New York Credit Unions Hire Chief Lending Officer, General Counsel

WEST

Hawaii Central Federal Credit Union ($303 million, Honolulu) hired Kainalu Ishikawa, a senior at McKinley High School in Honolulu, as an intern on Nov. 1. The internship is part of Ishikawa’s research paper for his career and technical education honors coursework at McKinley. Thus far, Kainalu has learned about Hawaii Central’s video banking and suite of digital services, visited other departments to get an in-depth view of how a credit union works, and learned about the credit union philosophy of “people helping people.” He plans to major in business or engineering.

EAST

The $2.1 billion, Lowell, Mass.-based Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union announced three promotions.

Grant Alois was promoted to SVP, chief information officer. Grant joined the credit union in 2021 as vice president of technology. In his new role, he will join the executive team and is responsible for shaping and executing strategic initiatives that optimize systems, advance cybersecurity preparedness and strengthen the credit union’s technology infrastructure. Alois will also manage system applications, payments and loan servicing. He completed the Executive Development Program at the University of New Hampshire and holds multiple certifications under Amazon Web Services (AWS), ISACA, CompTIA and ITIL v3.

Caitlyn Aguiar was promoted to assistant vice president – inbound contact center. Aguiar has been in the credit union industry for 24 years and with Jeanne D’Arc working in various roles in the member contact center for the last nine years.

Fady Sidhom was promoted to assistant vice president – outbound and digital contact. Sidhom joined Jeanne D’Arc in 2020 as outbound contact officer. Before joining the credit union, he spent five years in the banking industry holding various management, customer service and business development roles.

The $6.8 billion, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-based Hudson Valley Credit Union announced one new hire and one promotion.

Debra Leone was hired as staff attorney, associate general counsel. In her new role, she will be responsible for overseeing the credit union’s legal strategies, including the development and implementation of new legal practices, risk evaluation and regulatory support to the credit union’s compliance team. Leone most recently served as a principal at Mountain View Advisors. She holds a Juris Doctorate from Brooklyn Law School in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Jessica Erbacher was promoted to branch manager of the Mahopac, N.Y., branch. She has nearly 10 years of experience in financial services and began her career at HVCU in 2017, most recently serving as the Mahopac assistant branch manager. In her new role, Erbacher will be responsible for a variety of objectives including the training and development of branch staff, retaining and developing member relationships, and supporting small businesses in the community.

The $4.2 billion, New York, N.Y.-based Municipal Credit Union hired Michael Savino as chief lending officer. In his new role, Savino will oversee residential lending, consumer lending and loan servicing operations. He is a 19-year veteran of consumer financial services, having most recently served at Teachers Federal Credit Union ($9.8 billion, Hauppauge, N.Y.), as vice president, consumer lending and credit. He had been at Teachers since 2007, where he held positions of increasing responsibility. Before that, he was with Citizens Bank, where he began his retail banking career as a teller and rose to the position of assistant branch manager. Savino holds an MBA in management and leadership from the former Dowling College in Oakdale, N.Y.

MIDWEST

Bryan Price, president/CEO for the $1.6 billion, Bloomington, Ind.-based IU Credit Union, was appointed to a four-year term on the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) Board of Directors by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb. The Indiana DFI Board is comprised of seven members who represent different types of state-chartered financial, consumer, agricultural and commercial interests in Indiana, as the Indiana DFI not only regulates state-chartered credit unions and banks but state-chartered thrifts, payday lenders, finance companies, pawn brokers and other state-licensed lenders. Price is a 37-year employee of IU Credit Union, serving in his current role since 2007. Before that, he spent 20 years as CFO and EVP. He is also treasurer of the Indiana Credit Union League Board, where he is also chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee. In addition, Price is a member of the Consumer Financial Protection Committee for America’s Credit Unions and a past member of the CFPB’s Credit Union Advisory Council, serves on the board of directors for Credit Union Centers, LLC, and is a member of the Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council for the Chicago Federal Reserve.

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