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The Team
Meet Our Team
Founders
Shawn Budde
Principal
Chicago, IL
Shawn Budde is a Principal at Ensemblex, LLC. Shawn is a 30 year veteran in financial services. He has held senior roles including CEO of 2Checkout, co-founder at ZestFinance, and SVP at Capital One where he managed the $1+ billion subprime credit card P&L. Shawn began his career with roles at Citibank and KeyCorp.
Shawn holds an MBA from Wharton and a B.A. Computer Science from Columbia University.
Mike Armstrong
Principal
Denver, CO
Mike Armstrong is a Principal at Ensemblex, LLC. Before Ensemblex, Mike was President of ZestFinance, a top-tier fintech company transforming credit underwriting through Machine Learning. Prior to ZestFinance, Mike spent time as a strategy consultant and nearly a decade at Capital One. There, he held various leadership roles within the credit card business.
Mike began his career as a U.S. Army Ranger after graduating from Duke University with a B.A. Economics.
Scott Bass
Director of Launch Operations
Scott Bass is the Director of Launch Operations at Ensemblex, LLC. Prior to joining the team, Scott was the Head of U.S. Operations at Monzo Bank. He has spent the last two decades becoming a leader in operational strategies, holding positions at Capital One and Green Dot, as well as co-founding Ready Financial Group.
Scott started his career in the U.S. Navy as a Nuclear Submarine Officer and holds a BSE in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Duke University.
Boise, ID
Leland Burns
Analysis and Client Engagement
Leland Burns is an Associate at Ensemblex, LLC. Before joining the team at Ensemblex, Leland spent four years at ZestFinance, where he was the Director of Business Analysis and managed the company's core lending business. Prior to his work at Zest, Leland served in the Marine Corps for six years, primarily as an Infantry Officer.
Leland holds an M.Phil from the University of Cambridge and a B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy, both in International Relations.
Los Angeles, CA
Julia Budde
Analysis
Julia Budde is an Associate at Ensemblex, working in Operations and Analysis. Before joining Ensemblex, Julia was a legal assistant supporting top-ranked attorneys in business law and litigation in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Julia holds a BS in Economics and Mathematics from Tulane University.
New Orleans, LA
Jim Creighton
Analysis and Client Engagement
Jim is an Associate at Ensemblex, LLC. He has over two decades of strategy and operational leadership experience spanning everything from Fortune 500 to consulting firms. At Capital One, he led initiatives across consumer banking, business banking and collections to grow acquired and new business lines. Most recently, Jim served on the executive team of a high-growth B2C travel organization through 3 sets of PE investors, each realizing strong exits. During that time, he was the GM/SVP of several business lines and led product development and growth initiatives, including international expansion.
Jim holds a BSE and MBA from Duke University and a Master's in Data Science from the University of Michigan.
Northern VA
Ashtyn Fiala
Analysis
Ashtyn Fiala is an Associate at Ensemblex, working in business analytics. Before joining Ensemblex, Ashtyn worked as an actuarial data technician at a leading retirement services company.
Ashtyn holds a BS in Statistics and Analytics from Brigham Young University.
Provo, UT
Stephanie Goodrich
Operations
Stephanie Goodrich is an Associate of Operations at Ensemblex. Before joining Ensemblex, Stephanie managed Front-of-House operations for an acclaimed restaurant and received certification as an international sake sommelier.
Stephanie holds a BS in Nutrition and Food Sciences from the University of Vermont.
Portland, ME
Camila Hatkoff
Head of Growth
Camila Bivar Hatkoff is the Head of Growth at Ensemblex. Before joining Ensemblex, Camila was the Head of Business Development and Chief of Staff at Escale Digital, a start-up changing the future of digital marketing and customer acquisition. Here, Camila led a team that raised over $50mm in capital from leading VCs and created strategic partnerships with a combined revenue of over $55mm. Prior to her work at Escale, she led fundraising and network development initiatives at Endeavor, a global organization that catalyzes long-term economic growth by investing in high-impact entrepreneurs worldwide.
Camila holds bachelor’s degrees in political science and business administration. She also has a certification in Women’s Leadership from Stanford.
Los Angeles, CA
Brandon Homuth
Managing Director
Brandon Homuth is a Managing Director at Ensemblex. He has over two decades of experience in consumer financial services. Prior to Ensemblex, Brandon spent 11 years at Capital One in multiple analytical leadership roles across the consumer lifecycle, including marketing, product, credit policy, account management, operations, and risk management. Additionally, he spent 7 years at Encore Capital Group in multiple executive leadership and P&L roles, helping to grow Encore to become the largest debt purchaser in the world. Brandon also served as President of ClearOne Advantage, a privately held consumer debt solutions business with $100MM revenue and 500 employees.
Brandon holds a BA from Yale University.
Denver, CO
Meagan LeBlanc
Operations
Meagan LeBlanc is an Associate of Operations at Ensemblex, LLC. Before Ensemblex, Meagan managed the training and quality programs at ZestFinance. She built out the customer service programs for several loan products under the ZestFinance brand. Additionally, she has worked as a consultant for lending start-ups, creating their customer service strategy from the ground up.
Meagan has a B.A. in Clinical Psychology and holds numerous certifications in complementary and alternative medicine.
Meagan LeBlanc
Operations and Product Launch
Meagan LeBlanc is an Associate of Operations at Ensemblex, LLC. Before Ensemblex, Meagan managed the training and quality programs at ZestFinance. She built out the customer service programs for several loan products under the ZestFinance brand. Additionally, she has worked as a consultant for lending start-ups, creating their customer service strategy from the ground up.
Meagan has a B.A. in Clinical Psychology and holds numerous certifications in complementary and alternative medicine.
Charlotte, NC
Trina Leishman
Project Manager
Trina Leishman is an Associate of Product Launch at Ensemblex, LLC. As the Lead Project Manager for all new Ensemblex Product Launches, Trina has decades of experience working in the finance and Fintech space. Most recently, she worked at Green Dot, spearheading the effort for all their direct mail marketing testing and production. Prior to that, Trina held various positions at Capital One, ultimately leading their risk management projects.
Trina holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Boise State University.
Boise, ID
Meagan LeBlanc
Operations
Meagan LeBlanc is an Associate of Operations at Ensemblex, LLC. Before Ensemblex, Meagan managed the training and quality programs at ZestFinance. She built out the customer service programs for several loan products under the ZestFinance brand. Additionally, she has worked as a consultant for lending start-ups, creating their customer service strategy from the ground up.
Meagan has a B.A. in Clinical Psychology and holds numerous certifications in complementary and alternative medicine.
Jim Mcguire
Head of Data Science
Jim McGuire is an Associate in Data Science at Ensemblex, LLC. Recently, Jim held the role Principal Data Scientist at the startup Flowcast. There he applied Machine Learning techniques to risk assessments in global trade and related financial products. Prior to that, he was the Director of Data Science at ZestFinance where he led the ML team.
Jim studied Physics, earning his B.A. from Dartmouth College and his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego.
Los Angeles, CA
Chloe Zhu
Director, Venture Studio
Chloe Zhu, CFA, is the Director of Venture Studio at Ensemblex. Prior to joining the team, Chloe worked at Mission Lane, where she led several successful product launches. These new products played a major role in doubling Mission Lane's customer base to over 2 million customers. She also was a founding investor of a global investment fund at White Oak Global. During her tenure, the fund scaled to over $200mm in capital deployed across four continents.
Chloe started her career at JPMorgan's investment bank and she is a CFA charterholder. Chloe holds a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago.