WASHINGTON — NAFCU's committees will not be entirely chaired byNAFCU Board members for the first time in the organization'shistory.

New NAFCU Chair John W. Milazzo Jr., president and CEO of CampusFCU, pointed out that this is a good opportunity for volunteers tostep up to the plate. “Our committees provide valuable input toNAFCU on critical issues and programs,” he said. “Having volunteersserve on committees and chair some of them is an excellent way toencourage more volunteers to become involved in NAFCU'sgovernance.”

In fact, four committees are being chaired by non-NAFCU Boardmembers including two credit union volunteers. These four chairsinclude:

oMax Giovannini, chair of Security Service FCU in San Antonio,Texas, for the Awards Committee;

oEdward Safran, chair of DIRECT FCU in Needham, Mass., for theShare Insurance, Liquidity and Development Fund OversightCommittee;

oJohn Fenton, president/CEO, Affinity FCU in Basking Ridge,N.J., for the Corporate Committee; and

oSteve White, vice president of technology, Redstone FCU inHuntsville, Ala., for the Technology Advisory Committee.

Additionally, Region II Director Dave Gilbert, chair of AberdeenProving Ground FCU in Aberdeen, Md., will chair the Region IIAdvisory Committee.

Giovannini, who is retired from the Air Force, commented, “As avolunteer, I am especially honored to be asked to chair the NAFCUAwards Committee. Believe this is a big step in getting morevolunteers involved at the national level. I am not againstreserving seats if it is the will of the membership. Meantime, thedemocratic election process should prevail, but volunteers must beinformed of the need for representation and encouraged to apply fordirector positions.” Safran worked as the treasurer for Polaroidfor many years and retired from the investment business in 2000, sofinancial issues are of interest to him; he has also served on theboard of his credit union for about 19 years, 18 of those aschairman. He said volunteer representation is a positive becausethey provide “a different perspective” and it is part of whatdifferentiates credit unions from banks, but to reserve seats onthe board is “too strong a thing to do at the moment.” The issueneeds more consideration, he commented, but most volunteers do havea day job that takes up a lot of their time. Safran added that hehas never considered a run for the NAFCU Board.

“Our committees provide valuable input to NAFCU on criticalissues and programs. Having volunteers serve on committees andchair some of them is an excellent way to encourage more volunteersto become involved in NAFCU's governance,” Milazzo stated. Headded, “Volunteers are having a growing voice in NAFCU. Anincreasing number of volunteers are serving on our committees, with27 credit union volunteers (16% of the total) serving on ourcommittees in the 2005-06 term. This is up from 12% volunteerparticipation in 2004 and 10% in 2003.” The remaining NAFCUcommittee chairs for 2006-2007 are: oCorporate, John Fenton,president/CEO, Affinity FCU in Basking Ridge, N.J.

oLegislative, John Tippets, president/CEO, American Airlines FCUin DFW Airport, Texas

oMembership, Bob Marquette, president/CEO, Members 1st FCU inMechanicsburg, Pa. oPolitical Action and PAC, Mike Lussier,president/CEO, Webster First FCU in Webster, Mass. oRegulatory,Cutler Dawson, president/CEO, Navy FCU in Merrifield, Va.oNominating, Don Mahan, president/CEO, Centris FCU in Omaha, Neb.oRegion I Advisory, Mike Parsons, president/CEO, First Source FCUin New Hartford, N.Y. oRegion II Advisory, Dave Gilbert, chair,Aberdeen Proving Ground FCU in Aberdeen, Md. oRegion III Advisory,Larry Wilson, president/CEO, Coastal FCU in Raleigh, N.C. oRegionIV Advisory, Don Mahan, president/CEO, Centris FCU in Omaha,Neb.

oRegion V Advisory, Brad Beal, president/CEO, Nevada FCU in LasVegas

oTechnology Advisory, Steve White, vice president of technology,Redstone FCU in Huntsville, Ala.