Keynote and Breakout Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Ryan Donovan
As Chief Advocacy Officer at the CUNA, Ryan Donovan is responsible for the development and implementation of the Credit Union National Association’s legislative, regulatory and state government advocacy efforts. In recent years these efforts have proven successful in reducing credit unions’ regulatory burden and protecting them from legislative proposals which would make it more difficult for them to serve their members.
Ryan joined the Credit Union National Association as Vice President – Legislative Affairs in September 2007, and was promoted to Senior Vice President in September 2011 and to Chief Advocacy Officer in January 2015. Prior to joining CUNA, he worked for the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues as Director of Federal Government Affairs. Ryan 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).
Martin Eakes
Martin is co-founder and CEO of Self-Help and the Center for Responsible Lending. He holds a law degree from Yale, a master's from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton, and a bachelor's degree from Davidson College. A native of North Carolina, Martin is a nationally recognized expert on development finance and has been honored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as a MacArthur Fellow for his work. In 2009, his commitment to responsible lending was honored by the Opportunity Finance Network, which presented him with the Ned Gramlich Lifetime Achievement Award for Responsible Lending. A leader in U.S. community development finance and policy, Martin currently serves on the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees, the Bank of America National Community Advisory Council, Institute for Minority Economic Development, and Fannie Mae Affordable Housing Advisory Council.
Kaytlin Greenley
Kaytlin Greenley of Coosa Valley (Ga.) Credit Union has excelled at a variety of credit union jobs. At the moment, Greenley is excelling as the assistant manager for marketing. She’s a credit union evangelist, educating current and prospective members about the difference between credit unions and other financial institutions. She’s worked an assortment of jobs during her 10 years at Coosa Valley, starting as a part-time teller, advancing to full-time teller, and then to member services, loan processing, administrative assistant, marketing assistant, and her current post, as assistant manager for marketing. She ascended to that position in August and sees it as another stepping stone on her path to CEO.
Bill Hampel
Bill Hampel is chief policy office and chief economist for the CUNA. He joined the department as an Economist in 1978 and was promoted to vice president in 1985. He was appointed senior vice president in 1992. Until 1997, Hampel was based at CUNA’s Madison offices. Since then he has worked out of CUNA’s Washington DC offices.
Before joining CUNA, Bill was an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Montana at Missoula. Before that he was an Instructor of Economics at Iowa State University at Ames. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from Iowa State.
Bill served as a staff member at Navy Federal Credit Union in Virginia during a one-year sabbatical in 1989-90, where he studied credit union operations and carried out a variety of consulting projects. He has served on the board of directors of CUNA credit union since 1991, chairing the board from 1999 to 2001. He currently serves on the board for the National Cooperative Bank.
Jeff Rendel
With experience as a federal regulator, financial executive and Congressional lobbyist, Jeff knows business and, especially, the financial services marketplace. As President of Rising Above Enterprises, Jeff works with financial services providers that want elite results in leadership, sales and strategy. His company researches, synthesizes and articulates indispensable achievement elements to help corporations profit – financially and inside their corporate culture – in their pursuit to fulfill their missions and strategic endeavors.
As a federal regulator with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Jeff examined a wide array of the nation's banks. He continues to work with members of the House of Representatives and Senate helping them understand the business implications that legislation has upon the financial services industry. Many Members of Congress regard him as their point of first contact when issues regarding financial institutions arise. A highly sought after and accomplished speaker, he is a professional member of the National Speakers Association (NSA). In 2007, the NSA presented him the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation, an achievement fewer than five percent of the world's speakers hold.
Mark Sievewright
As president, Credit Union Solutions at Fiserv, Mark Sievewright leads a 2,000-person team across 20 locations in North America offering technology solutions that process data and information for one-third of U.S. credit unions and a growing number of international clients. In addition, he directs the innovation, development and distribution of value-added financial industry solutions.
Within the credit union movement, Mark has worked closely with numerous credit unions, state leagues as well as national and international associations such as CUNA and the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU). In 2010, Sievewright was merited the Ambassador Award by WOCCU for his many years of service to credit unions.
Mark joined Fiserv in 2004 as corporate senior vice president of Market Development for the company's Depository Institutions Group. In this role, he worked with Fiserv clients to develop and execute business growth strategies.
