Robert N. Trunzo, TruStage:
Robert "Bob" Trunzo has served as CEO of TruStage for the past nine years, leading the company to be a top financial services provider for credit unions, businesses and hard-working Americans. Over the past year specifically, Trunzo has led TruStage through remarkable achievements and successful key initiatives, including the unification of more than a dozen separate CUNA Mutual Group product brands into a singular TruStage brand. Under Trunzo's leadership, TruStage has advanced the company's customer-focused strategic direction towards growth and innovation, meeting the ever-changing needs of consumers at every stage of life. Additionally, Trunzo has created a culture of diversity, belonging and excellence, completed the company's largest ever acquisition and integration of Assurant's preneed business, and has continued to help grow the evolving credit union space with strategic investments and partnerships that connect fintech companies with credit unions and financial institutions. Today, TruStage is in the strongest financial position in company history with $5.2 billion in revenue and $32 billion in assets under management. Last year, TruStage contributed $30 million to the credit union movement, all while delivering on the promises made to policyholders.
Dan Berger, NAFCU:
NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger has advocated on behalf of credit unions on Capitol Hill for 17 years – the last 10 at the helm of the organization. Under his leadership, he narrowed down the organization's core functions to three things – advocacy, compliance assistance and education. NAFCU members deserve to have the best and the focus to ensure the association can deliver on promises. Earlier this year, the financial services industry was rocked with the largest bank failures since the 2008 financial crisis. Berger remained level-headed and steadfast in ensuring the 137 million Americans and small businesses who use credit unions for their financial services needs understood credit unions were strong, safe and reliable. In turn, credit unions saw a flight to safety by consumers.
Seth Brickman, QCash Financial, LLC:
Seth Brickman is a passionate and visionary CEO. He cares about credit union members and their financial health. By leading QCash financial to become the premiere small dollar lending CUSO in partnership with credit unions, he has made a significant impact in many members' lives by taking them out of the destructive path of predatory lending and back into the safety of the credit union. Being on the Board of NACUSO he continually drives the credit union industry forward and uses his technology background to help CUs find and use the best of breed technologies. As an advisory board member of the financial health network, he continued to pursue the bettering of financial health of CU members and as a mentor to CUSO leadership he continually helps new CUSOs thrive.
Todd Dauchy, SMA Technologies:
Todd Dauchy, CEO of SMA Technologies, has led the organization for the past three years. With his deep experience as a client of SMA Technologies and his years as CIO at Corning Credit Union, Dauchy offers unique insight into the needs and potential of credit unions. He has leveraged this insight to drive the development of purpose-built software solutions that elevate credit union operations, risk management and member satisfaction. In the past year, Dauchy demonstrated exceptional strategic acumen and readiness. His leadership is marked by a focus on outcomes, readiness and fostering supportive partnerships, making him an exemplary leader within the industry. Under Dauchy's leadership, SMA Technologies experienced substantial market growth, particularly through the adoption of its flagship product, OpCon, by over a third of U.S. credit unions. This adoption, coupled with product enhancements, has resulted in significant cost savings for clients and a considerable increase in new customers intending to deploy the cloud version of OpCon. These developments contributed to a 17% growth rate in 2022 and a 50% growth in revenue from 2019 to 2022, reflecting the financial strength under his direction.
Ashish Garg, Eltropy:
The journey of Ashish Garg, co-founder and CEO of Eltropy, from a small town in India to leading a high-powered Silicon Valley fintech startup changing the industry for credit unions, reflects his strong passion for innovation in the credit union and community banking industry. Inspired by his father's introduction of a computer, Ashish pursued a career in technology. In 2013, he co-founded Eltropy to transform the digital conversation experience for credit unions and community banks. Under his leadership, Eltropy achieved significant milestones in 2022, including acquiring two industry leaders, expanding its customer base to over 550 institutions, and forming strategic partnerships. Garg's commitment to credit unions and his drive for innovation have propelled Eltropy's success. By enabling seamless and secure digital conversations across various channels, Eltropy empowers credit union members to achieve their financial goals.
