Our Leadership

Meet our team of experienced leaders.

A panel of women sitting in chairs against a wall speaking during an event. The group is diverse in age and race.
Image of table with small succulents wrapped as gifts. The Forbright Bank logo is on the wall behind the table.

Don Cole

Chief Executive Officer

Don Cole serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Forbright Bank and the President and Chief Operating Officer of Forbright, Inc. He previously served as President and COO of Congressional Bank. From 2012 to 2018, Mr. Cole served as Chief Financial Officer of Alliance Partners. From 2009 to 2011, he served as Chief Financial Officer of CapitalSource. From 2003 to 2009, Mr. Cole served in various senior management positions at CapitalSource including Chief Operations Officer, Chief Accounting Officer, and Chief Information Officer. Mr. Cole received his BS and MBA from the State University of New York at Buffalo and his law degree from the University of Virginia.

Lisa Cuba

Chief Risk Officer

Lisa Cuba serves as Chief Risk Officer for Forbright Bank and Chief Risk Officer of Forbright, Inc., positions she has held since 2022. Prior to joining Forbright, Ms. Cuba had over 20 years of risk management experience within community and regional banks and most recently served as Senior Vice President, Director of Enterprise Risk Management at Atlantic Union Bank from 2018 to 2022. Ms. Cuba holds an M.B.A. from the University of South Carolina and a B.B.A. with a concentration in Finance from the College of William & Mary, in addition to degrees from the Graduate School of Banking at the Louisiana State University and the Virginia Bankers School of Bank Management at the University of Virginia.

John Delaney

Founder and Executive Chairman

John is the founder and Executive Chairman of Forbright Bank, and the Chairman and CEO of Forbright, Inc.

By the age of 40, John had founded and led two New York Stock Exchange listed financial services companies. In 1993, he founded HealthCare Financial Partners Inc., which provided loans to small to mid-sized healthcare service companies. The company completed its initial public offering in 1996 and was sold in 1999 for 3X its IPO price. HealthCare Financial Partners made over 1,000 loans and experienced no credit losses. In 2000, John founded CapitalSource Inc., which at the time was the most highly capitalized private equity-backed start-up in history.  CapitalSource operated several specialty commercial lending businesses, became a public company in 2003, and John served as Chairman and CEO until his decision to pursue public office in 2012. All told, Delaney’s companies made over $30 billion of loans to over 5,000 small to mid-sized companies and outperformed their peers in total shareholder return.

In 2012, John was elected to represent Maryland’s Sixth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his six years in Congress, he earned praise for his bipartisan approach to economic, trade, foreign, housing and environmental policy. He was a member of the Financial Services Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, and he co-founded the Artificial Intelligence Caucus. In 2013, he was elected co-president of his freshman class of 85 new members of Congress. In 2019, John stepped down from Congress to pursue an unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

John is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Geographic Society and the Bipartisan Policy Center, he is a Senior Advisor to Galvanize LLC and Revolution LLC and was a past member of the Board of Directors of Georgetown University, the Board of Trustees of the Potomac School, and past Chairman of the Board of St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School.

John received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University and in 1988 his law degree from Georgetown Law Center. John and his wife, Congresswoman April McClain-Delaney, met as law students at Georgetown. Representative McClain-Delaney has been serving in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2025 and has more than 25 years of communications law and child advocacy experience in both private sector and non-profit engagements. John and April have four daughters and one grandson.

Kenny Elias

Chief Lending Officer and President of Structured Finance

Kenny Elias joined Forbright in 2011 and now serves a dual role as the bank’s Chief Lending Officer as well as President of Structured Finance. Kenny founded various national specialty lending business units at the bank, including the cash flow and leveraged finance unit, lender finance, and national real estate. Additionally, from 2017-2019 he oversaw the Washington DC area community bank lending efforts. Prior to joining the Bank, Kenny served various roles in leveraged finance, private equity and accounting. Most recently he was with Blackstreet Capital where he sourced, underwrote, and managed control equity buyouts of underperforming companies. Prior thereto, Kenny was a Director of Portfolio Management for Leveraged Finance at CapitalSource where he managed several billion dollars of performing and non-performing loans throughout his tenure. His previous experience includes roles with Allied Capital Corporation (now part of Ares Capital) and regional CPA firm Watkins Meegan LLC. Kenny earned his C.P.A. (now inactive) and received his M.B.A. from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. He also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Delaware.

