MEMBERS Development Company (MDC), a research and development CUSO dedicated to delivering meaningful solutions to the evolving demands of consumers, has elected two new board members and new board leadership effective February 1. The new board members are James Nastars, President and CEO of Meritrust Credit Union in Kansas, and Kyle Markland, COO of Bethpage FCU in New York.
Tom Moore, EVP of BCU in Illinois, has assumed the role of Board Chair after serving for six years as a board member, and as Board Treasurer and Secretary for the past three years. He replaces Chuck Purvis of Coastal FCU in North Carolina, who has served as the MDC Board Chair for the past threeyears.
“I look forward to continuing to guide MDC in its vision to lead the credit union industry in research, thought leadership, innovation and development driven by its owners,” said Moore. “I’m also very pleased with the newly elected directors and look forward to hearing their valuable input during our discussions, especially as MDC adjusts to the new normal of its recent growth and size.”
Amy Sink, CEO of Interra Credit Union in Indiana, was elected as Board Vice Chair. Sink has served as a board member for four years.
“As a network, MDC now serves over 14 million members and holds over $190 billion in assets.But just two years ago it was only a little more than half of that,” said Sink. “Others are starting to notice who we are, and we certainly plan on punching our weight when negotiating over pilot fees or securing preferred pricing for any of our owners with a proven vendor.”
Kevin Johnson, President and CEO of Suncoast Credit Union in Florida, who has served on the board for two years, is the newly elected Secretary and Treasurer.
“This is an exciting time for MDC, and I’m proud to continue to contributeto its ongoing success,” Johnson said. “The next few years will bring new opportunities and challenges, and the Board looks forward to working closely with staff to map out a new strategic plan for 2020 and beyond. Our strategy will be influenced by both the strength we bring as a group of nearly 70 large credit unions and by the recent work MDC has done to anticipate likely changes in the industry.”
Nastars and Markland replace outgoing board members Angie Owens and Kathy Garner, who led American Airlines Credit Union and Catalyst Corporate FCU, respectively.
“It’s an honor to serve on this board. Having already had some of our staff serving on the advisory teams for MDC projects, Meritrust has gotten a lot of value fromour involvement, and we have been able to guide MDC’s work so that deliverables are easily plugged into what we do right here in Wichita. This newboard opportunity—and responsibility—to also help guide the success for the organization as a whole is a feather in our cap,” said Nastars.
“Bethpage has really appreciated our involvement in MDC’s NextUP program, and we’re very happy that one of our staff was able to serve as a peer mentor to the 2018/19 cohort,” said Markland. MDC’s NextUp program is an annual innovation training and project development initiative that hosts more than 50 credit union professionals from MDC’s ownership over eight months. “We also recently benefitted from participating in the Chatbots pilot project. Serving on the board will be a great way for us at Bethpage to deepen our ties with the MDC network and ensure that we get the most out of our investment.”
MDC staff will work closely with the board over the next several months to draft a new strategic plan for the CUSO, which gained 17 new owners since February of last year and has since established a wait list after implementing an ownership cap.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the things we’ve been able to accomplish with MDC, especially in the recent years,” said Purvis, MDC’s outgoing Board Chair. “The quality of the projects and the level of collaboration among owners has been incredible. I’m thankful that I have been able to contribute to that success, and I look forward to seeing Tom, Amy, Kevin, James, Kyle, and the rest of the board continue to lead the organization to greater things.”
Amy Sink
Chuck Purvis
James Nastars
Kevin Johnson
Kyle Markland
Tom Moore