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Bill Handel, Raddon:
Bill Handel has been in the industry alongside credit unions for more than 30 years. His leadership of Raddon as general manager and chief economist has been instrumental in creating data driven comparative results in the areas of brand, organizational performance, member experiences and employee cultural. He continually helps the industry leaders connect the dots to find the best opportunities to strategically grow organizations with a watchful eye to the threats on the horizon. Handel looks for a way to create action around the industry strengths, opportunities, people, ideas and performance comparisons. Armed with that data, he actively challenges the leaders in the credit union industry to focus on the growth of households' depth of relationship and balances to achieve measured, improving performance within their institutions with an eye to the challenges facing these leaders. But more widely, his vison has created a view of not only the internal member perspectives, but also the markets, brand perspectives of potential members and employees.
John Janclaes, Nymbus:
For 35 years, John Janclaes has led strategic growth initiatives for some of largest, most successful financial services organizations in the U.S. He has dedicated much of his career to the credit union movement and is a highly regarded industry innovator, advocate and connector. After leading fivefold growth during his 17-year tenure at Partners Federal Credit Union, John became president of Nymbus CUSO in 2021. He collaborated with CU owners and partners to break through barriers to growth and leverage digital banking in niche markets, successfully competing with digital disruptors. He is a strategic thinker focused on driving growth for CUs in digital. His decades of experience as a CU operator uniquely inform his approach to what's next. At Nymbus CUSO, Janclaes leads an organization that empowers its CU owners and partners to quickly develop new revenue streams and grow. His legendary career of vision, advocacy and mentorship has bridged foundational CU strengths of collaboration and member services, igniting new ways to thrive.
Cyndie Martini, Member Access Processing:
As the President/CEO of the leading card processing company exclusively providing Visa Debit Processing Services (DPS) to credit unions, Cyndie Martini has been at the forefront of helping credit unions navigate the momentous changes affecting the payments industry. Built on solid relationships throughout the payments and credit union industry, Martini has taken Member Access Processing (MAP) from a nascent Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) to a recognized leader of card payment processing solutions for credit unions. Martini started MAP with the simple promise to provide credit unions with the same solutions and service they strive to provide their members. Twenty five years after founding the company, she is still delivering on that promise with notable results: 318.7% growth organic rate over the past 10 years, a 2022 Net Promoter Score of 85 and and a 98% retention rate.
Griffin McGahey, HC3:
As President of HC3, Griffin McGahey ensures the goals and vision of the organization are executed by the executive leadership team and works to continue the innovation of how member communications are presented and shared. In addition to growing revenue through acquisitions, HC3 continues to grow organically year over year through traditional sales efforts. Since adding the Arkansas personnel through the acquisition of AutoMail, McGahey is now managing groups of employees in four states, plus individual workers in other areas of the country. HC3's corporate office regularly brings these different groups to Birmingham, Ala., for meetings, bringing revenue and awareness to the area. He has managed all of this while balancing a strong family life. Work/life balance is important to the company culture at HC3. He is strategic, authentic and approachable, and his leadership has been invaluable in creating an environment where the company and its employees can develop and grow.
Greg Mesack, NAFCU:
Greg Mesack joined NAFCU in October 2021 as Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. In this role, he is NAFCU's head lobbyist and leads the association's legislative, regulatory, regulatory compliance, research and political affairs teams. Mesack sets NAFCU's aggressive advocacy blueprint and has secured numerous wins for the credit union industry. He has led NAFCU's efforts to create regulatory relief, foster credit union innovation, grow membership and level the playing field between credit unions, large banks and underregulated market participants. He helped the industry secure updates to the Federal Credit Union Act, halt legislation that would implement debit interchange routing requirements to credit cards and much more.
