WCMS Alumni Frogcast

This month we are joined by Zach Christensen, Director of Communications and Digital Marketing at Mitchell Stankovic & Associates. MS&A is a strategic consulting firm which has served only credit unions for 30 years, focused primarily on Board Governance and CEO support. His passion for Credit Union's comes from the passion of those he works with but has stuck with Zach because of the...

In support of those organizations that support WCMS and its alumni, the Frogcast will occasionally introduce our audience to the organizations that provide us with both financial and operational resources. Our first Business Partner guest is Ken Bator, President/CEO of Bator Training and Consulting Group and the Police Officers Credit Union Association. Ken works with many credit unions and indust...

This month we are joined by Deonne Christensen, President & CEO of Mazuma Credit Union in Kansas City. Deonne has been in credit unions for 20+ years and the financial services industry for 30+ years. Her early career was spent in a large bank, which provided her a limited view into the broader eco-system of the organization. She then found her way to credit unions, and WCMS, where her career...

This month we are joined by the passionate and experienced Laura Worzella, Chief Operating Officer at OneAZ Credit Union. Laura joined the credit union movement after a long career with large banks like Wells Fargo, and shares with us how enlightening that transition has been. With that interesting background, she goes on to discuss how product sales can and should work within credit unions in a p...

Today we are joined by Charlie Watts, President & CEO of Aurora Federal Credit Union in Colorado. Charlie joins the Frogcast to share his career story within our industry, starting with a corporate credit union, growing through a credit union CFO position, and all the way to the top seat as CEO. Filling the top seat at a smaller credit union brings its own set of challenges, and he explains to...

This month's guest is Tracie Kenyon, the retired President of the Montana Credit Union League, Herb Wegner Award winner, and certified professional coach with Humanidei. Tracie's four decades of credit union service at multiple levels have provided her with a unique and humbling view of our industry. Tracie has made a huge impact in the philanthropy and advocacy of credit unions throughout...

To wrap up 2023 we have the amazing Jennifer Victor, VP of Branch Sales and Service at Travis Credit Union in Vacaville California. A 2022 graduate of WCMS, a long-term financial professional, and a proud mother, Jennifer joins us today to talk about a taboo term in credit unions... sales. She makes the case that there is no difference between sales and service, and discusses how to instill that i...

This month we are joined by WCMS's brand new Provost and Chief Operating Officer, Brandi Gleason. Much has changed behind the scenes of WCMS this year with the well-earned retirement of Nancy Woods and the unfortunate loss of David Ellings, but the school remains in great hands with Brandi's leadership. Not new to WCMS or credit unions, Brandi has an interesting and fun story about her jou...

Please welcome Randy Stolp to this month's Frogcast. Randy has a long and varied career in credit unions, currently serving as CIO for My Community Credit Union in Texas. Randy talks about the subject of 'thinking differently' and the intersection of people and technology, and introduces the idea that people are our best technology. He goes on to discuss his career growth, and how indu...

This month the Frogcast is joined by Janet Gaspard, SVP and Chief People Officer of First Entertainment Credit Union in Hollywood, CA. As her title suggests, Janet has her focused on building culture and people in her career. She joins us today to talk about what has changed more recently in employment trends, especially since the initial shock of the pandemic. As we know, our people have more opt...

This month's guest is Hector Martinez, who was recently named President & CEO of County Schools Federal Credit Union in Ventura, CA. He joins us to share the viewpoint, challenges, and surprises he has faced as a first time CEO. Hector also serves as the Founder & Chairman of the Emerging Credit Union Leaders Council, which he created during the pandemic to provide advice and networkin...

Caroline Willard, President & CEO of the Cornerstone Credit Union League, is our distinguished guest this month. The Cornerstone League primarily serves credit unions in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas but has now expanded certain services to 48 states under her leadership. Caroline also serves as the Vice Chair of the CUNA Board and provides us with an update on the advocacy w...

This month we are diving into one credit union's DEI journey through the eyes of their SVP/Chief Retail Officer, Corlinda Wooden. Unitus Community Credit Union, located in Portland Oregon, made the strategic and purpose-driven decision to focus on improving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within its culture. This thriving internal environment led the credit union to also focus externally, eve...

