Six Credit Unions Across Five States Appoint New CEOs

The boards of directors of four financial cooperatives in Iowa, Ohio and Louisiana name women as their new leaders.

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The board of directors for the $536 million Ascentra Credit Union in Bettendorf, Iowa appointed Linda Andry as president/CEO.

She served as interim CEO since last June when former President/CEO Dale Owen became ill and passed away last November.

Linda Andry

With more than 30 years of experience, Andry launched her career as a teller for the former First National Bank of Moline. During her tenure at the bank, she also worked as an internal auditor and senior financial accountant until the bank merged with Bank One. She then joined Bituminous Insurance (now BITCO) as a senior accountant before joining the credit union in December 2005, serving as EVP and CFO.

Ascentra serves nearly 41,000 members.

The $489 million Educators Credit Union in Waco, Texas appointed William Palasota as president/CEO.

He succeeds former President/CEO Joe Hutyra who retired on April 1, marking 43 years with Educators .

Palasota previously served as the credit union’s CFO. He joined Educators 36 years ago.

Educators serves nearly 30,000 members.

The board of directors for the $477 million Universal 1 Credit Union in Dayton, Ohio named Jessica Jones president/CEO.

She will succeed current President/CEO Loren A. Rush, who plans to retire in October after 23 years in the top executive position.

Jessica Jones

Jones joined Universal 1 in 2014, serving in a variety of leadership roles throughout the years, including most recently as treasurer and SVP of finance.

Universal 1 serves more than 49,000 members.

The board of directors for the $350 million Altana Federal Credit Union in Billings, Mont., appointed Jason Hagadone as president/ CEO.

He will succeed Rhonda Diefenderfer, who is retiring in May after 30 years with the credit union, serving 20 years as its president/CEO.

Having spent his entire working career within the financial services industry, Hagadone’s professional experience ranges from retail banking at Wells Fargo to commercial lending for Stockman Bank. In 2013, he joined Altana as its business lending manager and was later promoted to vice president of business lending.

Altana serves nearly 23,000 members.

The $180 million TruPartner Credit Union in Cincinnati, Ohio appointed Nina Myers as president/CEO.

She succeeds Kathy Haas.

Nina Myers

Myers, a credit union development educator, began her credit union career nearly 20 years ago as a member service representative. She has worked her way up the ranks, most recently serving as SVP at the $223 million Fitzsimons Federal Credit Union in Aurora, Colo.

TruPartner serves more than 17,000 members.

They $147 million Greater New Orleans Federal Credit Union in Metairie, La., appointed Shelley Sanders as president/CEO.

She succeeds Janet Sanders, who served the credit union for 18 years.

Shelley Sanders

Sanders, who holds more than 25 years of financial services experience, most recently served as EVP at GNO FCU, in addition to several other senior leadership capacities within the last 13 years, including chief lending officer, vice president of lending, consumer sales manager and director of operations.

GNO FCU serves more than 15,000 members.