38th Annual Conference

Welcome!

The Minnesota Health and Education Facilities Authority (“Authority”) is proud to invite you to its 38^th Annual Conference on April 15, 2026. This is the Authority’s first joint conference for Higher Education and Healthcare, the result of legislation that added healthcare organizations to the list of those we can assist with capital financing.

We have a great line-up of speakers on topics relevant to you and your organization no matter what industry you work in. We look forward to you joining us for a day of insightful presentations. The conference is also a great opportunity to visit with peers, industry professionals, and Authority staff about how we can assist with your capital financing needs.

Please take a moment to RSVP to save your seat for MHEFA’s 38^th Annual Conference.

We look forward to seeing you at the Eagan Community Center on April 15^th!

Agenda

8:45 am Registration, Networking, and Breakfast

9:15 am Introduction, Welcome, and Authority Perspective

Barry Fick, Executive Director, Minnesota Health and Education Facilities Authority

9:30 am 2026 US Interest Rate and Inflation Outlook: The Promised Recession…So Where is It?

Dimitri Delis, Ph.D., Managing Director, Director of Fixed Income Research, Piper Sandler & Co.

10:15 am Public Finance Update from Washington, D.C.

Emily Brock, Director, Federal Liaison Center, GFOA

10:45 Am Networking/Snack Break

11:00 Am Options for Debt Portfolio Management

Krenna Kelly, Executive Director, Government and Institutional Banking, Wells Fargo
Ryan Poulsen, Executive Director, Public Finance – West, Higher Education, and Land-Secured, Wells Fargo & Company
Max Wilkinson, Senior Vice President, Blue Rose Capital Advisors

11:30 am Compliance and Risk Management – Regulatory Roundup

Chad Lassen, Principal, CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen)
Mason Gaylord, Manager, CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen)

12:00 pm Lunch Break

12:45 pm Economic Conditions in Minnesota and the U.S.

Joe Mahon, Director, Regional Outreach, Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota

1:15 pm How Planning Strengthens Funding Opportunities

Jennifer Fredericks, Director, Baker Tilly Advisory Group
David Erdman, Managing Director, Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors
Rebekah Martin, CPA, Principal, Baker Tilly US

1:45 pm Breakout Room Transition/Snack Break

2:00 pm Moody’s Ratings oVerview and Insights on Higher education Trends

Debra Roane, Vice President, Senior Credit Officer
Emily Raimes, Associate Managing Director
Tatum Drazen, Analyst

Moody’s Ratings: US Public Finance Group, Higher Education and Not-For-Profits

OR

2:00 pm Moody’s Ratings oVerview and Insights on Healthcare Trends

Cassandra Golden, Assistant Vice President, Moody’s Ratings: Healthcare Group

speaker biographies

Dimitri N. Delis, PH.D.: Managing Director, Director of Fixed Income Research, Piper Sandler

Dimitri Delis is a Managing Director and Director of Fixed Income Research within Piper Sandler. He is responsible for evaluating economic trends, analyzing current economic issues and generating relative value strategies by integrating fixed income cross-sector trends with macro/economic analysis. He identifies/analyzes market dislocations across all fixed income asset classes and makes economic presentations to clients. Dimitri has been quoted in Bloomberg, Marketwatch and Reuters and is a frequent speaker at both regional and national level business/financial events.

Prior to joining the group in 2005, Delis served as the cross-sector strategist for JP Morgan. Prior to the JP Morgan-Bank One merger, he was the derivatives strategist for Bank One. Dimitri’s experience includes market risk management for ABN AMRO where he was responsible for identifying and monitoring all market risk-taking activities for the derivatives and FX trading desks and bond modeling for Salomon Brothers’ proprietary portfolio tools.

Dimitri Delis holds a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from the University of California at Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and mathematics from the University of Chicago. He completed his Master of Business Administration degree at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 2006.

He is a registered representative with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Emily Brock: Director, Federal Liason Center, Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)

As Director of GFOA’s Federal Liaison Center, Emily leads coalition and advocacy efforts of the Public Finance Network in Washington DC. Her advocacy includes anticipating and responding to federal legislative and regulatory activities that impact the finance functions of state and local governments and public sector entities including tax reform, municipal securities disclosure and public pension and benefit issues. Emily also serves as staff on GFOA’s Debt Committee, working with committee members to develop best practices that promote sound financial practices for local, state and provincial governments. Prior to joining GFOA, Emily was a commercial bank relationship manager at a large national bank, serving as the sole bank liaison for government and university clients.

