Dedicated to helping people

Laurie Ahart, Chief Executive Officer

Ms. Ahart has served as Chief Executive Officer of Abacus Credit Counseling since Abacus was founded in 2007. Ms. Ahart is a Certified Personal Financial Counselor and has conducted hundreds of free sessions helping individuals to improve their financial situations. Ms. Ahart is also an attorney and member of the State Bar of California. She received her Bachelor's Degree from Stanford University and received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. Prior to founding Abacus Credit Counseling, Ms. Ahart was an associate with Hogan Lovells LLP in Los Angeles.

Henkie Barron, Director

Ms. Barron is Director of Business Affairs at Disney ABC Television Group. Prior to that, she acted as Senior Counsel at NBCUniversal, and as an Associate at Winston & Strawn LLP specializing in corporate restructuring and bankruptcy matters. She has experience representing debtors and secured lenders in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. She received her Bachelor's Degree from Stanford University and her Juris Doctor cum laude from the University of Michigan.

Sheila Chanani, Director

Ms. Chanani has an extensive background in the nonprofit sector spanning more than 10 years. In the United States and internationally, she has worked on projects related to health education and health services, life-skills education for adolescents, and nutrition and hunger studies. She currently works at the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery and manages a portfolio of grantees funded by the organization. Ms. Chanani has a BA in Economics from Stanford, a Masters in Development Economics and International NGO Management from Tufts, and is pursuing a Graduate Diploma in Epidemiology from the National University of Singapore.

Tom Yu, Director

Mr. Yu is Director of Strategy at Zions Bank where he works in the areas of finance and risk management. Prior to his current role, he served as Senior Risk Officer within Union Bank's Global Capital Markets business, and Senior Vice President at SunTrust Banks, overseeing market and enterprise risk management. Mr. Yu received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Princeton University, a Master's Degree in Economics from Northwestern University, and an M.B.A. from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. He is a CFA Charterholder and certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM).