Christina Mullins, Senior Lending Resources Specialist, State Employees' CU, NC, has been named the 2026 CUES Emerging Leader.

As one of five finalists, Mullins’ journey began when she was selected into the CUES Emerge program early in 2026. From there, attendees engaged in live online courses and Mastermind sessions, creating project ideas and developing business cases that were reviewed by a panel of judges.

On October 7, Mullins and four other finalists presented their projects live during an online pitch show. The event was hosted by Tim McAlpine, CEO of Currency Marketing.

Mullins’ winning business case, BUILDing from Within: A Scalable Succession Management Framework, offers a five-phase approach to succession planning that helps credit unions develop future leaders from within, reduce turnover and hiring costs, and establish a board-approved process aligned with NCUA expectations.

As the winner, Mullins will receive a CUES educational package with options to advance her growth, led by top executive education professors, plus leadership assessment and coaching from Envision Excellence.

Two runners-up

Two other finalists, Justin Thompson, Marketing Automation Analyst, Royal CU, WI, and Brandon White, Manager Financial Crimes Analytics, Wings CU, CO, were named as runners-up.

Each runner-up will receive a CUES educational package with options to advance their growth, led by top executive education professors, plus leadership assessment and coaching from Envision Excellence.

The other finalists taking part in the online pitch show were Nicole Baker, Member Center Manager, Community Choice CU, MI and Elizabeth Seelbach, Director of Strategy, Resource One CU, TX.

Interested in being a part of next year’s CUES Emerge cohort?

We will be accepting applications for the 2027 CUES Emerge program in January.

CUES Emerge was created to offer free professional development to the industry’s up-and-coming leaders. Participants who complete the course work and business case earn the Certified Credit Union Manager (CCM) designation in recognition of their commitment to their career, credit union, and the movement.

Built on a solid foundation

CUES and Currency Marketing have enjoyed a long-standing partnership dating back to 2010 when, together, we launched the inaugural CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec competition. In 2020, CUES Emerge was launched and built on the success of CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec. Over the past 15 years, CUES has awarded more than $500,000 in prizes and has impacted the lives of countless young credit union professionals.

System Partner

TruStage is a financially strong insurance and financial services provider, built on the philosophy of people helping people, meeting the needs of middle-market consumers and businesses.

Supporting Partner

Envision Excellence is a leadership consulting firm that provides leadership development programs for managers and executives, keynote speeches, team building and leadership assessments.

Supporting Partner

RAI Partners is a credit union service organization that creates data-driven, white-label credit card programs. The company acquires, builds and manages programs end-to-end for its credit union clients.

What’s new with CUES Emerge?