Bank Directors’ Symposium
An Event Sponsored by: Maryland Bankers Association, Virginia Association of Community Banks, & Virginia Bankers Association
The Directors’ Symposium provides bank board members with current data, thought-provoking industry trends and networking opportunities with other directors and regulators. The program is designed to benefit both new directors and seasoned veterans on the Board.
Dates & Locations
April 14, 2026 - Columbia, MD
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel
5485 Twin Knolls Rd
Columbia, MD 21045
April 15, 2026 – Richmond, VA
Four Points by Sheraton – Richmond
9901 Midlothian Tpke
Richmond, VA 23235
April 16, 2026 – Blacksburg, VA
The Inn at Virginia Tech
901 Prices Fork Rd
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Agenda
8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast & Registration
9:00 – 9:05 a.m. Welcome & Announcements
9:05 – 9:55 a.m. Economic Outlook Craig Dismuke | Stifel Financial
9:55 – 10:45 a.m. Regulator Panel
| April 14 – Columbia, MD | April 15 – Richmond, VA | April 16 – Blacksburg, VA |
| Moderator: DeMarion Johnston | Maryland Bankers Association & Virginia Bankers Association |
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Panelists:
Panelists from the FDIC and Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond will be announced soon. |
Panelists:
Panelists from the FDIC and Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond will be announced soon. |
Panelists:
Panelists from the FDIC and Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond will be announced soon. |
10:45 – 11:00 a.m. Networking Break
11:00 – 11:50 a.m. TBA
11:50 a.m. – 12:50 p.m. Lunch
12:50 – 1:40 p.m. Strengthening Credit Resilience: Processes, Contingencies and Culture
David Ruffin | OptimaFI Credit Risk
Preparing for periods of weaker credit performance is an enduring risk management protocol — and has clear implications on credit marks in potential M&A activity. The uncertainties of the past few years have given industry experts reason for concern, particularly following such a long period of benign performance. In this presentation, we’ll share tangible strategies and processes to help mitigate portfolio deterioration, emphasizing the role of a robust, consistent credit culture as a key driver of resilience.
1:40 – 1:50 p.m. Networking Break
1:50 – 2:40 p.m. M&A Strategies for the Current Environment Greyson Tuck | Gerrish, Smith, Tuck
The mergers and acquisitions environment is active. Some banks are looking to join in the activity as either a buyer or seller, while others are specifically looking to remain independent. This session will provide an engaging and informative overview of the current M&A environment and will present specific strategies and considerations for banks that are considering activity as either a buyer or seller as well as those that want to better understand the environment to foster continuing independence.
2:40 – 3:30 pm The AI Framework: A Layered Mosaic for Community Banks
Joe McMann | Artificial Intelligence Risk (AIR)
The AI Framework for Community Banks provides a disciplined, institution-level model for governing and scaling artificial intelligence inside a regulated banking environment. It treats AI as an operating discipline rather than a collection of tools. The Framework defines four maturity phases that help banks identify where they operate today and what structural conditions must exist before advancing safely. A Board-level scorecard translates ambition into oversight by measuring readiness across governance, data discipline, workflow integrity, and control consistency. The Framework is practical, examinable, and executable. It gives Boards, executives, and regulators a shared structure to ensure AI strengthens judgment, preserves trust, and scales only when institutional discipline is firmly in place.
Meet the 2026 Speakers
Brent H. Acree
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
Brent H. Acree is the Assistant Deputy Comptroller of the combined Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia offices at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). He oversees community bank and thrift supervision for 29 banks and thrifts with assets totaling approximately $30 billion.
Mr. Acree began his OCC career in 2009 as an Assistant National Bank Examiner in San Antonio, TX, and earned his National Bank Examiner commission in 2015 in Charlotte, NC. His cross-credential commission enables him to supervise thrifts and federal savings banks.
Throughout his tenure at the OCC, Brent has worked in large and regional banks in Charlotte, New York, and Washington, as well as community banks across the Carolinas, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
Mr. Acree holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Business Administration the University of Georgia.
Craig Dismuke
Stifel Financial
Craig Dismuke is a Managing Director and Chief Market Strategist in Fixed Income Capital Markets at Stifel Financial. Prior to acquisition, Craig was Chief Economist at Vining Sparks. He speaks often at industry conferences on the U.S. economic landscape and expectations for interest rates. Craig has appeared frequently on CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg TV. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee with his wife, Ashley, and three children. He is actively involved with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Amanda Edwards
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
Amanda Edwards is the Assistant Deputy Comptroller for the Charlotte/Roanoke Office of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). In this role, she is responsible for managing approximately $25 billion in assets across 28 institutions throughout South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky.
Amanda began her career with the OCC in 2005. In prior agency roles, she specialized in problem bank rehabilitation, working with many struggling banks during the commercial real estate crisis of 2008. She later became a problem bank specialist in the OCC’s Northeast Region.
Amanda also has extensive experience supervising banks involved with fintech partnerships and she earned a FinTech certificate through the Harvard VPAL program. She takes an active role in preparing candidates for the Uniform Commission Examination (UCE) through her involvement as a UCE evaluator. Amanda is a Certified Fraud Examiner and maintains a Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) industry certification. She is a graduate of Winthrop University.
