Principals
Shawn Budde
Principal
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
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.
Associates
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 US 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 US Navy as a Nuclear Submarine Officer and holds a BSE in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Duke University.
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.
Jane Blore
Analysis and Client Engagement
Jane Blore is an Associate of Analysis and Client Engagement at Ensemblex, LLC. Before joining the Ensemblex team, Jane spent two years at Zest AI, where she was a Manager of Business Analytics and Strategy. Prior to her work at Zest, Jane served as an Officer in the United States Air Force analyzing future space concepts.
Jane holds an M.S. from The Georgia Institute of Technology and a B.S. from the US Air Force Academy, both in Operations Research.
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.