Experience
Small, but strategically focused, Sycamore brings depth, expertise and a passion for its clients to each assignment.
Diana Hamilton
President
A leader in public finance in the Midwest, Ms. Hamilton draws from her 25 years’ experience in finance to lead Sycamore Advisors. After receiving her M.B.A. from the Yale University School of Management, Ms. Hamilton began her career by completing the rigorous training program (celebrated in Michael Lewis’ Liar’s Poker) at Salomon Brothers, Inc. She went on to run a Broker/Dealer subsidiary for a Midwestern regional bank, establishing their municipal underwriting practice. From 1997 to 2003, Ms. Hamilton served as the Director of Public Finance for the State of Indiana, overseeing the issuance of more than $1.9 billion in debt financing for major capital projects. Ms. Hamilton also supervised Indiana’s two largest public pension funds, with assets totaling more than $15 billion, shepherding their transition from a 100% fixed income portfolio to a balanced global asset allocation mix. During Ms. Hamilton’s tenure as Director of Public Finance, she guided the State of Indiana through two successive upgrades to its credit ratings, being named for her efforts as a “Sagamore of the Wabash” by Governor Frank O’Bannon, Indiana’s highest award for public service.
Ms. Hamilton is a Life Trustee for the Indiana chapter of The Nature Conservancy. She was a founding member of the Indiana chapter of Women in Public Finance and also served on the board of the national organization. Governor Daniels appointed her to the Indiana Secondary Market Education Loan board, the entity which manages the state’s student loan portfolio, where she serves as vice-chair and head of the audit committee. Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard appointed her to the Metropolitan Development Commission, where she served for 7 years. She holds the Series 50 and Series 54 Municipal Advisor Representative designation from the MSRB.
Email: dhamilton@sycamoreadvisors.com
Phone: 317.631.1900
Chris Valentino
Senior Vice President
Mr. Valentino joined Sycamore Advisors in 2018 and brings over 17 years of experience as a municipal advisor. Based in our New York office, Mr. Valentino’s experience spans several sectors of public finance, including transportation, water infrastructure, state and local general obligation, higher education, and clean and renewable energy. Mr. Valentino has worked with several of the largest infrastructure issuers in the country, including the New York City MTA, the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the City of Chicago, the State of Connecticut, and the State of Illinois. He has also serves as lead advisor to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (“NYSERDA”), where he helped develop residential energy efficiency and residential solar loan programs. Mr. Valentino holds a BA from Columbia University and an MBA from the Zicklin School of Business at CUNY Baruch College. He holds a FINRA 65 Investment Adviser Rep and Series 50 MSRB MA license.
Email: cvalentino@sycamoreadvisors.com
Phone: 973.819.9470
Jessica Lamendola
Senior Vice President
Ms. Lamendola joined Sycamore in 2021 and formerly served as the director of administrative and financial services for the City of Topeka, KS. She also brings strong rating agency experience to Sycamore Advisors in addition to her extensive background in budgeting, performance management, accounting, financial reporting, contracts and procurement, debt issuance and fund management. Ms. Lamendola will focus on providing advice to clients in credit structure development, rating agency relationships, and investor outreach.
As an assistant vice president at Moody’s Investors Service, Ms. Lamendola was the state lead for local governments in New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. She previously worked for several other New York issuers, including the Town of North Hempstead, NY (Director of Finance and Acting Comptroller) and Nassau County, NY (Investor Relations Coordinator).
Ms. Lamendola holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Portland. She serves on the Women in Public Finance Board and Chairs the Scholarship Committee. She previously served on the Committee on Governmental Debt Management for GFOA and on the Northeast Women in Public Finance Board. She holds the Series 50 Municipal Advisor Representative designation from the MSRB.
Email: jlamendola@sycamoreadvisors.com
Phone: 503.740.1772
Susan Rehfeldt
Analyst and Senior Compliance Assistant
Susan Rehfeldt, Analyst and Senior Compliance Assistant since 2015, has over 25 years of experience working in financial, administrative and junior analyst positions for various financing authorities, including Business Analyst for the Indiana Transportation Finance Authority (now part of the Indiana Finance Authority) and serving in the Treasurer’s Office at the Indianapolis Airport Authority, where she assisted with debt management functions of the Airport as the Airport issued over $900 million in debt over a multiple year period to fund construction of a new terminal and runways. Ms. Rehfeldt compiles/updates the Firm’s debt databases for each client, researches and analyzes data in various U.S. Census Bureau and BLS databases, including economic and demographic data. Ms. Rehfeldt also assists with all SEC and MSRB compliance functions, assuring that the Firm meets regulatory deadlines, and all documents are in order for SEC audits.
Email: srehfeldt@sycamoreadvisors.com
Phone: 317.631.1900