Joe McMann
Artificial Intelligence Risk (AIR)
Joe McMann is a seasoned entrepreneur and corporate strategist who currently serves as Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Artificial Intelligence Risk (AIR). In his role at AIR, Joe leads business and corporate development for a global business recognized as the premier platform to integrate high-risk AI safely. As a multi-time founder, Joe specializes in bridging the gap between innovative technology and practical implementation. Under AIR’s leadership, companies deploying high-risk AI—particularly within financial services—gain a tangible pathway to leverage enterprise-grade AI securely and effectively, ensuring accelerated innovation while preserving the relationships and trust that make them so valuable to clients.
Dustin Physioc
Bureau of Financial Institutions
Dustin Physioc has served as Commissioner of Financial Institutions for the Virginia State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Financial Institutions (BFI) since January 2026. The BFI administers Virginia laws regarding depository and non-depository financial institutions including state-chartered banks, savings institutions, credit unions, trust companies, consumer finance companies, mortgage lenders and brokers, mortgage loan originators, sales-based financing providers, money transmitters, credit counseling agencies, motor vehicle title lenders, industrial loan associations, short-term lenders, check cashers, student loan servicers and debt settlement services providers.
Commissioner Physioc is a 20-year veteran of the BFI, having first joined the organization as a financial analyst in 2006. From 2018 to 2025 he served as Deputy Commissioner for Administration and Licensing, where he developed and executed budget strategies generating more than $40 million in cumulative savings for regulated institutions and directed business process improvement initiatives to reduce application processing times during a period of record application volume.
Mr. Physioc holds bachelor’s degrees in economics and political science from Virginia Tech. He is also a graduate of the Virginia Executive Institute and the Virginia Bankers School of Bank Management.
Greyson E. Tuck
Gerrish Smith Tuck, PC
Gerrish Smith Tuck Consultants
Greyson E. Tuck is President of both the Memphis based law firm of Gerrish Smith Tuck, PC and Gerrish Smith Tuck Consultants, both of Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Tuck’s legal and consulting practice places special emphasis on community bank holding company formation and use, community bank mergers and acquisitions, regulatory matters, corporate reorganizations, corporate taxation, general corporate law and community bank strategic planning. Mr. Tuck is a current faculty member at a number of banking schools across the country, and is a dynamic speaker that is a frequent presenter at state and national bank association conferences.
Mr. Tuck comes from a community banking family. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where he majored in Accounting and Finance, and received his law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, where he was a Herff Scholar. Mr. Tuck is a graduate of the Paul W. Barret, Jr. School of Banking and currently serves as a faculty member at a number of banking schools across the country. He is a frequent presenter at national and state bank association conferences and has authored a number of articles of interest to financial institutions.
Michael Sprouse
Maryland Office of Financial Regulation
As Deputy Commissioner, Depository Supervision, Michael Sprouse oversees the Office’s supervision and regulation of all Maryland state-chartered banks, credit unions and trust companies, ensuring that the financial institutions are operating safely and soundly for the benefit of all of the citizens of Maryland and adhering to all state laws and regulations. He also manages the Office’s Corporate Activities functions, including inquiries about and response to the formation of new institutions or the undertaking of new activities by existing state-chartered institutions. Additionally, he has oversight of the Office’s administrative and personnel related activities.
Michael has worked in the banking industry in the State of Maryland for over 30 years, primarily focused on lending and loan administration. Prior to coming to the Office, he worked as the Chief Retail Banking Officer at The Peoples Bank located in Chestertown for the last two years, and Senior Vice President of Loan Administration/Consumer Lending at Harford Bank for 16 years prior. Michael was part of the senior management team that helped lead these banks to their strategic goals. He was an active member of the Asset-liability Committee, Marketing Committee, Special Assets/Problem Loan Committee and Officer Loan Committees. Michael’s areas of experience include developing new consumer loan business, enhancing efficiencies and automation in the loan process to provide a customer-centric environment, loan underwriting, collections, new product or procedure enhancements, compliance, personnel management, policy development, risk management, vendor management and loan administration. In both financial institutions, he delivered new loan products to better serve the bank’s customers and enhance the bank’s growth. Prior to these positions, Michael worked at Provident Bank of Maryland as a Consumer Lending Underwriter and at Norwest Financial as a Branch Manager.
Michael earned a B.S. degree in Economics from Towson University and graduated from the American Bankers Association Stonier Graduate School of Banking, which included Wharton School of Business training. Michael also successfully completed the Harford County Leadership Academy and The Maryland Bankers Association Emerging Leader Program. He is a native Marylander and is married with two adult children and a dog.
Registration Rates
| Registration Options | Fee |
|---|---|
| 1-4 individual registrations | $395 |
| 5+ individual registrations | $350 |
EVENT POLICIES
By registering for this event, you are agreeing to the Event Policies.
CANCELLATION POLICY
All cancellations will be charged a $25.00 administrative fee. Cancellations received less than 72 business hours before the program will be charged a $75.00 administrative fee plus any additional fees associated with the training. Substitutions are allowed prior to the beginning of the conference.
SPECIAL NEEDS & AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES NOTICE
If you have special needs that may affect your participation in this event, please contact Kristen Reid to discuss accommodations.
Hotel Information
Columbia, MD Program
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel
5485 Twin Knolls Road
Columbia, MD 21045
Reservation Information will be shared soon!
Richmond, VA Program
Four Points by Sheraton – Richmond
9901 Midlothian Tpke
Richmond, VA 23235
Reservation Information will be shared soon!
Blacksburg, VA Program
The Inn at Virginia Tech
901 Prices Fork Road
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Reservation Information will be shared soon!
Sponsors
Interested in sponsoring at this event? Click here for our complete 2026 Sponsorship Brochure. Questions? Contact Amy Binns.