LUMINARIES 2022 Finalists: Rising Stars

Haley Rebel, Styskal, Wiese & Melchione, LLP: At 33 years old, Haley Rebel is not only the youngest attorney at Styskal, Wiese & Melchione LLP, but she is also the youngest attorney to make partner at the firm. A natural born leader, Rebel took on responsibilities as an associate that typically would be handled by partners. She led the introduction and day-to-day management of the firm's legal technology including Clio and NetDocuments, which help with the operations of the firm as well as with maintaining client relationships. Rebel leads SW&M's Contract Review and Negotiations practice area where she spends more than 70% of her time working on fintech matters, from negotiating fintech contracts for credit unions to forming Credit Union Service Organizations so credit unions can stay relevant in the fintech banking world. She works on more than 150 fintech contracts a year for her hundreds of credit union clients, and the contracts value well over $100 million annually.

Jeramey Litzman, Associated Credit Union of Texas: U.S. Army Veteran Jeramey Litzman has helped drive digital strategy at Associated Credit Union of Texas ($542.7 million in assets; 41,922 members). He is a key leader in the credit union's multiyear digital transformation plan that is consolidating all digital channels and services into a more cohesive and user-friendly platform for both members and staff. Litzman's digital-first approach has focused on acquiring new members, improving member experience and implementing new loan origination software, as well as enhancing digital banking and launching a digital referral program. His efforts have both reduced costs and improved the tech stack of the credit union. Litzman is responsible for all digital services and channels including video banking, text channels, online and mobile banking, conversational IVR, and chat bots. Under his leadership, digital banking adoption has increased to more than 55% of membership, and 72% of all credit union communication is handled digitally.

Laraine Dickerson, CUNA Brokerage Services, Inc.: Encouraged to join the financial services industry by influential female mentors, Laraine Dickerson, CFP, has worked tirelessly to share her story and increase diversity and representation in the financial services industry. Dickerson, who is a financial advisor at Canvas Credit Union ($3.9 billion in assets; 289,549 members) employed by CUNA Brokerage Services, Inc. (CBSI), is particularly interested in mentoring young women trying to get into the industry or build their skillset, just as she was helped through her initial stages in the advisory field. Dickerson is co-chair for the Women of Distinction advisory group at CBSI, where she has led a conscious transition to dedicate time and resources to proactive outreach to women who are interested in entering the industry. In addition, serving as an adviser in her hometown of Aurora, Colo., a very diverse community, Dickerson quickly realized the value of being able to match clients with advisors they can relate to.

Alison Heller, Equifax: Alison Heller is a self-proclaimed credit union advocate who strives to find ways to connect with the credit union community and offer valuable services through Equifax's The Work Number tool. Heller, who is sales director for consumer finance within verification services at Equifax, is responsible for identifying leads, performing demos, moving opportunities through the sales funnel, and delivering on revenue targets. She brings more than 5 years of experience in sales and solving complex business needs to the organization. During her meetings with clients, Heller champions the benefits of automated tools that can help them speed up processes and provide better, faster service to their members. In the past year, she has partnered with two teams of credit union professionals and leveraged relationships with the company's third-party technology partners to grow its credit union portfolio by 50% year over year.

Kenia Calderon Ceron, GreenState Credit Union: Kenia Calderon Ceron has first-hand knowledge of the challenges immigrant and refugee populations face with financial service access. The very first loan she received at 18 years old was an ITIN loan with a local credit union that she used to apply for her DACA application to obtain legal status in the United States. Ten years later, she led efforts to implement an ITIN lending program at GreenState Credit Union ($10.7 billion in assets; 385,624 members) that went live this year. Ceron joined GreenState in 2021, as its VP/bilingual business development director, the first person in the credit union's 84-year history to hold this role. She has been instrumental in developing GreenState's emergent bilingual strategy (EBS) and revamping its pre-certification skills training. The EBS has resulted in $57.7 million of total production among non-English preferring members in 2021 on a goal of $10 million, and 80% of branches and 55% of all other departments now have at least one bilingual staff member.

Alex Welle, Magnifi Financial CU: Alex Welle, a solution engineer at Magnifi Financial Credit Union ($1.7 billion in assets; 74,320 members), was tasked with maximizing operating efficiency while keeping costs low. To answer these demands, Welle championed, developed and deployed Robotic Process Automation (RPA), a tool that has saved 3,614 employee hours and streamlined a variety of back-office processes, specifically accounting, compliance and mortgage. He created 26 bots during the first year of the program, with mortgage yielding the most impactful results. Welle faced not only a technical challenge but also a cultural challenge that included resistance to change and fears about job loss to automation. He worked with staff to understand that time saved could be time spent on tasks of greater importance, including creating a better member experience and growth initiatives.

Emilie Lewis, Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union: When COVID-19 arrived, Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union ($1.3 billion in assets; 79,136 members) was forced to halt in-person financial education classes, but Director of Community Relations Emilie Lewis refused to let the pandemic become an excuse. With creative thinking and problem solving skills, Lewis adapted the credit union's efforts to an all-virtual class structure, which required the redesign of materials and presentation format and adapting members to a new method of learning. Under Lewis' leadership, Palmetto offered a robust lineup of virtual offerings that included old favorites such as budgeting, strategies for eliminating debt, ID Theft and the long-term effects of student loan debt, as well as more timely information like how to financially survive COVID-19. Lewis also introduced Zogo, a free financial literacy app with financial tutorials that allows users to earn points they can redeem for gift card rewards. Thanks to Lewis' financial education efforts, Palmetto has experienced an increase in outreach of more than 20%.

Chase Larson, St. Cloud Financial Credit Union: In the 14 years he has been in the financial industry, Chase Larson has worked in numerous capacities and developed a strong community presence that allows him to connect with members, customers, other credit unions and local banks. Larson, chief lending officer at St. Cloud Financial Credit Union ($309 million in assets; 23,855 members), believes that credit unions, which often lag in technology, should strive to be a trusted leader by educating members as the metaverse takes shape. Larson recently co-founded the Minnesota Crypto Council, a nonprofit focused on driving crypto awareness, education, and adoption for individuals, businesses, and government. Larson also single-handedly built SCSFU's business services team and is credited with doubling new business accounts and growing commercial business loans from $4 million to $12 million in less than six months.