Speaker Bios

Doug Benzine, VP Publishing, Credit Union National Association

Capitalizing on Small Business in Your Community

Doug is responsible for monitoring financial industry trends and identifying future initiatives to help credit unions achieve their strategic goals. He leverages his practical experience from working with numerous credit union management teams and boards as well as his previous personal experience serving as a credit union board member to provide business critical information for credit unions. Doug has spent the past 20 years working in the financial services industry and has represented CUNA at numerous speaking engagements on topics including industry trends, board governance, innovation and technology. His speaking engagements include national as well as international conferences.

Danielle Brown, Program Coordinator, BizKid$

Financial Literacy: An Opportunity to Serve & Grow Your Youth Membership

Danielle has contracted with the National Credit Union Foundation, where she serves as the BizKid$ program coordinator. She is responsible for advancing the funding, use and integration of BizKid$ within the credit union movement. Most recently, Danielle served as vice president of member relations for the Northwest Credit Union Association, the recently merged association of the Oregon and Washington Credit Union Leagues, where she also served as the executive director of the Oregon Credit Union Foundation. Prior to the merger, Danielle was senior vice president of operations for the Credit Union Association of Oregon. She has served on the board of directors of the National Credit Union Foundation and the State Credit Union Foundation Network. Danielle is a credit union development educator.

Ryan Caldwell, CEO, MoneyDesktop

Using Technology to Become a Member's Primary Financial Institution (PFI)

Ryan is a visionary business leader with an extraordinary understanding of how innovation is impacting financial institutions today and into the future. This knowledge has positioned him as a thought leader within fintech and MoneyDesktop as the leading and fastest growing integrated online banking PFM platform in the space.

Jamie Chase, iCUDE, Founder, CU Strategic Planning

Inventing Qualified Borrowers

Jamie is one of several hundred Credit Union Development Educators and one of the 30 with a prestigious international designation (iCUDE). As an entrepreneur and consultant, she founded CU Strategic Planning, the #1 credit union grant-writing firm in the United States. CU Strategic Planning is widely regarded as the most successful developer of U.S. Treasury Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) programs for credit unions. CU Strategic Planning writes and wins more CDFI award applications for credit unions serving distressed communities and Native populations than any other team.

Jamie is internationally recognized for developing innovative programs for credit unions, CDFIs and organizations working with Native populations. Her background as a former PBS producer and idealism in the cooperative credit union movement concentrate her contributions to the world in the advancement of financial justice and access to affordable capital. Jamie was a publicist for the World Council of Credit Unions and introduced America’s credit unions to the Emmy Award-winning executive producers of Bill Nye the Science Guy. Her development work resulted in the largest grant in the history of the National Credit Union Foundation, a multi-year, multi-million dollar grant to underwrite BizKid$, which is now broadcast on PBS in every state and internationally.

Michael Cochrum, Director of Lending, Lending Insights

Using Your Own Business Intelligence to Make More Loans

Michael is responsible for overseeing the national delivery of the LPMS product, which provides credit unions with powerful portfolio analytics tools. He has been working in the consumer lending industry since 1989, and has worked for some of the nation’s largest and most profitable financial institutions. In 1999, he joined the credit union industry when he went to work for TCUL Credit Union in Dallas, TX. In 2004, Michael began working with CU Direct Corporation in the South Central Region, helping to create the largest credit union retail point-of-purchase lending network in the United States.

Amy Davis, VP Marketing, Red Canoe CU

Leveraging Your White Hat Position

Amy graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.S. in Business Administration and Marketing and a minor in Art History. She has been employed at Red Canoe CU for nearly ten years and carries over 14 years of marketing and business development experience with credit unions. Amy’s passion for brand development and community giving has been recognized through several national awards, including the Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Award for their credit union’s Fill the Canoe school supply drive.

Meghann Dawson, CUDE, Instructional Design Manager, Credit Union National Association

Best Practices from Successful Community Credit Unions

Meghann designs, develops and implements educational programs for CUNA's institutes and schools, as well as CUNA's online virtual classroom. She is the director of CUNA Management School, the longest continuing-education program of its kind in the credit union industry.