Breakout Speakers
Holly Arter
Holly is director of Media and Planning at Third Degree and is a top-notch negotiator who connects media strategies with bottom line results. She has a passion for research, and turning that data into ways of connecting brands and consumers. Her experience ranges from handling budgets of a few thousand dollars in small, rural markets to managing high-profile national media with budgets in excess of $200 million. Holly's expertise as a market analyst has benefited brands such as Hardee's, Coca-Cola, Sonic, and numerous credit unions. In addition to strategic media placement, Holly specializes in long-term planning on behalf of credit unions all across the country.
Steve Barbier
Steve Barbier has over 30 years experience in affordable housing and has been a relationship manager with Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation dba/NeighborWorks America® since 1991. Since joining NeighborWorks America, Mr. Barbier has been the lead staff member in the organizational development of the Rocky Mountain Communities, the Navajo Partnership for Housing, Inc., and the formation of the statewide Wyoming Housing Network, Inc.
Rachel Barker
Rachel Barker is the Director of branch operations at Holy Rosary Credit Union in Kansas City, MO. She began her financial services career at Wells Fargo Bank in 2010. In 2012 she had the opportunity to join HRCU as an AmeriCorps VISTA to develop the business services program offered by the credit union. After a year of service, Rachel remained as a full-time employee beginning as the Business Services Officer and then transitioned to Director of Branch Operations at the beginning of 2015. Her duties include branch oversight, expansion opportunities, lending, and business services. She completed the Cooperative Finance Leaders for America (CFLA) through the National Inclusiv for Community Development Credit Unions in 2014. She was selected as the Missouri representative for ‘Crash the GAC’ in 2014. In her local credit union environment she is the secretary for the Kansas City Chapter of Credit Unions & a member of Women’s Association of CU Leaders.
Ryan Bell
Ryan is CEO of GREMLN Inc., a social media regulatory compliance software company, based in St. Louis, Missouri. Ryan is a serial entrepreneur and social media enthusiast who has over 17 years of experience in software product management, design, and development. He is dedicated to finding safer ways for businesses to collaborate and share ideas through technology. He considers it his personal responsibility to promote the merits of social media to the financial services industry and how the industry can seize the opportunities provided, while maintaining security and compliance.
John Bissell
John is the executive vice president of Greylock Federal Credit Union, a $1 billion financial institution with 12 branches throughout Berkshire County, Massachusetts. John worked with a team of Greylock managers and consultants to earn Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) status from the US Treasury, enabling Greylock to increase its capacity for lending to people of low to moderate income. John's passion for helping underserved communities extends into his volunteer work as well. In 2012, John co-founded Pittsfield Promise, an early literacy initiative. He currently leads the 1Berkshire Initiative for Growth, focused on achieving sustainable growth in Berkshire County.
Alan Branson
Alan is executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Hope Enterprise Corporation and Hope Credit Union (HOPE) with responsibility for the company's business lending, mortgage lending, retail branch network, and community and economic development activities including New Markets Tax Credit and Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects. HOPE bolsters its impact through policy analysis and advocacy in the areas of financial inclusion, family economic security and other issues that affect low-wealth and traditionally disenfranchised individuals.
Lisa Carver
Lisa Carver is the president of Moxie Consulting, Inc. a human resources consulting firm located in Little Rock, AR. Lisa has worked as a Training Manager for the City of Plano, the VP of Business Education for two business units at CitiCapital and as the Director of Alumni Relations for Texas Woman’s University. As a consultant, she currently works with diverse organizations including Kimberly Clark, City of Midlothian, Pulaski County, PepsiCo, Walmart and the U of A Criminal Justice Institute.
Lisa has designed and facilitated employee development and management/leadership training since 1988. Her consulting services include employee assessment, instructional design, facilitation, professional coaching and Police/Fire Assessment Center Prep. She has a broad range of employee development experience and has worked with all levels of employees, volunteers and elected officials.
Tristram Coffin
Tristram Coffin is the chief executive cfficer of Alternatives Federal Credit Union, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in Ithaca, New York. Since his arrival in 2007, he has led Alternatives through a period of growth and increased financial stability, sustaining the organization's mission of serving the underserved and expanding its innovative community service programs. Alternatives was selected as Community Credit Union of the Year by CUNA in 2014, and has been named Small Business of the Year by the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce.
