Our Leadership
Our leadership team brings decades of industry experience, delivering expert insights that continue to drive Harlow’s growth and innovation. This deep expertise allows us to refine our solutions, stay ahead of industry changes, and provide real value to the businesses we serve.
Because of this foundation, Harlow has become a trusted, accessible payment solution for companies of all sizes—built to simplify operations, reduce costs, and support long-term growth. We’re proud to serve you and your business every step of the way.
Mark Harrelson
President - Heath Office
Mark Harrelson is the President of Harlow Payments Texas and has been a leader in the payments industry since 1997. With nearly three decades of hands-on experience, Mark understands that payments are more than transactions—they are a critical driver of business growth, customer experience, and long-term success.
Throughout his career, Mark has partnered with entrepreneurs, startups, and established businesses to simplify payment processing, reduce overhead, and implement scalable solutions that evolve with their growth. He brings a strategic, forward-thinking approach to the rapidly changing fintech landscape, helping businesses stay competitive in an increasingly digital world. Known for his integrity, industry expertise, and relationship-first mindset, Mark is passionate about empowering business owners with transparent, customized payment solutions that support innovation and sustainable growth.
Jared Petkoff
Vice President of Sales - Heath Office
Jared Petkoff serves as Vice President of Sales at Harlow Payments in Texas, where he leads national sales strategy and is building a high-performance, results-driven sales organization. With more than 15 years of experience in banking and merchant services, Jared specializes in accelerating revenue growth, leading executive-level negotiations, and designing scalable sales systems that deliver consistent results.
Prior to joining Harlow Payments, Jared was Business Development Manager at Celero Commerce and held senior leadership roles at TIB, N.A. and SignaPay, where he repeatedly drove measurable growth and led top-performing teams nationwide.
Throughout his career, Jared has built disciplined sales organizations grounded in accountability, data-driven performance metrics, and strong closing fundamentals. He is widely recognized for his hands-on leadership style, strategic market expansion, and ability to create high-achievement cultures that consistently exceed revenue targets.
Kenneth Washington
Vice President of Operations - Heath Office
Kenneth Washington serves as Vice President of Operations at Harlow Payments, where he leads operational strategy and execution across the company’s merchant services platform. He drives infrastructure scalability, strengthens risk and compliance controls, and aligns cross-functional teams to deliver disciplined, sustainable growth.
A transformation-focused executive, Kenneth builds high-performance cultures that translate strategy into measurable results. His leadership emphasizes organizational alignment, process modernization, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Prior to entering merchant services, Kenneth spent over 25 years in public education, including more than a decade in senior executive leadership roles. After a successful tenure as principal of a large 6A high school in Texas, Kenneth advanced to Executive Director for Administrative and Student Services for a major school district, overseeing district-wide operations encompassing transportation, security, counseling services, and specialized programs supporting tens of thousands of students and employees. Kenneth holds a bachelor’s degree from Hampton University, a master’s degree from the University of North Texas, and a certificate of completion from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education’s Administrative Leadership Program.
Chris Sidhom
President - New York Office
Chris provides the strategic vision for Harlow’s growth, focusing on high-impact strategic partnerships, enterprise deals, and M&A initiatives. He oversees Harlow’s New York headquarters and leads expansion into new market verticals through a lens of institutional scale and innovation, carrying forward the Sidhom family legacy of payments industry transformation.
Prior to Harlow, Chris served as CEO of Priority Concepts, Inc., where he directed initiatives that secured over $200 million in capital resources for businesses nationwide. His background also includes leadership roles at EPSG and in global hospitality management, where he managed operations for more than 20 premier properties worldwide. He began his professional career at Deutsche Bank.
Chris holds a B.S. from St. John’s University.
Ray Sidhom
Chairman
Ryan Shi
Head of Corporate Development - New York Office
Ryan leads Harlow’s M&A, strategic partnerships, and financing efforts. In parallel, he serves as the Head of Investments for the Sidhom family office, where he leads capital allocation and investment oversight.
Ryan brings over a decade of private equity and M&A experience from Stonepeak Partners, Rhône Capital, and JPMorgan. His expertise spans the full investment lifecycle, from deal sourcing and structuring to post-close integration and value creation.
Ryan holds a B.S. from New York University.
Sarah Balgobin
Chief of Staff - New York Office
Sarah directs Harlow’s operational excellence and company culture, specifically managing operations for the New York headquarters in coordination with the President.
Sarah has over 16 years of experience in administration and operations, including roles at Arbor Realty Trust, Madison Mortgage Services, and Swiss Post Solutions. She specializes in optimizing internal workflows and executing cross-functional business priorities.
Sarah holds a Bachelor’s from John Jay College.
Diego Vazquez
Chief Executive Officer - Montreal Office
Diego provides the strategic stewardship and vision for Harlow’s innovation roadmap and organizational growth. He is responsible for all aspects of the company’s performance, from high-level strategy to the empowerment of every stakeholder, ensuring Harlow remains the ultimate partner for rapidly growing SMBs.
