Speakers

Philippe Asselin has a real sense of team and process and brings the two together for powerful results. While he can connect with hundreds of FI's across the country, you’ll see him at his best when he consults one-on-one with tools that ensure his clients find success. Philippe is most energized by being able to empower teams with the BalancedComp systems and consulting. Philippe’s background brings varied perspectives to the conversation and deconstructs client obstacles with a well-rounded approach. He's invested over 20 years managing some of the world’s most profitable restaurants and was an executive at a billion-plus asset-sized financial institution.

Philippe is passionate about his charity paddleboard races to fundraise a low-income scholarship program and Autism research. He’s also actively involved with the NBCF, and K9s for Warriors.

Recognized as a thought leader and visionary of technology advancements and financial application development within the financial industry, John Best is a futurist, an Amazon bestselling author, an award-winning speaker, hosts a globally recognized podcast show, is the Co-Founder and CEO of Best Innovation Group. 

John previously served as CTO and Senior Vice President of Wescom Credit Union as well as head of technology for Wescom Resources Group. In 2014, John left Wescom to form his own company called Best Innovation Group, or BIG for short. BIG was created to provide clients with the resources to quickly implement digital solutions and adopt cutting-edge technologies. BIG provides research and development in areas including voice banking, distributed ledger and machine learning, as well as a wide array of development, integration, and consulting services. 

Robin Bouvier is a Health Transformation consultant with Aon in Boston, MA. Her purpose is to help groups overcome barriers to wellbeing by cultivating exceptional environments and experiences. She challenges the status quo to help individuals and organizations make better decisions that translate into better business results. A nationally recognized wellbeing thought leader with 30 years of industry experience, Robin has completed Mental Health First Aid and several certification programs. She has played leadership roles in many local and regional associations and was recently selected to join the American Diabetes Association Board of Directors in New England. Robin also serves on the faculty of the Corporate Health & Wellness Association to guide the development of the next generation of worksite wellbeing practitioners. She appears regularly as a featured speaker at HR and wellbeing industry events across the country and has contributed to articles in several publications.

Cassius Butts has served as an official to four presidential administrations, leading efforts in economics, housing, and small business sectors. Previously, he served as president & CEO of 1st Choice Credit Union in Atlanta where he managed to increase their net assets by 33%. In 2011 Cassius was appointed as Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) – Obama Administration. It was with SBA where he managed five record-breaking years of lending within the eight southern states.

Under the George W. Bush Administration, Cassius served as a Presidential Management Fellow within the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). He assisted in the establishment of HUD’s multimillion marketing procurement process and was named Branch Chief of the Real Estate Owned division during his tenure. Cassius is a graduate of Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University’s Graduate School of Public Administration.

Jill Casper is the Vice President of Community Engagement and Employee Development for Mid Minnesota Federal Credit Union. In this role she develops staff through sales, service, coaching and personal development training. Her community engagement responsibilities include personal finance training throughout MMFCU's field of membership with a focus on High School students, non-profits, and businesses.

A passionate advocate for non-profit work, Jill is Board Chair of the Brainerd Lakes Chamber and many non-profits that promote the advancement of women and girls. She holds an undergraduate degree in organizational behavior, a master's degree in management and leadership, is a certified financial councilor and CUDE. 

Andrea Cooper is director of talent for CUNA Mutual Group, where she is a member of the Employee Experience and Strategy team, responsible for leading enterprise Talent Acquisition and Talent Management. Andrea joined CUNA Mutual Group in 2018. Previously, she was the founder of Flourish, an HR consultancy focused on employee experience and leadership development. Andrea has held numerous HR leadership roles. She served as HR leader and talent acquisition leader for Shopbop, an Amazon.com company, held multiple senior leadership roles with Walmart Stores Inc. including senior director of human resources and talent acquisition for the Health and Wellness division, director of organizational development for the global procurement division, and senior director of global diversity and inclusion. Andrea has a Bachelor of Science degree from John Brown University and is a national member of the Society for HR Management. She is a member of the Wisconsin Innovation Awards Board.

Rhonda Hall has over 30 years of experience leading Human Resource and Organizational Development teams through process and performance improvements. While new to the credit union movement, she has found her calling and is gladly answering that call. Drawing from her experience at large organizations ranging in size from 15,000 to 150,000 employees, she tailors systems, process and performance levels for the culture and size appropriate to UFCU. Rhonda has worked in highly regulated industries and prides herself on engaging employees. She has led UFCU to be awarded the coveted Exceptional Workplace Award issued by Gallup in 2021 and again in 2022. With a keen focus on releasing human potential, she is known for teaching others to fish, mentoring and growing staff to realize their full potential. Rhonda serves on various non-profit boards of directors in Austin, TX.

Anna joined CUNA in November 2021 with more than 20 years of experience in the Credit Union Movement.

She earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Northern Illinois University and Master of Arts in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Argosy University. Anna was awarded the Illinois Credit Union League's Spirit of Service Employee of the Year Award in 2016 for her work teaching financial literacy in the Rockford Public Schools and surrounding areas.

While serving as the Director of Training and Development for the largest credit union in the area, she also conducted train-the-trainer sessions to assist other credit unions to teach financial literacy on their own. Her experience includes training program development, employee onboarding, developmental training, board training as well as large conference event planning and management.

Anna is also a Certified Credit Union Financial Counselor (CCUFC), Credit Union Development Educator (CUDE) and a Certified Credit Union Facilitator (CCUF). 

Spencer Holt is an award-winning educator, speaker, designer, executive coach, and regarded as one of the leading thinkers in the field of leadership, change, innovation and creating a culture of belonging & performance. He has international experience in pharmaceutical, finance, franchising, and sales. Most recently, Spencer served as the Head of the Commercial Learning and Innovation Centre for Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, with a bold ambition to accelerate performance through learning. Prior to this, Dr. Holt was Director, Global Leader & Enterprise Development with AZ designing and delivering global leadership flagship experiences across over 54 countries, winning multiple learning technology awards.

Spencer holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Lethbridge, a Master’s in Higher Education Leadership and a Ph.D. in Leadership Development from UNLV. He is the author of multiple scholarly articles in leadership development and hosts a regular podcast, “Small Things Make a Big Difference”.

As VP of Training and Development Services, Lisa Johnson delivers highly effective training programs to a variety of clients in sexual harassment prevention and awareness, diversity and sensitivity, professional and leadership development, delivering feedback, email etiquette, performance management, and management training programs. She also manages and mentors facilitators who deliver training. Lisa joined OperationsInc in 2012 and has more than 30+ years of experience overall.

As one of five owners of c. myers corporation, Brian McHenry works daily with CEOs and C-Suite teams to help them identify and prioritize necessary changes to continuously adjust their business models and remain highly competitive. When working through the strategic process, CEOs regularly praise Brian’s calm communication style and ability to authentically engage anyone he interacts with. Brian’s expansive knowledge of the financial services industry, combined with his dedication to being on the leading edge of emerging consumer behavior trends, enables him to help decision-makers address tough business issues and explore creative solutions as they link their vision, strategy, and desired financial performance.

Jennifer McHugh, CUDE is the Vice President-Community Engagement at Royal Credit Union. She is responsible for promoting and enhancing Royal’s image in the communities the credit union serves. Jennifer works with the community engagement team to tell the credit union story through advocacy, media relations and event participation and sponsorship. She also oversees the credit union’s financial education efforts, including the award-winning Royal Credit Union School $ense program which features 29 student-run branches. Jennifer is also the staff liaison for the RCU Foundation. She serves on the Wisconsin Governor’s Council on Financial Literacy and Capability, is a Credit Union Development Educator (CUDE), and was named the 2021 CUES Exceptional Leader.

Claudia Montgomery is a Managing Director in PwC’s Workforce Transformation practice. As a former HR leader and marketer, she has devoted 25 years to understanding workplace culture and the levers that motivate people and drive behavior. As a CHRO, Claudia led an overhaul of the HR function, aligning roles and accountabilities with business strategy and was the architect of many innovative HR policies and programs. As Leadership Development Officer and an independent consultant for 10+ years, she provided leadership coaching and workshop facilitation to inspire individual and team performance among senior business leaders across all industries.

At PwC, Claudia leverages her unique combination of experiences to develop forward-thinking workforce strategy to create a highly connected employee experience, essential elements in attracting, retaining, and inspiring talent. Her client work is focused primarily on Culture, Employee Experience, Leadership Development and DEI engagements. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin- Madison.

After receiving his MBA from Brigham Young University, Sean Morrison worked for two of the most well-respected HR companies in the world. His experience at P&G and PepsiCo solidified in him what great HR looks and feels like and gave him his first experience in executive leadership. Sean left PepsiCo to become the Head of HR for Guckenheimer, where he transformed the HR team and began building a world class HR organization. Guckenheimer was acquired by one of the largest facilities services companies in the world and after helping with the acquisition Sean moved to a global non-profit, supporting 5500 employees globally and thousands of volunteers. Sean is now the Vice President of HR at Mountain America Credit Union, one of the fastest growing credit unions in the United States.

Jonathan Nabrotzky has over 25 years of experience as a global senior leader in the Sales, Coaching, Retail and Banking sectors. He worked for 15 years at HSBC, living in seven countries: USA, UK, Hong Kong, India, Qatar, Lebanon, and Israel. His last role at HSBC was as Global Head of the Branch Network, responsible for 3,400 branches worldwide servicing 37 million customers and with 21 billion dollars in revenue. Considered an expert in all things Sales Management, Jonathan’s experience spans from design of team structures to day-to-day team management. His work has the unique distinctive of combining tailor-made strategy with the ability to embed that strategy as part of the company DNA. Jonathan is a native of Southern California and holds a BA in Middle Eastern Studies from Brigham Young University. 

