Bio

Manny Alvarez is a nationally recognized fintech and banking expert and strategic advisor with diverse experience across public and private sectors. Throughout his career, he has built new functions and harmonized innovative technologies with orthodox laws and regulations, whether in newly-established regulatory agencies or hyper-growth companies. Manny founded BridgeCounsel Strategies LLC on the belief that responsible tech innovation can help promote equity. Before founding BridgeCounsel, Manny served as California’s chief banking and financial regulator, first as Commissioner of the Department of Business Oversight (DBO) and then as the first senate-confirmed Commissioner of the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation (DFPI), which broadly regulates the state’s banking and financial-services industry. He led efforts to revamp the state’s financial-services regulatory apparatus as DFPI in order to better regulate emerging technologies in financial services while fostering consumer protections and responsible innovation in California, which has since become a national model. In 2020, Manny served on the Biden-Harris Transition Agency Review Team for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This marked a homecoming of sorts as, earlier in his career, Manny was a “Founders Club” member of CFPB. Manny is also an almunus of the Consumer Law Section of the California Attorney General’s Office in Los Angeles, where he prosecuted violations of state unfair competition and false advertising laws. Manny’s public service experience has been enhanced by intensive operational experience in the private sector, particularly in hyper growth environments. From 2014 to 2019, Manny served as the founding General Counsel at Affirm, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM) where he led the company’s day-to-day legal, compliance, and government affairs functions and helped build the company’s most diverse team, achieving gender balance and healthy representation by people of color. Manny earned his JD from UC Hastings College of the Law and holds a BA, cum laude, from Cornell University. He lives with his wife and two sons in Sacramento where he pedals up and down the American River Bike Trail and golfs poorly. NOTE: I do not assiduously respond to LinkedIn messages. For new conversations, I prefer warm introductions. Otherwise, please feel free to schedule time here: https://app.squarespacescheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=25149578