NCUA Chairman Todd Harper and Regional Director of the Western Region, Cherie Freed. Credit/NCUA NCUA Chairman Todd Harper and Regional Director of the Western Region, Cherie Freed.
Credit/NCUA

In 1987, Cherie Freed began her career at the NCUA as an examiner in Phoenix. After nearly four decades of serving the credit union industry and advancing to new roles at the federal agency, the NCUA announced Friday that Freed has retired as regional director of the NCUA's Western Region.

With the retirement, effective Aug. 24, NCUA Board Chairman Todd Harper shared his thoughts on Freed's lengthy and successful NCUA career.

"Cherie's dedication to public service and the NCUA has been nothing short of exemplary," Harper said. "She excelled at building internal and external coalitions, she was passionate about meeting organizational goals and customer expectations, and she produced results at the highest level. Cherie has exhibited sustained excellence throughout her career, inspired others, and made innumerable contributions to the NCUA. On behalf of the entire NCUA Board, we wish to extend our sincere gratitude to Cherie and wish her well in future endeavors."

According to the NCUA, after serving as an examiner, Freed took the position as a problem case officer in 1991 and later became a corporate examiner. Freed then became associate regional director for the Western Region before being selected as regional director in 2016.

During this transition period with Freed's retirement, John Kutchey, who is regional director for NCUA's Eastern Region, will oversee the Western Region until a new regional director is hired. Also, Associate Regional Director Mike Ryan will shift his duties to become acting regional director for the Eastern Region, according to the NCUA.

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Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.