Our Team
HBCU Capital Financing Program
Our Team
Our key team members bring exceptional HBCU experience to each transaction.
Don Rice is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rice Financial Products Company, the parent company of Rice Capital Access Program, LLC, and one of the largest broker-dealers specializing in education finance. Under Mr. Rice’s stewardship, Rice Financial Products Company has provided underwriting services on municipal bond transactions totaling more than $415 billion. Mr. Rice received a bachelor’s degree in engineering with honors from Kettering University and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.
William Fisher, Chief Executive Officer of Rice Capital Access, served as the original Designated Bonding Authority for the Department of Education’s HBCU Capital Financing Program from 1996–1998, processing the program’s first loans. He also served as financial advisor for a Grambling State transaction that was named the Southeast Region Deal of the Year by the Bond Buyer in 2006. Mr. Fisher is a graduate of Howard University.
Emory Dawson, Chief Credit Officer at Rice Capital Access, has 39 years of experience in municipal credit analysis, most recently with HRF Associates, a New Jersey based financial services consulting firm. Mr. Dawson began his career at Moody’s Investors Service, serving as a Review Analyst for seven years. In a later position, he was Director of Municipal Underwriting at American Capital Access (ACA). At ACA, he syndicated and reinsured virtually all transactions underwritten at the company over a 10-year span, including private colleges and universities and private K-12 schools, among many others. Mr. Dawson received a BA degree in political science from Morehouse College and a master’s degree in regional planning from Syracuse University.
Andy Moleon is Lead Credit Officer at Rice Capital Access and has 20 years of experience in the banking and capital markets. His previous positions included market risk management at Goldman Sachs, research at Moody’s Investors Service and credit risk management at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Moleon holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a specialization in Public Policy and Finance from New York University as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Investments from Baruch College-CUNY.
Vikas Dayal, a Credit Officer at Rice Capital Access, was formerly employed with JPMorgan as an analyst where he provided analytical support and transactional execution for over $1 billion of senior managed municipal bond and swap transactions for higher education and non-profit clients. Mr. Dayal received a BA degree in economics from the University of Michigan and an Executive MBA from Columbia University
Keisha McLaughlin-Eleazar, a Credit Officer at Rice Capital Access, has 19 years of experience in financial services. Her areas of expertise include compliance and operational risk assessment, document management and review, client service and remediation, borrower screening, and booking and settlement of domestic and international bank debt trades. She is a graduate of John Jay College in New York.
Murielle Foyou, an Assistant Vice President with Rice Capital Access, provides administrative support in the firm’s role as Designated Bonding Authority (DBA) for the U.S. Department of Education HBCU Capital Financing Program. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Public Communications from the University of Vermont.