8 Professionals Appointed, Promoted & Hired at 6 Credit Unions

WEST

Redwood Credit Union ($7.6 billion, Santa Rosa, Calif.) named Gerardo Martin, a wealth manager for LPL Financial, as a new associate board member on its board of directors. In his new role, Martin will attend all board meetings and participate in key discussions, but will not currently take part in voting. He has more than 15 years of community leadership experience and formerly served as president of the Napa County Hispanic Chamber and president of the Napa Valley College Foundation, and is the co-founder of Latino Leaders Roundtable.

The $3.4 billion Premier America Credit Union in Chatsworth, Calif., appointed Mechelle Best, Ph.D. to its board of directors effective Aug. 1, 2022. Best is the interim dean of the College of Health and Human Development at California State University, Northridge in Northridge, Calif. As part of the university’s senior leadership team, she is responsible for multiple academic departments, centers and institutes, with a focus on building a world class institution of higher learning for its diverse student body. She is a Fulbright and Organization of American States Scholar, and has advised numerous state, local and private entities on both boards and committees.

EAST

The $11.7 billion Bethpage Federal Credit Union in Bethpage, N.Y., hired two new executives.

Emilio Cooper was hired as SVP of retail banking. In his new role, Cooper leads Bethpage’s retail banking team, which includes heading up Bethpage’s 33 branches as well as the branch and member support services teams. He also has oversight of the Bethpage Financial Group, a team of advisors serving members for their investment needs, and also will head up a separate team responsible for payment services. He most recently served as chief deposit officer for First Bank NJ, and brings over 27 years of experience in banking and financial services. In addition, Cooper has held senior leadership positions at Wells Fargo, Wachovia and Citizens Bank. He began his career in banking as a retail management development associate at Chase. Cooper currently serves on the finance committee of the board of the Rescue Mission of Trenton, N.J.

Musadiq Hassanali was hired as SVP of technology. In his new role, Hassanali designs and executes technology solutions to advance Bethpage’s reach, enhance its growth potential and strengthen its position in the national market. He brings over 28 years of technology experience, having most recently served as a vice president and strategy and operations head for M&T Bank in Buffalo, N.Y., heading up a staff of over 350. Hassanali has spent considerable time managing projects and companies in London, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Dubai and the U.S. He began his career at Deutsche Bank in New York, London and Frankfurt.

The $1.8 billion, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.-based Hanscom Federal Credit Union announced two promotions within its information technology department.

Sean LaBrie was promoted to vice president, infrastructure and applications. LaBrie joined Hanscom in 2018 and has spent the last four years as assistant vice president, infrastructure and applications. In that role, he was central to the management of the credit union’s network operations infrastructure and systems, including networking, storage, computer and virtualization technologies, as well as the management of the infrastructure team. LaBrie has extensive experience in network engineering and infrastructure, including 15 years in the industry and nearly a dozen professional certifications.

Jared Silver was promoted to vice president, data and information systems. Silver joined the credit union in 2020 as assistant vice president, data and analytics. In that role, he was responsible for oversight of the data warehouse, encompassing quality assurance of information and process oversight, leading data governance efforts for the organization, and managing the implementation of strategic data initiatives and adoption of new technologies. He has over two decades of experience in data analytics and earned his MBA from the Questrom School of Business at Boston University.

MIDWEST

The $819 million, Indianapolis-based Financial Center First Credit Union promoted James Davidson to vice president of financial wellness. In his new role, Davidson is responsible for the credit union’s health savings and workplace banking programs, as well as member and community financial education programs, and managing university relationships. He has been with Financial Center for 13 years, and is a Certified Credit Union Financial Counselor and former Indianapolis Public School educator. Davidson also regularly guest lectures at Ball State University’s Miller College of Business in Muncie, Ind., in its financial literacy series.

SOUTH

The $5.9 billion Tinker Federal Credit Union in Oklahoma City, Okla., hired Steven McConnell as SVP, general counsel. In his new role, McConnell works closely with TFCU’s senior management team and board of directors to provide legal oversight, and ensure that TFCU’s accounts and services serve its members’ best interests. McConnell joins TFCU with over 27 years of experience representing or working in-house for banks and credit unions. As a member of the Cornerstone Credit Union League’s Oklahoma Governmental Affairs Subcommittee, he served as chair of the Financial Institution and Commercial Law Section of the Oklahoma Bar Association, as well as served on the faculty of the Southwest CUNA Management School in 2019. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from Oklahoma City University.

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