Professionals Make Moves at 10 Credit Unions

WEST

Valley First Credit Union ($851 million, Modesto, Calif.) announced two new hires.

Byron Miller was hired as vice president, technology. Byron came from Launch Credit Union ($850 million, Merritt Island, Fla.), where he served as vice president of IT and project management. Prior to his role at Launch, Miller was at Partners Federal Credit Union ($2.3 billion, Orlando) for four years, holding the positions of senior project manager and IT and PMO manager. He holds an MBA in marketing and finance from Regis University in Denver, a master’s in project management as well as a master’s certification in advanced project management from Walden University in Minneapolis, and is a graduate of the CUES Executive Leadership Program.

Chris Braun was hired as vice president, payments. Braun joins from Republic Bank & Trust Company in Louisville, Ky., where since 2014 he held the position of vice president, card operations and development manager. He also brings technology and client-facing experience as a senior relationship manager with a fintech. In his new role, he will oversee debit and credit card operations, including a planned provider migration beginning this year, along with the ATM fleet, ACH, wires and remote deposit capture.

The $2.5 billion Vantage West Credit Union in Tucson, Ariz., hired Jeremy Pinard as chief lending officer. In his new role, Pinard is responsible for leading the consumer and mortgage lending divisions. He has 25 years of financial institution experience, including consumer, commercial and residential lending; branch operations and member service. Prior to joining Vantage West, Pinard was vice president of consumer lending at the $14.2 billion Alliant Credit Union in Chicago. He is a CUNA Management School graduate, and currently serves as an executive and conference committee member for the CUNA Lending Council.

Redwood Credit Union ($6.9 billion, Santa Rosa, Calif.) hired Michelle Anderson as chief lending officer. In her new role, Anderson will oversee four departments: Business services, mortgage, consumer lending and financial assistance. Her primary goal will be to help each department achieve business objectives for loan growth while exceeding members’ expectations for exceptional service. Anderson has 30 years of experience in financial services management and most recently served as SVP of lending at Chevron Federal Credit Union ($4.4 billion, Oakland, Calif.). She also held leadership positions with Patelco Credit Union ($8.7 billion, Dublin, Calif.), Wells Fargo, Wachovia and World Savings & Loan. She holds an MBA from St. Mary’s College and is a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School. She currently serves on the Experian credit union advisory board and on the board of directors for the Assumption Foundation in San Leandro, Calif.

EAST

Hanscom Federal Credit Union ($1.7 billion, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.) promoted Lenai Camacho to SVP of risk management. Camacho joined Hanscom in September 2012 as a compliance manager. She was promoted to assistant vice president of compliance in 2016, then two years later, promoted to vice president. In this role she was instrumental in expanding Bank Secrecy Act oversight within Hanscom. In 2018, Camacho was chosen as a “Credit Union Rising Star” by the Cooperative Credit Union Association.

The $662 million, Gardner, Mass.-based GFA Federal Credit Union hired Tom McGregor as EVP/chief lending officer. In his new role, McGregor will be responsible for the organization’s credit and lending functions. He and his team will direct the strategy, growth and market competitiveness for consumer, residential and business lending programs. McGregor brings over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, with an extensive commercial lending background throughout Central Massachusetts.

The $8.7 billion Teachers Federal Credit Union in Hauppauge, N.Y., hired Craig Chapman as SVP, national mortgage sales. In this newly-created role, Chapman will lead and direct the mortgage sales functions for the organization and will be responsible for developing and executing a long-term go-to-market strategy for mortgage sales expansion. He brings over 30 years of mortgage and banking experience, having most recently served as vice president, mortgage sales and development at PenFed Credit Union ($27.6 billion, McLean, Va.). Prior to PenFed, he held senior executive level positions at several financial institutions including First Commonwealth Bank of Virginia, First National Bank of Arizona and Greenpoint Financial.

The $376 million Ocean Financial Federal Credit Union in Oceanside, N.Y., hired Douglas Brinkman as CFO. He has been a leader in the financial industry for over three decades and was previously the regional manager of business development at PenFed. Prior to that, Brinkman spent 12 years at Sperry Associates Federal Credit Union ($265 million, Garden City Park, N.Y.) and was the CFO from 2013-2020. He has also held senior and managerial positions at companies including Cantor Fitzgerald, Advest Financial and First Empire Securities.

Andrews Federal Credit Union ($2.2 billion, Suitland, Md.) announced three promotions.

Pat Campbell was promoted to chief lending officer. Campbell has been with Andrews Federal for seven years and has over 35 years of lending and loan servicing experience in the financial services industry. She previously held the titles of vice president of lending and consumer lending manager at Andrews Federal. In her new role, Campbell’s responsibilities will expand to include real estate lending.

