Xceed Financial Credit Union has become the first natural person credit union to support Filene Research Institute as a Silver Benefactor by contributing $25,000 annually to the Institute.

The $746 million, 54,800-member El Segundo, Calif., credit union has been a longtime supporter of Filene and participated in such projects as Debt in Focus or testing the Amazon.com credit card portal in search of best practices for online sales.

In addition, Xceed Financial collaborated with Filene on a Pepperdine University MBA intern program.

“Filene is an engine of insights and innovations for credit unions,” said Teresa Freeborn, CEO of Xceed Financial and a Credit Union Times Woman to Watch.

“A lot of people talk about planning ahead and doing what's best for credit unions, but Filene is one of the few organizations that lives those principles day after day and year after year,” Freeborn added.

Freeborn was part of the inaugural i³ innovation team in 2004 and the tradition has continued with many of the credit union's senior team serving on the i³ team.