Krenna KELLY: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, Government and Institutional Banking, Wells Fargo

Krenna Kelly joined Wells Fargo in August of 2011 as a Senior Vice President in their Government and Institutional Banking group. Her focus is on helping to expand Wells Fargo’s presence with non profit and governmental entities in Chicago. Krenna began her career as a credit analyst with American National Bank in 1992 and worked for what became JP Morgan Chase for 19 years focused on this niche sector. Krenna graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a B.S.B.A. in 1992. Krenna completed her MBA from the University of Chicago in 1997. In 2005, Krenna was a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow. Today Krenna is active in the Chicago Finance Exchange, the Association Forum and the Leadership Greater Chicago Alumni group.

Ryan Poulsen: Executive Director, Public Finance-West, Higher Education, and Land-Secured, Wells Fargo

Ryan joined Wells Fargo Corporate & Investment Banking’s Public Finance platform in December 2009 as an analyst and has served as Executive Director since 2021. Ryan advises clients across Minnesota, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and the Dakotas. Over his career, Ryan has participated in more than $17 billion of senior-managed financings for issuers nationwide. His expertise spans general infrastructure, public power, housing, higher education, and not-for-profit sectors, with a specialized focus on land-secured transactions. In the past six years alone, Ryan has led over $700 million in land-secured financings. In September, 2025, Ryan led a transaction for the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota’s issuance of $38.060 MM of Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2025 for the University Gateway Corporation.

Ryan earned a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A from Wake Forest University. He resides in Colorado with his wife and four children.

Ryan maintains his Series 7, 52, 63, 79 and 99 security registrations.

Max Wilkinson: Senior Vice President, Blue Rose Capital Advisors

In his role of Senior Vice President, Max Wilkinson manages many of Blue Rose’s client relationships, ensuring that transactions progress smoothly and effectively throughout the financing process. He has significant expertise in the preparation of credit and debt capacity analyses and is experienced with the pricing and execution of fixed rate bond transactions, direct purchase bonds, and derivative and reinvestment products. Mr. Wilkinson is closely involved in every step of the financing process for borrowers, from initial capital planning stages all the way through closing. He joined Blue Rose Capital Advisors in 2016.

Prior to joining Blue Rose, Mr. Wilkinson worked as a Reinsurance Analyst intern at the London office of JLT Re (now Guy Carpenter), where he provided analytical support as part of JLT’s property and casualty brokerage teams. Mr. Wilkinson also worked for years as a member of Yale’s chapter of the global nonprofit organization AIESEC, where he served on the executive board as Vice President of Business Development.

Mr. Wilkinson holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Yale University. He passed the MSRB Series 50 Examination to become a qualified municipal advisor representative and the MSRB Series 54 Examination to become a qualified municipal advisor principal.

Chad Lassen: Principal, CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen)

Chad is a principal in the CLA higher education group. He has more than 20 years of experience in auditing colleges and universities, which includes experience in audits of federal grant programs under the Uniform Guidance. He is involved with CLA’s in-house training program and has delivered technical training on the topics of new accounting standards, new auditing standards, and student financial aid auditing.

Mason Gaylord: Manager, CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen)

Mason has six years of public account experience serving the public sector, including higher education and nonprofit institutions. During this time, he has provided audit and other attest services to various higher education and nonprofit institutions.

Joe Mahon: Director, Regional Outreach, Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota

Joe Mahon is a Regional Outreach director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Prior to that, he served as a regional economist and as a staff writer and analyst for Minneapolis Fed publications the Region and fedgazette. Mahon’s primary responsibilities involve tracking several sectors of the Ninth District economy—an area that covers Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Montana and portions of Wisconsin and Michigan—for the Fed. Sectors he follows closely include agriculture, manufacturing, energy and mining. He holds degrees in economics and journalism from the University of Minnesota.

Jennifer Fredericks: Director, Baker TIlly Advisory Group

Jennifer Fredericks leads business development for Baker Tilly’s public sector, higher education and not-for-profit practices, working collaboratively with clients to assess organizational, strategic, financial and advisory needs by connecting clients with industry specialists to solve today’s issues and transform the future. Jennifer is a past president of National Women in Public Finance, current board member of Northeast Women in Public Finance, and adjunct professor specializing in strategic business planning, project management, operations and supply chain. Jennifer is currently on the Board of Trustees for Calumet College of St. Joseph and past trailblazer recipient from NEWPF.

