Our Team & Community

Liz is the executive assistant for the NCS President/CEO, Mason Rutledge. She manages the NCS National office and is the liaison for the chapters.  Additionally, coordinates the National retreat and regional retreats. She has worked for NCS since August 2010.

Liz graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Restaurant and Resort management. She worked with Marriott International for five years in the rooms division of a 1,000 guest room luxury property.  She then switched gears to work in higher education at Grand Canyon University as assisting in the development of the Doctoral Program.

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Bob has worked in the asset management industry for over 40 years serving most recently as chief equity strategist and senior portfolio manager at Nuveen. He held similar positions at BlackRock, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (where he served as President and Chief Investment Officer), and OppenheimerFunds. Bob appears frequently on financial television discussing economic developments and markets.

Bob is both a chartered financial analyst and a certified public accountant and earned a BS and a BA from Lehigh University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Bob and his wife Leslie live in Princeton, New Jersey and have three children. He is also choir director at his local church and serves on ten boards including Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Cairn University, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, Kingdom Advisors, Lausanne Movement, National Christian Foundation, New Canaan Society, Movement.org, Princeton Healthcare System and Word of Life Fellowship.

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Dr. Chip made his way to NCS Manhattan in the Spring of 2014. He has found deep community and an opportunity to serve over the last 8 years as part of the leadership team. Chip speaks at other NCS Chapters around the country, assists in the training of new chapter leaders, and recently joined the NCS National Board.

He is the Founder and President of the VOCA Center. VOCA delivers “Chrisitan therapy for people’s careers” by delivering resources that equip Christ-followers to approach their daily work with God’s wisdom and power.

Chip is also the managing partner of RKE Partners, a training consultancy that delivers executive development that transforms leaders and positively impacts the bottom line.

With an Executive Coaching Certification from Columbia University and a Doctorate of Ministry from Missio Seminary, Chip tackles client challenges from 30+ years of P/L leadership responsibility as a small businessman, a pastor, a career coach, and a business consultant. Chip's clients are found at Blackstone, Sunrise Brokers, JP Morgan, Randall-Reilly, Goldman Sachs, Neilson, Knopman Marks, and CNBC.

Ed has been in the financial services industry for 35 years. In 2010, Ed obtained the title of Wealth Advisor. Also in 2010, Ed attained his Portfolio Manager title through UBS's Portfolio Management Program.  In order to maintain his numerous licenses, he attends a minimum of 35 hours of continuing education classes per year.

Ed spent four years as a Trust Officer with one of the nation's largest banks before joining forces with Mitch in 1993.  Ed has extensive training in estate planning and wealth management.  His team manages a diversified base of clients that varies from wealthy families to institutions, foundations, private schools, associations, and corporations in Central Florida.

Ed was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Florida State University in their honors program, and graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Business.  Ed has been married for 27 years to Janet and they have one child, Clay, who is 25. Ed enjoys competitive tennis and scuba diving with Janet and Clay.  Ed has been a longtime leader and member of the NCS Orlando Chapter

Edward J. Russell, III has been involved in the construction and real estate development field for over thirty-five years. In 1994 he was chosen to serve as the third generation Managing Partner of Russell Development Company (RDC), based in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. RDC is actively involved in both commercial real estate (office and retail), and the ultra-luxury residential sector.

Russell Development’s commercial business focuses on the construction, management, and acquisition of retail strip centers in southeast Michigan anchored by such tenants as Wal Mart, CVS Drugs, O’Reilly Auto Parts and FedEx Office. The office portfolio tenants include Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Oppenheimer & Co., The Ralph C. Wilson Foundation, The Private Bank, Chemical Bank and Northern Trust Bank.

After studying finance at Western Michigan University, Mr. Russell joined the family business and served in a variety of capacities in the areas of job cost and budget analysis, tenant lease structuring and negotiation, and was responsible for maintaining and creating tenant relationships and identifying development opportunities for the company.

Mr. Russell has served on numerous Boards, both public “for profit” and civic. Ed resides in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan with his wife Marcia, and is the father of three grown daughters.

Eric Lewis is a trader and entrepreneur in Houston who focuses on financial markets and digital marketing. Eric is also the host of The Weekly Option, a podcast recorded each week about option trading that started in 2018.

