Our Founders

Michael Beird, founding partner of ACB is responsible for driving the strategic vision of the organization. With 40 years experience in financial services, Michael Beird provides leading edge consulting and education to industry practitioners through both live and virtual platforms. During his long career in the financial services industry, Michael has been a branch banker, auditor, M&A analyst, workforce optimization manager, procedural reengineer, bank advisor across 4 continents, event director, research director for banks and credit cards for JD Power, and now CoFounder of the leading online education platform in financial services.

He continues to lecture and speak extensively, works onsite with banks on branch efficiency and customer experience, has written a number of articles on retail banking best practices, and has been quoted by hundreds of national news outlets, including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, American Banker and CBS NewsRadio.

Erin O'Donnell, founding partner of ACB hosts the CannaChix monthly webcast and is responsible for driving the strategic vision of the organization. She has over 30 years experience in event management and education, specializing in technology and online delivery of content.

Erin co-founded BankersHub, an online portal of banking education and information, where she launched the banking industry’s first virtual conference and expo. Erin frequently speaks at industry conferences on cannabis in banking, planning virtual events, including live streaming events and webinars, she has also been a featured keynote speaker on the topic of the importance of social media in financial services.

Erin is a certified Digital Event Strategist (DES) and a Certified Meeting Manager (CMM) and a Certified Cannabis Banking Professional (CBP). She holds a B.S. in Marketing/Business Administration from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania.

Meridith Beird is an Event Manager with program and project management experience in online education, quality assurance, and customer support. Skilled in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Data Analysis, and Research. Strong international background with a BA in French and Anthropology, studied abroad in Morocco, and a Master's degree in Developmental Linguistics from The University of Edinburgh.

She is also a MPI member and certified Digital Event Strategist.

As CEO and co-founder of Emerging Markets Coalition (EMC) and U.S. and global fintech initiatives, Kirsten co-founded and leads Payments As a Lifeline - with a mission to move money in minutes—to the right person, right time, right purpose—with the data to prove it. This connects commercial, non-profit, and government sectors to ensure financial systems serve people, while supporting sustainable profit for companies, - driving “doing well while doing good” .

She has served on many Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards - spanning fintechs, government, social impact, and policy & regulatory - where she leverages her high impact network to steer policy, profitability, growth, and strategic change.