Aaron Juda

Chief Strategy Officer and President of Consumer Banking

Aaron Juda serves as Chief Strategy Officer and President of Consumer Banking at Forbright Bank. Prior to joining Forbright in 2018, Mr. Juda served as Business Development Officer of Alliance Partners. Prior to his role at Alliance Partners, Mr. Juda was a Vice President in the Financial Institutions Group at Barclays Investment Bank and was a consultant at Accenture Strategy. Mr. Juda holds a B.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.B.A. from the NYU Stern School of Business.

Leanne Ladd

Chief Administrative Officer

Leanne Ladd serves as Chief Administrative Officer for Forbright Bank, a position she has held since 2021. Ms. Ladd joined Forbright in 2018 and has served in roles with increasing responsibility, including Vice President, Director of Systems Operations/ Program Management and Senior Vice President, Director of Operations. Ms. Ladd holds a B.A. in International Studies with a concentration in Business from Brigham Young University.

Chris Lynch

Chief Financial Officer

Chris Lynch serves as Chief Financial Officer at Forbright Bank. Prior to joining Forbright, Mr. Lynch served for almost a decade as Senior Vice President and Executive Vice President of Finance at Pacific Western Bank. During his tenure, Mr. Lynch managed the financial and capital forecasting, capital stress testing, tax, and insurance functions. Prior to Pacific Western Bank, he held executive roles including Senior Vice President of Finance at CapitalSource and Chief Financial Officer at Walker & Dunlop. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lynch worked in investment banking at Merrill Lynch, and in treasury and finance positions at Marriott International.

Kori Ogrosky

General Counsel

Kori Ogrosky serves as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Forbright, Inc. and Forbright Bank, positions she has held since 2022. Prior to joining Forbright, Ms. Ogrosky was Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for PacWest Bancorp. Prior to joining PacWest Bancorp, Ms. Ogrosky was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of CapitalSource Inc. from 2012 to 2014 and had served in various roles in the legal department at CapitalSource since 2007. Additionally, Ms. Ogrosky was an Associate at White & Case LLP from 1999 to 2004. Ms. Ogrosky holds a B.S. from Emory University and a J.D. from George Washington University.

James Pieczynski

Senior Advisor

James J. Pieczynski is a seasoned financial executive with over three decades of leadership experience in commercial banking and lending who is currently a consultant to the banking and real estate industries and an investor in real estate.

Following the $2.3 billion merger of CapitalSource Inc. (“CSE”) with PacWest Bancorp in 2014, Mr. Pieczynski joined Pacific Western Bank as President of the CapitalSource Division and a member of the Board of Directors, directing its integration and expansion as a key contributor to the combined entity’s growth. In this role, he led national lending initiatives that enhanced the bank’s portfolio and drove profitable expansion. Effective June 2018, he served as Vice Chairman of PacWest Bancorp, where he collaborated with the CEO to shape the organization’s strategic vision while continuing to serve as a director of both PacWest Bancorp and Pacific Western Bank. He retired from PacWest in May 2021.

Prior to PacWest, He served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of CapitalSource, Inc. from 2012 to 2014, where he oversaw the company’s national middle-market lending operations, including asset-based, equipment, real estate, and cash flow loans to businesses across the United States. Under his guidance, CapitalSource established itself as a premier on-balance sheet lender, focusing on industries such as technology, healthcare, and real estate. Mr. Pieczynski previously served as CSE’s Co-Chief Executive Officer from January 2010 through December 2011, CSE’s President-Healthcare Real Estate Business from November 2008 until January 2010. CSE’s Co-President-Healthcare and Specialty Finance from January 2006 until November 2008, and head of CSE’s Healthcare Real Estate Group from September 2001 until January 2006.

Mr. Pieczynski also served as an executive officer of LTC Properties Inc. (“LTC”) a long-term healthcare REIT from 1994 to 2001, and as a member of the Board of Directors of LTC from 1997 to 2001 and from 2014 to 2024. He has also held directorships at other public companies, including Ribapharm, Inc. and Florida East Coast Industries, Inc. He also contributes to community initiatives as a Director of the Sherwood Country Club Charitable Foundation and the Conejo Teen Organization, Inc.

Ben Wakana

Chief Public Affairs Officer

Ben Wakana serves as Forbright Bank’s Chief Public Affairs Officer where he leads communications and marketing, sustainability, and government relations. Mr. Wakana joined Forbright Bank from the White House where he served as Deputy Director for Strategic Communications on the COVID Response Team. He has spent over a decade leading communications teams at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, on Capitol Hill, and at a health care advocacy organization. Mr. Wakana is a graduate of Colby College with a degree in Philosophy.