Eric currently works with a cryptocurrency trading start-up and helps companies improve their marketing results online. He worked in the energy business for 11 years, mostly in trading petroleum products and renewable fuels. Prior to the energy business, he worked nearly 5 years as an option trader market-maker at the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

Eric received a BA in economics from the University of Texas at Austin in 1999.  He also earned his MBA in analytical finance from the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business in 2007.

Harold (Hal) O. Rosser is Managing Partner of Rosser Capital Partners, a Greenwich, CT based Private Investment Firm he founded in 2011. Previously, he spent 15 years as Founder and Managing Director of Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co., Inc., a New York based mid-market Private Equity firm, established in 1995 and before that, 20 years at Citibank/Citicorp/Citicorp Venture Capital. Hal has led his respective firm’s acquisitions of more than two dozen businesses, each with annual revenues between $20 million to $1+ billion and is individually recognized as having completed more transactions in the restaurant space than any other competing firm.

Hal earned his BS from Clarkson University and attended Management Development Programs at Carnegie-Mellon University and the Stanford University School of Business.

Hal is currently a director of several private companies and is a Trustee Emeritus at the Culinary Institute of America and member of the Board’s Investment Committee and a Life Trustee at Wake Forest University and a member of the Board’s Investment Committee. Hal co-founded the Naples NCS Chapter in 2006 and serves as Board and Executive Committee member of NCS National. Hal and his wife Rita (of 50 years) live in Naples, FL and Charlotte, NC. Their son, Luke, daughter-in-law, Emily and grandchildren, Tommy, Ella, and Lilly live in Charlotte.

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James Sanislow lives in Sugar Land, Texas, where he and his wife (Laura) and their four children relocated from Connecticut in 2009.  James is an attorney with Noble Drilling Services Inc. (a global offshore drilling contractor) where he serves as Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer, responsible for the company’s compliance program along with Internal Audit, Operational and Environmental Assurance, and Enterprise Risk Management.  James also serves as the Chairman of the Compliance & Ethics Committee for the International Association of Drilling Contractors, and serves on the board of Massachusetts Maritime Academy Foundation.

Prior to joining Noble, James served in various legal and compliance capacities with Chemtura Corporation and Moran Towing Corporation in Connecticut, after having been in private practice in New York City with the admiralty firm Clark, Atcheson & Reisert.  James earned a Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation from Massachusetts Maritime Academy and was licensed as a Third Officer – Unlimited Oceans, by the U.S. Coast Guard, and subsequently sailed with Liberty Maritime and Apex Marine.  James also served for 10-years in the U.S. Navy Reserves.  James earned a Juris Doctor from Western Michigan University – Cooley Law School and is a member of the bar in good standing in Texas and New York, and is admitted to practice in several U.S. District Courts, the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jay joined Cassia Capital Partners LLC as the founding Managing Partner in 2011 after a successful career at CMT Asset Management, Ltd., an international asset management firm with offices in Chicago, London, and Hong Kong, which he helped establish in 2005. As principal partner, he was responsible for Risk Management and Portfolio Construction which included allocating to hedge funds.

Mr. Helvey is recognized as a leader in financial risk management with extensive experience in trading cash, futures, and derivatives instruments, as well as 12 years of experience overseeing large investment portfolios. As a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan, Jay served as the Vice Chairman of J.P. Morgan’s Risk Committee and Global Head of Derivative Counterparty and Hedge Fund Risk Management.

Jay earned a master’s degree in International Affairs, Banking and Finance in 1984 from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York, where he was an International Fellow. He also attended the University of Cologne, West Germany in 1982 as a Fulbright Scholar. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wake Forest University where he earned a double-major in Political Science and German in 1981. He graduated Magna Cum Laude, with Honors, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

Jay serves on the Coca Cola Consolidated Bottling Co. (COKE), Computer Task Group (CTG), and Piedmont Federal Savings Bank Board of Directors. In addition, Jay served on the Pike Electric Board (PIKE) from 2005 – 2014. Jay also served as a Wake Forest University trustee from 1997 – 2017 and as a Wake Forest Medical Center Director from 2015 – 2017. In addition to his corporate board roles, Jay serves on the investment committees of Verger Capital Management, the Wake Forest University Health Sciences, and the Winston Salem Foundation.

