Hsu Named 2021 CUES Emerge Winner
Alex Hsu, VP of Planning & Change Management at SchoolsFirst FCU, Santa Ana, CA, has been named the 2021 CUES® Emerge winner.
As one of five Finalists, Alex’s route to the podium began when he was selected into the CUES Emerge program early in 2021. From there, participants completed business cases and worked toward their project idea while a team of judges reviewed their proposals. On October 6, it culminated in Alex and the four other finalists presenting their projects live during an online pitch show, hosted by CUES and Tim McAlpine of Currency.
Two other finalists, Krista Baum, Security Architect, WSECU, Olympia, WA, and Daniel Valley, Member Experience Manager, Lake Trust CU, Brighton, MI, were named as runners-up. Alex will receive an education and coaching package which includes registration to CUES Advanced Management Program from Cornell University and executive coaching from Envision Excellence. Each of the runners-up will receive an education and coaching package, including registration to a CUES eCornell certificate course of their choice and executive coaching from Envision Excellence.
Alex’s business case, entitled Innovation Center of Excellence, explores ways organizations can evaluate individual pain points holistically, and avoid approaching potential solutions with a silo mentality or an over-reliance on technology vendors.
Watch the Finalists’ presentations
“Our cohort of emerging leaders applied themselves fully despite continuing to work through a pandemic. The dedication shown by these leaders to apply their learning in their business cases was outstanding,” said CUES president/CEO John Pembroke. “Our judging panel had a difficult decision to make when choosing not only our finalists, but also the winners.”
The other Finalists taking part in the online pitch show were William Aguilar, Assistant Manager, Contact Center, America First CU, Brea, CA, and Yianni Harbis, Manager, Branch and Commercial Banking, Sydney CU, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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 designation in recognition of their commitment to their career, credit union and the industry. You can learn more about the program at CUESEmerge.com.
Learn more about CUES at cues.org. Learn more about Currency at CurrencyMarketing.ca.
CUES is the leading talent development solutions provider for credit unions in North America. We educate, develop and support credit union CEOs, executives, directors, and emerging leaders through partnerships with premier business schools, live and online events, digital learning, networking, and premium content. With over 36,000 members and growing, we measure success one leader at a time.
Connect with CUES at CUES.org and on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For daily insights on issues impacting credit unions visit CUmanagement.com.
Currency (currencymarketing.ca) is the leading credit union-focused financial education firm. The It’s a Money Thing Financial Education Program helps credit unions attract, educate and inspire young adult members, and provides education and financial training for members and staff. In addition, Currency partners with CUES to manage the CUES Emerge program aimed at celebrating the best emerging credit union leaders and their ideas.