Advisory Board

Andrew Kane (Chair)

Dr. Andrew S. Kane OBE, studied Economics, Accounting and Finance at the London School of Economics, where he obtained an honors degree. He then joined Arthur Andersen where he spent over 30 years. Andy also served as Managing Director and CEO of HSBC’s Private Bank in Southern California, then as Director of East West Bank. Leveraging 40 years of his experience and education, he became a coach, and is a member of the International Coaching Federation. Andy is also a FCA, and holds his CPA^® and CGMA^®.

Andy has served on many non-profit and for-profit boards, utilizing his experience in finance, audit, branding, strategic planning, and transition, and is currently Chairman of the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. He sits on the North American Advisory Board of the London School of Economics and is also Vice Chancellor of Business Affairs at IUPS. He was awarded a British Honor of Chivalry by Her Majesty the Queen for services to British American business interests, and was invested as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Andy has been an active speaker for many years and has co-authored articles, surveys and books on a variety of topics during his career.

Joe Schmidt

Joe Schmidt as an Operating Partner at Clearlight Partners LLC. Before joining ClearLight, Joe spent over 30 years running a variety of small to middle market private companies as CEO or President. While at the last company he ran prior to joining ClearLight he grew revenue by 150% in four years while taking net profit from negative $5 million to positive EBITDA of nearly $12 million.

Joe has experience leading companies in manufacturing, engineering, consumer products and promotional marketing. During his career he has launched company startups, led turnarounds, made multiple add-on company acquisitions and led several companies to highly successful sale outcomes for their investors.

Joe was a Franklin Award winner as outstanding male graduate from the University of San Diego and has a degree in Business Administration. He has also received the Career Achievement Award from the University of San Diego in business.

Donald Solsby

Mr. Solsby is a 40+ year financial services expert with an extensive background in all aspects of banking, including business development, commercial lending, middle-market banking, and executive management, for several Orange County banks. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Real Estate Finance from San Diego State University. Mr. Solsby began his career with Union Bank as Regional Vice President located in Pasadena. He then transitioned to leadership in independent banks, where he served as President and CEO of PNB Financial Group. He later filled C-Suite roles in Southern California, serving as President and CEO of American Interstate Bank in Newport Beach and then Regional Vice President for Mellon 1st Business Bank. In the early 2000s, he began overseeing new bank formation and sales as Director, CEO, and President of Plaza Bank. After managing the sale of Plaza Bank, he was recruited by Independence Bank in Newport Beach before it was sold to Pacific Premier Bank at an attractive premium-to-book-value in 2015.

Presently, Donald is the Founder and Principal of CompassDirect, a financial solutions company specializing in commercial loan placement with companies and banks, and consulting on bank startups and acquisitions. CompassDirect has been helping businesses and organizations in Orange County since 2015. During his tenure in Orange County, he has served on the board of many community organizations and non-profit corporations, including the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, and The Council on Aging in Orange County. He currently sits as Treasurer on the Board of Directors for the Cystinosis Research Foundation.