Top honors go to five credit union executives for marketing & business development achievements
MADISON, WI (April 5, 2017) — Roy MacKinnon, Julie Monahan, Nathan Schmidt, Melinda Leung, Suzanne Kennedy and Andrea Parrish were honored for their achievements in marketing and business development during a ceremony at the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Conference, March 29-April 1 in San Antonio, Texas.
- Roy MacKinnon, CEO, Edwards Federal Credit Union, Lancaster, California, was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. MacKinnon has served on various credit union industry committees and boards, is a current member of the CUNA CEO Council, a charter member of the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council and past member of both CUES and MAC. In addition, he served on the Board of Directors for the American Youth Soccer Organization, Region 4, as well as a marketing consultant for his local YMCA. Throughout his career, MacKinnon has launched sales and service culture incentive/retention programs which resulted in reduced staff turnover and increased sales. He has expanded credit unions to encompass additional locations, managed the design of the building, staffing, and created a cohesive brand. Additionally, he branded and created a “Concierge Service” for super-affluent members. MacKinnon has also developed numerous award winning campaigns that resulted in growth to both lending and a deposit portfolios.
- Julie Monahan, Business Development Officer, First Heritage Federal Credit Union, Painted Post, New York, was presented with the Business Development Professional of the Year Award. Monahan has been an active member of the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council since 2014. She also supports her local Chapter by attending various functions and roundtable events. In addition, Monahan serves on a variety of panels, committees and boards throughout her community. She participates in four (4) active Chambers of Commerce. She has graduated from two (2) Chamber Leadership programs. As a long time and active board member for the Downtown Development Agency, Monahan co-chairs the summer music networking program providing afterhours networking opportunities to local business members. Monahan also leads a Brand Mobilization Council committee for the United Way of the Southern Tier where she is also a board and executive committee member. She also volunteers with Junior Achievement of Western New York, where she is assigned to elementary classrooms in various communities to help bridge the gap in financial literacy. In her position at First Heritage, she builds and nurtures relations, provides financial education throughout the communities she serves, secures partnerships and created a “financial wellness” program that is offered free of charge for local businesses.
- Nathan Schmidt, EVP Marketing & Business Development, San Diego County Credit Union® (SDCCU®), San Diego, California, was presented with the Marketing Professional of the Year Award. With more than 20 years of financial management experience, Schmidt’s focus on continually raising the bar on creativity, service, strategy and execution has resulted in exponential growth for SDCCU and impacted the overall credit union movement. Schmidt led the enhancement of SDCCU’s community relations efforts, supporting more than 75 non-profits, participating in over 400 events annually and developing partnerships and programs that greatly impact the areas where SDCCU branches operate. Highlights include: the implementation of financial wellness programs, such as Financial Wellness Wednesdays and SDCCU Biz Kid$ to improve the financial health of youth and adults; the achievement of a fourth Guinness World Record at the SDCCU Super Shred Event; and the collection of nearly 250,000 school supplies to stuff approximately 5,000 backpacks for homeless students through SDCCU Stuff the Bus. He continues to push the envelope with innovative marketing initiatives, such as the installation of 3-D light up billboards and the creation of the SDCCU-branded transit shelter. Schmidt is actively involved in each of these initiatives, driving awareness of campaigns, engaging the community and increasing SDCCU membership. Since 2012, he has served as a member of the board of directors for the San Diego Bowl Game Association – which produces the newly-named San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl and previously produced the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl until its final game last December. He serves as a member of the Biz Kid$ Advisory Council and is an active member of the San Diego and Imperial Chapter of the California Credit Union League (CCUL).
- Melinda Leung, VP Marketing, Parsons Federal Credit Union, Pasadena, California, was presented with the Rising Star Award. This award recognizes rising professionals with two years or less of experience in the credit union industry. Leung has attended the annual CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council conference since 2015 and will now be part of the planning committee for the 2018 Conference. Locally, she is a member of the Pasadena Ronald McDonald House Gala Committee, where she lends her expertise for their annual charity event. Leung also serves as Marketing Chair for the Pasadena Animal League of the Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA. As VP of Marketing, she lead a strategic rebrand of the credit union, which included implementing a new website design, enhancing the online experience to maximize usability, and introducing video content as part of a new onboarding initiative. Since her time at Parsons, she has significantly grown their millennial membership base and worked side-by-side with the sponsor to identify future business development opportunities.
- Suzanne Kennedy, VP Marketing, Cornerstone Community Federal Credit Union, Lockport, New York, was presented with the Volunteer of the Year Award. As a member-led organization, the Council relies on volunteers, and this award recognizes those contributions to the Council. Kennedy has served on the Recognition Committee for the last two years and has increased nominations overall. In addition, she served as a Diamond Awards judge for the last two years. Locally, Kennedy is active in community activities and fundraisers. She created the Random Acts of Kindness program for credit union day at Cornerstone Community, and also helped to develop the Leaps and Bounds Award and Awesome Award programs, which allow coworkers to nominate fellow employees for exceptional service to staff and members.
- Andrea Parrish, Digital Marketing Specialist, STCU, Liberty Lake, Washington, was presented with the Top Community Contributor Award. This award recognizes value and expertise shared with peers through collaboration within the Councils Community member networking platform. Andrea has been an excellent contributor – asking questions, answering posts, sharing files, and being a giving and cheerful presence for members online. She even took it “offline” by using the Community to organize a live meet-n-greet at the Annual Conference for social media marketers.
The winners and their achievements will be featured in an upcoming issue of Credit Union Magazine. For more information, click cunacouncils.org/awards.
About CUNA Councils
Councils is a member-led, collaborative community of credit union leaders providing vibrant peer interaction, new ideas and innovation to foster professional development for executives while advocating for the overall success of the credit union movement. There are eight Councils with a network of more than 8,500 credit union professionals. For more information, visit cunacouncils.org.
About CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council
The CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council is a member-led community of marketing and business development professionals dedicated to providing relevant resources and tools essential for success to its members. The CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council is one of seven CUNA Councils, a network of thousands of credit union professionals nationwide. For more information, visit www.cunacouncils.org.