Mark Cummins
Mark is president & CEO of the Minnesota Credit Union Network. The Network is the state wide trade association for Minnesota credit unions, working to ensure a positive public environment for credit unions to grow and thrive. Nationally, Cummins serves on the Board of Directors of CUNA Strategic Services and the American Association of Credit Union Leagues, CULAC Executive Committee, and chair of CUNA's Cooperative Alliance Committee. Prior to joining the MnCUN, he was president and CEO of White Crown Federal Credit Union in Denver, Colo., for 13 years. During his tenure in Colorado, he served as the Colorado Credit Union Association Vice Chairman. He also spent time on the Credit Union Indirect Lending Association Board, the CUES Rocky Mountain Council Board, and the Suncorp Corporate Credit Union Board.
Miriam DeDios
As CEO of Coopera, Miriam promotes Coopera’s approach to serving Hispanics throughout the credit union industry. This comprehensive approach has helped credit unions and credit union industry organizations position themselves for long-term growth by serving Hispanics.
Miriam has significant experience working in the financial services industry, having worked with State Farm Insurance Companies and John Deere Financial. Miriam has also served as a board member of various Hispanic-serving non-profit organizations in the Des Moines area and is a former English as a Second Language Adjunct Professor for Des Moines Area Community College. Miriam is a 2012 recipient of the World Council of Credit Union's Young Credit Union People Program (WYCUP) award, a member of the World Council of Credit Union's Global Women's Leadership Network and a former board member of the Network of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals.
Richard Dines
Richard is AVP for System and League Engagement with CUNA. Prior to joining CUNA, he was vice president for Mission Banking at the National Cooperative Bank, a financial institution serving cooperative businesses. In this position, he managed cooperative development programs, efforts to serve low-income populations, charitable activities and environmental sustainability projects. Before working at NCB, he worked at the National Cooperative Business Association for eleven years. At NCBA, he coordinated membership recruitment and retention, conferences, public policy advocacy, and .coop domain name sales. He has also worked for the City of New York in the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
Larry Fazio
Larry Fazio joined NCUA in 1991 as an Examiner in Chicago. During his career with NCUA, Larry has served as a Supervision Analyst, a Supervisory Examiner in Detroit, the Director of Supervision in the Chicago regional office, the Director of Risk Management in the Office of Examination and Insurance, the Deputy Director of the Office of Examination and Insurance, and NCUA's Deputy Executive Director.
In June 2011, Larry was selected as the Director of the Office of Examination and Insurance. He is responsible for providing leadership over the agency's examination and supervision program.
Dale Frankhouse Jr.
Dale S. Frankhouse, Jr. has 28 years of real estate experience including the past 23 years in lending management at Sun Federal Credit Union, a $440 million asset credit union that serves more than 30,000 members in Toledo, OH and Philadelphia, PA. Dale has played a key role in the growth and development of the credit union’s lending program. Dale currently leads Sun Federal’s business services program which he launched in 2008.
Patricia Garcia-Duarte
Patricia Garcia Duarte is the President & CEO of TRELLIS, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the creation of stable homes and communities by providing housing education and counseling, building and lending. She was formerly at Chase as the Arizona Manager for the Community Department Group. She was responsible for helping the bank invest in communities to support the bank's requirements under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
Paul Grinde
Paul is a proven team leader with a special passion of providing financial services for those of low wealth and the unbanked. He recognizes that to accomplish that in the long run, the entire organization must be financially strong and efficient. Starting in 1996 through 2012 as executive vice president, Paul was responsible for all retail functions of CoVantage Credit Union which grew rapidly to $1 Billion. Paul's duties are now devoted to community development managing Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and low income programs of the credit union. He is responsible for obtaining and maintaining certification, identification of grant or partnership opportunities, grant applications, execution of the approved programs, and grant reporting.
Helen Godfrey Smith
Helen Godfrey Smith is president and chief executive officer of Shreveport Federal Credit Union, a Community Development Financial Institutions that serves the needs of small business owners. She’s been with Shreveport Federal C.U. since 1983 and the financial institution has grown to serve over 25,000 members with just over $106-million in assets, five branches in Louisiana (three in Shreveport, one in Grambling and one in Bastrop) and three branches in Mississippi (Marks, Clarksdale and Batesville) well as, two full service Business and Financial Empowerment Centers (Shreveport and Marks).
Steve Hoke
Steve Hoke is the director for CUNA Mutual Group’s Loan Generation Marketing product line. In this role he is responsible for the overall business strategy, product management, execution and financial results for the product line.