Miriam De Dios, CEO, Coopera

Product & Marketing Strategies to Attract & Create the Loyalty of the Hispanic Community

Miriam promotes Coopera’s approach to serving Hispanics. This comprehensive approach has helped credit unions position themselves for long-term growth by serving Hispanics. The idea of a “double bottom line,” where sustainable growth strategies are synonymous with social value is central to Coopera’s mission of partnering with people, businesses and communities. A native of Jalisco, Mexico, Miriam has extensive experience working in the financial services industry, having worked with two Fortune 500 companies: State Farm Insurance and John Deere Credit.

Pablo DeFilippi, Director of Membership, National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions

Unmet Community Needs: An Opportunity to Propel Credit Union Growth

Pablo is in charge of membership and consulting services for the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, a national nonprofit association that represents, supports and invests in credit unions serving predominantly low-income, financially underserved communities. He has more than 20 years of experience in community finance, working with regulated financial institutions in both the domestic and international arenas.

Throughout his career, Pablo has implemented microlending programs in credit unions he’s managed and also provided advice, expertise and training to credit unions interested in meeting the needs of this specific target market. As the director of CU Breakthrough Consulting Services, he can tap into a vast network of field practitioners with many years of collective experience and a demonstrated track record. In 1993 Pablo joined the Lower East Side People’s FCU (LESPFCU), a credit union serving Hispanics and other underserved populations in the New York City area, and acted as its CEO until early 2004. From then and until the end of 2005, he managed the World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU)’s International Remittance Program (IRnet), a world-wide initiative to provide alternative remittance services to consumers both in the U.S. and recipient countries throughout the credit union system.

Pablo serves on the board of the LESPFCU and is an advisory board member of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP), a resource and advocacy non-profit that seeks to promote community economic justice in New York City and nationwide. He is also vice chair on the board of the Network of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals (NLCUP), an initiative that seeks to develop a platform for integration and dissemination of best practices and initiatives to bring credit union services to Latinos.

Pablo holds a B.A. in Social Studies from Universidad de Chile, as well as Professional Accounting Certificates from Baruch College and New York University. Pablo has a Masters of Business Administration from Pace University, and is a graduate of CUNA Management School and NCUF’s Social Impact Management Institute. He is also a Credit Union Development Educator (CUDE), class of 2006 and a UK Credit Union Development Educator, class of 2008.

The Disclosures

Estes Park Credit Union Historical Tour

Christopher Morris and Chad Helminak are young and passionate credit union advocates who, by day, work at jobs within the credit union movement in Madison, Wis., but when the five o’clock whistle blows, they use their music and songwriting talents to creatively communicate core principles of credit union history, philosophy and advocacy. Their original credit union songs and music videos have earned tens of thousands of views online and, more importantly, sparked the interests of credit union employees, members and consumers to better understand credit unions and important issues that affect them. Since the release of their first album of original credit union songs in 2011, (Hey, We’re) The Disclosures, Christopher and Chad have presented highly rated educational sessions and musical performances to credit unions, chapters, trade associations and vendors across the nation.

Ryan Donovan, SVP Legislative Affairs, Credit Union National Association

Legislative & Regulatory Update

Ryan joined the Credit Union National Association as vice president of legislative affairs in September 2007, and was promoted to senior vice president in September 2011.

Combining his experiences as a Congressional staff member and credit union league employee, Ryan is responsible for the coordination and supervision of the activities of CUNA's lobbying team, which represents the interests of the credit union movement before both houses of Congress. He was responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive lobbying strategy that resulted in significant improvements to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act, mitigating the adverse impact of the most burdensome provisions of the bill on credit unions.

Prior to joining CUNA, Ryan worked for the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues as director of federal government affairs. He also served as a member of the Congressional staffs of Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA) and former House Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-MO). During his tenure in Representative Sherman's office, Ryan quickly rose through the ranks from legislative assistant to become chief of staff and legislative director. Ryan staffed Representative Sherman on the House Financial Services Committee and worked on the legislation that moved through the committee during his tenure and managed the day-to-day operation of the Washington Congressional office.

