We Are Blackhawk Network.

Talbott Roche is chief executive officer and president of Blackhawk Network. As Blackhawk’s co-founder, she was integral to the company’s transformation from a gift card network in one grocery chain to a global prepaid leader. Before becoming CEO, she served as Blackhawk’s president through a successful IPO (2013), and led the growth of the company’s retail and digital businesses. In recent years, she integrated multiple acquisitions in incentives, making Blackhawk a leader in commerce and incentive solutions, employing over 3,000 people in 26 countries. 

Prior to Blackhawk, Talbott held leadership roles with News America Marketing, a News Corp company, and The Clorox Company, among others. Roche sits on the board of directors of Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), and previously served as an Executive board member of the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA).   

Talbott has received awards recognizing her professional achievements, most notably the PYMNTS Innovator Award for Women Driving Innovation in Payments, and Paybefore’s Industry Achievement Award. She is regularly asked to speak on payment innovation and was included in Progressive Grocer’s list of Top Women in Grocery and the San Francisco Business Times’ list of the Most Influential Bay Area Women.  

She holds a B.A. in economics from Stanford University.  

Joan Lockie is chief financial officer at Blackhawk Network, and has executive oversight of Blackhawk’s global accounting, financial planning, internal audit, tax, treasury and settlement functions. Joan has been critical in leading the company through its initial public offering process and supporting various mergers and acquisitions over the last few years.

Prior to joining Blackhawk, she served as an independent consultant for 15 years, focused on leading emerging growth and mid-size companies in the technology and Internet space. Joan’s most recent role prior to consulting was as the Corporate Controller and Treasurer of NetFRAME Systems, Inc., a computer network company.

She received her degree from California Polytechnic State University and her CPA credential in the State of California.

Nick Samurkas is chief operations officer at Blackhawk Network. He is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations and solutions delivery processes across the company.  

Samurkas holds more than 20 years of experience in the payments industry in senior management roles. Before joining Blackhawk, he served as chief operations officer at Moneris, one of North America’s largest providers of payment processing solutions. Prior to that, Nick led the Canadian business at Chase Paymentech, where he oversaw sales, account management, operations and product teams. He is also the former senior vice president and chief operating officer of Global Payments Asia Pacific, where he established and managed operational centers in the Asia Pacific region.  

Nick holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Accounting from McGill University.

Nik Sathe is the chief technology officer (CTO) at Blackhawk Network where he leads the company’s global technology strategy and teams in the expansion of its global footprint and capabilities in payments and payment technologies.

A veteran technology executive, Sathe has built, led and scaled teams and platforms across technology and financial services. Most recently, he served as vice president of engineering for Google Nest, where he was responsible for the strategy, design and development of Google's Nest, Chromecast and Home branded products and Smart Home ecosystem. Previously, Sathe was CTO of American Express, co-CTO at PayPal, and part of Google’s Wallet team, giving him experience and insight into the changing payments landscape.

Sathe has prior experience at JP Morgan Chase and several start-up and public technology/software companies. He has a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Lafayette College and serves as an advisor to technology start-ups and entrepreneurs.

Cory Gaines is Chief Product Officer at Blackhawk Network. Gaines leads Blackhawk’s continued innovation in payments products, including globalizing the company’s solutions, building upon its Pay4It™ suite and launching new innovative products to help partners drive scale, revenue and loyalty.

Jeff Haughton is Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy at Blackhawk Network. In this role, he leads the growth and development of Blackhawk’s incentives business around the globe. Jeff is an expert on data strategy and the impact it has on overall growth across segments, specifically commerce and incentives.   

With more than 20 years of experience, Jeff has a deep understanding of how organizations can use rewards and incentive programs to drive operational efficiency, increase engagement and generate revenue. Prior to joining Blackhawk, he served as chief operating officer at Performant Corp, a provider of technology-enabled recovery and related analytics services. He also previously held leadership roles at Financial Technology Partners and Goldman Sachs, where he was the managing director of its financial technology group.

Brett Narlinger is Senior Vice President, Global Commerce at Blackhawk Network. In his role, he leads and drives growth across Blackhawk’s physical and digital retail global businesses. Brett is an expert in leading high-performance sales and business development teams, spearheading successful marketing campaigns and driving payments innovation. 

A veteran payments executive, Brett has more than 25 years of experience in numerous leadership positions throughout his career. Prior to joining Blackhawk, he served as chief revenue officer for both Green Dot and Mercury Payments, one of the fastest growing payment and gift card processors, now part of World Pay. He also served in several senior management roles throughout First Data, now Fiserv.

Matthew Howe is Managing Director of Europe West and South Africa, and is based in London. He is responsible for the Retailer Network, content development, and B2B divisions, including leading growth opportunities through developing partnerships, mergers and acquisitions. Under Matt’s leadership, Blackhawk has developed deals with major European retailers and distributors, including Tesco, Boots, Albert Heijn and many others.

Prior to joining Blackhawk, Matt spent 13 years at Debenhams, running the market-leading gift card program.

He earned his degree in Economics and Public Policy from Leeds Business School.

Suzanne Kinner is Group Vice President of Human Resources at Blackhawk Network, where she oversees the global human resources function for the organization. In this role, she is responsible for driving and executing Blackhawk’s people strategies in support of the company’s overall business plan and strategic direction. She leads the Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, HR Operations & Compliance, and Facilities teams.

With over 20 years of executive-level HR experience prior to Blackhawk, Suzanne has served as Global Head of HR for many technology companies, including Tellme Networks, Procket Networks, Actel and S3.

She has a B.A. in Business Administration and Management from Holy Names College.

Kirsten Richesson is general counsel at Blackhawk Network and oversees the company’s global legal and compliance activities. Kirsten has represented public and private companies as both in-house and outside counsel. Prior to joining Blackhawk Network, she practiced as a corporate and securities lawyer at Thompson & Knight, in Dallas, and at Latham & Watkins, in San Francisco.