retirement, institutional investing, global asset management and financial services. Prior to joining DCIIA, she served as the President and Publisher of Pensions & Investments, a Crain family brand. Nikki led P&I’s business operations and strategy globally, overseeing the newspaper, digital, conferences, custom publishing and data and research products. In this role, she worked closely with global asset managers and asset owners to develop solutions to engage P&I’s constituents and help further the mission of providing a secure retirement for participants and members around the world. During her tenure, she expanded P&I’s global conference business, developed and scaled the custom publishing and research capabilities for the brand and supported the launch of the P&I Research Center and the shift to a digital-first newsroom. She worked alongside industry leaders to help advance equity and access to the global finance and retirement system.

Previously Nikki served in senior marketing and leadership roles at Lebhar-Friedman, Inc., and Scholastic, Inc., and prior to that was on the agency side of the business producing corporate communications materials, videos, commercials, digital content and live events for a variety of clients in the finance and transportation industries.

Nikki has a bachelor’s degree from Drury University and currently resides in New York with her family who are all avid soccer players.

Kara Valentine is a Managing Director at The Rudin Group, responsible for high-net-worth (HNW) and registered investment advisors (RIA) marketing strategy. Kara’s extensive career spans from wirehouse to bank wealth management to family office, and the independent RIA channel. The brands Kara has helped build include Morgan Stanley, Bank of America’s Global Wealth and Investment Management Division – Merrill Lynch and U.S. Trust, Dynasty Financial Partners, Rockefeller Capital Management, Cary Street Partners, and Transcend Capital Advisors before she joined The Rudin Group in 2023.

Kara’s marketing expertise includes strategic and tactical execution for brands, creative design, storytelling, lead generation, internal and external communication, and MarTech platforms.

Kara serves on the Executive Board for the Center for Marketing and Consumer Insights at the Villanova School of Business. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/Marketing from Villanova University.