Meet the Finalists for the 2023 CU Times LUMINARIES Awards

Announcing the CU Times LUMINARIES Finalists from credit unions and organizations across the country.

We are very excited to announce the finalists of the 2023 CU Times LUMINARIES Awards. Members of the program’s Class of 2023 are being recognized for the incredible and thoughtful ways they are driving the credit union industry forward.

The LUMINARIES program shines a spotlight on how the top-performing industry participants are producing meaningful results in the areas that matter most to credit unions​, rather than emphasizing asset levels, rankings or the latest industry buzz.

The Class of 2023 includes finalists in four broad categories: Product Innovation, Innovation in Technology, Executive Leadership and Community Impact. Profiles of those being recognized in the first two categories will be published online in September, while those in the second two categories will be published in October. We will feature selected finalists in upcoming print issues in October and November.

Our editorial team went through a record number of entries this year to create an incredible list of 99 finalists coming from all sizes of organizations from across the country.

The LUMINARIES Class of 2023 Finalists are currently being reviewed by a diverse panel of judges from around the credit union industry. We are excited to find out who the winners will be!

Winners will be announced at a ceremony scheduled for Nov. 9 in Orlando, Fla., at the Disney Beach Club Resort.

Congratulations to the CU Times LUMINARIES Class of 2023!

CREDIT UNIONS

Executive Leadership — Individuals

  1. Erin Mendez – Patelco Credit Union
  2. Toni-Ann Sforza – Municipal Credit Union
  3. Chad Meadows – VyStar Credit Union
  4. Tonita Webb – Verity Credit Union
  5. Debra Schwartz – MissionFed Credit Union
  6. Dan Stoltz – SPIRE Credit Union
  7. Mike Valentine – BCU
  8. Mike Shockley – True Sky Federal Credit Union
  9. Greg Mitchell – First Tech Federal Credit Union
  10. Heather Andrade-Neumann – Golden1 Credit Union
  11. Amanda Habanksy – Peoples Advantage Federal Credit Union
  12. Corlinda Wooden – Unitus Community Credit Union

Community Impact — Individuals

  1. Doron Noyman – KeyPoint Credit Union
  2. Cara Houck – Patelco Credit Union
  3. Prisca Walters – Associated Credit Union
  4. Meredith Ritchie – Alliant Credit Union
  5. Frank Giannelli – Affinity Federal Credit Union
  6. Brandon Ewing – BCU
  7. Kristin Kauffman – Cedar Point Federal Credit Union
  8. Andrea McDermott – Westerra Credit Union
  9. Patricia Wayrynen – Workers Credit Union
  10. Tina Thornton – AmeriCU Credit Union

Rising Stars – Individuals

  1. Ziquora Banks – Verity Credit Union
  2. Kiona Bell – Credit Union West
  3. Zobeida Duarte – Merrimack Valley Credit Union
  4. Lauren Stronach – Delta Community Credit Union
  5. Kyle Wyne – Consumers Credit Union
  6. Kevin Whitman – Heritage South Credit Union
  7. Jobana Semones – Piedmont Advantage Credit Union
  8. Jose Alvarez – Redwood Credit Union
  9. Kelsy Colwell – Northrup Grumman Federal Credit Union
  10. Gregg Edwards – Market USA Federal Credit Union

Community Impact — Credit Union

North:

  1. NIH Federal Credit Union
  2. Prime Financial Credit Union
  3. Visions Federal Credit Union
  4. Astera Credit Union
  5. Affinity Credit Union
  6. Jovia Financial Credit Union
  7. Credit Union 1
  8. Golden 1 Credit Union
  9. Westerra Credit Union
  10. Workers Credit Union

South:

  1. Amplify Credit Union
  2. Freedom First Credit Union
  3. Associated Credit Union
  4. Delta Community Credit Union
  5. MissionFed Credit Union
  6. USF Federal Credit Union
  7. Coastal Credit Union
  8. TruSky Federal Credit Union
  9. VyStar Credit Union
  10. Pentagon Federal Credit Union

Innovation in Technology — Credit Union

  1. Consumers Credit Union
  2. WECU
  3. Teachers Federal Credit Union
  4. Associated Credit Union
  5. CapEd Credit Union
  6. California Credit Union
  7. Tech CU
  8. Jolt Credit Union
  9. FedChoice Federal Credit Union
  10. True Sky Federal Credit Union

SERVICE AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATIONS

Executive Leadership — Individuals

  1. Bob Trunzo – TruStage
  2. Ashish Garg – Eltropy
  3. Todd Dauchy – SMA Technologies
  4. Bill Handel – Raddon
  5. John Janclaes – Nymbus
  6. Greg Mesack – National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions
  7. Dan Berger – National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions
  8. Seth Brickman – QCash
  9. Cyndie Martini – MAP
  10. Andres Pasantes – engageFI
  11. Griffin McGahey – HC3
  12. Ryan Millman – Modern Capital

Product Innovation — Company

  1. SMA Technologies
  2. Mahalo Banking
  3. QCash Financial, LLC
  4. CUSO Financial Services
  5. Curql Collective, LLC
  6. Total Expert
  7. Neural Payments
  8. Posh AI
  9. Method Financial
  10. Backbase
  11. Think|Stack
  12. Open Lending
  13. Narmi
  14. MeridianLink, Inc.
  15. Xchange of America

Rising Stars – Individuals

  1. Lindsey Tipton – TruStage
  2. Ted Leary – TruStage
  3. Lindsay Russi – CarSaver
  4. Anish Dhanjee – AVANA
  5. Eli Krahn – Olden Lane
  6. Nick St. John – National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions
  7. James Akin – National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions
  8. Bhavana Perla – LendKey
  9. John Moose – LendKey
  10. Jim Ryan – Curql Collective, LLC

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