Throughout his CUNA Mutual Group tenure, Hoke has been associated with a number of lending related product successes. He led a team of nine project managers who were responsible for implementing payment protection and other products for CUNA Mutual Group’s customers.
Mark Lynch
Mark has been a credit union member for 39 years and a credit union board director for 22 years. Since moving to the U.S. from Australia ten years ago, Mark has delivered more than 500 presentations to credit union conferences in 48 states, predominantly on issues relating to growth strategies, board governance, credit union philosophy, serving the underserved and taxation. For the last 8 years, Mark has worked as a Field Coach with the National Credit Union's REAL Solutions Program to help credit unions develop programs and services aimed at low wealth households.
Kent Hartzler
Kent Hartzler, president and CEO of Everence Federal Credit Union, has 17 years of retail banking experience. Previously, he served as vice president of lending & business development providing leadership to credit administration and marketing activities at the credit union.
Sheilah Montgomery
Sheilah recently retired as President/CEO of Credit Union of Atlanta, where she provided vision and leadership, managed a multi-million dollar budget, served a diverse member base, facilitated a merger to bring more 
financial products and services to the Atlanta Public School System. She effectively guided the Credit Union of Atlanta from a negative income position to a positive net income of approximately half a million dollars. For almost four decades, Sheilah has been advancing the mission of the credit union movement as a “servant leader”, while increasing the economic viability of individuals and communities.
Sheilah collaborated with several of the most influential credit union executives across the country to establish the African-American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC). As a founding member, Sheilah served as the first Chairwoman of the Board and helped shape the organization’s identity, brand, and leadership.
James Marshall
James is the manager of The Cooperative Trust at Filene Research Institute. The Cooperative Trust is a community of young people who work in credit unions and cooperatives founded by Filene, with over 800 members worldwide. He focuses on bringing sustainability and longevity of the Trust as well as increasing its profile as it moves into the next stages of development.
James' other area of focus at Filene is young adult research. Looking at the challenges that face credit unions when it comes to young adults as members, volunteers and employees.
Before joining Filene and the Trust, James was the head of marketing at Plane Saver Credit Union in London, one of the largest credit unions in the UK. Working on a variety of projects, in his 4 years at Plane Saver James helped grow membership by 25%, whilst completely rebranding the organization and implementing a new strategic direction.
Jason Milesko
Jason is the founder of Milesko Enterprises, an advisory services firm focused on delivering clear, fact-based, and consumer-focused solutions to businesses to enable them to realize their full potential. Prior to starting Milesko Enterprises, Jason started the Impact Group at the Filene Research Institute, helping credit unions refocus their strategies and capitalize on promising new ideas.
As a leading strategist for financial institutions, Jason brings 17 years of international and domestic advisory, transactional, and private equity investing experience that help companies leverage market research and their own data to immediately increase performance.
Jim Nussle
Jim Nussle is President and CEO of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA).
Jim is a former nine-term congressman and director of the White House Office of Management and Budget for President George W. Bush. He served in the U.S. House from 1991-2007 as a Republican representative for Iowa’s 1st and 2nd congressional districts. From 2001-06, he served as chairman of the House Budget Committee, a key panel which oversees the federal budget process, including review of all bills and resolutions on the budget. The panel also monitors agencies and programs funded outside of the budgetary process.
Winona Nava
Winona is president/CEO of Guadalupe Credit Union and has served the credit union industry in many roles, including board positions for the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF). Winona currently serves as the CUNA Audit Committee Chair and in the past, has served as Chair of the CUNA Hispanic Outreach Committee and on the World Leadership Development Committee. Since 2000, Guadalupe Credit Union has been focused on meeting the needs of the immigrant population and determined that immigration status would not affect membership eligibility at Guadalupe CU. The credit union began its outreach to immigrants by offering remittances, SAFE accounts and shared secured loans and the credit union's bicultural, bilingual staff builds trust through relationships, serving a predominantly Hispanic membership. Guadalupe Credit Union has four branches with assets of $136 MM and is a Inclusiv member.
Doug Olsen
Doug has been a member of Royal Credit Union for over 30 years and has served on the Board of Directors since 1995. He is currently Chairman of the Board, Chair of the Compensation and Governance Committee and the Political Action Committee, and is also a Certified Credit Union Volunteer (CCUV). Doug's vision for Royal follows the principles of Democratic Member Control, Members' Economic Participation and Concern for the Community. Lastly, Doug was the director of Community Relations at Chippewa Valley Technical College but is now retired.
