Our Leadership

James Allen joined Hilliard Lyons in 1981 and has served as Chairman and CEO since 2004. Jim is active in the financial services industry and with the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, where he currently serves on the board as board chairman.
Jim is involved civically in Louisville, where he is the current Board Chairman of the Jefferson County Public Education Foundation and the 2018 board chair of Greater Louisville, Inc., Louisville’s Chamber of Commerce. He is the former Chairman of the Fund for the Arts, and he chaired the 2016 Metro United Way Campaign for Greater Louisville.
He also serves on the Advisory Board for the University of Louisville School of Business, the Board of Trustees of Bellarmine University, and the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University.
Jim holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from DePauw University and an MBA in finance from the Ohio State University. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst®.

Tom Kessinger III became President of Hilliard Lyons in May of 2017. After graduating with a BS in accounting in 1993 from the University of Kentucky, he joined his grandfather at Hilliard Lyons as a Financial Consultant in the firm’s Lexington branch. During the next 15 years (until his grandfather retired), Tom grew an existing book of business from $80 million to over $350 million in assets. Until he assumed his new role as President, Tom led the Kessinger-Lee Financial Group, a six-person team in the firm’s Lexington-Beaumont office. His former team members have assumed responsibility for serving most of his clients.
Tom’s community involvement has included serving on numerous boards, including those of Worldwide Hearts & Hands, Lexington Philharmonic, and Child Development Center of the Bluegrass, where he served as board chair. Tom was also the Campaign Chairman of LexArts and Dynamic Doors.

Alan serves on both the Executive Team at Hilliard Lyons and the board of Hilliard Lyons Financial Services, LLC. Alan had been at the firm’s Evansville branch for nearly four decades. Under his leadership, the Evansville office grew from 6 Financial Consultants to 26, and was named as the top-performing branch of Hilliard Lyons in 2010.
Alan has served as president of the Evansville Police Department Foundation Board of Directors and of the University of Southern Indiana Business School Board of Visitors. He has also served on other boards, including the Southwest Indiana Mental Health Association Foundation, the Evansville Chamber of Commerce, and the Evansville Museum of Arts and Science, among others.

Jaleigh joined Hilliard Lyons in 2011. She is responsible for Hilliard Lyons Trust Company and the Wealth and Family Office Group and has firm-wide responsibilities for business development and marketing.
Before she joined Hilliard Lyons, Jaleigh was Founder and Managing Director of Mirador Family Wealth Advisors, a division of Fifth Third Private Bank, with a focus on ultra-high-net-worth families.
Jaleigh is a CPA with over 25 years of experience providing tax and wealth management services to business owners and other high-net-worth clients. She joined Fifth Third Private Bank in 1994 and held a variety of positions overseeing institutional trust, private banking, and wealth planning functions.
Jaleigh graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Southern Illinois University. She was on the Compensation Committee of Deaconess Health Systems, the Investment Committee Chair for Welborn Baptist Foundation, and a Council Member with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Carmella oversees the firm’s Risk and Regulatory Control areas. Carmella has been with Hilliard Lyons since 1988. She sits on the boards of J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons, LLC and Hilliard Lyons Trust Company, LLC. Carmella holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Concord University in Athens, West Virginia.

As Chief Financial Officer, Chuck oversees the activities of the Finance Department. Broadly, he is responsible for the custody and protection of the firm’s assets, as well as financial and regulatory reporting. Specifically, Chuck’s responsibilities include coordinating the treasury function for the firm, audit and banking relationships, as well as corporate tax and licensing. He also manages investor relations and coordinates the financial aspects of strategic planning. Chuck has been with Hilliard Lyons since 1998.
Chuck holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration with a major in accounting from Central Michigan University.

Don is Chairman of Hilliard Lyons Trust Company, LLC, and also serves as Portfolio Manager for institutional and high-net-worth investors. He has over 40 years of experience in the investment industry. Don holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Louisville. He is also a member of the Kentucky Bar Association.

Don spent 21 years with PNC Bank Kentucky, serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for the Kentucky market. He has B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Kentucky. Don is a member of the Leadership Louisville Finance Committee and has previously served as the Board Chair for the National Pension Fund of the Christian Church and the Christian Care Communities. Don joined Hilliard Lyons in 1996.

Joe interned at Hilliard Lyons will completing his B.A. degree in accounting at Bellarmine University. After college, Joe joined Ernst and Young, serving clients in the financial services, oil and gas and manufacturing industries. He re-joined Hilliard Lyons in 1994. In his career at Hilliard Lyons, he has held roles in Internal Audit, Operations, Technology, Risk and Regulatory Control, Compliance, and Finance.
Joe is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Institute of Internal Auditors, and the Kentucky Society of Certified Public Accountants; he holds Series 7, 27, and 63 licenses.

As Hilliard Lyons’ Chief Marketing Officer, Nick is responsible for building the firm’s brand, marketing strategy, advertising, digital marketing, and corporate communications. His team also handles data analytics, client insight, marketing research, strategic partnerships, community relations, and sponsorships.
Nick joined Hilliard Lyons in March 2015. Prior roles have all been in financial services: Director of Digital Marketing and Customer Insight at BBVA Compass, CMO for Associated Bancorp, SVP at MasterCard Worldwide, and Director of Product Management at Citizens Bank. He has gained extensive product management, data analytics, and marketing experience with several national financial institutions during his 30-year-plus career.