CUs & CU Organizations Reveal Board Appointments, Other Career Moves

WEST

The $4.9 billion, San Diego-based Mission Federal Credit Union hired Amy Goodrich as vice president, director of contact center operations and strategy. In her new role, Goodrich is responsible for the needs of Mission Fed’s San Diego-based call center and the remote engagement services the credit union provides its members. She is a career credit union professional with more than 30 years’ experience in operations and software services, beginning her career serving USA Federal Credit Union as a teller in Germany. After returning to the U.S., Goodrich worked for USE and Cal Coast ($3.3 billion, San Diego) Credit Unions, where she managed call centers, a branch, member experience, and other operations leadership positions in support of employee engagement and member service. For the last 11 years, she was with core processor Symitar as director of professional services.

The $1.48 billion, Capitola, Calif.-based Bay Federal Credit Union hired Aaron Ikezawa as card services manager. In his new role, Ikezawa will provide leadership for all activities in debit and credit card servicing. He will also provide overall guidance and support for systems including fraud detection and protection, dispute processing and overall member experience. Ikezawa brings 18 years of financial industry experience in leadership, strategy, product development and business banking. Most recently, he worked for Capitol One as a senior manager, and prior to that, he led business lending product development for the Western Regions at Wells Fargo.

The $3.4 billion, Albuquerque, N.M.-based Nusenda Federal Credit Union elected three board members and reelected five board and committee officers.

Judy Cartmell, Martin Serna and Ralph Wallace were elected to serve on Nusenda’s board of directors for three-year terms. Cartmell is retired from UNM Health Sciences Center, where she was associate controller. Serna is retired from Central New Mexico Community College after 31 years of service, the last 17 as comptroller. After a 30-year career at Presbyterian Healthcare Services, Wallace retired in 2013. Since retiring, he has been a consultant with e4-Services as a cloud migration project manager for organizations in New Mexico and Texas.

Chair John Landis, Vice Chair Ann Brooks and Secretary/Treasurer Denise Irion were reelected to the board. Director of Financial Reporting at Presbyterian Healthcare Services Craig Kallsen, and Director of the College Enrichment & Outreach Programs at the University of New Mexico Jose Villar, were reappointed to the supervisory committee.

The $4.1 billion, Folsom, Calif.-based SAFE Credit Union appointed Sonia Lewis and Don Ball to its board of directors.

Lewis has nearly 20 years of multinational company experience across high-tech, management consulting and financial services, plus board and public sector service. Her expertise includes executive leadership development; diversity, equity and inclusion; performance management and finance. She previously served as board vice chair for an education nonprofit and chaired the strategic planning committee. She also was a member of Intel’s Black Leadership Council and its Black Network of Executive Women.

Ball recently served as CFO for Foster Poultry Farms LLC and currently serves on the board of directors for Crystal Creamery-Foster Farms’ Dairy. He was also the CFO of eye care company VSP Global. As a senior executive with 40 years of experience, Ball has led all aspects of finance, accounting, tax, treasury, audit and underwriting. He also has extensive corporate governance experience, serving as a representative of the VSP Global board of directors, finance, retirement, public policy and audit committees. Prior to his work with VSP Global, Ball was SVP and CFO of Raley’s grocery stores, including the Sunnyside and Bayview brands. He was also a senior executive, member of the board and CFO of IKEA North America. In addition, he was a former board member of Make-A-Wish Foundation Sacramento and Northern California, and has been a frequent guest lecturer at CSU Sacramento.

MIDWEST

The $5.4 billion, Waterloo, Iowa-based Veridian Credit Union hired Scott Becker as a commercial loan officer, based out of the credit union’s Ansborough branch in Waterloo. Becker previously served as vice president/business development officer at Farmers State Bank. He is a city council member and the mayor pro tem for Gilbertville, Iowa, and currently sits on the Black Hawk County Gaming Association board as a committee member and secretary. Becker is also the vice chair of the Bosco Catholic School System Foundation board.

The $3.7 billion, Eau Claire, Wis.-based Royal Credit Union elected a new board chair and three board officers, and reelected two board members.

Tom Huffcutt was elected chairman of the board. He replaces Doug Olson, who joined the board in April 1995 and served as chairman from 2008 to 2021. Huffcutt joined the board in June 2013 and has served as vice chair and treasurer. He also served as finance committee chair and has been a member of the political action committee, compensation and governance committee, audit committee and nominating committee. Huffcutt is a Certified Credit Union Board Member and is retired from his career at Chippewa Valley Technical College, where he served as vice president of operations. Stuart Schaefer was elected vice chairman, Olson was elected treasurer and Jennifer McDonough was elected secretary.

Bill Blackburn was reelected to the board. He joined the board in 2005 and has served as vice chairperson. Blackburn also serves on the credit oversight and audit committees.

John Sackett was also reelected to the board. He has served on the board since 1984 and held the role of chairman and treasurer. Sackett is also a director on the National Credit Union Foundation, president of the RCU Foundation and is on CUNA’s board of directors.