Mary Dunn, SVP & Deputy General Counsel, Credit Union National Association

Legislative & Regulatory Update

Mary currently leads CUNA's Regulatory Advocacy Department, which is comprised of three attorneys, in addition to her. In this capacity, she presents credit union interests before the National Credit Union Administration, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Trade Commission and other federal agencies. Mary is responsible for correspondence with government agencies, including all regulatory comment letters CUNA files. She ensures that credit union regulatory developments are communicated to CUNA members on a timely basis through such publications as CUNA's RegWatch, a bi-weekly electronic newsletter. She is a frequent speaker at CUNA and league meetings. Mary is chief staff liaison to CUNA's Examination and Supervision Subcommittee and to the CUNA Federal Credit Union Subcommittee; she is also a liaison to the CUNA Governmental Affairs Committee.

Tony Ferris, Partner, The Rochdale Group

Strategic Risk Planning

With more than 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, Tony brings a broad range of financial and management skills to his role as partner at The Rochdale Group. His expertise includes enterprise risk management, group collaboration and facilitation, project management, compliance, and merger planning and integration. Before coming to Rochdale, Tony spent 10 years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and U.S. Central Credit Union, where he was responsible for member relations and business development.

Frances Godfrey, Chief Executive Officer, United Educational CU

Product & Marketing Strategies to Attract & Create the Loyalty of the Hispanic Community

Fran has been the CEO at United Educational Credit Union since 2007. She began her credit union career over 30 years ago at United Educational Credit Union and has also held positions as vice president/chief operations officer and chief financial officer. Fran attended the CUNA Financial Management School I and II and has her Associates degree in Accounting and Business Administration from Kellogg Community College. She currently serves as secretary for the Battle Creek Chapter of Credit Union’s Executive Committee, is a member of the Credit Union Executive Society, and is currently serving as a board member of Central Corporate Credit Union.

Theresa Hilinski, Community Manager, The Cooperative Trust

Leveraging the Cooperative Business Model

Theresa is community manager for The Cooperative Trust, a grassroots organization of 400 young credit union professionals, whose activities include meetups, mentorship, online collaboration and development projects. Her role has evolved from support of the beta version, The Crash Network, to the development of a self‐sustainable model by bringing both simple and complex ideas to working projects within the community.

Prior to her work with The Cooperative Trust and Filene, she oversaw marketing, business development and community outreach, as well as staff development at several Philadelphia‐area credit unions.

Since receiving her Credit Union Development Educator (CUDE) certification through the National Credit Union Foundation in 2007, she has volunteered her time to mentor for the program, as well as attend the DE program in the United Kingdom in 2010. Theresa has also served various roles, including director, president and youth coordinator for the Philadelphia Chapter of Credit Unions since 2006.

Theresa earned her B.A. from Elizabethtown College and has received awards from the National Youth Involvement Board (NYIB), Pennsylvania Credit Union Association (PCUA) and for Business Continuity from a previous banking platform.

Bob Hoel, Fellow in Residence, Filene Research Institute

Effective Credit Union Board Succession Planning: New Demands Shine Spotlight on Standard Practices

Bob is fellow in residence at the Filene Research Institute, a nonprofit research and innovation organization. Filene is the credit union industry’s award-winning “think and do tank” for credit union and consumer finance issues. A popular speaker worldwide, Bob frequently speaks about credit union challenges and opportunities at meetings of credit union leaders, regulators and auditors. He has spoken at conferences and conventions in all 50 states and in Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and South America. Prior to becoming Filene’s executive director in 1991, Bob was a professor of business and chairman of the marketing department at Colorado State University, where he received the Outstanding Business Professor Award on three separate occasions. While at Colorado State, he served as chairman of the board of Norlarco Credit Union. Currently, he is a member of the national examining committee for the Certified Credit Union Executive program.