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Ryan Millman, Modern Capital:
As Managing Partner and CEO of Modern Capital, Ryan Millman has been called "the brightest, most caring consultant." Millman not only builds relationships but provides ongoing advice that is second to none. He has built an organization with thought and patience. As his service is complimentary, he truly cares as if he were to charge for his time, knowing the cost would be prohibitive to most. Millman understands the market, and most importantly the ongoing service component. There are not many compensation consultants in the industry and he shines miles above the rest.
Andres Pasantes, Engage fi:
There are so many accomplishments that Andres Pasantes has achieved in his 12 months of being COO at Engage fi. The one that stands out was his ability to attract the talent of many industry veterans to join the Engage fi team catapulting it to the number-one consulting firm in the industry with a focus on its clients' success. Specifically the organization wanted to expand into Conversion Services and M&A to help credit unions that were undergoing large system conversions and due to Pasantes' previous relationships he built over the years, Engage fi was able to "essentially overnight" bring a team on board that resulted in the organization leading the largest credit union merger taking place this year. His focus on ensuring it has the right people in the right roles and leveraging technology and process improvement has truly separated Engage fi from its competition. Since Pasantes joined, Engage fi has more than doubled its employee base, grew revenue by 30% and added 93 new clients.
Robert N. Trunzo, TruStage:
Robert "Bob" Trunzo has served as CEO of TruStage for the past nine years, leading the company to be a top financial services provider for credit unions, businesses and hard-working Americans. Over the past year specifically, Trunzo has led TruStage through remarkable achievements and successful key initiatives, including the unification of more than a dozen separate CUNA Mutual Group product brands into a singular TruStage brand. Under Trunzo's leadership, TruStage has advanced the company's customer-focused strategic direction towards growth and innovation, meeting the ever-changing needs of consumers at every stage of life. Additionally, Trunzo has created a culture of diversity, belonging and excellence, completed the company's largest ever acquisition and integration of Assurant's preneed business, and has continued to help grow the evolving credit union space with strategic investments and partnerships that connect fintech companies with credit unions and financial institutions. Today, TruStage is in the strongest financial position in company history with $5.2 billion in revenue and $32 billion in assets under management. Last year, TruStage contributed $30 million to the credit union movement, all while delivering on the promises made to policyholders.
Dan Berger, NAFCU:
NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger has advocated on behalf of credit unions on Capitol Hill for 17 years – the last 10 at the helm of the organization. Under his leadership, he narrowed down the organization's core functions to three things – advocacy, compliance assistance and education. NAFCU members deserve to have the best and the focus to ensure the association can deliver on promises. Earlier this year, the financial services industry was rocked with the largest bank failures since the 2008 financial crisis. Berger remained level-headed and steadfast in ensuring the 137 million Americans and small businesses who use credit unions for their financial services needs understood credit unions were strong, safe and reliable. In turn, credit unions saw a flight to safety by consumers.
Seth Brickman, QCash Financial, LLC:
Seth Brickman is a passionate and visionary CEO. He cares about credit union members and their financial health. By leading QCash financial to become the premiere small dollar lending CUSO in partnership with credit unions, he has made a significant impact in many members' lives by taking them out of the destructive path of predatory lending and back into the safety of the credit union. Being on the Board of NACUSO he continually drives the credit union industry forward and uses his technology background to help CUs find and use the best of breed technologies. As an advisory board member of the financial health network, he continued to pursue the bettering of financial health of CU members and as a mentor to CUSO leadership he continually helps new CUSOs thrive.
Todd Dauchy, SMA Technologies:
Todd Dauchy, CEO of SMA Technologies, has led the organization for the past three years. With his deep experience as a client of SMA Technologies and his years as CIO at Corning Credit Union, Dauchy offers unique insight into the needs and potential of credit unions. He has leveraged this insight to drive the development of purpose-built software solutions that elevate credit union operations, risk management and member satisfaction. In the past year, Dauchy demonstrated exceptional strategic acumen and readiness. His leadership is marked by a focus on outcomes, readiness and fostering supportive partnerships, making him an exemplary leader within the industry. Under Dauchy's leadership, SMA Technologies experienced substantial market growth, particularly through the adoption of its flagship product, OpCon, by over a third of U.S. credit unions. This adoption, coupled with product enhancements, has resulted in significant cost savings for clients and a considerable increase in new customers intending to deploy the cloud version of OpCon. These developments contributed to a 17% growth rate in 2022 and a 50% growth in revenue from 2019 to 2022, reflecting the financial strength under his direction.
