Leadership

Mr. Alia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and has earned an MBA from Cornell University. Manny is an astute leader with deep experience and forward-looking ideas on financial/banking services, security, and Africa opportunities. Since leaving JPMorgan Chase, Mr. Alia has served as business development and management consultant in Africa and played a role in recent BIO-key contract wins through his leadership at the Technology Transfer Institute of Africa (TTIA) and Exponential Launch Partners.

At JPMorgan Chase in New York, Mr. Alia was head of wholesale in Receivable Operations in Corporate and Investment banking for the U.S. and Canada. The unit had an annual budget of $100M, over 1,000 employees, processed over 100M items and over $700B in deposits a year for Government, Healthcare, Insurance, and other Corporate clients. Manny brings a wealth of knowledge and insight on security issues and enhancing operational efficiency.

Michael W. DePasquale has been promoted to Chairman of the Board effective January 29, 2014. Mike has served as the Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the company since January 3, 2003. Moving forward Mike will serve as BIO-key’s Chaiman & CEO. He served as Co-Chief Executive Officer of the company from July 2005 to August 2006. Mr. DePasquale brings more than 27 years of executive management, sales and marketing experience to the company. Prior to joining BIO-key, Mr. DePasquale served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Prism eSolutions, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based provider of professional consulting services and online solutions for ISO-9001/14000 certification for customers in manufacturing, healthcare and government markets, since February 2001. From December 1999 through December 2000, Mr. DePasquale served as Group Vice President for WRC Media, a New York-based distributor of supplemental education products and software. From January 1996 until December 1999, Mr. DePasquale served as Senior Vice President of Jostens Learning Corp., a California-based provider of multi-media curriculum. Prior to Jostens, Mr. DePasquale held sales and marketing management positions with McGraw-Hill and Digital Equipment Corporation. Mr. DePasquale earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He serves on the Board of Directors and as Vice Chairman of the International Biometrics and Identification Industry Association. Mr. DePasquale has extensive General Management experience in the technology sector and has served on a number of non-profit as well as private company Boards.

Mr. Williams has spent over forty years in leading executive officer roles in banking and financial services firms, serving on the board of directors of multiple organizations and, more recently, founding and leading strategic, financial, and security consulting firms. Mr. Williams currently leads CEW Advisory Services, a Canton, Georgia-based consulting firm he founded in 2014. CEW serves the consumer lending industry with process assessment, strategic planning, and customer service quality control audits for financial and non-financial retailers. He previously founded CEW Solutions, which provided fraud investigation services to insurance companies, law firms, and third-party administrators. From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Williams served as COO of Asta Funding, Inc., a publicly traded diversified financial services company; he was responsible for the sourcing and financial analysis of distressed consumer asset investments and their liquidation. Mr. Williams served as President of Popular Financial Holdings, an affiliate of Popular, Inc., a $36 billion banking organization, from 1998 to 2007. Prior to this role, he served as COO and EVP of Security Pacific Financial Services; CFO and Chief Administrative Officer of BankAmerica Financial, Inc.; and EVP, CFO and Chief Administrative Officer of Security Pacific Financial Services System, Inc. Mr. Williams has substantial experience serving on the board of directors of organizations including Popular Financial Holdings, Inc.; National Home Equity Mortgage Association; BankAmerica Financial, Inc.; Security Pacific Financial Services; and Corporate Partners of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He earned his Bachelor’s in Accounting and completed graduate coursework at San Diego State University.

Robert J. Michel has served as a Director of the Company since April 10, 2017. He has over 30 years of accounting and financial management experience and currently serves as the CFO of Roadway Moving, Inc., a transportation, moving and storage company located in New York City. Immediately prior to Roadway Moving, Inc., Mr. Michel served as a consultant with Feuer and Orlando, LLP, New York, NY based CPA firm. From 2009 until March, 2016, Mr. Michel was the Chief Financial Officer of Asta Funding, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASFI), a diversified financial services company operating in five reportable segments in the United States, with the consumer receivables segment also operating in South America. Mr. Michel was responsible for all financial matters and SEC reporting. From 2004 until 2009, Mr. Michel served as the Controller and the Director of Financial Reporting and Compliance for Asta Funding. Mr. Michel is a certified public accountant, earned a MBA in Taxation from St. John’s University, and a BS in Business Administration from Villanova University. We believe Mr. Michel’s qualifications to sit on the board of directors include his substantial experience in accounting and financial management for public companies which provide the Board with a deep knowledge of financial and SEC reporting and strengthen the board’s collective qualifications, skills, and experience.

Kelvin has over 30 years of experience in consumer electronics manufacturing, principally phones and PCs.

He solely founded a listed company in Hong Kong in 2010, World Wide Touch Technology (WWTT) (stock code: 1282), which generated over USD 100 million a year in revenue with profit gains. In 2015, he brought in a strategic investor who became the largest shareholder of WWTT, and the company was renamed Glory Sun Financial Group. Regardless, Kelvin continues to be one of the major investors of the company.

During the same period, Kelvin invested USD 12 million in BIO-key International, Inc and worked with Michael DePasquale (the current CEO) to list the company in NASDAQ (BKYI) in 2015, and agreed to second-round financing (USD 20 million) in 2020 to further enhance BIO-key’s Internet Security Systems. He currently acts as BoD Vice Chairman and managing director for Asia.

Kelvin is also an active investor in Asia. He is a substantial shareholder of the Asia Standard Hotel in Hong Kong (stock code: 292).