CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec Finalists Announced

The judges’ results are in! The five Finalists for the 2016 CUES® Next Top Credit Union Exec challenge are:

  • Ali Fett, Verve, a Credit Union, Oshkosh, Wis., United States
  • Colleen Tilton, Blackhawk Community Credit Union, Janesville, Wis., United States
  • Michael Murdoch, NW Priority Credit Union, Portland, Ore., United States
  • Nicole Haverly, Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union, St. Paul, Minn., United States
  • Shannon Cahoon, Fibre Federal Credit Union, Longview, Wash., United States

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 www.nexttopcreditunionexec.com. These updates and entrants’ earlier video applications were evaluated by a judging team composed of Deedee Myers, CEO of DDJ Myers, Phoenix, and two credit union executives.

“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.

“We thank all of our applicants for their hard work, and for the outstanding ideas they are bringing to their credit unions. We encourage them to keep working on their projects for the betterment of the industry. Now, as we congratulate the Finalists, we also look forward to learning about their particular projects’ progress between now and their final presentations at CEO/Executive Team Network in October,” said Pembroke.

In addition to two coaching sessions provided by challenge sponsor and CUES Supplier member DDJ Myers, the five Finalists each receive registration, accommodation and airfare to CUES' CEO/Executive Team Network™ in Savannah, Ga., October 23-26, 2016. There, the Finalists will face off for the grand prize, a CUES educational package valued at $20,000, and the honor of being named 2016 CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec on October 26.