Professionals Advance Their Careers at 11 Credit Unions & CU Direct

WEST

Self-Help Federal Credit Union ($1.2 billion, Durham, N.C.) named Rafael O. Morales senior development, policy and impact manager. Based primarily in San Francisco, Morales will lead the work of the California-based team helping to raise and manage grants, deposits and other impact investments. Morales came to Self-Help from the Irvine Foundation, where he served as a program officer in its Fair Work Initiative. Previously he led the economic security portfolio at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; he also served as a community development program fellow at The San Francisco Foundation and spent nine years at the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.

The $2.27 billion Elevations Credit Union in Boulder, Colo., hired Tony Sloan to lead Elevations’ newly-opened mortgage loan office in Denver as its mortgage sales manager. Sloan has more than 20 years of experience in mortgage financing, and has worked at credit unions since 2008 and lived in Colorado since 1996.

EAST

The Sun East Charitable Foundation, a community outreach and charitable-giving extension of the $707 million, Aston, Pa.-based Sun East Federal Credit Union, named local resident and Sun East team member Terri Lannon as the successor to retiring Executive Director Denise Romanelli. Lannon has been part of the Sun East executive management team since 1997; her volunteer service includes eight years as a member of the board of directors for the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania as well as the executive board, while also serving as community impact chair for a portion of that time. She often participates in community outreach and educational events with the Penn Delco School District and CityTeam of Chester.

Suffolk Federal Credit Union ($1.3 billion, Medford, N.Y.) hired Lillian Iorio as branch manager of the credit union’s Miller Place, N.Y., branch at 691 Route 25A in the Aliano Shopping Center. Iorio most recently served as a senior customer service representative at TD Bank in Rocky Point, N.Y. She previously resided in Florida for 18 years and held positions such as vice president, branch manager and customer service specialist within the financial banking industry.

The $951 million, Waltham, Mass.-based RTN Federal Credit Union promoted Nicole James to EVP.

James has served as RTN’s SVP of retail services since 2012 and formerly served as president/CEO of Medical Area Federal Credit Union until its merger into RTN in 2012. Since being with RTN, James has been responsible for the branch network of 19 branches, as well as the lending, marketing and business development areas. In James’ expanded role, her responsibilities now include direct oversight and management of all departments, and continued involvement in long-range planning, facilitating optimal economic performance and ensuring established goals are met.       

MIDWEST

The $743 million Heritage Federal Credit Union in Newburgh, Ind., promoted Nicole Hankins to mortgage loan originator. She has over 18 years of banking and lending experience, and most recently served as a junior mortgage lending originator and financial services consultant. In her previous roles, she served as a retail manager, loan officer and account representative at Evansville, Ind.-area businesses.

The $1.3 billion, Falcon Heights, Minn.-based SPIRE Credit Union hired one employee and promoted another.

Abby Patterson was promoted to giving coordinator. In this new role for SPIRE, she will facilitate all giving efforts on a corporate and community level, ensuring time, talents and treasures are being used to improve lives. Patterson joined the SPIRE family in 2016 as marketing specialist, moving into the senior marketing specialist role in 2019.

Mai Yang joined as senior executive assistant.

Before joining SPIRE, she worked for the Minnesota Credit Union Network, where she served in the administrative and executive assistant capacity for the past 19 years. In her new role with SPIRE, she will support the senior leadership team, board of directors and supervisory committee, and provide leadership to administrative support staff.

The $4.5 billion Veridian Credit Union in Waterloo, Iowa promoted Amy Faley to manager of ACH and share draft operations.

Faley has worked at Veridian for 13 years and was previously a fraud analyst.

The $1 billion Cobalt Federal Credit Union in Papillon, Neb., appointed Steve Johnson as business relationship manager. Johnson will be responsible for business development and assist business owners with utilizing a full array of business services, including depository solutions; payment and cash flow tools; and online, mobile banking and lending solution tools.

Johnson brings several years of banking and business lending experience to the credit union, and has over 20 years’ experience working with small businesses.

Community First Credit Union ($3.85 billion, Neenah, Wis.) promoted Tim Hoff to chief lending officer effective July 1, expanding his responsibilities to lead the consumer, mortgage, collections and business lending teams.

He has more than 30 years’ experience in the banking and financial services industry, and joined Community First in October 2017 as SVP of business services. Hoff replaces Tim Sciborski, who is retiring after 25 years with the credit union.

The $1 billion Honor Credit Union in Berrien Springs, Mich., hired Georgia Gipson as community assistant vice president for the credit union’s Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, Bridgman and Stevensville areas.

She has over 30 years of experience in the financial industry and has served as a branch manager and mortgage and consumer loan originator. As part of the business services team, she will work closely with Honor’s member center managers, member experience and real estate teams to create relationships, serve the community and act as a connector to provide members with financial solutions for success.

CUSOS

CU Direct appointed Brian Hamilton president of CU Direct Connect, a subsidiary of CU Direct providing outsourced loan processing services to the credit union industry. A 27-year veteran of the credit union and financial services industries, Hamilton joined CU Direct in 2017 as vice president of innovation, where he has led the company’s research efforts on emerging trends and product innovation. Prior to joining CU Direct, Hamilton served as chief credit officer at BlueYield and SVP of lending at Placer Sierra Bancshares, as well as vice president of lending at SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union ($20 billion, Santa Ana, Calif.), First Tech Federal Credit Union ($13.9 billion, San Jose, Calif.) and the Golden 1 Credit Union ($13.8 billion, Sacramento). Most recently, he was vice president of lending at UNIFY Financial Federal Credit Union ($3.2 billion, Torrance, Calif).

Please send your People news items to Natasha Chilingerian at nchilingerian@cutimes.com.