This month we are flipping the script on our very own Shonna Shearson, and she doesn't see it coming. If you've listened before, you know that Shonna usually interviews our Frogcast guests alongside Nate. But in light of her exciting new career news we decided this was the month Shonna should be the guest, and we aren't going to tell her that until after we start recording. Shonna has...

This month's guest on the Frogcast is Troy Stang, President and CEO of GoWest Credit Union Association serving Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. Beyond his work within these states and state houses, Troy also works at the federal level to further credit union issues in public policy. A passionate advocate of the credit union movement and a strong supporter of WCMS, Troy...

Artificial Intelligence in credit unions?  Are we ready for that?  The answer is a solid "maybe?".  On the Frogcast today we have Ryan Kane, the VP of IT at Ontario Montclair School Employees FCU, to share an update of where AI technology stands currently.  Are the robots ready to take over yet?  Chatbots have been around for years, and ChatGPT is all the rage in the news...

Today's guest is Mark Klinkert, a name, face, and voice that should be familiar to everyone who has attended WCMS in the recent past.  Mark has served as the Provost of WCMS for the past 27 years, where he is responsible for the logistics and operations of the school each summer.  This was only a part time job for Mark though, as he also served as the VP of Education & Training for t...

Today's guest has more than 30 years of experience in the Credit Union movement and has been recognized as a Credit Union Rock Star.  Tena Lozano is the Executive Director of the Richard Myles Johnson (RMJ) Foundation, which is the credit union foundation for the states of California and Nevada.  The RMJ Foundation's signature program is called Bite of Reality, which is a simulation app...

The WCMS Alumni Conference was held in-person this July for the first time since 2019 in conjunction with WCMS students returning to Pomona College for the first time since the pandemic as well.  To commemorate this exciting reunion, this month's Frogcast episode isn't limited to one guest in particular.  Instead, you'll hear from the many WCMS students and alumni we interviewed while wa...

Today we have a very special guest on the Frogcast, Bob Toohey.  The name might not sound familiar to many of us more recent graduates of WCMS, but we can assure you that Bob has been instrumental in creating the WCMS experience we know and love today.  Bob was a graduate of WCMS in 1975 and a founding member of the WCMS Alumni Association shortly thereafter.  Unlike most of our gue...

This month our guest on the Frogcast is the unique and energizing Eric Bruen, CEO of Desert Valleys Federal Credit Union.  Eric has led the credit union for over 20 years, but that time period has been a challenging and exciting ride for Eric and his team.  "PCA Guy", as he is known as to many, joined Desert Valleys at the age of 27 while the credit union was under Prompt Corrective Acti...

This month the Frogcast is joined by Helen Mickel.  Helen serves as President/CEO of Tongass Federal Credit Union in Ketchikan Alaska.  Her CU's field of membership covers multiple islands and small communities only reachable by boat or floatplane, and because of that Tongass FCU has a very disntinctive and purpose-driven business model.  Listen in to hear how Helen and her team uni...

Today we are joined by Steve Schmidle, CFO of Westerra CU in Denver and member of the WCMS Alumni Association Board of Directors.  Steve has served credit unions for nearly 20 years in various finance and strategic roles, and is currently helping lead a progressive digital transformation at Westerra.  He shares with us the story of that transformation to date, and provides some insights...

In today's Frogcast we are joined by Lindsay Reyes, CFO at Valley Strong Credit Union in Bakersfield, CA.  Valley Strong CU has implemented a progressive and bold strategy, and has seen great success throughout the transformation that ensued.  Lindsay shares this transformation story, what she believes has led to their success, and some of the bold actions the credit union has taken. &nb...

Did you know that there is a museum in Manchester, NH dedicated to the credit union industry?  Neither did we.  But there is!  This month Stephanie Smith, Executive Director of America's Credit Union Museum, joins the Frogcast to share the amazing story of how the museum was started, what exhibits you will find inside the museum, and how the museum's outreach actually blossomed duri...