Professionals Climb the Ladder at 9 Credit Unions

WEST

The $955 million Valley First Credit Union in Modesto, Calif., hired Andrea Brooks as chief risk officer. In her new role, she will oversee the areas of enterprise risk management, compliance, Bank Secrecy Act, audit, security and loss prevention, and legal, as well as serve as the executive team liaison to the supervisory committee. Brooks brings more than 25 years of risk, audit and compliance experience, having most recently served 10 years at the $682 million, Livermore, Calif.-based UNCLE Credit Union, where she oversaw all aspects of its compliance, risk and audit program. Before that, she served as audit and compliance manager for the $1.4 billion, Livermore-based Operating Engineers Federal Credit Union. She holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix and is a certified Credit Union Compliance Expert and Credit Union Enterprise Risk Management Expert.

The $7.6 billion, Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Redwood Credit Union hired Louis Jenkins Jr. as vice president of sales and service. In his new role, based at RCU’s newly-opened Napa campus, he will provide leadership, guidance and oversight of organizational service delivery, ensuring exceptional member service across the credit union. Using tools such as Net Promoter Score and RCU’s proprietary member concern programs, Jenkins will also drive continuous improvement in policies, procedures, programs and operational excellence across the organization. Prior to joining RCU, Jenkins worked for Bank of America and Chase Bank. He holds an MBA in business administration and general management from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.

Mountain America Credit Union ($15.6 billion, Sandy, Utah) promoted Cathy Smoyer to EVP of technology and risk. In her new role, her responsibilities include strategic direction, performance of information technology, digital banking, information security, enterprise risk management, legal, fraud management functions, governance and compliance. She will also retain her role as the credit union’s chief risk officer. Smoyer has more than 30 years of banking, credit union, leadership and risk management experience, having driven growth and improved member experiences through balanced and comprehensive organizational strategies. She was named to Utah Business Magazine’s list of 30 Women to Watch, and holds a doctor of business administration from the Minneapolis, Minn.-based Walden University as well as an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

The $16.4 billion, San Jose, Calif.-based First Tech Federal Credit Union announced two new hires.

Jason Heupel was hired as chief experience officer. In his new role, he will lead all retail operations and drive strategy for enhancing the member experience. Heupel brings two decades of leadership experience overseeing customer experience and operations for financial technology companies and financial services firms. He most recently served as vice president of customer experience for Aspiration Bank and was previously the executive of operations at CoreLogic. Heupel also spent nearly a decade as vice president of operations at Capital One 360 (formerly ING Direct), where he oversaw customer experience, operations and sales.

Brandon Hunt was hired as chief marketing officer. In his new role, he will promote the credit union’s brand, and accelerate growth and member engagement. Hunt brings 15 years of leadership experience at global companies, where he built B2B and B2C marketing organizations. Most recently, he served as head of marketing for Nike’s digital product organization, where he led the future of advertising for its website and app ecosystem. Before that, Hunt was chief marketing officer at Vesta Home, and vice president of growth and digital marketing at e-commerce company The/Studio.

Brian Alfano, chief digital officer for the $3.4 million, Eugene, Ore.-based Oregon Community Credit Union, won the award for top local fundraiser and Real Men Wear Pink Ambassador of the Year for Oregon’s Lane County. Alfano received the honor as a result of raising more than $25,000 for the American Cancer Society’s Real Men Wear Pink breast cancer fundraising campaign. The annual fundraiser brings together men of diverse backgrounds to promote breast cancer awareness, screening and treatment. Alfano and 13 other area leaders wore pink and engaged the community throughout the month of October to raise donations and inspire their peers to take action in the fight to end breast cancer. The OCCU Foundation, OCCU’s philanthropic arm, added to Alfano’s campaign by matching $10,000 of all donations received, and OCCU employees organized a poll so that donors of $2.50 or more could choose a pink-themed costume for Alfano to wear to work for a day. As a result, Alfano dressed as a whoopee cushion on Oct. 28 and dyed his hair pink.

EAST

The $1.4 billion, Charlottesville, Va.-based UVA Community Credit Union hired Belinda Tucker as COO. In her new role, Tucker will support the credit union’s marketing, retail delivery strategy, loan servicing, operations, member service center and member experience departments. She brings over two decades of experience in the financial industry, having gained expertise in managing loan and deposit operations, loan collections, mortgages, IT, HR, risk and compliance, marketing and branding, branch administration, branch sales development and service, as well as retail, commercial and mortgage lending. Tucker is an ABA Certified Enterprise Risk Professional; holds FINRA Series 6, 65 and 63 Investment licenses; completed the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking and VBA Virginia School of Bank Management; and attended the VBA Executive Leadership and Management Program and Wharton Leadership Program, as well as completed a master of science in information technology, at the University of Pennsylvania.

The $416 million Garden Savings Federal Credit Union in Parsippany, N.J., promoted Tom Quigley to chief sales officer. He most recently served as business development manager and succeeds Michael Powers, Garden Savings’ incoming president/CEO effective Jan. 1. Quigley has over 20 years of credit union industry experience and previously worked as director of sales and development at Picatinny Federal Credit Union ($457 million, Dover, N.J.) and chief marketing officer at Xcel Federal Credit Union ($187 million, Bloomfield, N.J.). He also serves on the Credit Union Advisory Council to the Department of Banking and Insurance for the State of New Jersey.

MIDWEST

The $5.1 billion, Neenah, Wis.-based Community First Credit Union hired Chad Bostick as CFO. He brings more than 14 years of credit union experience, having most recently served as CFO for the $1.5 billion, Anchorage, Alaska-based Credit Union 1. He began his career in 2004 in audit, assurance and advisory services with Deloitte in Minneapolis before becoming internal audit manager for the $814 million, Palmer, Alaska-based Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union four years later. In 2012, he was promoted to CFO for Matanuska Valley, serving in the role for almost six years before moving to Credit Union 1. He holds a master of professional accountancy degree from the University of South Dakota and numerous CUES and CUNA designations. In addition, he has served as a board member/promoter of financial education for Alaska Business Week and Financial Reality Foundation/Get REAL Financial Reality Fair, as well as a board member with the Palmer Chamber of Commerce, Alaska Credit Union League and Matanuska Electric Association Foundation.

SOUTH

The $4.6 billion, Raleigh, N.C.-based Coastal Credit Union promoted Jennifer Gallagher to director of branch expansion and optimization. In her new role, Gallagher will help to grow and optimize the network of advisory centers where the credit union provides financial support and advice, which will include analyzing markets, shopping locations, making recommendations, and implementing a branch and interactive teller machine network roadmap. Gallagher has been with Coastal since 2003, most recently serving as senior project manager in the project management office. Her knowledge and experience is focused on project management, new branch construction, branch remodels, interactive teller machines and ATMs, IT networks, mergers, and cultivating critical vendor relationships across technology and service industries.

The $3.9 billion, Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Truliant Federal Credit Union hired Rich Mullins to the newly-created role of vice president, real estate and facilities. In his new role, Mullins joins Truliant’s senior management team and will be responsible for the management and oversight of the general services, property administration, facilities repairs, maintenance and project management areas. He brings extensive experience in operations and facilities management, vendor relations and supply chain management, having most recently served in business development at JLG Industries offices in Greenville, S.C., and Gastonia, N.C., as senior director of strategic accounts. He previously served as director of Canada operations and director of global asset management for AMECO, Inc., and holds several industry and Occupational Health and Safety certifications.

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