A career entrepreneur, Diego founded his first venture at age 19 before transitioning into payments in 2005. He co-founded Zenith Payments, leading the firm through a strategic partnership with EVO Payments in 2010 and a successful acquisition in 2017. Following the buyout, Diego served as General Manager for several of EVO’s critical divisions, including EVO Canada and U.S. Direct Sales, where he oversaw operations for a platform processing hundreds of billions in annual volume.
Abigail Bennett
Chief Financial Officer - Montreal Office
Abigail leads Harlow’s financial strategy, reporting, and operational efficiency. She focuses on optimizing capital allocation and scalable financial frameworks to drive sustainable growth and long-term enterprise value.
She brings two decades of experience in financial leadership and portfolio management. Prior to Harlow, Abigail served as Director of Finance and Controller at Ayuda Media Systems and The Humanise Collective, where she specialized in streamlining complex accounting for high-growth organizations.
Abigail holds a Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) in Finance from Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business.
David Goldfarb
EVP of Operations - Montreal Office
Dave directs Harlow’s operations, focusing on the end-to-end merchant experience. He is responsible for building scalable boarding frameworks and driving merchant success initiatives that ensure seamless integration and long-term retention for Harlow’s customers.
A 20-year industry veteran, Dave co-founded Zenith Payments and led the firm through its successful acquisition by EVO Payments. Following the exit, he held senior operational leadership roles at EVO, where he specialized in optimizing enterprise-level customer service and merchant-centric workflows for high-volume payment environments.
Allan Safran
EVP & Chief Revenue Officer - Montreal Office
Allan leads Harlow’s global revenue strategy and sales growth initiatives. He is responsible for the firm’s go-to-market execution, focusing on delivering integrated payment solutions and software technologies that drive operational efficiency across the retail and hospitality sectors.
With extensive experience in high-growth financial services, Allan previously served as Vice President of Sales at EVO Payments. His background also includes senior leadership as Executive Vice President and COO at DAN Media, where he focused on business model innovation and technology designs.
Allan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Industrial Relations and Economics from McGill University.
Kate Palmarini
EVP of Risk and Compliance - Montreal Office
Kate drives Harlow’s strategic efforts in underwriting, risk management, and regulatory compliance. She is responsible for the firm’s defensive posture, ensuring the platform maintains institutional-grade security standards and adheres to evolving global financial regulations.
With over 15 years of specialty expertise, Kate previously led the Payments Department at Lightspeed POS and held senior leadership roles at Nuvei. A board member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), she has extensive experience managing large-scale compliance operations and complex financial crime investigations.
Kate holds a certificate in Financial Crime Investigations from Utica University, a Six Sigma Green Belt from McGill University, and a Business Management Accreditation (ICS).
Richard Weinstock
Chief Information Officer - Montreal Office
Richard leads Harlow’s global technology infrastructure and information security. He is responsible for the performance, security, and scalability of the firm’s core processing environment, ensuring the technical integrity of Harlow’s high-growth platform across all regional hubs.
With over 25 years of experience, Richard previously directed the IT department for the Montreal office of EVO Payments, where he led local technical operations and infrastructure strategy. His career also includes leading the information technology department at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and directing operations for a global data center hosting company. He specializes in high-availability systems, information security, and global technical operations.
Richard holds a Bachelor’s of Computer Engineering and MBA from McGill University.
Nancy Bailey, CHRP
Human Resources Director - Montreal Office
Nancy leads Harlow’s human capital strategy, focusing on talent acquisition, total rewards, and organizational design. She is responsible for the firm’s people-first culture and harmonizing HR policies across regional offices to drive operational efficiency.
She brings over two decades of HR leadership from roles at Grass Valley, Bombardier Aerospace, and Van Houtte Coffee Services, where she managed HR initiatives and teams through complex organizational transitions and major acquisitions.
Nancy holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Université TÉLUQ, as well as specialized certificates in Labor Relations and Human Resources Management.
Andy Frankel
President - Dallas Office
Andy started his career as an Air Force electrician on F-16s before entering electronic payments in 1997. He founded APEX Merchant Group in 2008, growing it to $50M+ in revenue before its 2015 acquisition, then led ThinkPoint Financial through its 2021 acquisition by a public payments company. He currently serves as President of Harlow Payments in Plano. Outside work, he enjoys golf and time with his wife Carrie, son Blake, and two stepsons.
Greg Robertson
Sr. VP of Operations - Dallas Office
Michael Clark
VP of Sales - Dallas Office
Ruston Miles
President - Tulsa Office
Ruston brings 25 years of payment processing and payment security experience to his role of Executive Chairman where he works with the board of directors and company executives to align on strategy, helping shape corporate direction and drive long-term growth.
Josh Tietsort
Head of Finance - Tulsa Office
Josh has over 20 years of experience in Fintech legal and strategy consulting and oversees Payfactory’s corporate strategy, including business development, funding and growth.
Melissa Migliore
Head of Payfac Operations - Tulsa Office
Melissa has 19 years of experience in the payments industry, and as Head of Payfac Operations she manages underwriting, boarding, risk management and back-office operations.
See How Much You Can Save
Looking for a better credit card processing solution for your small business? You’ve found it. Connect with Harlow today to see how much you can save on payment processing—we’re here to help every step of the way.