Professional Development: Acting on Aspirations — Risk-Taking in Careers

Shilpa is the Chief Product Officer at ACAMS. She is responsible for the performance, content and strategy of anti-financial crime training solutions and their implementation across all channels and client segments.

Shilpa represents ACAMS by speaking at select major industry events and conferences, participating in think tanks and engaging proactively with industry leaders across the globe.

Previously, Shilpa was the Head of Financial Crime Prevention for the Retail and Business Bank in Santander UK. She was accountable for all areas of financial crime prevention including KYC/CDD, customer screening, payment screening, transaction monitoring, customer risk assessment and assurance. She led the bank through the implementation of AML/CTF and ABC policies, advisory on high-risk onboarding, training and communication, and risk assessments. She also held leadership roles at Barclays in financial crime prevention, governance, and controls, and led large transformation programs.

Mariah Gause currently serves as Chief Operating Officer. She is responsible for steering the organization's strategic direction and overseeing key initiatives that will shape ACAMS' long-term trajectory and impact across the anti-financial crime (AFC) community.

Mariah joined ACAMS in November 2020 as the Vice President of Finance and Global Operations and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO) and ACAMS Executive Board Member in 2022.  Prior to joining ACAMS she had a progressive finance and leadership career through General Electric (GE), Experian, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of IL.

Mariah earned her Bachelor of Science in Finance from Clemson University and her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Priya is a specialist in investigations & compliance with over 25 years experience, including a decade as a Partner. She has investigated organised, white collar and financial crime on behalf of organisations globally including Regulators, Law Enforcement agencies and financial institutions. She has written reports used for legal proceedings, regularly acts as a ‘Skilled Person’ in the UK and has given evidence in Court on matters she has investigated.  She also advises financial institutions including banks, asset managers and payments companies to understand and manage financial crime risk.

Priya has held a number of leadership positions growing and restructuring businesses. She was a member of the Leadership Team responsible for the strategic people agenda across KPMG and Promontory's UK Advisory businesses.

A 14-year career in Global Banking across UK and Europe specializing in anti-Financial Crime compliance.  A former commercial litigator who is now the global head of continuous monitoring for compliance at ING.  In her current role she leads a team of over 150 multi-disciplinary specialists measuring quality of compliance processes.  Her roles within ING have involved providing agile and effective oversight over cross functional and international teams.  Her expertise lies in crisis management and creating competitive high performing teams.  She enjoys working in multi-disciplinary teams and values integrity, curiosity, and collaboration.