Syed Ahmed Director, Infrastructure and Project Finance MetLife Investment Management

Syed Ahmed is a Director in the Infrastructure and Project Finance group at MetLife investment Management. He has been in this role since 2015, and is responsible for sourcing, structuring, and executing debt transactions across a number of infrastructure sectors with a focus on North America, Latin America, and Australia. The sectors span across digital, PPP, transportation, energy transition, power, and energy. Syed first started his career at MetLife in 2012. Mr. Ahmed graduated from Rutgers University with a BS in Finance. He is a CFA charterholder.

Duane Callender Director-Credit Programs Office Build America Bureau, USDOT

Duane Callender manages the Credit Programs Office within the Build America Bureau which houses the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) credit program and the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) credit program. Callender directs a staff responsible for all aspects of underwriting, portfolio monitoring and risk management. Callender oversees a portfolio that encompasses over USD 28bn in Federal credit assistance to intermodal, highway, transit and rail projects totaling more than USD 92bn of infrastructure investment in the U.S. Prior to his current position he held positions in DOT’s Office of Budget and Programs; where he was responsible for oversight of the Maritime Administration budget; in DOT’s Inspector General’s Office and the Budget Office of the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department.

Jorianne Jernberg Director, WIFIA Management Division, Office of Wastewater Management Office of Water, U.S. EPA

Jorianne Jernberg is the director of the WIFIA Management Division.  In this capacity, she is spearheading the implementation of a Federal infrastructure bank at EPA – overseeing the origination, underwriting, negotiation, and monitoring of water, wastewater, and stormwater projects around the country.  Prior to joining EPA, Jorianne served as the head of risk management and financial operations at the TIFIA program within the Department of Transportation where she was responsible for a team conducting a wide range of financial, programmatic, and credit functions. 

Julie Burger Managing Director Wells Fargo Corporate & Investment Banking

Julie Burger is a Managing Director at Wells Fargo Corporate & Investment Banking, where she serves as Co-Head of Public Finance.  Within this role, she is responsible for leading the origination arm of the Municipal Products Group, with a particular focus on transportation, P3 and infrastructure clients.  She is a 16 year veteran of the municipal industry, having begun her career at Bank of America in 2007.

Within her current role, Ms. Burger helps oversee the firm’s national P3 practice, where she has led a wide range of P3 financings across multiple products and sectors. During her career, she has helped lead the execution of over $6.0 billion of P3/project financings, including: $1.76 billion for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Major Bridges Project, $160 million for the District of Columbia DC Smart Street Lighting project, $125.0 million for the Gilcrease Expressway Project, $309.1 million for the Miami-Dade County Courthouse P3 Project, $610.3 million for the I-75 Improvement Project in Michigan, $273.9 million for the Port Newark Container Terminal, $2.4 billion for the LaGuardia Airport Central Terminal Building Redevelopment, and $721.4 million for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Rapid Bridge Replacement Project.

Ms. Burger graduated summa cum laude from New York University’s Stern School of Business. 

Michael Lexton Managing Director and Head of Transportation and P3 UBS Financial Services Inc

Michael Lexton is the Head of Transportation and P3/ESG Finance at UBS. Mr. Lexton has focused on financing public infrastructure for state and local governments as well as through the investment of private sector capital with a focus on ESG and sustainability considerations. During his 40+ year career in public finance, he has led over $50.0 billion of financing for national transportation entities in the airport, highway, seaport, transit, and toll sectors. Two of his financings, $257.0 million for the Denver International Airport and $934.1 million for JFK International Airport's Terminal 4, were selected by Institutional Investor magazine as their municipal Deals of the Year.

In 1997, Mr. Lexton was selected by then Transportation Secretary, Rodney Slater, to serve on the Congressionally mandated National Civil Aviation Review Commission (known as the Mineta Commission in honor of its Chairman, Norman Y. Mineta) to review the funding and operating mechanisms of the FAA. He also has served on the Associates Board of the Airports Council International- North America and as Chairperson of the Public Private Ventures Division of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. Mr. Lexton has a BS degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Robin Ganguly Global Executive Editor Infralogic

Robin oversees global editorial and research coverage for Infralogic. A 24-year news veteran, with 16 of them spent editing financial news, Robin has worked for some of the world's leading news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires and Bloomberg. He has been a regular on live television, commenting mainly on Chinese government and central bank policy. At Infralogic, he is responsible for daily news coverage and analysis written by a team of journalists spread across the globe, including the Americas, EMEA and the Asia-Pacific region.