Congressman Flood Announces Flyover Fintech Panel on “Innovation in Nebraska”

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA - Today, U.S. Congressman Mike Flood announced Flyover Fintech will include a panel on "Innovation in Nebraska." The panel, featuring industry leaders from Maptician, Fiserv, Social Assurance, Exodus, and Pinata will happen at the Congressman's Flyover Fintech Conference in Lincoln on September 23, 2025.

"Nebraska has earned its reputation as the Silicon Prairie thanks to the innovation, grit, and hard work of our people," said Congressman Flood. "This panel features incredible leaders in fintech from right here in Nebraska, who are helping to build great job opportunities for the next generation. With less than two weeks to go, I encourage anyone interested in joining the conversation to register for Flyover Fintech today."

AshLea Allberry, a seasoned leader in Information Technology, currently holds the role of Chief Operating Officer at Maptician, Inc. Under her leadership, the company excels in providing innovative space and occupancy management solutions for hybrid workplaces. Most notably, she played a pivotal role in securing significant funding from both local and national investors, showcasing her ability to drive business growth. Her leadership portfolio extends beyond Maptician. At Nanonation, Inc., she excelled as Chief Operating Officer, propelling the digital signage and interactive software firm forward. Her tenure at Xpanxion, LLC highlighted her strategic expertise, as she contributed to rapid organizational growth and even co-founded a subsidiary that continues to thrive as part of the larger enterprise. Beyond her professional accomplishments, AshLea is an advocate for empowering women in business and strengthening community initiatives. She co-founded two organizations that champion these causes and actively serves on the boards of several non-profits. At home, AshLea and her husband, Tate, enjoy family life with their children, Kate, Sophie, and Burke. A proud alumna of the University of Nebraska at Kearney, AshLea holds both Bachelor's and MBA degrees. She maintains strong ties to the university, reflecting her commitment to lifelong learning and engagement.

Steve Mathison has 30+ years' of expertise in helping consumers and retailers make and accept payments. He is currently the Head of Payment Optimization at Fiserv, where he is the senior executive responsible for strategically improving a retailer's payment processes to reduce costs, increase revenue, and enhance the customer experience by focusing on data analysis, technology, and vendor partnerships. His prior roles at Fiserv were as Product Manager and Product Strategist, responsible for the build, launch, and commercialization of a wide variety of payments products, including: IP and Cellular based point of sale systems, Chip Card technology, eCommerce and Checkout solutions, and a variety of Alternate payment methods. He is a Nebraska and Omaha Native, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanized Agriculture and an MBA, both from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Ben Pankonin serves as CEO of Social Assurance-a SaaS company he co-founded in 2011 that today serves over 1,500 financial brands nationwide. A veteran in the banking and financial services space, Ben is especially knowledgeable about the obstacles community banks, credit unions, and financial brands face in authentically engaging their customers and communities in an increasingly digital environment. Ben studied computer science and business administration at Nebraska Wesleyan University.

JP Richardson is the CEO of Exodus. In 2015, JP co-founded Exodus to build a beautiful, easy-to-use app that empowers customers to secure, swap, and self-custody their portfolio of crypto. JP led Exodus as the first US company to conduct an SEC-qualified crypto-only public stock offering, making it the only US company to have its common stock tokenized on the blockchain. Today, Exodus has 6.5 million customers worldwide and employs over 200 people who all receive 100% of their salary in bitcoin.

Kyle Tut is the cofounder and CEO of Pinata, a Nebraska-based startup powering file infrastructure for thousands of companies across crypto, AI, and beyond. Since launching in 2018, he has raised $21 million to scale Pinata into a critical layer of the blockchain ecosystem. Leading from Nebraska, Kyle shows how fintech and crypto innovation can thrive in the Midwest while serving a global market.

Photos of the panelists can be found here.

Flyover Fintech conferences feature a wide variety of speakers, ranging from members of the House Financial Services Committee to leading voices in the fintech industry.

Congressman Flood has previously announced that House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Artificial Intelligence Chairman Bryan Steil will address this year's conference. He has also announced panels on "Bank-Fintech Partnerships," "AI and Banking," "Non-Fungible Tokens," and "Stablecoins." Additional speakers and panelists for Flyover Fintech 2025 will be announced in the coming days.

More details about the conference, including registration, travel, and lodging information can be found at https://www.flyoverfintech.com. Interested individuals can register here today. The deadline to register is September 16, 2025.