Ashish Garg, Eltropy:
The journey of Ashish Garg, co-founder and CEO of Eltropy, from a small town in India to leading a high-powered Silicon Valley fintech startup changing the industry for credit unions, reflects his strong passion for innovation in the credit union and community banking industry. Inspired by his father's introduction of a computer, Ashish pursued a career in technology. In 2013, he co-founded Eltropy to transform the digital conversation experience for credit unions and community banks. Under his leadership, Eltropy achieved significant milestones in 2022, including acquiring two industry leaders, expanding its customer base to over 550 institutions, and forming strategic partnerships. Garg's commitment to credit unions and his drive for innovation have propelled Eltropy's success. By enabling seamless and secure digital conversations across various channels, Eltropy empowers credit union members to achieve their financial goals.
Advertisement
Bill Handel, Raddon:
Bill Handel has been in the industry alongside credit unions for more than 30 years. His leadership of Raddon as general manager and chief economist has been instrumental in creating data driven comparative results in the areas of brand, organizational performance, member experiences and employee cultural. He continually helps the industry leaders connect the dots to find the best opportunities to strategically grow organizations with a watchful eye to the threats on the horizon. Handel looks for a way to create action around the industry strengths, opportunities, people, ideas and performance comparisons. Armed with that data, he actively challenges the leaders in the credit union industry to focus on the growth of households' depth of relationship and balances to achieve measured, improving performance within their institutions with an eye to the challenges facing these leaders. But more widely, his vison has created a view of not only the internal member perspectives, but also the markets, brand perspectives of potential members and employees.
John Janclaes, Nymbus:
For 35 years, John Janclaes has led strategic growth initiatives for some of largest, most successful financial services organizations in the U.S. He has dedicated much of his career to the credit union movement and is a highly regarded industry innovator, advocate and connector. After leading fivefold growth during his 17-year tenure at Partners Federal Credit Union, John became president of Nymbus CUSO in 2021. He collaborated with CU owners and partners to break through barriers to growth and leverage digital banking in niche markets, successfully competing with digital disruptors. He is a strategic thinker focused on driving growth for CUs in digital. His decades of experience as a CU operator uniquely inform his approach to what's next. At Nymbus CUSO, Janclaes leads an organization that empowers its CU owners and partners to quickly develop new revenue streams and grow. His legendary career of vision, advocacy and mentorship has bridged foundational CU strengths of collaboration and member services, igniting new ways to thrive.
Cyndie Martini, Member Access Processing:
As the President/CEO of the leading card processing company exclusively providing Visa Debit Processing Services (DPS) to credit unions, Cyndie Martini has been at the forefront of helping credit unions navigate the momentous changes affecting the payments industry. Built on solid relationships throughout the payments and credit union industry, Martini has taken Member Access Processing (MAP) from a nascent Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) to a recognized leader of card payment processing solutions for credit unions. Martini started MAP with the simple promise to provide credit unions with the same solutions and service they strive to provide their members. Twenty five years after founding the company, she is still delivering on that promise with notable results: 318.7% growth organic rate over the past 10 years, a 2022 Net Promoter Score of 85 and and a 98% retention rate.