Jay co-founded the Winston-Salem, N.C. chapter of the New Canaan Society, a Christian men’s fellowship organization. Married for 30 years, Jay and his wife have five children.

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Joining in 2000, Jeff is a partner and is the Managing Director of Private Capital Management (“PCM”) based in Naples, Florida.  PCM is a boutique investment firm that has traditionally focused its research attention on undervalued small-cap and other special situation equity investments and hedged vehicles.

In 2016, a longstanding client of the firm invited Jeff to a breakfast where he was introduced to the men of the New Canaan Society. Since that day, Jeff has been a proud member of the NCS Naples chapter and found that the men of NCS have become close friends, trusted advisors and generous mentors.

Born and raised in Haddam, Connecticut, Jeff and his wife, Caitlin have been married since 1998.  They are the proud parents of three: Julia (20), John Patrick (18) and Casey (12). Jeff and Caitlin met while in college at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, where Jeff earned his B.S. in Finance and graduated in 1997.

Michael Tremain is a Partner at Sovereign’s Capital where he concentrates on investment sourcing and portfolio management with a focus on lower middle market opportunities.

Michael’s career includes stints with TrinRock Capital, Andersen Consulting, the Walt Disney Company, Hard Rock Cafe International and he has led a number of privately held companies in the technology, wholesale distribution, oil & gas, healthcare, residential construction and commercial services sectors.

Michael earned his BS in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his MS in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics.

Michael and his wife, Kristin, and four children live in Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

Mr. Timmis was born in Detroit, Michigan where he has had a distinguished career as both an attorney and businessman.  He earned his undergraduate degree from Wayne State University and graduated with highest honors from the Wayne State Law School in 1965.  He was an Editor of Law Review while in law school.  He received the School’s Distinguished Law Alumni Award in 1979.   Additionally, in 1991 Governor John Engler appointed Mr. Timmis as a Governor of Wayne State University, the term of which expired December 31, 1996.  In 1993, Mr. Timmis was the recipient of the Business and Professional Award from Religious Heritage of America.  In the year 2000, Mr. Timmis was named Entrepreneur of The Year by Students in Free Enterprise.  Further, Mr. Timmis received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters degree from the University of Detroit-Mercy in May of 1995 in recognition of his civic and humanitarian contributions. In May 2008, Mr. Timmis was also the recipient of a Doctorate from Ave Maria University.

Mr. Timmis was senior partner of the law firm of Timmis & Inman L.L.P.  He was also the co-founder and vice-chairman of Talon LLC., a privately-owned company formed in 1973 with extensive interests in retail and manufacturing both in the United States and Europe, as well as numerous real estate companies.  Mr. Timmis retired on December 31, 2007.

In addition to his legal and business involvements, Mr. Timmis holds memberships in many professional associations; is a director of numerous corporations and serves or has served in a leadership capacity on the Boards of many charitable organizations and foundations including St. John Healthcare Systems, Cornerstone Schools, Inc., etc.  Mr. Timmis has served on many ministry boards including The Navigators, Promise Keepers and Prison Fellowship Ministries.  Also Mr. Timmis served as Chairman of Prison Fellowship International, a trans-denominational Christian organization comprising 129 chartered countries, for 16 years until October 2012.  In October 2006, Mr. Timmis succeeded Chuck Colson as Chairman of Prison Fellowship Ministries (USA) which he chaired until June of 2011.  Currently, Mr. Timmis is on the Chairman’s Council of Alpha International in London and Chairman of the Board of Alpha in a Catholic Context.  In addition, Mr. Timmis is on the Board of the New Canaan Society.

Mr. Timmis and his wife Nancy are deeply involved in the problems of the poor in the Third World and have developed self-help projects in Africa and Central and South America.  They are also very active in addressing the educational needs of children in East Africa as well as the City of Detroit.  Along with his partner, Mr. Randolph Agley, Mr. Timmis was named one of the Leaders of the Nineties by Crain’s Detroit Business magazine.

