Our Team

Peter Nugent | Director

peter.nugent@enlightenfinancial.com
o: 920.445.8881
c: 920.227.8532

Peter Nugent is a Director and Founder of Enlighten Financial, a specialized consulting firm that focuses on providing loan review and risk management services to community banks and credit unions. Peter guides the Company’s service offerings, which include in-depth loan reviews, commercial and personal underwriting/analysis, internal process improvement and workout services. Enlighten Financial was launched in 2008.

Peter’s background includes extensive commercial and retail banking experiences working with both community banks and large regional banking firms. He has held executive level leadership positions within the banking industry and he has wide-ranging working knowledge of commercial banking, private banking, mortgage banking, and professional practice banking.

Peter holds various banking credentials in addition to a BBA and a BS in Economics from St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI.

He and his wife, Jackie, live in Green Bay with their three children and their two bulldogs named Abe and Millie. Peter enjoys travelling, biking, reading and several outdoor activities. He enjoys mentoring entrepreneurs and volunteering in various community organizations.

Download full profile

 

Kathy Fries | Manager

kathy.fries@enlightenfinancial.com
o: 920.445.8136

Kathy Fries joined Enlighten Financial as a Manager in 2016. Kathy, who previously was a Senior Analyst for Enlighten Financial, partners with our clients to establish loan policies and approval procedures that minimize risk and ensure good decision-making.

Kathy has nearly 15 years of experience in the banking industry, including several executive-level positions. During that time, she worked for community banks and a larger regional bank, and gained experience in portfolio management, credit analysis, underwriting review and loan review. Fries also has an understanding of the various Small Business Administration loan programs and their related underwriting requirements.

Kathy earned a BBA in accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and an MBA in finance from Marquette University. In her free time, Kathy enjoys running, biking and golfing.

Download full profile

 

Karen Taylor | Consultant

karen.taylor@enlightenfinancial.com
o: 920.445.88186

Karen Taylor joined the Enlighten Financial team in 2016 as a Consultant after having worked in the banking industry for more than 15 years. Karen has extensive experience in commercial lending, credit analysis and underwriting, cash management and correspondent banking.

She has held roles in both large regional financial institutions and community banks, focusing on the needs of business customers. She has also held various roles in a multi-state correspondent bank, working closely with community banks throughout the region.

Karen earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Karen enjoys spending time with her husband and their two active boys, time up north, walking, golfing and boating.

Download full profile

 

Richard Rudolph | Senior Consultant

rick.rudolph@enlightenfinancial.com
o: 920.445.8133
c: 248.234.0854

Richard (“Rick”) Rudolph brings more than 30 years of experience to the Enlighten Financial team, which he joined as a Senior Consultant in 2017. Rick has a passion for finding the best credit structure for commercial loan relationships to enhance their ability for success and growth while minimizing risk to the financial institution.

His experience includes directly developing and managing commercial loan relationships of various sizes across a wide range of industries, managing and developing commercial lending teams, implementing credit training programs to improve credit skills and approving credit relationships to commercial borrowers of all sizes. Rick also has experience working directly with examiners to maintain sound lending policies and procedures. Rick is well respected in the industry and brings a unique approach to a chief credit officer role, focusing on risk management and business development.

Rick received a Bachelor of Science degree in resource development and an MBA in finance from Michigan State University. Rick enjoys spending his free time with his family, traveling and outdoor activities including hiking, boating and golf.

Download full profile

 

Stephanie Serafini | Analyst

stephanie.serafini@enlightenfinancial.com
c: 920-888-2026

Stephanie Serafini joined Enlighten Financial in the Spring of 2023. Stephanie has more than 19 years of experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining Enlighten Financial, she was a loan sale coordinator and government insurer, and spent many years in mortgage processing.

Her extensive background has given her the knowledge and experience to play a variety of roles in the mortgage and loan sectors throughout her career. Stephanie has been able to successfully adapt to ever-changing rules and regulations, and has developed a strong problem-solving proficiency.

