MIDWEST
The $1.1 billion, Duluth, Minn.-based Members Cooperative Credit Union hired Marty Kelly as chief strategy and growth officer. In his new role, Kelly will guide the organization’s strategic planning process and lead its growth, marketing and brand strategies. He brings more than 30 years of experience, having most recently served for more than 20 years at the $5.6 billion, Plymouth, Minn.-based TruStone Financial Credit Union (formerly Firefly Credit Union), most recently as EVP/chief marketing officer. He also served in various leadership roles on the Minnesota Credit Union Network’s Awareness Advisory Committee and Credit Unions for Kids Committee. Kelly also has spoken on a variety of marketing issues at national conferences, authored numerous articles for industry publications and published resources promoting youth financial education. He holds an MBA from the University of Iowa.
SOUTH
The $5.8 billion, Raleigh, N.C.-based Coastal Credit Union announced two promotions.
Jenee Alston was promoted to vice president of consumer lending. In her new role, Alston will oversee the strategic growth, performance and operational excellence of Coastal’s consumer and home equity lending portfolios. She most recently served as consumer lending credit operations manager at Coastal, where she led enterprise-wide lending strategy, product innovation and portfolio performance management. She has 29 years of experience in the credit union lending industry.
Matthew Swanner was promoted to vice president of indirect lending. In his new role, Swanner will oversee dealer relationships, lending operations and the strategic growth of Coastal’s indirect lending portfolio. Swanner most recently served as manager of indirect lending at Coastal, where he led portfolio performance, operational efficiency initiatives and dealer network optimization. He has 19 years of experience in indirect auto lending and financial services.
VENDORS
FirstClose, an Austin, Texas-based provider of data and workflow solutions for mortgage and home equity lenders nationwide, hired Alex Sirpis as vice president of sales. In his new role, Sirpis will lead the company’s sales organization, refine the go-to-market strategy and drive revenue growth. Based in Alexandria, Va., Sirpis will oversee national sales initiatives, mentor and develop a growing team of sales professionals and work closely with the executive leadership team to deepen relationships with lenders and strategic partners. His focus will include aligning sales execution with FirstClose’s product roadmap and client success goals to further accelerate adoption of the company’s technology platform. Sirpis previously served at SimpleNexus and at nCino following its acquisition of SimpleNexus. Prior to that, he served as vice president of sales at LoanLogics and spent more than five years at Ellie Mae. Earlier in his career, he led regional and national sales organizations at CARFAX, Prosperity Home Mortgage/Long & Foster Companies and Wachovia Bank.
Digital Storefront, a data-driven marketing platform that helps financial institutions personalize member engagement and drive growth, announced seven Board of Directors appointments following its acquisition by Demopolis from TruStage.
Santo Cannone will serve as chairman of the board. Cannone is a partner at private equity fund Demopolis Equity Partners. In addition, he is board chair of the Tampa Bay Wave, an accelerator program that helps early-stage tech companies build, launch and grow. His experience includes leading product, sales and operations at FIS, Open Solutions, Fiserv and ConnectWise. Cannone is on the board of several technology companies including digital banking provider Tyfone and technology cooperative United Solutions.
Lamont Black will serve as a board member. Black is an educator, speaker and author with expertise in AI, stablecoins and the tokenization of finance. He is CEO and founder of Wide Open Ventures, advising financial institutions on the rapidly evolving ecosystem from both banking and technology perspectives. His background includes roles as associate professor of finance at DePaul University, research fellow at Filene, economist at the Federal Reserve and adjunct professor at Georgetown University.
Brian Brunner will serve as a board member. Brunner previously served as vice chair of the board for Codorus Valley Bancorp, and is now a board member at Orrstown Financial, the holding company for Orrstown Bank. He also sits on the advisory board of ICI Consulting. Brunner held executive roles at Fiserv and NCR Corporation and is the co-founder of Genesis Core Systems, a provider of core banking solutions for community banks.
Kathy Groves will serve as a board member. Groves spent almost 20 years at Jack Henry and Associates in leadership positions. She was also with FIS, Summit Information Systems and Users, Inc. She began her career as an information technology operations manager at Navy Orlando Federal Credit Union.
Marcell King will serve as a board member. King is partner and head of portfolio company strategy at Demopolis Equity Partners and has more than 30 years of experience in fintech and e-commerce. He is currently president/COO of Nuuvia, a provider of youth banking solutions for community banks and credit unions. Prior to joining Nuuvia, King was chief commercial officer at Tyfone. He was also chief innovation officer at Payveris, a provider of digital payment solutions for financial institutions, and vice president merchant and international sales, digital solutions for Incomm. He also held several senior leadership positions at Giftango Corporation, Amazon and Open Solutions (now Fiserv DNA).
Wayne Miller will serve as a board member. Miller is EVP and chief innovation officer at the ICBA. He is also on the faculty at The Graduate School of Banking at Colorado and a general partner at BankTech Ventures. In addition, Miller was executive director at The Venture Center and founded several technology companies in technology verticals.
Scott Sommer will serve as a board member. Sommer is co-founder and chairman of Cornerstone Advisors, where he has spent nearly 25 years guiding financial institutions on strategy, technology and performance. Previously, he held leadership roles in consulting and technology, practiced law and served as general counsel for a software firm. He serves on the board of Franklin and Marshall College and has held board positions at Kinective and H Bancorp/Sunwest Bank.
Please send your People news items to Natasha Chilingerian at natasha.chilingerian@arc-network.com.
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