Mr. Timmis has been married to the former Nancy Lauppe for sixty years.  The Timmises have two children, a son Michael and a daughter Laura, who died thirty-seven years ago.  Their son and his wife (also named Laura) lived in Uganda, East Africa, for seven years lifting up Christ to the poor through various projects, which work continues in the seven schools, multiple homes, and in various programs for street children and the rural poor in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and South Sudan.  Today well over 2,000 young people are in various Christ-centered programs.  Michael Timmis Jr. is past Chairman of Ave Maria University and President of The Timmis Family Foundation.  The junior Timmises are graduates of University of Michigan receiving MBA’s from the School of Business.  The junior Timmises live in Florida and have four daughters and one son.  The senior Timmises are residents of Naples, Florida but return to Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan during the summer.

Mr. Timmis’ autobiography was published in February 2008 by NavPress entitled Between Two Worlds: The Journey of an Evangelical Catholic.

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Born in Cairo, Egypt, Sami came to the U.S. as a young boy and spent most of his childhood in New Jersey. He experienced profound brokenness in his home and in his soul which led to feelings of alienation and “identitylessness”. Though he came to know Christ as savior at age 10, it would take several more years before he would come to know Him as Lord, Redeemer, and Friend. Along the way, he struggled against shackles of fear, sin, guilt, and shame.

When freedom came, it was largely the result of a few godly men who not only shared God’s word with Sami but also shared their lives and opened their hearts. The vulnerability and transparency of these men served as a powerful catalyst for lasting change in Sami’s life. Many of those men were men he met through the New Canaan Society.

As a result of the remarkable transformation that he experienced, Sami is passionate about helping brothers in Christ experience similar transformation through faith, freedom, forgiveness, friendship, and fun! Sami is currently President of NCS Hartford, and he enjoys time every week with his “covenant group” of 6 other brothers.

Sami currently works as a Partner at FordHarrison, LLP (a national, employer-side labor and employment law firm). He earned a bachelor’s degree from Ramapo College, and a law degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law. He is admitted to practice law in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Sami lives in Hamden, CT with his wife, Jessica, and their 5 children. In addition to spending time with his family (both biological and spiritual), Sami loves being outdoors in nature, listening to early music, studying the Bible, and reading/listening to good books.

Tom recently retired from a 37 year career in banking.  For the last twenty years, he ran Leveraged Finance business at Citi (2010-2021), HSBC (2008-2010) and Deutsche Bank (1987-2007).  He has had a leadership role in the Manhattan chapter of NCS since its inception in 2008, and has served on the Board of Directors of NCS since 2012, including as Chairman from 2017-2019.  He is currently the Founder and President of the advisory firm Narrow Gate Partners.  In addition, Tom serves as President and is a founding member of Faith in Financial Services in New York.  Tom received his BS degree in Finance from Indiana University, and his MBA from University of Chicago.  He and his wife Kim reside in Naples, Florida and they have three adult children Jenna, Tara and Jonathon.

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Tony Pandjiris is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Avenue Capital Group where he is jointly responsible for directing the investment activities of the Avenue Venture Strategy. Prior to joining Avenue, Tony was a Managing Director in the Technology Group and Energy Technology Group at Hercules Capital where he made debt and equity investments and played a critical role in the investment process. Previously, Tony was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley where he originated and executed corporate finance and M&A transactions. He was also a technology banker at UBS Investment Bank. Previously, Tony worked at Comdisco Ventures, where he structured debt and equity investments and managed distressed company situations after the 2001 technology downturn. Tony started his finance career in SG Cowen’s Private Equity Group.

Tony received a BA, cum laude, in Economics from Vanderbilt University and his MBA from the University of Michigan.

Tony lives in Menlo Park, California with his wife and two boys.

Wiley Mullins is the founder and president of Uncle Wiley’s Specialty Foods, Inc., a Fairfield, Connecticut based firm that produces and markets Wiley’s “Healthy Southern Classics” seasonings and spices. A passion for southern cooking and a starting base of his grandmother’s recipes, combined with ten years of marketing expertise in the packaged food industry enabled Wiley to launch this business in 1992.  His goal was to introduce a healthy approach to preparing common foods.  He has expanded his product line and distribution network so that today Uncle Wiley’s are now sold in supermarkets across the country.

Wiley is a graduate of The University of Alabama and received a Master’s degree in Business Administration from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. After graduate school, he joined The Procter & Gamble, Inc. Throughout his marketing career he has managed national brands including Vick’s VapoRub, Mott’s Apple Sauce and Vick’s NyQuil.