Elizabeth Oates has over 20 years of comprehensive, financial service experience driving business outcomes and building teams across customer journeys, CRM & analytics, sales management, incentives, and digital transformation. She has now leveraged her approach as an entrepreneur in co-founding Global Leader Group, one of the world’s fastest growing consultancy firms. As Global Head of Customer Management and Servicing Tools for HSBC she led the design and delivery of all CRM technology to support employee productivity and customer servicing for 65,000 users. Elizabeth previously served as the Global Head of Wealth Customer Journeys for HSBC, being subject-matter-expert and co-designer of the Customer Journey Framework leveraged by all the bank’s markets.

Elizabeth is an expert in design thinking facilitation bringing together customer and employee experiences; and has extensive experience implementing multi-channel contact strategies. She is passionately committed to helping women grow their leadership, devoting time to mentoring, speaking and community contribution.

Michele Padilla delivers the full range of FCCS leadership development programs across all leader levels and works to continually improve these programs to meet the evolving needs of FCCS clients. She has 20 years of experience in delivering adult learning programs, most recently with a privately held staffing, learning, and consulting firm where she led project teams that delivered and evaluated large and complex learning programs for a multitude of Fortune 100 clients. Prior to that, Michele was a managing member of 5280 Training & Development, LLC, where she provided facilitation services, needs analyses and developed custom performance solutions for clients including the U.S. Army, Comcast and Arrow Electronics.

Michele earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Radford University and a master’s degree in information and learning technologies from the University of Colorado.

Dolly Penland, President & CEO of Business Results, a PI® Premiere Certified Partner and Master Training Center, Talent Optimization consultancy, and a CATIL® Elite Certified Partner, works with organizations helping them to hire and manage their talent to their highest potential. She specializes in multiple areas including helping businesses grow sales, reduce turnover and develop leaders.

Mia Perez serves as the chief strategy and people officer at Louisiana FCU where she is responsible for all things brand, marketing, community outreach, human resources, and organizational development. She most recently served as Chair of the Credit Union National Association’s Marketing & Business Development Council Executive Committee. In 2016, Mia was named as a Woman to Watch by the Credit Union Times and as a Credit Union Rock Star by Credit Union Magazine. She received her bachelor’s degree in public relations from Tulane University, a master’s degree in Leadership and HR Development from LSU and is a graduate of CUNA Marketing Management School where she is currently an instructor.  

Mia is host of the Leadership Experiment with Royce and Mia podcast. Listen on iTunes or anywhere else you get your podcasts or visit www.royceandmia.com. 

Adam Rampton combines his global experience and business expertise, helping clients advance strategic priorities through leadership, talent, and organization transformation. He excels at building long-term partnerships with clients that help them create value for their most important stakeholders. Areas of specialty include leadership development and learning; organization design, transformation, and alignment; strategic HR; and change management. He is a currently a Managing Partner at Global Leader Group.

Prior to consulting, Adam led HR at one of GE Healthcare's joint ventures. During his GE tenure, he graduated from GE’s HR Leadership Program and held roles of increasing responsibility in a variety of industries including healthcare, oil and gas, and financial services. Adam earned an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and has 20+ years results-focused experience partnering with global business leaders as a trusted advisor.

Jaclynn Robinson, Ph.D., is a workplace consultant at Gallup, where she brings expertise in the areas of organizations and systems. She uses Gallup’s strengths-based approach, employee selection, strengths coaching, and leadership and development training to coach individuals, leaders, and teams on ways to improve performance and business outcomes. In 2017, Jaclynn received Gallup’s Coaching Excellence award.

Before joining Gallup, Jaclynn used her expertise in psychology to consult with national and international organizations in the biotechnology, healthcare, nongovernment, nonprofit and research industries on ways to increase sales, production and workplace practices.

Trent Savage is the chief human resources officer at Mountain America Credit Union. In this role he’s responsible for developing and executing an HR and Talent Development strategy that supports the credit union’s overall business plan and strategic direction as well as for partnering with business leaders to provide clarity in direction and alignment of goals to create a high-performing organization. Since joining Mountain America in 2018, Trent has implemented technology to automate processes, which has streamlined the credit union’s human resources (HR) and improved engagement while allowing team members to engage in strategic consulting with leadership.

Over the course of his career, Trent has worked for some of the world’s largest, most-recognizable brands, including Amazon, eBay and Procter & Gamble. During his time with these companies, he gained expertise in strategy development, executive coaching, leadership effectiveness, organizational design and development, strategic talent management, and team effectiveness.