David Erdman: Managing Director, Baker TIlly Municipal Advisors

David Erdman is a Managing Director for Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors and has more than 30 years of public finance experience at a major state-level issuer and is an active advocate and leader for municipalities in the municipal bond market. David has extensive working relationship with many regulatory agencies along with significant experience with multiple types of credits and transactions. As member and leader of the State of Wisconsin Capital Finance Office from 1994 to 2022, David led a team responsible for the preparation, sale, issuance, disclosure and compliance of nearly 300 State of Wisconsin bond/notes issues in aggregate par amount of nearly $50 billion. In addition to many bricks and mortar and refunding transactions for the State of Wisconsin, David played key role in the sale and issuance of obligations for the Fiserv Forum, Foxconn Development in the Village of Mount Pleasant and expansion of the Wisconsin Center District. David is past chair of the State Debt Management Network (SDMN) and past member of GFOA’s Committee on Governmental Debt Management and current NAMA member.

Rebekah Martin, CPA: Principal, Baker TIlly US

Rebekah Martin is a principal in the higher education/not-for-profit group of Baker Tilly and has been with the firm since 2005. Rebekah serves as the firm’s Professional Practice Leader for higher education and serves on the technical committee for single audits, in addition to being a principal-in-charge on financial statement audits of, and audits of government programs of federal and state awards received by, colleges and universities and not-for-profit organizations. Rebekah develops and delivers trainings for private colleges and universities and not-for-profit organizations and also builds tools and templates for audit teams and clients to use when implementing new accounting standards or looking to improve internal controls. In addition to serving on the development team for the Baker Tilly Higher Education Data Analytics tool, Rebekah also is a member of many Minnesota based organizations including Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants, Minnesota Association of Financial Aid Administrators, and Nonprofit Financial Group of the Twin Cities, Program Committee.

Debra Roane: Vice President, Senior credit officer, US Public Finance Group, Moody’s RATINGS

Debra Roane covers higher education and not-for-profit institutions across the United States including large public university systems, complex academic medical centers and prominent not-for-profit organizations.

Debra was instrumental in expanding Moody’s coverage in the high-profile sector for sub-sovereign ratings in Australia and New Zealand and, in particular, in the Australian and Singaporean universities sectors. She also helped Moody’s to strengthen its presence in the Chinese regional and local government sector by leading the initiative to develop a knowledge base, research and outreach, and credit architecture from an early stage.

Prior to joining Moody’s, Debra worked for the Federal Transportation Administration in Washington, DC as a Presidential Management Intern and in New York City as a Project Manager. Debra holds an MA in Urban Affairs and Policy Analysis from the New School for Social Research and a BA in Geography from McGill University in Montreal.

Emily Raimes: Associate Managing Director, Moody’s Ratings

Emily Raimes oversees the Global Higher Education and Nonprofits Rating Team, covering over 700 colleges, universities, and nonprofit institutions worldwide.

Previously, she managed the States Team, covering state credits across the US. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2006, Emily spent seven years at the New York City Office of Management and Budget, working primarily in Economic Analysis.

Emily holds a BA degree in government from Wesleyan University and a Master’s in Public Administration from New York University.

Tatum Drazen: Analyst, US Public Finance Group, Moody’s Ratings

Tatum Drazen is an analyst for the Higher Education and Not-For-Profits Ratings Team covering public and private higher education and not-for-profit institutions across the United States. Prior to joining the Higher Education and Not-for-Profit team, Tatum spent years on the local government ratings team, where she covered municipal governments, including cities, counties, K-12 school districts, and utilities in Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, and South Dakota.

Based in Chicago, IL, Tatum brings a robust background in academia and nonprofit, having previously worked at both a public and private university, as well as fundraising for a community-based nonprofit organization. She holds both a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts from Florida State University.

Cassandra Golden: Assistant Vice President, Moody’s Ratings: Healthcare Group

Cassandra Golden is an AVP–Analyst in Moody’s Healthcare Ratings group, covering not-for-profit hospitals and healthcare systems across the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Pacific Northwest. Cassandra has recently authored the 2026 Not-for-Profit Healthcare Outlook and research on the impact of OBBBA on hospitals.

Previously, Cassandra was on Moody’s Higher Education and Not-for-Profits team. Before joining Moody’s, Cassandra served as a senior analyst at the NYC Office of Management and Budget. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and Public Administration from Providence College.