New Board Member Enhances Council's Expertise and Knowledge in Financial Technology

PHOENIX - Feb. 3, 2025 - PRLog -- The Arizona Technology Council today announced it has appointed Cheryl Eckardt, vice president, Global Network Service Technology, American Express, to its board of directors. Eckardt was elected unanimously to serve a three-year term at the Council's quarterly board meeting held on January 31.

"Cheryl brings a wealth of expertise in global payment networks and technology that will be invaluable to our mission," said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Council and SciTech Institute. "We are honored to welcome her and begin working together, as she has demonstrated exceptional leadership in financial technology, compliance and digital transformation. Her innovative mindset and deep industry knowledge will undoubtedly help drive growth and advancement in the sector."

Eckardt brings accomplishments in platform modernization, regulatory compliance and digital innovation. Her achievements include leading technology delivery for the American Express Payments Network and driving strategic growth through cutting-edge digital solutions.

The board of directors serves an advisory and fiduciary role by representing the interests of the state's technology industries in the Council's strategic planning and ongoing operations. The current board includes 30 members representing a diverse set of organizations.

In addition to Eckardt's appointment, Jonathon A. Talcott, attorney and shareholder, Buchalter, was re-nominated to the board following his move from Ballard Spahr to Buchalter.

Cheryl Eckardt, vice president, Global Network Service Technologies, American Express

Eckardt is vice president, Global Network Services Technology, responsible for the technology delivery of the American Express Payments Network – a modern, high performing, secure set of capabilities that processes more than 40 million global financial transactions every day. The Payments Network is a backbone of American Express card products and as such the continued development of new digital products enables strategic growth initiatives for the company.

Prior to this, Eckardt held the role as vice president, Finance Technology, where she partnered with the chief product owners to accelerate the finance platform modernization journey while delivering new business capabilities focused on regulatory compliance and advanced analytics. Eckardt also held leadership responsibilities across corporate systems, including Global Risk and Compliance, Global Banking Technology, and the Colleague Experience Group.

Eckardt joined American Express in April 2019 from General Electric, where she was vice president for Application Platform Services, responsible for the strategy, design, and delivery of managed web and database services for enterprise and customer-facing applications. She began her career at GE in 2002 as a software engineer before moving into a series of increasingly responsible roles in application development, solution delivery, platform modernization and product development.

Eckardt holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science and mathematics from Siena College, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Connecticut. She lives in Phoenix and enjoys spending time outdoors with her family.

Companies represented on the Arizona Technology Council board of directors include:

Arizona Commerce Authority; AccountabilIT; Alerion Capital Group; Alliance Bank of Arizona; American Express; Arizona State University; Arizona Western College; Avnet; Benchmark; Buchalter; City of Hope; Edmund Optics; Ernst & Young; Honeywell Aerospace; IBM; ILLUME Advising; Immedia; Insight; Intel; Iron Mountain; KEO Marketing Inc.; Marcus Engineering; MSS Technologies; QTS Data Centers; Quarles & Brady; The RFP Succes Company; Tech Parks Arizona, The University of Arizona; Translational Genomics Research Institute; and University of Advancing Technology