Neen James, President & CEO, Neen James Communications, LLC

Impactivity™: Super-Productivity to Help Turn Your Ideas Into Big Results for Your Credit Union

Neen is a productivity expert and thought leader whose keynotes receive rave reviews from clients who claim that by applying her strategies, they increase their productivity by a minimum of 30% within 90 days. Neen combines humor, common sense and Aussie charm to wow audiences like no other female keynote speaker. She helps leaders, managers and employees identify their productivity styles and learn successful strategies that others employ to motivate themselves and their teams to achieve more (at work and at home).

Anne Legg, VP Marketing, Financial Partners CU 

Leveraging Your White Hat Position

Anne joined Financial Partners in March of 2012. Prior to Financial Partners, she was vice president of marketing at Cabrillo Credit Union in San Diego. In her 13 years at Cabrillo, she participated in two mergers, developed a new credit union brand, implemented quality programs, created a nearly virtual auto dealership and consistently grew loans year after year. Anne recently finished an eight-year term on the CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council (CMBDC), serving as chair and vice chair for five years. She has also served on the Board of the Marketing Association of Credit Unions and as a member of the California and Nevada Credit Union League Public Advocacy Committee, which was tasked with raising awareness of credit unions in the two states it serves.

In addition, Anne instructs at CUNA Marketing Management School on the subjects of branding and innovation. She has been the subject matter expert for CUNA’s credit union marketing curriculum, and helped CUNA launch the Credit Union Certified Marketing Executive™ (CU-CME), a certification program for credit union marketing professionals. She’s also had articles published in many credit union trade publications, as well as in USA Today. She has received numerous awards from the CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council, including the prestigious 2012 Marketing Professional of the Year; Credit Union Executive Society (CUES); Marketing Association of Credit Unions (MAC); California Nevada Credit Union League and the San Diego Better Business Bureau; and was a CO-OP ThinkPrize semi-finalist in 2012.

Anne has over 20 years in marketing communications, 17 in the credit union industry. She is a graduate of University of Iowa and holds a Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from National University, San Diego. Her master’s thesis was a CUNA CFO Council contest winner in 2011, was released as a CUNA white paper in July 2011 and was selected by the 2012 International Cooperative Summit for publication and presentation.

Jeff Rendel, President, Rising Above Enterprises

Best Practices from Successful Community Credit Unions

Jeff offers a wealth of knowledge in the financial services marketplace. He works with associations and professionals who want greater professional growth, as well as financial services providers who want deeper market penetration. His mission is to develop excellent leaders in life, on the job, for your members and for your credit union. Jeff has experience as a federal regulator, financial executive and congressional lobbyist.

Robin Romano, CEO, Marisol FCU

Unmet Community Needs: An Opportunity to Propel Credit Union Growth

Robin worked as an escrow officer for several title companies then decided that the grass was greener in banking. She was a mortgage loan Underwriter and a commercial financial analyst for two Savings and Loans over the next five years. She became a credit union devotee in 1989 when she was the internal auditor then mortgage lending supervisor for Western Horizons FCU. In 1992, she started her seven year journey as a principal examiner for NCUA for the Arizona and New Mexico area. Over the last 13 years, Robin as served as the CEO of MariSol. The credit union has become a Community Development Financial Institution serving all CDFI census tracts in Maricopa County and was awarded a $750,000 grant in 2011. Robin is truly committed to financial inclusion and empowerment by expanding access to affordable and equitable financial services for all.

Mike Schenk, Vice President, Economics and Statistics, Credit Union National Association

Economic Outlook for Credit Unions

Mike conducts economic and financial research and provides support for CUNA Governmental Affairs and Public Relations efforts. His analyses regularly appear in publications such as CUNA's Credit Union Magazine and E-Scan Newsletter. Mike has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Before joining CUNA in 1992, he was the director of research for Financial Research Corporation, where he conducted economic analyses, competitor evaluations and product-line planning for mutual fund companies.

