6 Credit Unions, myCUmortgage Welcome New Leaders

This past week, six credit unions across the country celebrated new hires and promotions. Plus, myCUmortgage hired a new executive.

WEST

The $4.3 billion Redwood Credit Union in Santa Rosa, Calif., promoted Regina McCullough to manager of its Rohnert Park branch at 250 Rohnert Park Expressway. In her new role, McCullough is responsible for overseeing member service, staff management and daily branch operations, as well as local community and business development efforts. Since 2009, McCullough has advanced through the organization, from teller to member services representative to assistant branch manager and now branch manager.

The $1.3 billion Columbia Credit Union in Vancouver, Wash., hired Mark Michaels as SVP, chief information officer. As a member of the senior management team, Michaels provides strategic vision and leadership for the credit union’s information systems, technology, and network infrastructure and architecture. Michaels has more than 20 years’ experience working in information technology for the financial services industry.

The $450 million Tucson Federal Credit Union in Tucson, Ariz., promoted three employees to the C-suite.

Ellen Yacovone was promoted to chief lending officer. She has worked at Tucson FCU for eight years. She joined Tucson FCU as the lending collections manager, but has been in the financial industry since the age of 16, working her way up from a teller. She led Tucson FCU’s lending department to new heights when the credit union received CU Direct’s Best Practice in Direct Lending award in 2017.

Trish Kordas was promoted to chief culture officer. Kordas joined the human resources and development department almost 10 years ago. Her passion for enhancing the employee experience has helped create a truly unique, positive company culture. Her leadership extends into the community with roles such as former president of the Society for Human Resource Management of Greater Tucson in 2015, vice president on the board of directors for Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation and secretary of the board at Elements City Church.

Jason Zeider was promoted to chief digital officer. Zeider has been with Tucson FCU for 22 years. Prior to this position, he led the credit union’s marketing initiatives. Some of his most notable achievements include his leading role in converting Tucson FCU to a community-chartered credit union, involvement with the establishment of Tucson FCU’s current logo, the implementation of every Tucson FCU website succeeding the original one and launching the company’s financial education program.

EAST

The $571 million Align Credit Union in Lowell, Mass., hired Kate Rockett as mortgage originator. She is based out of the Danvers office at 110 Newbury St. and serves Align’s members in the North Shore area. Rockett is focused on analyzing each member’s financial situation, matching them with the best possible loan solutions and helping them throughout the process from pre-approval through closing. Prior to joining Align, Rockett was a mortgage originator for CrossCountry Mortgage in Danvers and a real estate appraiser for A.M. Appraisal Associates.

MIDWEST

The $181 million KALSEE Credit Union in Kalamazoo, Mich., hired two employees and promoted another.

Eric Garcia was hired as collections manager. Garcia has nine years of collections experience. He previously worked at Wells Fargo Dealer Services; the $968 million, Kalamazoo-based Consumers Credit Union and the $1.6 billion, Parchment, Mich.-based Advia Credit Union. Garcia volunteers with the Community Healing Center Roof-Sit and supports the ChadTough Foundation, helping raise awareness of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, a rare form of cancer typically found in children.

April Ridgeway was hired as training coordinator. Ridgeway previously worked at the $4.2 billion Wright-Patt Credit Union in Dayton, Ohio. She has experience in payment systems, card services, branch management and loss prevention. Ridgeway has mentored team members in career development, coaching, recruiting and onboarding. She’s also hosted fraud seminars for community members, teaching them how to protect themselves and their family.

Andrew Parsons was promoted to Mosel branch manager. Parsons started his career as a member service representative at the $877 million Community Financial Credit Union in Plymouth, Mich., and in 2016 he joined the KALSEE team. Parsons volunteers on the board of directors for Charitable Union in Battle Creek and serves on its finance committee.

SOUTH

The $200 million JetStream Federal Credit Union in Miami Lakes, Fla., welcomed Sloen Julus from Miami Dade College as an interim employee for the 2018 summer season. Julus is a Miami Dade College graduate who has plans to attend Florida Atlantic University in the fall. Julus plans to pursue a career in accounting upon completion of his educational career. JetStream has been actively engaging in community service through internships for the past 10 years.

CUSOs

myCUmortgage, a CUSO wholly-owned by Wright-Patt, hired Wendy Kull as the new credit union development manager, fulfilling the final piece of myCUmortgage’s realignment of its sales and service organization. As the new credit union development manager, Kull is responsible for growing the number of credit unions that partner with myCUmortgage for lending, and servicing products and solutions. Kull brings 18 years of experience in the finance industry to myCUmortgage.

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