CU Times Luminaries 2024 Third-Party Finalists Announced

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.

READ MORE: CU Times Luminaries 2024 Credit Union Finalists Announced