Board of Directors
The EFC Board of Directors is the governing body for EFC and is elected by the EFC Voting Members. The Board is comprised of the following dedicated individuals.
Scott A. Giles
Chair
Scott A. Giles has served Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) since 2003. Giles was appointed President & CEO in July 2013. Giles is an expert on federal student financial aid policy and has devoted his career to expanding access to education and training after high school for students of all ages. From 2008-2009 he served as chair of the Federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. He currently serves on the boards of the National Council of Community and Education Partnerships, the National Council of Higher Education Resources, the Vermont Higher Education Council (Treasurer), Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont (Vice Chair) and the Vermont Workforce Development Board. He serves as chair of the Vermont Higher Education Trust Fund Council and was appointed by the legislature to serve on the Select Committee on the Future of Public Higher Education in Vermont. Giles has a B.A. from St. Lawrence University and a M.A. and PhD from the University of Virginia, with concentrations in bioethics, as well as certificates in finance and management from the Harvard Business School and the Kennedy School of Government.
Tricia Dubroc
Vice Chair
Tricia Dubroc joined the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority (LPFA) in April, 1994 and has served as its chief executive officer since January 2023. Tricia has full administrative responsibility of all aspects of the LPFA’s activities, which include low-cost financing for student loans, hospitals, hospital equipment, colleges and universities, nonprofit organizations, manufacturing facilities, industrial construction, and economic development projects. This includes direct supervision of all aspects of the Louisiana Education Loan Authority (Lela), the student loan division of the LPFA.
Lela is a division of the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority (LPFA.) The LPFA is a Louisiana’s statewide non-profit, self-supporting, public trust which was established in 1974 whose primary purpose is to issue taxable and tax-exempt bonds for any public purpose which provides benefit to Louisiana citizens to further education, healthcare, economic development and job creation. In 2024, the LPFA celebrated its 50th year of service to Louisiana and has issued bonds to finance 879 projects totaling $30.1 billion.
Over the years, the LPFA has issued $2.4 billion in bonds to fund, purchase and refinance federal and private student loan programs to assist over 400,000 Louisiana students and families.
After receiving a B.S. in Business Administration at the University of Louisiana @ Lafayette, then USL, with concentrations in Finance and Accounting, Dubroc was employed on campus as a Financial Aid Administrator and later in High School relations, under the Enrollment Management, for the next five years. Prior to joining Lela-LPFA directly, Tricia was employed by Citi-State Advisors to market and administer the LPFA’s student loan programs. In 1994 the LPFA hired her directly to manage and develop their student loan programs.
Tricia serves on several industry related national, regional and statewide Boards in Louisiana. The Louisiana Public Health Institute LPHI), the Louisiana Public Broadcasting Foundation (LPBF) and the Southwest Association of Student Aid Administrators (SWASFAA). In the past, she served on the Education Finance Council (EFC) Board, the Board of the Louisiana Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the Louisiana FAFSA Completion Task Force. She is also a member of the National Health and Education Facilities Finance Association (NAHEFFA) focused on non-profit bond issuers, the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) dedicated to the advancement of development Finance, Healthcare Management Finance Association (HFMA), and the Louisiana Hospital Association (LHA).
Chad Tate
Treasurer
Chad Tate is the president of ECMC, a nonprofit company that provides financial education services to empower students to make informed choices about their futures. He oversees the loan guarantor operation, financial literacy outreach and the ECMC Scholars Program, which combines mentoring and scholarships to improve college persistence. ECMC serves 41,000 students annually through more than 800 college prep events.
Before joining ECMC, Mr. Tate held various finance and operations roles at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, including director of treasury operations, director of finance operations, senior director of claims and billing operations, and vice president of claims operations.
Mr. Tate is a board member for Tutapona, an organization focused on emotional healing from trauma. Previously, he served on the boards of Five Loaves Food Shelf and the YMCA in New Richmond, WI.
Mr. Tate holds a master’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance from Hamline University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from North Central University.
James H. Steeley
Secretary
James H. Steeley is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). Steeley joined PHEAA in November 2015 as the Chief Financial Officer. He was named Interim President and CEO in July 2018 and took on the official role of President and CEO in January 2019. Prior to joining the PHEAA, Steeley was Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer at Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc., the Assistant Vice President of Finance at PSECU and a Senior Manager PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Steven W. McCullough
Steven W. McCullough is the President and Chief Executive Officer of ISL Education Lending (ISL), a private, not-for-profit student loan company located in West Des Moines. McCullough joined Iowa Student Loan in 1989 as the Chief Financial Officer and became CEO in 1993. He graduated from the University of Iowa with an MBA and degree in accounting and passed the CPA exam. He has helped create several tools to help students and families borrow less and create good outcomes from college.
William "Will" Shaffner
William “Will” Shaffner has been the Director of Business Development and Government Relations with the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) since 2004. He has over 42 years of experience in the student loan and higher education finance arena. Shaffner participates as a member of the Executive Management Team at MOHELA and is responsible for all sales, school, government and external relations activity within the Authority. Shaffner has represented the student loan and higher education finance industry, participating on the 2014 and 2021 Negotiated Rulemaking panels representing the FFEL and loan servicing communities, on national news and media outlets as a subject matter expert, and has presented multiple times on a variety of higher education finance topics across the country for years. Prior to MOHELA, he worked with American Student Assistance as Director of Lender and Strategic Partnerships. He also held various sales and training positions at USA Funds/USA Group/SLMA from 1990 – 2001. Prior to working within the higher education finance industry, Shaffner was the Associate Director of Student Financial Aid at the University of Central Florida, where he worked for over eight years. He currently serves on the Missouri Scholarship and Loan Foundation board as Vice-Chair, Infinite Scholars board Co-Chair, EFC Board of Directors and Chair of its Government Affairs Committee, and the NCHER Government Relations Committee. Shaffner holds a B.A. in business administration from the University of Central Florida.
Trey Simon
Trey Simon serves as President and CEO of South Carolina Student Loan Corporation. His work is focused on providing programs of financial assistance to students to pursue their educational goals and become workforce ready. Before his current role, he served as the Chief Information Officer of the South Carolina Student Loan Corporation. Simon has been with the South Carolina Student Loan Corporation for over 29 Years, working in both Administration and Information Technology. He received his B.S. in Management Science from the University of South Carolina, Darla Moore School of Business. Simon is on the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees, and the University of South Carolina Business Partnership Foundation Board of Advisors. In addition, he serves as a member of the SC Chamber of Commerce Education Workforce Development Foundation Board of Directors, is the Chair of the SC Chamber of Commerce Education Workforce Development Committee and is a member of the SC Chamber of Commerce Information Technology Innovation Committee.
Jeanette W. Weldon
Jeanette W. Weldon was appointed Executive Director of the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority (CHESLA), the state’s alternative student loan entity, in July 2012. In 2014, Weldon was also appointed Executive Director of the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation (CSLF) as it entered a run-off period. Both CHESLA and CSLF are subsidiaries of the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (CHEFA), for which Weldon has served as Executive Director since July 1, 2015. CHEFA is a quasi-public entity that provides capital financing for colleges and universities, hospitals, and other eligible nonprofits throughout the state. By serving as Executive Director of CHEFA and its subsidiaries, Weldon is able to position all of the organizations to help address the state’s economic and workforce development needs. Weldon has previous experience as a credit analyst with Moody’s Investors Service, an investment banker with Bank of Boston, a financial advisor with P.G. Corbin & Company, and as Chief Financial Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Windham Hospital in Windham CT. She received a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.B.A. and M.P.H. from Columbia University.
Joseph V. Wood
Joseph V. Wood was appointed President and CEO of INvestEd (an Indiana based 501(c)(3) corporation) in August 2008 because of his extensive background in municipal finance and nearly 35 years of experience developing and managing student loan servicing and finance programs in the non-profit student loan sector. Mr. Wood joined INvestEd in June 2002 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer after having served 16 years as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) and representing the Bank of New York as a Vice President overseeing Municipal Sales in the Midwest. During his tenure with MOHELA, Mr. Wood had organizational responsibility for accounting, treasury, administrative services and strategic planning functions
At INvestEd, Mr. Wood was part of a team that grew the Corporation’s balance sheet and charitable activities to unprecedented levels. INvestEd grew organizational holdings to create the kind of affordable access to education funding for which INvestEd was created. On the financial aid literacy side of the organization, INvestEd presents at over 1,000 literacy and professional training events all over Indiana. These events are designed to reach students and their families throughout the state of Indiana with the dual mission of helping them to prepare for college financially and avoid expensive debt.
Mr. Wood completed his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the University of Missouri at St. Louis and his Master of Business Administration at St. Louis University. He is a long standing member the Education Finance Council (EFC), and the Government Finance Officers Association.