Board of Directors

Cliff Brokaw

Mr. Brokaw is a member of the Board of Directors of Forbright, Inc. and Forbright Bank. Mr. Brokaw is a Managing Director at Bayview Asset Management, LLC (“Bayview”), where he leads Bayview’s efforts to source, structure, and manage private equity and special situations investments across the financial services sector. Prior to joining Bayview, Mr. Brokaw was Global Co-Head of Asset Management in the Financial Institutions Group at Citi. Prior to joining Citi in 2015, Mr. Brokaw was a Managing Director at Corsair Capital from 2007 to 2015, where he served on the investment committee. Mr. Brokaw also served on the Board of Directors of United Community Banks from 2012 through 2015. Mr. Brokaw also served as a Managing Director within the Financial Institutions Group at Goldman Sachs and worked in the Mergers and Acquisitions Department at J.P. Morgan. Mr. Brokaw earned a B.A. and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia.

Nancy Eberhardt

Ms. Eberhardt is a member of the Board of Directors of Forbright, Inc. and Forbright Bank. Ms. Eberhardt, Owner of Pathwise Partners, is a certified Executive Coach and a leadership development and strategic consultant. Ms. Eberhardt is author of the Forbes Books-launched book Uncommon Candor, A Leader’s Guide to Straight Talk and taught Business Communications and Ethics globally for the Jack Welch Management Institute Executive MBA Program. Ms. Eberhardt served as Chair of Internet Inc., owner of one of the first regional ATM networks. Ms. Eberhardt also served as the Chair of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, as a member of the governor-appointed Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority, on the Advisory Board for the University of Virginia School of Continuing and Professional Studies and as Vice Chair of the Wolf Trap Foundation. Prior to forming Pathwise Partners, during her tenure as a regional bank President for Central Fidelity Bank (now Wells Fargo), Ms. Eberhardt was responsible for 50 locations, hundreds of employees, a number of successful mergers and more than $1 billion in customer relationships. She served on the Management Team for the $10 billion bank, the fourth most profitable in the country. Before Ms. Eberhardt was named President, she led Central Fidelity Bank’s customer product development division for more than a decade. Ms. Eberhardt holds a B.S. in Psychology from Virginia Wesleyan College and an M.S. in Industrial / Organizational Psychology from Old Dominion University, as well as a Leadership Coaching Certification from Georgetown University.

Jason Fish

Mr. Fish is a member of the Board of Directors of Forbright, Inc. and Forbright Bank. Mr. Fish is president of Sebastes Capital, LLC, his family investment office. Mr. Fish is a private investor, a seasoned entrepreneur and an experienced advisor to organizations and executives. Mr. Fish was a Co-Founder and board member of Alliance Partners, LLC and was its Chief Investment Officer until April 2016. Prior to Alliance Partners, Mr. Fish co-founded CapitalSource, Inc. and served as its President, Chief Investment Officer and Vice Chairman of the board during the period from 2000 to 2007. Prior to CapitalSource, from 1990 to 2000, Mr. Fish worked at Farallon Capital Management, L.L.C. where he was a Managing Member from 1992 until 2000. Prior to joining Farallon Capital Management, L.L.C., Mr. Fish worked at Lehman Brothers Inc., serving as Senior Vice President. From its founding in 2014 through 2019, Mr. Fish served as senior advisor and Board Chair of Generate Capital, a sustainable infrastructure platform. Mr. Fish currently serves on the Executive Board of Victory Park Capital, a private capital manager, and is Vice Chair of the PIIRS Advisory Council of Princeton University. Mr. Fish received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University.

Cynthia Flanders 

Ms. Flanders is a member of the Board of Directors of Forbright, Inc. and Forbright Bank. Ms. Flanders is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Skipjack Partners LLC, D/B/A Manage Fearlessly, which provides executive, leadership and career coaching services to individuals and corporations. Ms. Flanders also serves on the Board of Directors of Argan, Inc. (NYSE:AGX), where she is a member of the compensation committee and chairs the nominating and governance committee. Ms. Flanders spent over 30 years with Bank of America and its predecessor organizations, where she held a series of positions of increasing responsibility, retiring as the Mid Atlantic Regional Executive for the Commercial Bank. Ms. Flanders received a B.S. and an MBA from the University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Eric Hoffman

Mr. Hoffman is a member of the Board of Directors of Forbright, Inc. and Forbright Bank. He is a Senior Managing Director at Centerbridge Partners, L.P. (“Centerbridge”), a private investment firm. Mr. Hoffman joined Centerbridge in 2010 and focuses on investments in the Financial Services sector. Prior to joining Centerbridge, Mr. Hoffman was an Analyst at The Blackstone Group L.P. He serves on the Boards of Directors of Fairstone Bank of Canada, First National Bank of America (and affiliated entities), and Martello Re. Mr. Hoffman earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a concentration in finance and insurance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, summa cum laude.

