speakers

Rachel Biar serves as the Deputy State Treasurer for Savings Programs administering the Nebraska 529 Education Savings Program and providing oversight for the Enable Savings Program. She has had the privilege of serving in her position for over 20 years and is directly responsible for the administration, marketing, and oversight of the NEST 529 Education Savings Plans, which includes the NEST Direct College Savings Plan, NEST Advisor College Savings Plan, Bloomwell 529 Education Savings, and the State Farm 529 Savings Plan. In addition, she oversees and provides guidance for the Enable Savings Plan. The Nebraska State Treasurer serves as Program Trustee for both NEST 529 and Enable.

Rachel works directly with Union Bank & Trust which serves as Program Manager for NEST 529 and with Ascensus as Program Manager of Enable. She also collaborates with the Nebraska Investment Council in reviewing the investments within the plans.

As a resolute advocate for 529 plans, Rachel currently serves as Past Chair of the College Savings Plans Network (CSPN), is a member of the College Savings Foundation (CSF) and serves on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) Municipal Fund Securities Advisory Group.

Kim DeDominicis is a portfolio manager of the target date strategies in the Multi-Asset Division. She also leads the U.S. College Savings Plan investment efforts. Kim is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., T. Rowe Price Trust Company, and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. 

Kim’s investment experience began in 1998. She was with T. Rowe Price from 1998 to 2001, beginning in the Equity Division, and returned in 2003. Prior to returning to T. Rowe Price, Kim was employed by Merrill Lynch as a summer M.B.A. intern in the equity derivatives strategy group. She also was employed by MetLife Investments in the corporate bond strategy group. 

Kim earned a B.S., magna cum laude, in mathematics, with a concentration in statistics, from Bucknell University and an M.B.A. from New York University, Stern School of Business.

Zach Gieske is the President of the Stable Value Investment Association (SVIA), a non-profit trade association dedicated to advancing retirement security through education, advocacy, and industry leadership. Under his direction, SVIA has undertaken a comprehensive strategic review resulting in enhanced member engagement, streamlined operations, and a modernized digital infrastructure. Zach has played a central role in raising the profile of stable value as a key component of retirement plan design, working closely with policymakers, plan sponsors, and industry stakeholders to ensure the asset class is well understood and appropriately positioned in the retirement landscape.
With a background in information sciences and strategic communications, Zach brings a multidisciplinary approach to association leadership. His work has helped SVIA more effectively serve its members and respond to the evolving needs of the retirement investment community.
He lives in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife, Amelia, and their daughter, Clementine. Outside of work, Zach can often be found cooking elevated toddler cuisine and exploring Baltimore’s best playgrounds.

Stacey MacPhetres is Senior Director of Education Finance at Bright Horizons, the nation’s leading provider of educational advisory services to organizations and families. At Bright Horizons, Ms. MacPhetres works with the team of experts developing, delivery and providing support in all aspect of education finance, financial wellness and student loan coaching. Stacey has devoted her 30+  year career to education finance. With extensive experience in financial aid administration at Emerson College and Elms College and as a consultant at Mt. Holyoke College, she has counseled thousands students and families through the college finance process. In addition, she spent more than a decade working as a vice president in education finance at JPMorgan Chase, where she was responsible for managing federal and private loan portfolios and financial literacy programs.

MacPhetres holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Marist College and a master’s degree in political communication and marketing from Emerson College. MacPhetres has been featured as an education finance and student loan expert in numerous news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, NBC News, NerdWallet, Money, CNBC, Fortune, US News and World Report, USA Today, and Associated Press (AP) News. She is a frequent guest on the podcast, Getting In: A College Coach Conversation and presenter at national student loan and education finance industry conferences.

John Mitchell is the Director of College Savings and Deputy Chief Financial Product Officer at the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office. He and his team administer Bright Start and Bright Directions, the two Illinois 529 plans; Illinois First Steps, the Illinois statewide CSA program; and a range of statewide financial education programs. He lives in Chicago with his wife and son and is a tortured fan of the Chicago White Sox.

Luis Sierra is a vice president for Marquette Associates with 14 years of investment experience and works from Marquette’s Baltimore office. He joined the firm in 2017 and is a member of the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee, sustainable investing group, and nonprofit services group. Luis serves as the investment consultant on several client relationships with a focus on public funds and nonprofit clients.

Prior to joining Marquette, Luis worked as an investment counselor at Fisher Investments. Previously, he worked as an operations administrator at Efficient Advisors.

Luis holds a B.S. in finance and international business from Drexel University and an M.B.A. in international business and an M.S. in finance from Temple University’s Fox School of Business. Luis is a CFA^® charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Baltimore. He serves as treasurer and board member of JANE (Jewels Advancing, Nurturing, and Empowering), Inc.

Chris Stack, Esq. Managing Consultant, Savingforcollege.com, is a nationally recognized 529 authority and experienced in educational finance. An attorney for over 30 years, licensed in New York & Pennsylvania, Chris has experience in finance, investments and law relating to tax- advantaged products, including Section 529, since it became federal law in 1996.
As a partner at a major New York law firm, he advocated to his state clients the benefits of 529 programs and beginning in 1997 served as the principal or participating author for a number of states’ legislation establishing 529 programs, as well as amending various state statutes. He has been credited for actively and successfully initiating, advocating and assisting in the 2022 federal tax law changes allowing for “leftover” 529 funds to be transferred to a Roth IRA. He’s also assisted several states and plan managers implement their 529 investment plans that now service over $20B in assets.
Since 2001, Chris has been providing consulting and educational services while affiliated with SavingforCollege.com. He is intimately familiar with the provisions of Section 529 itself, as well as the various state laws and programs. Currently, Chris advises and consults with sponsoring state agencies, program managers and investment companies, and presents nationally to financial advisors, accountants, attorneys and actual investors on 529 plans.
Current and past clients of Chris include Allianz, American Century, BlackRock, Columbia Threadneedle, Dreyfus, Fidelity, Fisher Investments, John Hancock, Goldman Sachs AM, Legg Mason, MFS, PIMCO, Voya, Wells Fargo Funds as well as Morgan Stanley, Raymond James, Charles Schwab and several other broker-dealers and several state agencies sponsoring 529 plans.
Chris is a graduate of Fordham College and Fordham University School of Law, located in New York City. He has participated as an investor in various 529 plans since 1997 as owner of several 529 accounts.
Savingforcollege.com is widely acknowledged as the leading independent authority and resource on Section 529 and the various 529 programs and hosts a website that is the most often cited source of comprehensive information on 529 plans and developments concerning the industry.

William Thompson is an experienced executive and strategic advisor with deep expertise in 529 plan administration, fintech transformation, and digital modernization. As Deputy Executive Director of the Florida Prepaid College Board, he led the development of, and $15B transition to, a scalable, AI-enabled SaaS records administration platform built on Salesforce. His work bridges the public and private sectors, with a focus on enhancing customer experience, streamlining operations, and fostering value-driven decision-making. William brings a forward-looking perspective to the intersection of education savings, technology, and policy, with a focus on how platforms, financial behavior, and AI are reshaping the future of 529 programs.

Ryan White is senior director of 529 product management and subject matter expert for IRC Section 529 products at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. In this role, he is responsible for product management, development and oversight, as well as sales and marketing support for the Future Scholar 529 Advisor-sold, and Direct-sold plans. He joined one of Columbia Threadneedle Investments’ legacy firms in 2012 and has been worked in the financial services community since 2010, having previously held various positions with Fifth Third Bank and Fifth Third Securities. Ryan received a B.A. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds the Series 7, 6, 52, 53 and 63 licenses with FINRA. In addition, he is a CFPTM professional, and holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst designation, administered by the Investments & Wealth Institute®, and taught in association with the Yale School of Management.