CU Professionals Celebrate New Positions, Honors

Ten credit unions reveal People news this week.

CUs welcome new employees.

Many credit union professionals felt a sense of accomplishment this past week as they began higher-level positions and accepted awards. Check out the latest People news here.

WEST

Charlotte Nemec

The $154 million Spokane Federal Credit Union in Spokane, Wash., selected current EVP, Charlotte Nemec, to be president/CEO, effective July 1, 2018. Nemec will fill the role currently held by Susan Blain, who announced her retirement in 2017. Nemec started her career as a human resource specialist serving the human resources needs of four local credit unions, including Spokane Federal. She went on to lead Spokane Federal’s human resources team for 10 years before being promoted to vice president of administration in 2004.

The $2.5 billion Technology Credit Union in San Jose, Calif., hired Guy Hadnot as SVP of marketing. He will be responsible for the strategic direction of branding, marketing communications and member engagement. A marketing industry veteran, Hadnot is skilled in marketing communications, brand management, partnership marketing, branding, B2B/B2C marketing and digital marketing. Prior to joining Tech CU, Hadnot was the director of marketing and consumer experience at Health Net Insurance.

Jennifer Nguyen

The $1.4 billion LBS Financial Credit Union in Westminster, Calif., hired Jennifer Nguyen as vice president/branch manager for the credit union’s Newport Beach branch. Nguyen has 18 years of experience in the financial industry. For the past 13 years she worked for a credit union in Orange County and spent many of those years in a leadership role.

Dave Upham

The $4.3 billion Redwood Credit Union in Santa Rosa, Calif., hired Dave Upham as SVP of member experience. As SVP of member experience, Upham will lead RCU’s team in ensuring members receive exceptional service and positive interactions across all channels, including telephone, email, social media and in person at RCU’s branches. He will also serve on RCU’s senior leadership team, helping to drive strategy and programs to improve the overall member experience and journey.

Alex Munro

The $3.8 billion Wescom Credit Union in Pasadena, Calif., appointed Alex Munro to vice president of information technology operations. With more than 25 years of experience leading large technology teams at companies such as Pacific Line and Altegrity, he oversees Wescom’s IT operations including computer operations and workflow, IT security, network and telecommunications and IT project management, among others.

EAST

The $176 million XCEL Federal Credit Union in Bloomfield, N.J., announced four leadership changes.

Arlene Bernard

Arlene Bernard was appointed CEO. Bernard had previously been serving as the CFO and interim CEO. She brings decades of credit union experience to her new position having served as CEO of St. Vincent’s Federal Credit Union in New York City for 16 years and interim CEO at XCEL since October. Other leadership changes include the promotion of Tom Quigley to chief marketing officer and vice president. Donna Mongiello was promoted to director of human resources. Kevin Murphy was recently hired as chief lending officer and vice president.

Lauren Robinson

The $571 million Align Credit Union in Lowell, Mass., announced Lauren Robinson, vice president of marketing, has been recognized by the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce with a Distinguished Young Professional Award. The award is given to young professionals based on outstanding leadership, business achievement and commitment to the community. Robinson serves in a leadership position with the Greater Haverhill Boys and Girls Club board of directors.

David Minker

The $1.2 billion Hanscom Federal Credit Union in Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., hired David Minker as chief information officer, a newly-created position. He will be responsible for a team consisting of IT, digital strategy, project management, data analytics and business intelligence. During the past 13 years, Minker served as president/CEO of his own outsourced IT services company, CMIT Solutions, which worked with several small- and medium-sized enterprises, including several Massachusetts-based credit unions.

Carol Bagdis

The $151 million Homefield Credit Union in North Grafton, Mass., promoted Carol Bagdis to vice president, controller. Bagdis began her career with the credit union as a bookkeeper in 1985 and has moved up through the ranks since. She will be responsible for analyzing profitability and developing business line reports for department managers. She will also continue to oversee the operations of the finance department, manage facilities and serve as the credit union’s security officer.

MIDWEST

Val Mindak

Val Mindak, president/CEO of the $184 million Park City Credit Union in Merrill, Wis., was named the board chair for the Wisconsin Credit Union League, the Madison-based trade association. The League represents 132 financial institutions that are cooperatively owned by their three million members in Wisconsin. Mindak has served on the league board since April 2015 and previously served as the league’s vice chair and as chair of its government affairs committee. This year she also joined the Board of the Wisconsin Credit Union Foundation, and began her second stint on the League Services Corp. Board of Directors.

Please send your People news items to Tahira Hayes at thayes@cutimes.com.