As an Analyst for Enlighten Financial, Stephanie provides mortgage quality control and consumer loan review services, including pre-close, post-close, servicing, and consumer underwriting.

Stephanie has lived in Virginia her entire life with her two children and her family. She loves to read, bake and garden.

Download full profile

 

Loyce Brooks | Credit Risk Analyst

loyce.brooks@enlightenfinancial.com
c: 920-641-5110

Loyce Brooks joined the Enlighten Financial team in the Fall of 2023. An accomplished and detail-oriented finance professional with experience in credit analysis, Loyce is skilled at financial modeling, credit analysis, and commercial lending. He thrives on assisting clients with expert credit analysis and providing out-of-the-box thinking to loan requests, finding where clients can best help their borrowers while maintaining disciplined credit practices.

Loyce’s previous roles include commercial credit analyst, credit associate, and real estate valuation analyst. A graduate of Texas State University’s McCoy School of Business, he’s also had advanced training in financial statement analysis, commercial lending, and real estate financial modeling. His success in preparing underwriting models and portfolio management will be an asset to Enlighten Financial’s clients.

In his free time, Loyce enjoys investing, and loves football and basketball.

Download full profile


let's get started

See how Enlighten Financial can reduce your risk and maximize your profit
CALL 877.445.4186 or
 EMAIL info@enlightenfinancial.com

FDIC 3rd Quarter 2024 Banking Profile

 Posted Jan 2, 2025

Strategizing for Success in Late 2024: A Follow-Up Guide for Community-Based Financial Institutions

 Posted Oct 1, 2024
“The staff at Enlighten have been available for questions, in addition to the engaged work that they do. They've been very helpful as a resource beyond the major audit.”
— Meghann Kasper, Chief Credit Officer, Bank First
“Enlighten gives us a very good second set of eyes on our transactions. They're not afraid to challenge us on some of the work that we've done, which is what is needed. I don't need to pay somebody to tell me I'm good, I need to pay somebody to tell me where I've made mistakes.”
— Robert McPherson, VP of Risk Management, Peoples State Bank
“Enlighten provided industry best practices that weren’t going to show up in an audit report. They would say, ‘Hey, I noticed you do this. This is really unique, you do a really great job of it.’ And then they might add, ‘Some other clients that I have are doing something like this.’”
— Bill Beardsley, President, Michigan Business Connection
“By questioning some of our methodologies, Enlighten has helped us say, ‘Okay, this is where we need to train staff better and focus on so that they understand what they're doing better.”
— Robert McPherson, VP of Risk Management, Peoples State Bank
“The organization of the communication — before, during, and after the reporting process — was certainly better with Enlighten than what I've experienced with a lot of auditors.”
— Bill Beardsley, President, Michigan Business Connection
“The staff at Enlighten have been available for questions, in addition to the engaged work that they do. They've been very helpful as a resource beyond the major audit.”
— Meghann Kasper, Chief Credit Officer, Bank First
“Enlighten gives us a very good second set of eyes on our transactions. They're not afraid to challenge us on some of the work that we've done, which is what is needed. I don't need to pay somebody to tell me I'm good, I need to pay somebody to tell me where I've made mistakes.”
— Robert McPherson, VP of Risk Management, Peoples State Bank
“Enlighten provided industry best practices that weren’t going to show up in an audit report. They would say, ‘Hey, I noticed you do this. This is really unique, you do a really great job of it.’ And then they might add, ‘Some other clients that I have are doing something like this.’”
— Bill Beardsley, President, Michigan Business Connection
“By questioning some of our methodologies, Enlighten has helped us say, ‘Okay, this is where we need to train staff better and focus on so that they understand what they're doing better.”
— Robert McPherson, VP of Risk Management, Peoples State Bank
“The organization of the communication — before, during, and after the reporting process — was certainly better with Enlighten than what I've experienced with a lot of auditors."
— Bill Beardsley, President, Michigan Business Connection