Career Moves Announced at 10 CUs, Leagues, CUSOs & CUNA

WEST

The $1.2 billion, Pleasanton, Calif.-based 1st United Credit Union hired Ganga Radhakrishnan as CFO. Radhakrishnan brings over 30 years of experience working in the high tech, insurance and financial services industries, and holds an MBA in finance and investments. She also has extensive experience working with credit unions of varying sizes and business models.

The $4.6 billion, Liberty Lake, Wash.-based STCU announced two new hires.

Luke Todd was hired as director of retail for the Tri-Cities and Central Washington. In his new role, he will oversee 11 branch locations, including three in Tri-Cities and eight Columbia Basin branches that STCU acquired in the past two years. Todd brings more than 14 years of experience at Northwest financial institutions, most recently as a vice president and area manager at Umpqua Bank, where he oversaw branches spread across portions of eastern Washington and Oregon, and southwest Idaho. He is a board chair for the Southeastern and Central Washington Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Ian Myers was hired as a loan officer based at the Southridge Branch and will serve members throughout the region. He has more than two decades of experience as a real estate loan officer, most recently with Gesa Credit Union ($4.6 billion, Richland, Wash.). Myers has taught first-time homebuyer classes and is well-versed in construction lending, as well as government-backed USDA, FHA and VA home loan options.

Redwood Credit Union ($6.9 billion, Santa Rosa, Calif.) hired Dory Haessler as vice president/executive office liaison. In this newly-created role, Haessler will provide executive support to RCU President/CEO Brett Martinez, the board of directors, the executive officers and the senior leadership team. As the primary point of contact for internal and external communications, Haessler’s responsibilities include coordinating executive outreach and external relations, overseeing special projects, and ensuring efficient communications and workflow for the executive team.

She comes to RCU following 13 years of varied leadership positions with Kaiser Permanente, most recently serving as chief of staff to the SVP/area manager and as interim public affairs manager. Prior to that, Haessler served as the public relations assistant at Santa Rosa Junior College, was an Education Abroad Program advisor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and worked as a CalWORKS case manager with the Santa Barbara County Department of Social Services. She has served on the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber of Commerce as an advocacy council member since 2017.

The $5 billion Mission Fed Credit Union in San Diego appointed Malliga Tholandi to its volunteer board of directors. Tholandi spent the last six years as a member of the credit union’s supervisory committee, including two years as chair. Prior to her retirement in June 2016, she spent more than 30 years in school business. Most recently, she served for five years as the associate superintendent of business for the Poway Unified School District (PUSD) and was also the district’s CFO. Tholandi also served in four other school districts and at the San Diego County Office of Education as the head of the financial accounting department. She previously served on the redevelopment agency oversight board at the City of Poway and the PUSD’s district-wide foundation board. She is also a member of the School Business Executives of Southern California, holds a Chief Business Official Certificate and received the Advanced Gold Level in Communications from Toastmasters’ International public speaking platform.

EAST

Alltrust Credit Union ($297 million, Fairhaven, Mass.) hired Tomas Otero as a branch manager. Otero has over nine years of retail banking experience and most recently served as a financial center manager at Bank of America.

The $2.2 billion Andrews Federal Credit Union in Suitland, Md., promoted Damita Robinson to COO effective Oct. 1. Robinson joined Andrews Federal in 1993 as a trainer and most recently served as EVP, chief human resources officer. In her new role, she will oversee many of the credit union’s operations and work to strengthen the membership experience, product range and services provided. In addition, she plans to upgrade the employee recruitment and training process to ensure that Andrews Federal has a powerful, diverse team of professionals. Robinson volunteers as treasurer of the Andrews Shares Foundation, and is a Certified Meditator and Certified Legal Assistant.

MIDWEST

The $5.5 billion Veridian Credit Union in Waterloo, Iowa promoted Courtney Jewell to the position of member contact center team leader. Jewell has worked at Veridian for 11 years and previously served as a loan advisor II.

The $3.7 billion Royal Credit Union in Eau Claire, Wis., promoted to Jeff Marty to vice president of retail operations. In his new role, Marty will be responsible for developing and executing a strategic plan to provide an exceptional member experience for retail operations. He will focus on building high performing teams and leading efficient branch operations to provide consistency in processes, relationship building and member experiences across all Royal offices. Marty joined Royal in 2005 as a teller and progressed to teller supervisor, assistant branch manager, branch manager and branch manager II. He most recently served as regional director of branch operations. He has been involved in many Royal committees and is a recent graduate of The Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Eau Claire program.

SOUTH

JetStream Federal Credit Union ($228 million, Miami Lakes, Fla.) announced five new hires.

Sayuri Pons was hired as human resource manager. Pons brings over eight years of experience and holds an MBA. Her expertise expands to all areas of human resources management, including recruiting, onboarding, training, employee relations, performance management, employee wellness, leadership training and development, workers compensation, benefits and safety.

JetStream also welcomed the following four professionals to its team: Tabatha Cirgenski-Ruiz as director of marketing, Beata Bezen as accounting manager, Irene Kamimoto as senior accounting specialist and Emilio Ruiz as market outreach and training specialist.

Ascend Federal Credit Union ($3.4 billion, Tullahoma, Tenn.) promoted Joshua Wells to associate financial advisor on the Ascend Retirement and Investment Services wealth management team. In his new role, Wells will develop and execute wealth management and financial plans for members in the Manchester, McMinnville and Franklin County locations. A financial professional with Ascend for more than 14 years, Wells previously held positions as a sales assistant and member service representative. He is designated as a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor by the College for Financial Planning.

CUSOS

The Cranbury, N.J.-based technology and operations CUSO Member Support Services, LLC hired Scott Gammer as SVP of information technology. In his new role, Gammer will enhance credit unions’ member service through a variety of MSS technology platforms, systems, back-office and mid-office service offerings, and ingenuity and innovation. He will also ensure credit unions’ day-to-day operations through security and infrastructure management, and help-desk and operational support, as well as target opportunities where IT and business operations can partner together. Gammer brings senior leadership IT experience from both small and large organizations within the financial, insurance, retail and utility arenas.

LEAGUES

The Northwest Credit Union Association announced Jeff Adams, president/CEO for the $1.6 billion, Spokane Valley, Wash.-based Horizon Credit Union, as the new chair of its board of directors at the association’s MAXX Convention in Boise, Idaho on Oct. 7.

He succeeded Kent Oram, president/CEO for the $7.5 billion, Chubbuck, Idaho-based Idaho Central Credit Union.

The Cooperative Credit Union Association, which serves credit unions in Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, elected four new board members to its 2021-2022 board of directors during the association’s business meeting on Oct. 13.

Representing Massachusetts is Rui Domingos, CEO for MIT Federal Credit Union ($711 million, Lexington, Mass.).

Representing New Hampshire is David Araujo, CEO for Service Credit Union ($5 billion, Portsmouth, N.H.).

Representing Rhode Island is Stephen White, CEO for Westerly Community Credit Union ($398 million, Westerly, R.I.).

Representing the “At Large – General Category” is Robert Cashman, CEO for Metro Credit Union ($2.4 billion, Chelsea, Mass.).

TRADES

CUNA hired Jason Stverak to its advocacy team as deputy chief advocacy officer for federal government affairs. In his new role, Stverak will help lead an all-of-government approach to implementing the credit union system’s 360-degree advocacy strategy. Prior to joining CUNA, he served as the deputy chief of staff for Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). His professional background includes extensive experience in communications, political affairs and public policy. Stverak also served as the president/CEO of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity.

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