The $1.3 billion 7 17 Credit Union in Warren, Ohio hired one employee and promoted another.

Paul Bush was hired as collections and recovery manager. Bush comes to 7 17 from the $167.2 million BFG Federal Credit Union in Akron, Ohio. In his new role, Bush will oversee effective collection of delinquent amounts while minimizing losses to the credit union. He will also manage the recovery activities on all charged-off loans and shares in accordance with established policies, procedures and legal requirements.

Kim Wiery, who has been with 7 17 for 20 years, was promoted to assistant loan servicing manager. In her new role, Wiery will assist the loan servicing manager in overseeing all activity related to the servicing of loans after approval.

SOUTH

The $899.8 million, Tampa, Fla.-based USF Federal Credit Union hired Kathy Sianis as chief member experience officer. Sianis, who most recently served as a client management consultant for credit unions, has spent 20 years working in the financial industry overseeing all aspects of member care and member experience. Her previous titles included vice president of branch operations and contact center services at a $2.7 billion credit union in Georgia, vice president of retail operations and business development at a Colorado credit union, and national director of retail sales and business development at a large credit union in California. In her new role, Sianis will set USF FCU’s performance standards and expectations; oversee efforts to provide exceptional service to members; lead all member service areas including retail operations, the contact center, branches and mortgage/consumer lending; as well as lead digital banking initiatives.

CUSOS

Greater Commercial Lending, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the $1.48 billion, Carson City, Nev.-based Greater Nevada Credit Union, hired two executives.

Doreen Lorinczi was hired as vice president of commercial production. In her new role, Lorinczi will lead a team of government relationship officers who underwrite all of GCL’s new loan requests. She brings more than 20 years of lending experience, having most recently served as vice president of Exchange Bank in Santa Rosa, Calif. She also served as a senior credit analyst for American AgCredit and spent four years as a controller. She holds an MBA from Golden Gate University.

Glenda Fitzpatrick was hired as vice president of commercial operations. With more than 30 years of experience in the banking industry, Fitzpatrick is a seasoned operations manager with extensive banking and financial services experience. In her new role, she will lead a team focused on servicing and investor relations. Before joining GCL, Fitzpatrick served as SVP and loan operations director for Georgia Primary Bank, and SVP and Atlanta loan operations director of the Atlanta Market for First Landmark Bank, a division of the National Bank of Commerce. Prior to that, she spent almost 10 years with the Chicago-based PrivateBank and Trust. Throughout these experiences, she gained more than 15 years of SBA servicing knowledge and expertise. She is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager by the Institute of Certified Bankers.

TRADES

Talent development provider CUES appointed Jennifer Binkley and Tiffany Ford to its board of directors.

Binkley is president/CEO of the $2.1 billion Altura Credit Union in Riverside, Calif. Since being named president in 2017, she has focused on enhancing Altura’s member experience, increasing performance and financial stability, and becoming a top employer.

Ford is president/CEO of the $1.1 billion University of Michigan Credit Union in Ann Arbor, Mich., which she joined in 2011. Under her leadership, the institution has grown significantly in both membership and asset size. The credit union has also won multiple local and national awards for talent development, and its products and services.

LEAGUES

The Wisconsin Credit Union League appointed two professionals from the $3.7 billion, Eau Claire, Wis.-based Royal Credit Union to its board.

Royal President/CEO Brandon Riechers was elected to serve as chair for a one-year term. Riechers has worked at Royal for 25 years and was named president/CEO in 2017. Prior to serving as CEO, he was the EVP-chief lending officer. Riechers joined the Wisconsin Credit Union League board in 2019 and most recently served as secretary.

Royal Program Director of Community Relations Melissa Janssen was appointed to serve as a young professional advisor to the board of directors for a three-year term. Janssen joined Royal in 2016 and was named to her current position in January 2021. She previously held roles in community financial education. Janssen has served on The League YP Advisory Board since 2018. She is also an active member of Royal’s YP organization, serving as its president in 2020. In addition, Janssen is currently serving her second term on the Eau Claire County Board of Supervisors as the District 25 representative.

VENDORS

LenderClose, a provider of a real estate and home equity lending technology platform, hired Felix Dominguez as head of engineering. Dominguez will take on a mentorship role to key engineering personnel, constantly promoting the growth of their professional skills and supporting the vision, design and strategy of the systems and platforms. Before joining LenderClose, Dominguez was an IT architect and director of technology at Equifax. He has extensive technical experience and is skilled in providing process improvement solutions.

LenderClose also added seven additional hires to the team: Priya Balakrishnan as QA engineer, Tracy Hodson as delivery lead, Guy Sinarinzi-Hay as QA engineer, Peter Leap as business intelligence analyst, Aidan Kelderman as technical specialist, Wendy Bear as cybersecurity manager and Ryan Javelosa as product designer.

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