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CUNA announced Monday that Tony Budet, president/CEO of the $3.9 billion University Federal Credit Union in Austin, Texas, was elected as CUNA's 2022 board chairman. The announcement came on the second day of CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference, which is being held in person for the first time since 2020 this week in Washington, D.C. Budet will address GAC attendees for the first time as board chairman today, CUNA said.
Four other executive committee members of CUNA's board of directors were elected as follows for 2022:
- Vice Chairman Lisa Ginter, president/CEO, CommunityAmerica Credit Union ($4.4 billion, Lenexa, Kan.);
- Secretary Caroline Willard, president/CEO, Cornerstone League;
- Treasurer Pat Pierce, president/CEO, City and County Credit Union ($1.1 billion, St. Paul, Minn.); and
- At-Large Member Brian Best, president/CEO, GTE Financial Credit Union ($2.7 billion, Tampa, Fla.).
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"Tony is a community leader and steadfast advocate who knows the importance of ensuring credit unions remain relevant to our members and future members," CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle said of Budet. "We're excited to have him leading the CUNA board of directors as credit unions look continue to look for innovative ways to serve our members through the economic recovery and beyond."
Budet stated, "I am deeply honored to chair the CUNA board and look forward to collaborating with my CUNA board colleagues, the fine CUNA team, leagues and, of course, credit unions to continue advancing our movement. The substantive impact credit unions have on quality of life, on financial health, in our communities is a compelling story that must be told in D.C. and in our state capitals. A great big thank you is in order to all credit unions for collaborating with CUNA to ensure the legislative and regulatory settings in which those stories reside are healthy and supportive now and in the future."
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
