CU Times has officially unveiled the categories for its 2025 Luminaries Awards, honoring credit unions, executives, rising stars, and third-party providers making outstanding contributions to the financial cooperative movement. The program highlights leadership, innovation and community impact, with categories spanning organizational size and function.
Credit Union Categories
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Community Impact – Credit Unions: Recognizing institutions making a meaningful difference in their communities across three asset tiers: $4B+, $1B–$4B and under $1B.
Executive Leadership – CEO, CFO, COO: Awards for standout leadership across three roles and three asset tiers.
Excellence in Marketing – Credit Unions (NEW CATEGORY): Honoring strategic, creative public-facing efforts like brand campaigns, podcasts and social media across the same three asset tiers.
Innovation in Technology – CTO/CIO of the Year: Celebrating individual technology leaders revolutionizing services through AI, mobile and cybersecurity.
Innovation in Technology – Credit Unions: Four awards for AI advances, cybersecurity, mobile banking and major technology rollouts.
Rising Star – Individuals: Spotlighting young professionals advancing credit union success in each asset class.
Third-Party Organization Categories
Executive Leadership – Individuals: Five awards for leaders at CUSOs, leagues, trade associations, non-tech service providers and technology vendors.
Product Innovation – Organizations: Recognizing innovation in AI, core processing/conversion, credit/debit solutions and mobile banking.
Rising Star – Individual: Awarding an emerging talent from third-party or fintech organizations.
The 2025 Luminaries Awards will spotlight the diverse, forward-looking leadership shaping the future of the credit union movement. Nominations are open now and will remain open until July 21.
Winners will be announced during the annual Credit Union Times Luminaries Awards Gala on Nov. 6 at the Disney Yacht Club and 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.
