Two of Top Five in CUES Top CU Exec Contest Hail from Northwest
Anthem | By Eric Horvath
As the finalist list moves from 15 to five, young credit union professionals from Oregon and Washington advanced.
Late last week, the five finalists for the 2016 CUES® Next Top Credit Union Exec challenge were announced—and both Northwest entries made the cut.
Michael Murdoch of NW Priority Credit Union, in Portland, OR, and Shannon Cahoon of Fibre Federal Credit Union in Longview, WA, made it to the final.
Each of the five Finalists will be required to produce an additional one- to two-minute YouTube video detailing the progress of their project. These videos will be posted on the CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec blog and will help the general public and our judging panel further evaluate the Finalists.
A combination of public vote and a judging panel determined the Top 15 entrants. Since the results of that vote were announced in mid July, all 15 young professionals have been providing updates to their projects at NTCUE.com(www.nexttopcreditunionexec.com).
These updates and entrants’ earlier video applications were evaluated by a judging team composed of Deedee Myers, CEO of DDJ Myers(www.ddjmyers.com), Phoenix, and two credit union executives.
Cahoon is developing a turn-key tracking system for measuring the profitability of programs like financial education, business development, community outreach, second chance accounts, and more. She is currently on the board of the Northwest Young Credit Union Professionals, a member of the Executive Committee for the National Youth Involvement Board, and a contributing blogger for CUNA’s Guides to Money blog.
Murdoch is introducing the idea of “People Providing Hope”, a collaborative effort between credit unions and other community groups to combat the crisis of teen and young adult homelessness through financial education, specialized banking programs, and job experience. Michael has planned and directed dozens of successful community growth fundraisers, including those for the Portland Kitchen, Lines for Life, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
“The five finalists were selected from a unique and highly skilled group,” said John Pembroke, CUES’ president/CEO. “We had many fantastic entries this year. Our judges had quite the challenging task in determining which of the Top 15 would move through to the Finals.
Click here for earlier coverage of the contest in Anthem—and be sure to support your two finalists on social media!