Board of Directors

Becky S. Shulman is the Chair of the Boards of Directors of Pathward Financial and Pathward, N. A.. Shulman is the President of Card Compliant, LLC, a compliance specialty company serving the prepaid and stored value card industry, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Prior to joining Card Compliant in 2012, Shulman held several executive positions in the financial services and tax industries, including CFO and Treasurer of H&R Block, Inc. and Deputy CFO of LPL Financial. She also served on the Board of Directors of H&R Block Bank from 2009 until its sale in 2015 and previously held the position of Chief Investment Officer of U.S. Central Credit Union. Shulman graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a B.S. degree in Computer Management and received her MBA from the University of Illinois.

Elizabeth G. Hoople is the Vice Chair of the Boards of Directors of Pathward Financial and Pathward, N. A.. Hoople currently works as a financial services consultant with Bank On Marketing, a consulting firm she formed in March 2013, specializing in business strategy, marketing and payments product development. Until March 2013, she served as head of marketing for Wells Fargo for 15 years and holds several patents for developing “My Spending Report,” an online personal financial and budgeting tool for wellsfargo.com. Hoople previously held management positions with Providian Financial and also with Citigroup, at which she introduced the world’s first major Photocard product. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

Brett Pharr is the Chief Executive Officer of Pathward Financial and Pathward, N. A. Prior to being appointed to his current role in October 2021, Brett was Co-President and Chief Operating Officer since June 2020 and Executive Vice President, Group Head of Governance, Risk and Compliance since February 2019. Before joining Pathward, Brett served as Senior Risk Director at Citizens Bank in the Consumer Division where he built a best practice enterprise risk organization and culture that enhanced competitive advantage, solidified brand identity, and increased shareholder confidence. Prior to Citizens Bank, Brett worked for 32 years at Bank of America holding roles in the Commercial and Consumer lines of business, Business Transformation, Mergers and Acquisitions and risk. He received a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Freed-Hardeman University and an MBA from Bristol University

Douglas J. Hajek is a member of the Boards of Directors of Pathward Financial and Pathward, N. A.. Hajek previously was a lawyer concentrating in corporate and financial services matters with over thirty years of experience and practices with the law firm of Davenport, Evans, Hurwitz & Smith, LLP from 2020 until his retirement on December 31, 2024. Previously, Hajek held management positions in commercial banking at U.S. Bank and two independent banks. Hajek serves as vice chair of the South Dakota Building Authority and is a member of the Finance Council of the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls. Hajek graduated from South Dakota State University (B.S.), the University of Northern Colorado (M.A.), and the University of South Dakota School of Law.

Ronald D. McCray is a member of the Boards of Directors of Pathward Financial and Pathward, N. A.. McCray is an advisor at RLJ Equity Partners, a private equity firm. Previously, from 2014 to 2016, McCray was Chairman, and from 2015 to 2016 Chairman, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Career Education Corporation (now Perdoceo Education Corporation). From 2007 to 2009 he was Chief Administrative Officer at NIKE, Inc. Prior to that, from 1987 to 2007, McCray served in various roles as a lawyer at Kimberly Clark Corporation, including as SVP, Law and Government Affairs and Chief Compliance Officer. McCray is on the Board of Directors of Dallas News Corporation and PowerSchool, LLC. McCray also serves as vice chairman of the board of trustees of Cornell University. He received his undergraduate degree in Government from Cornell University, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Neeraj Mehta is a member of the Boards of Directors of Pathward Financial and Pathward, N.A. Mehta brings three decades of financial industry and leadership experience to the board and has served in his current role as CEO and a board member of DigniFi since November 2021. From January 2015 through March 2021, Mehta held executive roles at Synchrony that included three years as Executive Vice President, Business Strategy and Development followed by three years as Executive Vice President and CEO, Payment Solutions and Chief Commercial Officer. He was part of the executive team that separated Synchrony from GE Capital, where he served in a number of roles from July 1996 through January 2015, including President and CEO of two GE Capital businesses: Commercial Distribution Finance and Bank Loan Group. Mehta serves on multiple boards in education, fintech and start-ups. He earned a master’s in Finance and Banking from Syracuse University and a bachelor’s in Social Sciences from the University of California, Irvine. In 2010, Ascend named him an Asian-Pacific American Impact Leader.

Christopher “Chris” Perretta is a member of the Boards of Directors of Pathward Financial, Inc. and Pathward, N.A.  Perretta previously served as Chief Information and Operations Officer at MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation and its U.S. banking subsidiary, MUFG Union Bank, N.A. from March 2017 to January 2019.  From September 2007 until March 2017, he served as Global Chief Information Officer  at State Street Corporation and as a member of State Street Corporation's Management Committee from February 2013 until March 2017.  From December 1996 to September 2007, Perretta held various roles at General Electric Capital Corporation including Chief Information Officer for the North American Consumer Financial Services unit, Chief Technology Officer for General Electric Capital, and Chief Information Officer of General Electric Commercial Finance. He was also a Vice President for the General Electric Company. From January 1985 until December 1996 Perretta served as a consultant at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) serving the technology and financial services practices in the United States, France and the UK.   Perretta has been on the Board of Directors of Netscout Systems, Inc. since 2014 and previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of Deutsche Bank Trust NA, as well as a privately held technology company.  He currently serves on the board of the Advanced Cyber Security Center.  He received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University.

Kendall E. Stork is a member of the Boards of Directors of Pathward Financial and Pathward, N. A.. In 2016, Stork retired as Sioux Falls Site President for Citibank, a position he held for 17 years. He was previously the President and CEO of Citibank, South Dakota where he served for 12 years as a Board Member, seven of those as Chair. Stork graduated from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln with a Bachelor’s degree in Business with an emphasis in Accounting.

Lizabeth H. Zlatkus is a member of the Boards of Directors of Pathward Financial and Pathward, N.A.  From 1983 until her retirement in 2011, Zlatkus held various executive positions at the Hartford Financial Services Group, including Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk Officer. She was also president of two significant divisions at the Hartford, as well as Co-President of The Hartford Life Insurance Companies. Zlatkus currently sits on the Board of Directors of Axis Capital Holdings, Limited and Brighthouse Financial, Inc. Her extensive experience also includes time on four other public company boards. Zlatkus graduated with distinction from The Pennsylvania State University in 1981 with a B.S. in Accounting.