Tom Priore co-founded Priority in 2005, and has served as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer since 2018.

Under his direction, Priority has grown from a founder-financed technology startup to be the fifth largest non-bank merchant acquirer in the U.S. by volume. Tom has steered Priority from an organization focused on payments processing to a solutions provider across payments and banking, operating at scale with nearly one million active customers across its SMB, B2B and Enterprise channels. Priority processes $120 billion in annual transaction volume and provides administration for nearly $1 billion in deposits.

Tom has an MBA from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

Brad Miller is responsible for all facets of Priority’s legal, risk, and compliance functions. He joined Priority in 2020 with more than 25 years of legal and financial industry experience. Before Priority, Brad was EVP, general counsel and chief risk officer of a regional community bank. He began his career with the international firm of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP (now Kilpatrick Townsend LLP), focusing his practice on consumer and commercial litigation, privacy, and regulatory matters. Brad holds a J.D. from the John Marshall Law School in Atlanta and a bachelor of business administration degree from Georgia Southern University.

Dave joined Priority in 2020. He has over 25 years of experience in marketing and building high-performing teams to drive brand awareness and profitable growth at leading fintech, martech and healthcare companies. Before Priority, Dave was the VP of marketing for North America for Sage, a global software provider for small and medium businesses. Previously, he served as head of worldwide marketing for the IBM Marketing Cloud. Dave has also held senior marketing roles at McKesson and with some of the world’s largest marketing and communications agencies. He has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Hofstra University.

Eliot Buchanan was named president of Priority Tech Ventures in 2024. Tech Ventures is a portfolio of early to late stage companies that align strategically with Priority’s core products and operations. Before this role, Eliot founded Plastiq, and played a key role in its integration and growth following its acquisition by Priority in 2023. Eliot is a board member, investor and advisor to more than a dozen U.S. startups in industries including financial services, AI and insur-tech. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University.

Jennifer Hand, chief people officer at Priority since 2023, has 20+ years of experience in the payments industry. She joined Priority in 2019 as VP of optimization and business intelligence, and was named SVP of human resources in 2020. Before Priority, Jennifer spent 15 years at Worldpay, where she had leadership roles in sales operations, business development, product and customer relationship management. Jennifer has a bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University and studied mechanical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Rajiv joined Priority in 2021, and leads the company’s accounting and financial reporting. He was previously director of Advisory and Technical Accounting at McKesson, and assurance senior manager for EY. Rajiv is a Certified Public Accountant and has more than 15 years of experience in accounting and auditing of multinational corporations. He is also an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Rajiv holds a post-graduate diploma in management and business administration from Madurai Kamaraj University, and a bachelor of commerce degree in accounting and finance from Deendayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University.

Ranjana joined Priority as EVP in 2011 and was promoted to COO in 2022. With over 20 years of experience in banking and payments, she leads company-wide strategy implementation, providing leadership, vision, and management to drive growth across Priority’s operations. Before Priority, Ranjana held key roles at Institutional Credit Partners and Credit Suisse, focusing on financial analysis, investment banking, and structured credit securitizations. Ranjana is a graduate of the University of Michigan and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Sean Kiewiet helped to co-found Priority in 2005 and served as the company’s chief technology officer until 2024, when he was named chief strategy officer. As CSO, Sean works to identify aligned global technology and business trends, architect enterprise technology and relationships, and serves as an advisor to internal technology and operational teams. Before Priority, he was director of technology for Cornerstone Payment Systems, and worked in software development and architecture for Hypercom and Syntellect. Sean holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

Tim O’Leary joined Priority in 2022 with more than 20 years of capital markets and banking experience, primarily focused in the technology sector. Before Priority, he was managing director and group head of the Technology, Media and Telecom leveraged finance team at Truist Securities, where he led capital raising for a number of fintech and technology companies. Tim holds an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Northern Arizona University.

Yi was named CTO in 2024. He joined Priority as part of its 2023 acquisition of Plastiq, where he led the technology team as chief engineer and architect. With a tech career spanning three decades, Yi has consulted for financial institutions like Fidelity Investments and Putnam, and worked at companies such as Thomson Reuters and PeopleFluent. He has co-founded, advised and worked with multiple startups, enriching his expertise in leading geographically diverse teams and steering critical technology, product and business transformations. Yi has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Northeastern University.

Tom Priore co-founded Priority in 2005, and has served as the company’s chairman and chief executive officer since 2018.

Under his direction, Priority has grown from a founder-financed technology startup to be the fifth largest non-bank merchant acquirer in the U.S. by volume. Tom has steered Priority from an organization focused on payments processing to a solutions provider across payments and banking, operating at scale with nearly one million active customers across its SMB, B2B and Enterprise channels. Priority processes $120 billion in annual transaction volume and provides administration for nearly $1 billion in deposits.

Tom has an MBA from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.

Chris Favilla has been a director of Priority since 2019 and chairs the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee. With over 35 years of experience in banking and financial services, her executive roles included chief operating officer of Sterling National Bank, chief operating officer of GE Capital Americas, and president of Discover Bank. Chris serves on the Boards of several other finance and technology companies. She holds an MBA from Fordham University.

John Priore is a co-founder of Priority. He served as the company’s chief executive officer from its founding in 2005 until 2018, when he assumed the role of Board vice chairman. John has more than 25 years of experience in the payments industry. Before Priority, he was the executive vice president of Financial Systems at Ingenico and served in a variety of positions at other firms, including NOVA, First Data and American Express. John has a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Rhode Island.

Marc Crisafulli has been a director of Priority since 2022 and chairs the Board’s Compensation Committee. He is the chair of Bally’s Rhode Island, the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission in Providence, R.I., and counsel at Nixon Peabody LLP. Marc retired in 2022 as executive vice president of strategy and operations at Bally’s Corp. His prior leadership roles include president of Brightstar Corp. (North America), EVP at Suffolk Construction Co., managing partner at Hinckley Allen, and president of the Gaming Solutions Division at GTECH Holdings Corp. Marc holds a J.D. from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree from Boston University.

Marietta Colston-Davis has served as a director of Priority since 2021. In her career as a technology sales executive, Marietta led IBM’s customer relationships with Coca-Cola, Cardinal Health and Accenture, and helped launch and grow Microsoft’s Dynamics product. She previously held positions at Lotus Development, Ameritech and Tata Consultancy. Marietta has an MBA from Loyola University and a bachelor’s degree from Bradley University.

Mike Passilla has served as a director of Priority since 2019, and chairs the Board’s Audit Committee. Mike retired in 2018 from JP Morgan Chase & Co., where he was vice chairman and, previously, CEO of Chase Merchant Services. Before JP Morgan Chase, Mike was CEO at Elavon (a division of U.S. Bank), and North America president of Inforte Corp. In addition to Priority, he serves as a Board member and/or Advisor to Cantaloupe, P97 Networks, Optimized Payments and Forte Ventures. Mike has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame.