Bios

Jason Alderman
Jason Alderman is a senior director at Visa Inc. and runs the company’s global financial literacy initiative, which includes the award-winning Practical Money Skills for Life and What’s My Score? programs. As part of his work at Visa, Mr. Alderman writes a weekly personal finance column that is carried in over 500 community newspapers throughout the U.S.

Prior to joining Visa at the start of 2006, Mr. Alderman handled communications for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, one of America's largest utilities. Mr. Alderman’s career also included service as a Congressional staffer in Washington, D.C. on the House Appropriations Committee and as the legislative director for the late Rep. Sidney Yates of Illinois. In that post, he helped oversee the multi-billion dollar budgets for the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Smithsonian Institution.

Mr. Alderman sits on the board of the JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy and is the founder of the Bay Area Center for Voting Research.

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Lisa Gallimore Withers
Lisa is the national trainer for Visa’s Practical Money Skills for Life Program. She travels the country speaking to educators, administrators, and students about financial literacy and the educational resources available through the program.

She has recently spoken to student groups at the University of Washington, University of South Florida, and Texas A&M to promote financial literacy on college campuses. Lisa has also delivered the Practical Money Skills program for organizations and associations including: California School to Career Academy, Future Business Leaders of America Regional and State Conferences, Wisconsin Financial Institute, and the Kansas Business Leaders Association.

Variny Yim Paladino
Variny Paladino is a passionate supporter of financial education, especially for women and young people. Having worked in this area for over 10 years, she has seen first hand how money problems can directly impact an individual’s confidence and prevent them from living their most productive and independent life.

Currently, Variny is an independent communications and financial education consultant. Some recent accomplishments include: being the Regional Director of Western States for the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, a nonprofit in Washington, DC committed to promoting financial education to students in K-12 and college; writing and blogging for various websites including LifeTuner and Kwedit; consulting on a book entitled, The Teen Girl’s Gotta-Have-It Guide to Money; and serving as a communications consultant for the national PBS show MoneyTrack® that teaches people how to invest and protect their money.

Previously, Variny was Director of three national financial education programs of the nonprofit, Washington, DC-based Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI): 1) the American Savings Education Council (ASEC) coalition, whose mission is to make saving and retirement planning a priority for all Americans; 2) the Choose to Save® multimedia public service campaign; and 3) the annual Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS).

Variny was selected as a delegate to the 2006 National Summit on Retirement Savings and the 2005 White House Conference on Aging, and has held seats on the ASEC Policy Board and on the Board of Directors for the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. Variny began her career as a print and broadcast journalist at USA WEEKEND magazine, USA TODAY, and NBC. Later, she did public relations for high-profile companies such as Maxis/Electronic Arts, Starbucks Coffee Company, 24 Hour Fitness, and Monsanto. A graduate of Wellesley College, Variny resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.