Tansley Stearns is a dynamic force of nature, fiercely crusading on behalf of all credit unions while tirelessly driving forward the brand image and family spirit of Canvas. She joined Canvas Credit Union in April 2018 and has spent every moment since amplifying the credit union’s ability to transform lives with her innovative marketing, brand, communications, people, retail, and strategy efforts. Tansley leads the people of Canvas with a bright fire and desire for greatness that is passed down with every interaction with our team.

Tansley brings with her more than 20 years of credit union leadership experience, including roles in research, sales, service, and government relations to Canvas. Immediately before joining Canvas, Tansley served as Chief Impact Officer at Filene Research Institute where she played a pivotal role in building bridges between credit unions, academia, and Silicon Valley. 

Kent Streuling is Senior Vice President of Human Resources at America First Credit Union where he has worked since 1997. America First Credit Union currently has over 1.2 million members, over $17 billion in assets and 3100 employees. Kent has been very involved in the human resource field for over 30 years. He is a past Chair of the Credit Union National Association’s HR/OD Council and is a Past Director for the Utah State SHRM. Kent is the recipient of the 2006 Utah SHRM’s Professional Excellence Award and the 2019 CUNA HR/OD Professional of the Year Award. America First Credit Union has been recognized as a Best Places to Work multiple times. Kent has spoken at a variety of conferences and workshops on HR issues and has written articles for various magazines. Kent graduated from BYU with a BS in education and a MPA with an emphasis in HR.

Tim Tacheny is in his fifth year as the General Counsel for the Minnesota Credit Union Network. Prior to his current role, he was in private practice focusing primarily on commercial litigation, business transactions, and probate disputes. Tim graduated from the University of Northwestern (St. Paul) with a bachelor’s degree in International Business. He was a collegiate athlete, playing football for three years. Tim obtained his Juris Doctorate from William Mitchell College of Law where he graduated cum laude in 2012.

Zac Upchurch leads the Talent Strategy Group, including consulting, strategy, research, and finance across all lines of the TSG business. He frequently consults with the Boards and Executive Teams of the world’s most advanced organizations on Human Resources and Talent Management. Zac's work focuses on four organizational types: Founder-led organizations, Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies, professional service firms, and large, complex organizations.

Zac frequently speaks and writes on topics that advance the field of Human Resources. He is the author of CHRO Trends, an annual study on trends in the Chief Human Resources Officer role that is widely quoted in publications. He is described as an "HR Visionary" for his People as Strategy approach that elevates an organization's people to a strategic lever in corporate strategy.

In his role as a senior facilitator, Ricard is responsible for building and maintaining the client relationship throughout the multiple phases of engagement. He leads and manages concept creation, content development, and training for the client’s facilitation delivery team.

Prior to joining Disney Institute, he worked as a scheduling manager for workforce management at the Walt Disney World Resort. Ricard led a team of schedulers who planned and coordinated a weekly schedule of over 165,000 labor hours. In this role, he implemented a communication process that created efficiency across lines of businesses with their scheduling needs. Ricard has also been a retail guest service manager in multiple locations where he was part of leadership teams that raised revenue and guest satisfaction.

Additionally at Disney, he delivered the initial training on Disney culture, heritage, and professional guidelines to new hires at the Walt Disney World Resort as a traditions facilitator in English and Spanish.

Ricard has a law degree from the University of Puerto Rico and a law degree from the University of Barcelona. He is also fluent in Spanish and Catalan.

Tobi Weingart, CUDE, DEEU, CUHRCP, CWMF, M.Ed., is the Education Program Manager for the National Credit Union Foundation. Before joining the National Credit Union Foundation team, she spent 9 years in Organizational Development at a Wisconsin credit union and 2 years at the Credit Union National Association.

Carolyn White has worked in the financial services industry for over 35 years with most of it in the credit union world. She has 20+ years in learning and development. Employee development and financial capabilities are Carolyn’s passion. She finds the success of employees and members rewarding. Carolyn has certifications through SHRM, HRCI, and CUNA's Financial Counseling program.

Aaron Zandy is board certified as a specialist in labor and employment law by the Florida Bar. He represents employers in a broad range of employment litigation matters, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower, common law tort, and wage and hour claims. As an experienced trial attorney, Aaron has successfully litigated numerous (jury and non-jury) cases on behalf of clients in federal and state courts, as well as before various administrative agencies, such as the EEOC, NLRB, and DOL. He also has extensive traditional labor law experience, including collective bargaining, union organizing campaigns, strikes, unfair labor practice cases, and labor arbitrations.

Aaron serves as a member of the firm's Executive Committee, is the Regional Managing Partner of FordHarrison's six Florida offices and is also the Managing Partner of the Orlando office.