On Thursday, CU Times announced the 2024 Luminaries Awards finalists for credit union-supporting professionals and organizations that have become the backbone of the financial cooperative system.
These 48 finalists in eight categories made the cut from a record number of CU Times Luminaries submissions this year because of the outstanding achievements recognized by the publication's editors.
"We are very fortunate to work and live inside an industry working so hard to come up with reliable and new advancements to benefit credit unions and their member-owners in such unique ways," said CU Times Editor-in-Chief, Michael Ogden. "These finalists reflect such efforts."
The third-party finalists for the CU Times 2024 Luminaries Awards include the following:
Third-Party Executive Leadership – CUSOs
- Steve Willis, LEVERAGE / Affiliates Consolidated Services, Tallahassee, Fla.
- Tony Boutelle, Origence, Irvine, Calif.
- Scott Cody, 3131 Media Solutions, Metairie, La.
- Nick Evens, Curql Collective, Cedar Falls, Iowa
- Bjorn Larson, Life Money You, Minneapolis
Third-Party Executive Leadership – Credit Union Leagues & Trade Associations
- Samantha Beeler, League of Southeastern Credit Unions, Birmingham, Ala.
- Jim Nussle, America's Credit Unions, Madison, Wis.
- Greg Mesack, America's Credit Unions, Washington, D.C.
- Carrie Hunt, America's Credit Unions, Washington, D.C.
Third-Party Executive Leadership – Technology Vendors & Service Providers
- Adam Zarlengo, Happy Money, Oklahoma City
- Vince Passione, LendKey, New York
- Bob Allen, HC3, Jefferson City, Mo.
- Sarah Murray, TruStage, Grand Rapids, Mich.
- Siva Narendra, Tyfone, Portland, Ore.
- Ravi Srinivasan, Votiro, Austin, Texas
- Jeff Grobaski, Epic River, Fort Collins, Colo.
- Steve Koinm, Pure IT Credit Union Services, Houston
- Juliet D'Ambrosio, Adrenaline, Atlanta
- Anne Holtzman, Allied Solutions, Fort Myers, Fla.
Third-Party Product Innovation – Advances in AI
- Eltropy, Santa Clara, Calif.
- Glia, New York
- boost.ai, Stavanger, Norway
- Shastic, San Francisco
- Open Lending, Austin, Texas
- Zest AI, Burbank, Calif.
- nCino, Wilmington, N.C.
Third-Party Product Innovation – Core Processing/Conversion
- SMA Technologies, Houston
- FusionIQ, Woburn, Mass.
- MDT, Farmington Hills, Mich.
- Janusea, Tomball, Texas
- Nymbus, Jacksonville, Fla.
Third-Party Product Innovation – Credit/Debit Payment Solutions
- Alacriti, Bridgewater, N.J.
- Tyfone, Portland, Ore.
- Alogent, Peachtree Corners, Ga.
- Zirtue, Dallas
- FINBOA, Houston
Third-Party Product Innovation – Mobile Banking
- Tyfone, Portland, Ore.
- QCash Financial, Naperville, Ill.
- Mahalo Banking, Troy, Mich.
Third-Party – Rising Star Individuals
- Amanda Bardonner, LendKey, Nashville, Tenn.
- Nick Pesce, Happy Money, Walnut Creek, Calif.
- Joshua DeTar, Tyfone, Portland, Ore.
- Mandi Sinner, Happy Money, Dallas
- Jim Ryan, Curql Collective, Indianapolis
- Sydney Seral, League of Southeastern Credit Unions, Atlanta
- Molly Leiterman, TruStage, De Pere, Wis.
- Ann Petros, America's Credit Unions, Washington, D.C.
Winners from each category will be announced live at the 2024 CU Times Luminaries Awards gala on Nov. 7 at Disney's Yacht Club Resort in Orlando, Fla. More information about the all-day event can be found here.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Michael Ogden
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.