Brian Porter
Brian Porter joined Diebold in 2012. He has more than two decades of successful sales, marketing and management experience in the financial services sector. Porter works with financial institutions to help develop a clear direction and strategy for their branch channel as they navigate changes in the market.
Prior to joining Diebold, Porter was sales/marketing consultant to De La Rue in Western Europe. He was responsible for helping the European sales force with account management and speaking on behalf of U.S. operations with European banks. He also served as Vice President/key account manager at De La Rue where he was responsible for the WAMU account, De La Rue’s largest account worldwide.
Terry Ratigan
Terry Ratigan, Senior Development Consultant, leads Inclusiv’s fundraising efforts and plays an important role in program development, training, technical assistance, managing Inclusiv’sHousing Counseling Networkand Inclusiv’s advocacy work. He is also a member of theInclusiv/Networkconsulting services team, providing expertise on CDFI certification, recertification, grant writing, strategic planning CDCUs around the country. In 2008, Mr. Ratigan developed the Emerging Markets Review (EMR), an analytical tool that helps credit unions to grow by expanding services throughout their field of membership. In 2009 he developed a statistical random sampling methodology for target market analysis that has helped to double the number of CDFI certified credit unions. This breakthrough methodology also served as the basis for NCUA’s 2011 revision of the Final Rule on Low Income Designation and the 2012 CDFI Fund guidance on target market analysis for CDFI certification. Prior to joining Inclusiv, Terry worked in community development overseas as a senior manager for CARE in Bangladesh and Mozambique and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia and Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.
Rory Rowland
Rory has presented his energetic and humorous programs in all 50 United States as well as Canada and Mexico over the past 10 years. He is one of the highest rated speakers at national and state association conferences all over North America.
Rory helps organizations focus on the best so they can be the best. The Top 100 CU.com's company motto is "We analyze the best to help the rest."
Randy Thompson
Randy Thompson is a business and financial consultant with over 33 years of experience in both public and private sectors. Technical skills include statistical analysis, commercial lending, strategic planning, ALM modeling, budgeting, staff recruiting, managing at organizational- and department-level, marketing, and public relations. He received the 2013 Kim Bannon Eternal Flame award from the California Credit Union League. The award acknowledges service and support to Credit Unions.
Cindy Williams
Cindy is responsible for leading and overseeing all of PolicyWorks' compliance partnerships, delivery of compliance solutions to credit unions/leagues, and new product development. She also assists credit unions with strategic compliance program management. Before joining PolicyWorks, Cindy was responsible for creating, implementing and managing regulatory compliance programs for financial institutions of various sizes for over 20 years, and is a frequent speaker at national conferences and workshops. In addition, she also has experience in the areas of risk management and internal audit.
Ryan Zilker
Ryan joined CO-OP Financial Services in December 2010 and is a business manager of product development for the company. He previously worked for nine years as vice president, sales and marketing, at American First Credit Union of La Habra, Calif. His more than 15 years of marketing executive experience includes driving all aspects of organizational marketing, business development and promotions to maximize sales revenues, clientele and bottom-line profitability.
Justine Zinkin
Ms. Zinkin oversees Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners and Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union. These partner organizations pursue a shared mission of economic opportunity for low-income families through a signature package of affordable financial products and financial advisory services tailored to help low-income families improve their net worth and pursue long-term financial goals.
Ms. Zinkin joined Neighborhood Trust in 2002 upon earning her MBA from Columbia Business School. Ms. Zinkin has over 20 years of experience in not-for-profit and community development work. She served as Director of Economic Independence Programs at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development from 1999 to 2001, and served as Director of Workforce Development at Common Ground Community HDFC from 1995 to 1999.
Steve Zuckerman
Steve is managing director of Self-Help’s California operations and president of Self-Help Federal Credit Union. After working for Self-Help several years after its founding in 1980, and serving on its board for most of the next 20 years, Steve rejoined Self-Help in 2006 to launch its California efforts in Oakland. In 2008, he led the formation of Self-Help Federal Credit Union which now has assets over $600 million and serves more than 65,000 mostly low-income members through 23 branches throughout California and southwest Chicago. Nationally, Self-Help is a leading Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with assets of almost $2 billion that, since its founding, has invested $6.8 billion in 102,000 families, individuals, businesses and non-profits.