Ramirez & Co. adds three new public finance bankers

Samuel A. Ramirez & Co. has added public finance bankers in three separate offices as it continues to broaden its national reach.

Cordelia Mendez joins as a vice president in the New York City office, Ayanna Louis-Charles joins as a senior vice president in south Florida and Courtney Okezie joins as a vice president in Houston.

“The need for excellent quantitative and analytical talent, coupled with strong underwriting, has never been more important for our clients,” said Sam Ramirez Sr., the firm’s founder and chief executive officer. “Cordelia, Ayanna and Courtney are terrific additions to our team and we look forward to their success at the firm.”

Mendez joins Ramirez as an underwriter to support negotiated municipal bond underwritings nationwide and across the rating spectrum.

She was previously a vice president on the syndicate desk at Morgan Stanley, having also worked in the infrastructure group and investment-grade fixed income capital markets. She received a bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard University.

Louis-Charles will provide quantitative leadership at the firm for a broad range of municipal issuers.

Prior to joining Ramirez, Louis-Charles was an executive director in the public finance group at Morgan Stanley, where she worked with state and local government clients focused on infrastructure, including airports, utilities, water and sewer agencies, as well as large state agencies.

Louis-Charles has also worked at PNC Capital Markets, Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers. She received her MBA in finance, economics and international business from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Williams College. She is based in South Florida.

Okezie focuses on bond underwriting services for Texas issuers.

Prior to joining Ramirez, Okezie was an assistant vice president at Piper Sandler, where she supported Colorado state and local government issuers.

She also held analyst roles at Mesirow Financial and the Harris County, Texas, Office of Management and Budget.

Okezie has an MBA in investment management from the University of Houston Downtown and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Texas State University. She has served on the Mountain Region Board of Women in Public Finance and Texas Women in Public Finance Executive Council.

“We are very excited that Cordelia, Ayanna and Courtney are bringing their underwriting and technical acumen to our robust and growing team, enabling us to provide excellent service across the country,” said Ted Sobel, Ramirez’s head of public finance.

Ramirez ranked 15th in volume among municipal underwriters in 2023, credited by LSEG with $9.75 billion of par underwritten.

Founded in 1971, municipal finance is one of the firm’s six core business areas.