George Ksenics was promoted to chief information officer. Ksenics previously served as vice president of information technology for Andrews Federal and has 32 years of information systems and technology experience. He has held prior executive-level leadership roles with numerous credit unions in the Greater Washington, D.C. metro area.

Carl Seabrook was promoted to chief internal audit officer. Seabrook joined Andrews Federal in 2017 and was quickly promoted to vice president of internal audit for his ability to develop a solid and accomplished department. Before joining Andrews Federal, he was a risk advisory services director with RSM LLP.

SOUTH

The $4.4 billion, Lake Jackson, Texas-based TDECU hired Jason Osterhage as EVP and COO. In this role, Osterhage will oversee key executives including the chief banking officer, chief banking service operations officer, chief digital and experience officer and chief marketing officer. He joins TDECU after nine years with the $14.2 billion, Chicago-based Alliant Credit Union, most recently as SVP, chief banking officer. Prior to Alliant, he held key positions with the $8.5 billion, Atlanta-based Delta Community Credit Union. He is a Project Management Professional and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. Osterhage completed the Cardwell Group Leadership 306/2 + CEO 306 program, serves on the advisory board for a series A fintech, and held several credit union industry board and executive committee positions with companies and organizations including CU Direct Connect, TransUnion and CUNA.

The $11 billion VyStar Credit Union in Jacksonville, Fla., hired Matt Brockelman as vice president of government affairs, a newly-created position that will manage and coordinate strategy and relations at the local, state and federal levels. He was most recently a partner at The Southern Group and has also served as a state lobbyist for the University of North Florida. Brockelman also spent time as a public affairs officer and mayoral aide for the City of Jacksonville.

AGENCIES

The NCUA named Miguel A. Polanco as director for the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion effective Aug. 1. In this role, Polanco will oversee the agency’s requirements under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 to develop and promote standards for workforce diversity, supplier diversity and equal employment opportunity, and assess the diversity policies and practices throughout the credit union industry. Prior to being named director of the OMWI, Polanco served as deputy director for the NCUA’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. Before serving in that capacity, he managed the agency’s supplier diversity program since August 2011. In 2010, he worked for the Small Business Administration under the 8(a) program overseeing a portfolio of more than 50 participating small businesses. Polanco has also served as a U.S. Army intelligence officer, and worked in corporate finance with General Motors and in investment banking at Citibank Puerto Rico.

VENDORS

The Dallas-based CU Members Mortgage, a division of Colonial Savings, F.A., hired Rochelle Pemble and Desiree Hessel as executive sales consultants. Their responsibilities include creating a custom mortgage solution for each credit union or CUSO, guiding credit unions through a detailed training program and directing their marketing efforts to maximize effectiveness.

Pemble will serve Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and Iowa. She joins CU Members with nearly 20 years of experience in the mortgage finance and credit union industries, most recently at Fox Communities Credit Union ($2.3 billion, Appleton, Wis.) as a mortgage loan specialist. She also holds a Wisconsin state NMLS license and served as the secretary and treasurer of the Winnebago County Credit Union Chapter Board.

Hessel will serve Alaska, Hawaii, California, Arizona and Nevada. She joins CU Members with 20 years of experience in operations and lending, most recently as a mortgage loan officer at Patelco Credit Union ($8.7 billion, Dublin, Calif.)  Her experience includes originating, sales, project management and operations management.

LEAGUES

The Carolinas Credit Union League announced three new appointments to its board of directors, two of which came after bylaw changes approved in June expanded the board from 11 seats to 13.

Brian Bone was named a tier 3 director for North Carolina. Bone is president/CEO of the $73 million American Partners Federal Credit Union in Reidsville, N.C., and has spent his career in the banking and credit union industry. He joins the League board following the retirement of Mark Curran, former CEO of Lion’s Share Federal Credit Union ($67 million, Salisbury, N.C.), and will serve out the remainder of his term.

Bob Donley was named a tier 2 director for North Carolina. Donley is president/CEO of the $431 million Members Credit Union in Winston-Salem, N.C. Prior to becoming part of the credit union movement, he worked for various community banks and savings & loans in Louisiana and South Carolina over nearly two decades. During that time, he also served on boards for companies that provided data-processing services to financial institutions. Donley previously served as at-large director for the League board and was appointed to the tier 2 seat following this year’s expansion.

Katia Marini-Nunez was named at-large director. For 20 years, Marini-Nunez has been involved in the credit union movement, serving the last eight years as CEO of the $11 million St. Francis Federal Credit Union in Greenville, S.C. Over the course of her career, she’s participated as a guest speaker for industry organizations including the NCUA’s Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives and LSCI (Rex Johnson) Management Institute, and served as a mentor for the League’s CUaware Mentor Program.

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