Lance Secretan, Teacher, Management Guru, Fortune 500 Executive, Author

The Spark, the Flame and the Torch: How inspiration has become the most important distinctive advantage for modern organizations

As an advisor to leaders, a speaker, retreat leader, teacher and coach, Lance inspires executive teams with new ways of thinking, which one Fortune 100 leader described as, “enabling us to move from the profane to the sacred.” He is pioneering the integration of corporate life and spiritual integrity. Lance is widely acknowledged as one of the most insightful and provocative leadership teachers of our time.

He is the former CEO of a Fortune 100 company, university professor, award-winning columnist and author in 15 books about leadership and inspiration. Lance focuses on the connection between high performance and the heart, the mind and the soul and why the key ingredient is inspiration when we seek effective leadership. His teachings and writings on conscious leadership, are courageous, radical and ingenious and have been hailed as among the most original, authentic and effective contributions to leadership thinking currently available. Individuals, entire organizations, cities and states have experienced remarkable transformations through his unique mentoring, wisdom and approach. Thirty of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies, and 13 of Fortune’s Best Companies to Work for in America, are his clients. Leadership Excellence ranked him among the top 100 Most Influential Thinkers on Leadership in the World and Speakers in America ranks him among the Top Five Leadership speakers.

Lance is a dynamic, thought-provoking and extraordinarily tech-savvy presenter who ignites individual clients, companies and audiences with his passion. His work results in reinvigorated work environments all over the world and his presentations result in standing ovations. Lance is the author of numerous highly regarded books that inspire people and organizations to look at their work in new and invigorating ways.

Jeff Stone, Executive Vice President & Chief Credit Officer, North Island CU

Capitalizing on Small Business in Your Community

Jeff joined the credit union movement 15 years ago after spending over 25 years in commercial banking, mainly at customer-friendly community banks, where he held positions in branch operations, branch lending, real estate lending and audit. After a megalopolis bank gobbled his bank up, Jeff spent two years heading up the successor bank’s small business lending in San Diego. Jeff left the banking industry when megalopolis was bought out by super-megalopolis.

Jeff first joined North Island Credit Union as a consultant, performing a study of how a credit union could create a niche for itself in offering member business services, while operating under the limitations imposed by the National Credit Union Administration’s business lending regulation and later by Congressional action. Throughout the last 15 years, North Island has successfully provided commercial real estate loans to its members. In mid-2002, following a charter change and a host system conversion, the credit union rolled out a full array of member business products, including lines of credit, term loans, business credit and debit cards, analyzed checking, courier services, payroll, on-line banking, equipment leasing, merchant credit card services, and remote deposit capture, among others. In 2007, the CUNA Lending Council recognized North Island’s efforts in developing this program with their inaugural Excellence in Business Lending Award.

In January 2009, Jeff assumed the responsibilities of Chief Credit Officer, where he oversees the consumer and real estate lending, business services and marketing areas of the credit union. Most of the last four years have been devoted primarily to insuring the credit union has the sound lending practices needed to navigate the difficulties caused by the economic downturn. Currently, the loan portfolio is growing again and North Island is serving the credit needs of the majority of its members.

Jay Vanjalu, CEO & Board Member, Buzz Banking

Get off My Lawn!: How to Monetize Social Media for Business Results

Jay brings 13 years of entrepreneurial experience in financial services and social media. He was a co-founder of FundsXpress, a leading Internet-banking company which provides services nationwide to more than 1,000 financial institutions and millions of end users. FundsXpress was acquired by First Data Corporation.

Jay was a partner at Steinwasser, Inc., a technology and business consulting firm with offices in Texas and Germany. Prior to Steinwasser, he was business development manager at Pluck, which was acquired by Demand Media. Jay was an advisor to PetroChem Wire, a daily publication for the US NGLs, olefins and polymer markets, and a benchmark for physical and swap contracts on the CME/NYMEX Clearport system.

Jay has served as a scientist conducting astrophysics research in a research group at UC Berkeley. He has a B.A. in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley and holds an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin where he focused on Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialization.