On April 17, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) recognized 19 of its largest customers at the 9th annual LADWP Sustainability Awards event, held at the John Ferraro Building in downtown Los Angeles. The customers—representing commercial, governmental, industrial, and institutional sectors—earned top honors for their significant achievements in energy efficiency, water conservation, 23transportation electrification and demand response, as a result of participating in our rebate and incentive programs. Launched in 2016, the Sustainability Awards event presents the chance for L ..read more

JOHN MURILLO SVP; Market President Enterprise Bank & Trust John Murillo continues to build upon an already distinguished career in financial services, currently serving as SVP, market president for Enterprise Bank & Trust in Los Angeles. He has more than 30 years of experience, having worked his way from a part-time teller all the way through multiple executive positions. Murillo prides himself on using a consultative and collaborative approach to help his clients reach financial objectives. He has an extensive background in managing and developing diverse and inclusive teams, while e ..read more

HAMID NAMAZIE Partner Holland & Knight Immediately after graduating from law school, Hamid Namazie embarked on his legal career by joining a firm to practice real estate litigation. His practice still focuses on providing counsel to lenders, now on multi-million dollar, sometimes even multi-billion dollar, syndicated and bilateral senior secured asset-based loans, cash flow loans, second-lien and subordinated loans. This includes acquisition financings, recapitalizations, refinancings and cross-border and multicurrency lending. He represents a wide range of clients, such as banks, institu ..read more

ABIGAIL O’BRIENT Partner Covington & Burling LLP Abby O’Brient’s wide-ranging restructuring and creditor rights litigation practice focuses on representation of secured and unsecured creditors in insolvency cases and other proceedings nationwide. She routinely represents parties in litigation related to insolvency and distressed debt in state and federal court, as well as purchasers and sellers of distressed assets and fiduciaries in bankruptcy cases and other insolvency matters. Outside of the insolvency arena, O’Brient has significant judgment enforcement and asset recovery experience ..read more

STEVE O’CONNELL President; Chief Executive Officer California Credit Union Steve O’Connell is president and CEO of California Credit Union, a not-for-profit financial cooperative headquartered in Glendale. Under his leadership, the credit union has achieved outstanding financial performance and introduced numerous innovations to achieve significant transformation, growth and member service enhancements across every area of operations. Through his guidance, the credit union’s 2023 financial performance was exceptionally strong during a challenging economic environment, growing to nearly $5 bil ..read more

DIEDRA PORCHÉ National Head, Community and Business Development JPMorgan Chase As head of community and business development at Chase, Diedra Porché has a deep passion for understanding the needs of the people the bank is seeking to serve. Porché empowers local communities and helps individuals build financial security and wealth. Porché began her career with JPMorgan Chase nearly 30 years ago. She started her career in an officer development program in Texas, moved on to Commercial Banking, worked with the Government Banking team, and then physically moved across the country to California an ..read more

MATT RECHNER Senior Vice President; Senior Banking Director Northern Trust Matt Rechner is the senior banking director of Northern Trust’s Los Angeles and Santa Barbara regions, with oversight of the San Diego region and the respective regions’ lending and depository teams. In addition to his managerial responsibilities, he is responsible for advising high net worth individuals, families, their businesses, trusts, foundations and non-profit organizations from a capital advisory perspective. Rechner and his team identify and assemble customized loan solutions for HNW families with complex inco ..read more

STEPHEN ROSSI Senior Managing Director; Head of Investment Banking Palm Tree LLC Stephen Rossi is senior managing director and leads the investment banking service line at Palm Tree, which helps clients position their businesses, structure acquisitions, and divestitures, run targeted strategic processes, and raise capital. Over the course of his nearly three-decade career, Rossi has led M&A deals, business operations, and capital markets and investment banking solutions—a unique range of experience that gives him multifaceted perspectives on strategic business events. Rossi is also the co ..read more

ART SALDIVAR Regional Executive First Citizens Wealth, part of First Citizens Bank First Citizens Wealth regional executive Art Saldivar is the leader of a 17-member team of wealth advisors serving individuals and institutions in Southern California. A veteran financial executive, Saldivar launched the new business on behalf of First Citizens Wealth in September 2023, having built the team from scratch and recruited all its members. In just six months, the team has more than doubled in size from its kickoff and now has offices in Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange County. Earlier, Saldivar enj ..read more

LEILA SAYEGH Partner Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP As head of Skadden Los Angeles’ Banking Group, Leila Sayegh leads innovative financing transactions that often are critical to a company’s survival, enabling game-changing acquisitions and recapitalizations and facilitating her client’s available credit for a variety of growth initiatives. She has advised clients in multiple industries on financings for multiple billion-dollar deals, multi-currency cross-border senior secured credit facilities and complex restructuring financings, among others. For Sayegh, the more complicated ..read more