13 Professionals Step Into New Roles at 9 Credit Unions

EAST

The $2.9 billion, Syracuse, N.Y.-based Empower Federal Credit Union promoted Francis “Frank” Mazzilli to Empower Investment Services LLC, the credit union’s wealth management arm, as an investment services assistant. In his new role, Mazzilli will offer services to members in the Syracuse area. He has been employed by Empower for 11 years and is currently completing his bachelor’s degree in management, economics and finance.

The $324 million, Fairhaven, Mass.-based Alltrust Credit Union hired Aaron Clark as vice president controller. In his new role, he will oversee and manage the accounting department, present financial analysis and review all monthly and quarterly reports, as well as supervise the processing of all accounting and credit union transactions. Clark brings over 10 years of banking experience, having most recently served at ETHIC, A Wealth Bank as vice president controller.

MIDWEST

The $4.2 billion, Eau Claire, Wis.-based Royal Credit Union promoted Taylor Tarras to fraud manager. In her new role, Tarras is responsible for leading the fraud analyst team in preventing fraud, analyzing and resolving fraud situations, and delivering superior service to members. Tarras joined Royal in 2012 as a teller and has since held many leadership roles along with serving as a corporate project manager. She most recently served as Royal’s member lending manager. Tarras is a certified financial counselor, certified credit union manager and certified fraud specialist, and serves as education committee chair for Junior Achievement.

The $819 million Financial Center First Credit Union in Indianapolis hired Aaron Alsup as vice president of enterprise risk management. In his new role, Alsup will oversee the risk management, compliance, fraud prevention and records departments. Before joining Financial Center, Alsup’s 16-year career trajectory included building and implementing best-in-class governance models in risk, operations, audit and compliance. He holds a master of science degree in enterprise risk management from Boston University.

The $4.8 billion, Wausau, Wis.-based Connexus Credit Union hired Paul Mueller as vice president of collections. In his new role, Mueller will be responsible for the management and advancement of the collections team, implementation of a continuous improvement model and development of a strategic plan to mitigate loss. Mueller comes to Connexus from Wells Fargo, where he spent over 20 years managing collections and account resolution teams. In his most recent role as vice president of enterprise customer excellence, Mueller led over 200 employees while developing and implementing quality and complaint resolution standards on multiple product lines including consumer banking, credit card, mortgage, personal loans and student loans.

SOUTH

The $298 million Unity One Credit Union in Fort Worth, Texas, promoted Lauren Barretero, Priscilla Garcia and Sandra Williams to branch managers. In their new roles, Barretero, Garcia and Williams are responsible for the management of overall branch operations, creating positive member experiences and providing leadership to their respective teams. They will also participate in events on behalf of the credit union to build and strengthen ties within their local communities.

Barretero is a Certified Credit Union Financial Counselor and will serve as the branch manager of the North Tarrant location in Fort Worth. She has been with Unity One for nine years, starting as a teller and moving on to various branch roles including member service officer and most recently assistant branch manager.

Garcia, who spent some of her early career as a member service officer and assistant branch manager at the Stockyards location in Fort Worth, will return as branch manager early this month. She has also held many roles within the credit union during her 18-year tenure and was charged with developing the branch manager role at both the Birdville Center of Technology and Advanced Learning location in North Richland Hills, Texas and Keller Parkway location in Keller, Texas. Garcia is also a Certified Credit Union Financial Counselor, and graduate of Leadership Northeast and Regional Advantage, the Leadership Program of the Metroport Chamber in Roanoke, Texas.

Williams, who will serve as the branch manager of the Keller Parkway location, has been with Unity One for 15 years starting as a teller and moving on to various roles including contact center representative, member solutions specialist and most recently member service officer.

The $1.6 billion SRP Federal Credit Union in North Augusta, S.C., announced two promotions.

Angie Adams was promoted to assistant vice president of mortgage operations. In her new role, her primary responsibility is to oversee and manage the day-to-day operations of mortgages, from origination throughout the life of the loan. This includes the management of processing, underwriting, closing, post-closing and the servicing of mortgages. Adams has 23 years’ experience in both the financial industry and mortgages and most recently served as a mortgage loan originator for SRP FCU. She began her financial career working as a mortgage underwriter and later became a loan officer and mortgage loan originator. Adams also completed a three-year banking program at the University of Georgia that specialized in banking and finance, attended Consumer and Mortgage Lending School as well as Compliance Lending School, and received her Mortgage Fraud Detection Recognition.

Paula Davis was promoted to assistant vice president of retail. Davis has been a staff member at SRP FCU for almost 30 years, serving in various positions in retail operations. She has worked in the financial industry for 33 years and began her career as a teller. Over time she became a member service representative and loan processor before moving into retail management at SRP FCU, where she was an assistant branch manager at the Rutland Drive branch in Aiken, S.C., and the North Belair Road branch in Evans, Ga. Her two most recent positions were as branch manager at the Broad Street branch in Augusta, Ga., and the Fornum Road branch in Grovetown, Ga.

Center Parc Credit Union, a division of the $2.5 billion, Atlanta-based Atlanta Postal Credit Union, hired Regina Pointer as marketing growth specialist. In her new role, she will support marketing and sales enablement efforts in the Savannah, Ga., metro area, which includes Chatham, Effingham and Bryan counties. Pointer brings more than 20 years of marketing experience, working in management, strategy and business development, and holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

The $261 million University Credit Union in Miami announced two promotions.

Michelle Campana was promoted to assistant vice president of human resources and training. Campana has been with the credit union since 2018 and has previous experience working for a South Florida health care organization. In her new role, she will manage the human resources and training divisions. She is a graduate of the League of Southeastern Credit Unions’ Leadership College.

Sahada Alcazar was promoted to assistant vice president of branch operations and compliance. Alcazar has 17 years of financial institution experience, including 11 years at University CU. In her new role, she will have oversight of the branch operations and compliance divisions. She is a CUNA Certified Bank Secrecy Act Compliance Specialist.

LEAGUES

The ambassadors of the Minnesota Credit Union Women’s Leadership Network appointed Julie Cosgrove, chief talent officer for the $3.9 billion, St. Paul, Minn.-based Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union, chair of the network. In her new role, Cosgrove will lead the ambassadors in planning professional development events, networking opportunities and community give-back initiatives in support of the group’s mission to inspire, empower and advance Minnesota credit union women. The Minnesota Credit Union Women’s Leadership Network is a sister society of the World Council of Credit Unions’ Global Women’s Leadership Network.

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