New Talent Arrives, Rises Up at 6 Credit Unions

EAST

The $156.6 billion, Vienna, Va.-based Navy Federal Credit Union appointed Annie Sebastian chief member strategy officer. In her new role, she will lead Navy Federal’s newly-created Member Strategy Office. Her team will focus on further aligning data, product and channel strategy, enabling Navy Federal to respond to members’ evolving needs faster. Sebastian has been with Navy Federal for 15 years, where she has led data, products, operations and digital.

MIDWEST

The $191 million, Cincinnati, Ohio-based TruPartner Credit Union announced Robert Killins was been elected by the membership to its board of directors. Killins is the director of special initiatives at Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF), where he attracts and manages donors and supports GCF’s Private Foundation work. He joined GCF in 2010 after a 24-year career at The Procter & Gamble Company. Long-serving board member Barbara Schmitz, board secretary, was also re-elected for another three-year term.

Bryan Price, president/CEO for IU Credit Union ($1.5 billion, Bloomington, Ind.), was selected to serve on the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Community Institutions Advisory Council (CDIAC). The CDIAC promotes communication between the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank and representatives from community depository institutions, including banks, thrifts and credit unions in the Seventh District. Council members serve staggered terms lasting up to three years and meet twice annually to provide their views on current business conditions to the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank’s president and other senior officials. Input from council members on regional banking conditions helps contribute to the Federal Reserve System’s formulation of national supervisory and monetary policy. Price has been with IU since 1986 and previously served as EVP and CFO. He is a Certified Public Accountant, graduate of the American Bankers Association’s Stonier Graduate School of Banking, holds the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst and previously served on the Credit Union Advisory Council for the CFPB.

The $1.2 billion Centris Federal Credit Union in Omaha, Neb., announced two promotions.

Jason Scheopner was promoted to vice president, strategy and planning. He most recently served as assistant vice president. In his new role, Scheopner will lead corporate strategy and operational planning from ideation to execution, coordinating input from Centris executive leadership, management teams and members of the board of directors. He will also continue to direct and oversee strategic alignment across the credit union and the activities of the project management office, including portfolio and project management. Before joining Centris in 2021, Scheopner gained 19 years of experience in various roles in project management, business continuity/disaster recovery, compliance and operations at a national securities firm and large Nebraska-based bank. He holds an MBA from Regis University in Denver as well as the following certifications: Project Management Professional from the Project Management Institute, Certified Scrum Master from the Scrum Alliance, and a Certificate for Business Strategy: Competitive Advantage and Connected Strategy from the Wharton Business School.

Michelle Vybiral was promoted to assistant vice president, strategic risk management. Vybiral began her career with Centris in 2005 as a teller and has held many roles with increasing responsibilities, the most recent being strategic risk manager. In her new role, Vybiral will continue to lead her team in Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering investigations, fraud management, business continuity and vendor management. Vybiral holds a Bank Secrecy Act Compliance Specialist designation and is the credit union’s Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering officer. Vybiral has served as a TeamMates mentor, Financial Beginnings classroom instructor, where she teaches students how to play an active role in their financial well-being.

SOUTH

The $754 million, Houston, Texas-based Members Choice Credit Union hired Ralph Owens as chief information officer. Owens brings nearly 25 years of experience in the information technology industry and has worked for financial institutions such as Bank of America, CapitalOne, Mastercard and Texas Dow Employees Credit Union ($4.7 billion, Lake Jackson, Texas). He is also a veteran of the United States Navy.

Emma Hayes, chief culture officer for the $50.9 billion, Raleigh, N.C.-based SECU, was named to the 2023 Women’s Leadership Diversity IMPACT 50 List by Career Mastered Magazine. The List features the nation’s leading change makers in diversity and inclusion, women who embody this year’s theme: “IMPACT: I’m Still Standing.” In her role as SECU’s chief culture officer, Hayes oversees the credit union’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; employee engagement; and leadership, learning and organizational development. She also serves as the chief diversity officer for the African American Credit Union Coalition.

VENDORS

Allied Payment Network, Inc., a provider of online and mobile money movement solutions to banks and credit unions, appointed Mark Forbis to its board of directors. In this role, Forbis will help advance Allied’s goal of delivering the industry’s most innovative real-time payment capabilities to the community financial institutions it serves. Forbis has been in the financial services industry since 1982, spending the last 31 years of his career at the Monett, Mo.-based Jack Henry & Associates. He began as a technology support representative, rising through the ranks to the position of EVP and chief technology officer, which he held for 14 years. Forbis retired from Jack Henry in 2019 and currently serves on various fintech and banking boards, including InvestorKeep (Chico, Calif.), Digital Check Corp. (Northbrook, Ill.), Citizens Bank (Batesville, Ark.), Teslar Software (Springdale, Ark.) and IncredibleBank (Wausau, Wis.). He is also a fintech investor and advisor.

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