Christopher T. Jones

Mr. Jones is a member of the Board of Directors of Forbright, Inc. and Forbright Bank. Mr. Jones is President of BMC Property Group, a Bethesda, Maryland-based real estate investment company. Mr. Jones is also an active early-stage investor and a member of the Urban Land Institute, the International Council of Shopping Centers and numerous other professional organizations. Mr. Jones is an active supporter of numerous other civic and charitable organizations, including the Nature Conservancy, the Smithsonian Institution and the Merrick Center in Washington, DC’s Ward 8. Mr. Jones earned a B.A. in Ecology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Donald Kohn

Mr. Kohn is a member of the Board of Directors of Forbright, Inc. and Forbright Bank. Mr. Kohn holds the Robert V. Roosa Chair in International Economics and is a Senior Fellow in the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Kohn previously served as an external member of the Financial Policy Committee at the Bank of England from 2011 until 2021. Mr. Kohn is a 40-year veteran of the Federal Reserve system, serving as Member and then Vice Chair of the Board of Governors from 2002 until 2010. Mr. Kohn occasionally lectures for the Washington Speakers Bureau and has provided monetary policy consulting to institutions including T. Rowe Price. Mr. Kohn earned a B.A. in Economics from the College of Wooster and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan.

Lee Sachs

Mr. Sachs is a member of the Board of Directors of Forbright, Inc. Mr. Sachs is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Gallatin Point Capital LLC (“Gallatin”). Prior to founding Gallatin, Mr. Sachs was a Co-Founder and Chairman of Alliance Partners LLC, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Forbright Bank. Mr. Sachs served as Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Partners LLC until 2015. Previously, Mr. Sachs served at the U.S. Treasury Department (the “Treasury”) as Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury and Head of the Financial Crisis Response Team during the global financial crisis. Before serving at the Treasury, Mr. Sachs was a Partner and Chairman of the Investment Committee at Mariner Investment Group. Mr. Sachs also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone Asset Management and, until 2003, as Vice Chairman of Perseus LLC, a merchant bank and private equity fund management firm. During the Clinton Administration, Mr. Sachs was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Markets. Until 1998, Mr. Sachs was a Senior Managing Director, Head of Global Capital Markets and a member of the Board of Directors of the Bear, Stearns Companies Inc. Mr. Sachs currently serves on the Board of Directors of Varo Money, Inc., and as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Denison University. Mr. Sachs holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Denison University.

Steve Shafran

Mr. Shafran is a member of the Board of Directors of Forbright, Inc. and Forbright Bank. Mr. Shafran is a Senior Advisor at Centerbridge Partners LP (“Centerbridge”), a role which he has held since 2018.  As part of his activities at Centerbridge he serves as the Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cascade Financial Holdings and as a Director of Fairstone Bank of Canada.  Mr. Shafran was a partner at Goldman Sachs from 1986 to 2001, which included an eight-year period where he lived in Hong Kong and Singapore and was the Co-Founder and Co-Head of the firm’s Asian Principal Investment Area. From January 2008 to June 2009, Mr. Shafran was a Senior Advisor to U.S. Treasury Secretaries Henry Paulson and Timothy Geithner, advising the U.S. Treasury Department throughout the financial crisis. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Shafran was a professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Mr. Shafran is the Co-Founder and President of the Wood River Community Housing Trust, a non-profit focused on providing affordable housing in his home community of Sun Valley, Idaho. Mr. Shafran serves on the Governing Board of Directors of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team. Mr. Shafran received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Derek Walker

Mr. Walker is a member of the Board of Directors of Forbright, Inc. and Forbright Bank. Mr. Walker is a Managing Director on the investment team at Gallatin Point Capital (“Gallatin”). Prior to joining Gallatin, Mr. Walker was an Associate at Thomas H. Lee Partners, focusing on investments in financial services businesses. Mr. Walker began his career in the Financial Institutions Group in the investment banking division at J.P. Morgan. Mr. Walker earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, graduating as an Arjay Miller scholar, and a B.A. from Yale University, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude.