Ron Shevlin has been a management consultant for more than 25 years, working with leading financial services, consumer products, retail and manufacturing firms all over the world. As chief research officer at Cornerstone Advisors, Ron calls on his analytical acumen to author a variety of corporate and commissioned research reports.​

Considered one of the banking industry’s most notable experts, Ron’s opinions are regularly sought for inclusion in major banking publications. He writes weekly for Forbes and has published hundreds of articles for his Snarketing blog. A seasoned professional speaker, Ron’s insights and quirky sense of humor are in high demand for trade events and podcasts. ​

Prior to joining Cornerstone Advisors, Ron was a senior analyst at Aite Group, where he specialized in retail banking issues. Prior to Aite, he led Epsilon’s financial services consulting practice. Before Epsilon, he headed up Forrester’s research efforts on customer loyalty, profitability, and consumer channel use in the financial services industry.

Ron is the author of Smarter Bank: Why Money Management is More Important than Money Movement. He was ranked #2 on Bank Innovation’s list of 30 Innovators to Watch. His Snarketing 2.0 blog was named to Radius’ 25 Best Marketing Blogs.​
Ron received a master’s degree in finance and statistics from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree in economics from SUNY Binghamton.

As a co-founder of Cornerstone Advisors, Steve Williams serves as President and Partner with Cornerstone where he leads firm growth and thought leadership efforts while remaining actively involved with major clients in the areas of strategy, technology, and performance improvement.​

Steve has assisted hundreds of banks and credit unions in their efforts to become highly efficient, top-performing financial institutions. An experienced private banker with a commercial and consumer credit background, Steve’s more than 25 years of experience in the financial services and consulting industries have provided him with a deep working knowledge of bank operations and delivery systems, particularly in lending processes. He is an experienced facilitator for management retreats and board planning sessions and is in great demand as a speaker at industry conferences and seminars. ​

Steve is among the authors of The Cornerstone Performance Report, an annual benchmarking study for mid-size banks and credit unions. He writes regularly for GonzoBanker, Cornerstone’s blog, and has been published in numerous industry periodicals, including American Banker, Bank Director, BAI Banking Strategies, and CU Management. ​

Steve serves as a faculty member at the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking and the Management Institute of the Credit Union Executives Society. He taught at the National School of Banking and the CUES School of Product and Channel Management.​

Steve holds a master’s degree in finance, summa cum laude, from Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz., and a bachelor’s degree in business journalism from Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Ariz.​

Meagan O’Brien began her career as a mechanical engineer working in the aerospace industry designing flight deck controls for military and commercial airplanes. In the evenings she studied and performed improvisation at The Second City and iO. Following her passion, she quit her job in 2006 and toured with The Second City National Touring Company. Once she had her fill of long van rides, she discovered a new passion: blending the philosophies and skills of improvisation with challenges in the business world. She spends her time facilitating corporate workshops, giving keynote presentations, hosting events and panel discussions, and generally loving what she gets to do every day! She was recently named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business.