Griffin McGahey, HC3:
As President of HC3, Griffin McGahey ensures the goals and vision of the organization are executed by the executive leadership team and works to continue the innovation of how member communications are presented and shared. In addition to growing revenue through acquisitions, HC3 continues to grow organically year over year through traditional sales efforts. Since adding the Arkansas personnel through the acquisition of AutoMail, McGahey is now managing groups of employees in four states, plus individual workers in other areas of the country. HC3's corporate office regularly brings these different groups to Birmingham, Ala., for meetings, bringing revenue and awareness to the area. He has managed all of this while balancing a strong family life. Work/life balance is important to the company culture at HC3. He is strategic, authentic and approachable, and his leadership has been invaluable in creating an environment where the company and its employees can develop and grow.
Greg Mesack, NAFCU:
Greg Mesack joined NAFCU in October 2021 as Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. In this role, he is NAFCU's head lobbyist and leads the association's legislative, regulatory, regulatory compliance, research and political affairs teams. Mesack sets NAFCU's aggressive advocacy blueprint and has secured numerous wins for the credit union industry. He has led NAFCU's efforts to create regulatory relief, foster credit union innovation, grow membership and level the playing field between credit unions, large banks and underregulated market participants. He helped the industry secure updates to the Federal Credit Union Act, halt legislation that would implement debit interchange routing requirements to credit cards and much more.
Advertisement
Ryan Millman, Modern Capital:
As Managing Partner and CEO of Modern Capital, Ryan Millman has been called "the brightest, most caring consultant." Millman not only builds relationships but provides ongoing advice that is second to none. He has built an organization with thought and patience. As his service is complimentary, he truly cares as if he were to charge for his time, knowing the cost would be prohibitive to most. Millman understands the market, and most importantly the ongoing service component. There are not many compensation consultants in the industry and he shines miles above the rest.
Andres Pasantes, Engage fi:
There are so many accomplishments that Andres Pasantes has achieved in his 12 months of being COO at Engage fi. The one that stands out was his ability to attract the talent of many industry veterans to join the Engage fi team catapulting it to the number-one consulting firm in the industry with a focus on its clients' success. Specifically the organization wanted to expand into Conversion Services and M&A to help credit unions that were undergoing large system conversions and due to Pasantes' previous relationships he built over the years, Engage fi was able to "essentially overnight" bring a team on board that resulted in the organization leading the largest credit union merger taking place this year. His focus on ensuring it has the right people in the right roles and leveraging technology and process improvement has truly separated Engage fi from its competition. Since Pasantes joined, Engage fi has more than doubled its employee base, grew revenue by 30% and added 93 new clients.
Robert N. Trunzo, TruStage:
Robert "Bob" Trunzo has served as CEO of TruStage for the past nine years, leading the company to be a top financial services provider for credit unions, businesses and hard-working Americans. Over the past year specifically, Trunzo has led TruStage through remarkable achievements and successful key initiatives, including the unification of more than a dozen separate CUNA Mutual Group product brands into a singular TruStage brand. Under Trunzo's leadership, TruStage has advanced the company's customer-focused strategic direction towards growth and innovation, meeting the ever-changing needs of consumers at every stage of life. Additionally, Trunzo has created a culture of diversity, belonging and excellence, completed the company's largest ever acquisition and integration of Assurant's preneed business, and has continued to help grow the evolving credit union space with strategic investments and partnerships that connect fintech companies with credit unions and financial institutions. Today, TruStage is in the strongest financial position in company history with $5.2 billion in revenue and $32 billion in assets under management. Last year, TruStage contributed $30 million to the credit union movement, all while delivering on the promises made to policyholders.
We are excited to present and recognize the CU Times LUMINARIES Class of 2023 Finalists who have proven themselves to be exceptional leaders for those organizations serving the credit union industry. This slideshow highlights the 12 finalists from our Executive Leadership – Individuals category of Service and Technology Organizations of all sizes from around the country. The LUMINARIES Class of 2023 Finalists are currently being reviewed by an incredible and diverse judging panel of experts from across the credit union landscape. A select group of winners will be announced live on stage during our awards dinner and gala, which is scheduled for Nov. 9, 2023 at the Disney's Yacht Club Resort in Orlando, Fla.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
