Courtney Cantwell is an instructional designer for CUNA. Courtney has been employed with the Center for Professional Development since May of 2000. As an instructional designer, Courtney is responsible for working with subject matter experts, writers, and graphic designers to develop content for online and print-based courses.

Courtney holds a bachelor's degree in English-Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, and is currently working to attain her Masters in Education from Edgewood College.

Pierre Cardenas has 23 years of experience in the banking industry, 19 of which have been dedicated to the credit union movement, and four years at a community bank. He has had the opportunity to oversee numerous areas of a financial institution, including operations, compliance, lending, sales and service, and all retail delivery channels.

He is currently the senior vice president of Retail at Amplify FCU in Austin, Texas, a $420 million credit union with over 40,000 members. Pierre has been instrumental in helping rebrand, rename, and reinvent Amplify, formerly known as IBM Texas Employees Federal Credit Union. The complete transformation of the organization has drawn visiting banks and credit unions from all over.

Phillip Crocker serves as Resource One's director of Financial Education. Phillip provides financial education for the membership, communities, SEG's, and employees of Resource One Credit Union. He also works with public and private school systems in the community and participates in the Project NEFE Network with the Texas Credit Union League. On the national level, Phillip is involved with CUNA's Personal Finance Institute, a collaboration of credit union employees who develop ways to empower staff, volunteers, members, and potential members of all ages through personal financial education.

Phillip is a Certified Financial Counselor through the Credit Union National Association. He recently received the 2008 Focus Award from the Texas Credit Union Foundation for his efforts in promoting financial literacy in the state of Texas.

Kim Crockett began his career working for one of Canada's "Big 5" banks. After two years delivering bank branded consumer investment and loan services for the Royal Bank of Canada, Kim took some time away from the industry only to return several months later, but now working for a credit union. He had seen the light!

After spending time as a lender and branch manager, Kim applied his skills as a researcher and strategist to help guide the marketing, branding, and communication activities of Common Wealth Credit Union, a 15-branch credit union serving 54,000 members in northern Alberta. It was during this time that he became more aware of the credit union advantage and the ideas that would drive the Young & Free vision, Common Wealth's program for 17-to-25 year olds, were born.

Philip Heckman (CUDE), director of youth programs, is CUNA's liaison to the national Jumpstart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy and to the National Endowment for Financial Education, which distributes the free High School Financial Planning Program in partnership with the Cooperative Extension Service.

He is editor-in-chief of Googolplex: The CU Guide for Student Moneymakers™, the 3-in-1 online magazine for members in elementary, middle, and high school; Guides to Independence™, the online interactive financial services curriculum for teenagers; MoneyMix™, the online magazine for young adults; and the Model Youth Program Guide, a handbook for credit unions.

Susan Follick is segment marketing director for PSCU Financial Services, a national credit union service organization with operations in Phoenix and St. Petersburg, Florida. During her 20-year marketing career, Susan has held various marketing positions as brand communications manager, product manager, and new product development manager. She has worked in the social expression (greeting cards/gift wrap), consumer durables, and financial services industries. Susan resides in Leesburg, Florida.

Rodney was appointed by President George W. Bush to a seat on the NCUA Board November 15, 2005, and was elected as vice chairman by the board shortly thereafter. Rodney joins the NCUA Board after serving the Department of Agriculture as USDA associate administrator for Rural Development's Housing Program since September 2004, addressing the housing needs of rural America. He was appointed to the USDA after serving as marketing director and group sales manager for North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. In that capacity, he was involved in individual life sales, multi-product sales, and group benefits. Rodney has nearly two decades of experience in affordable housing and community development, including employment with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Bank of America, and G.E. Capital Corporation.

Joshua Jones (CUDE) is the manager of young adult programs for CUNA's Center for Personal Finance. Josh is also active with CUNA's CUDE program and is the National Association liaison to the Wisconsin Credit Union League's Young Professionals Council. Outside of the credit union movement, Josh currently serves on the Chancellor's Commission on Fraternities and Sororities and as advisor to the All Greek Council at the University of Wisconsin. He is also involved with the financial literacy group Americans for Consumer Education and Competition.

Josh began his credit union career with the Association of Corporate Credit Unions and graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park in 2002 with a B.A. in Government and Politics.

Christopher is currently the web manager for the CUNA Councils, a national organization for credit union professionals. He is responsible for all seven council Web sites and communication tools, including the implementation of new social networking features. Previously, Christopher was manager of communications & information for the National Credit Union Foundation. His primary duties included public relations and marketing, as well as managing the Foundation's Web sites. Christopher also built cuaid.coop, the first national online disaster relief fundraising system for credit unions.

Christopher is a blogger for the 2007 YES Summit CU Blog: Serving 18-to-30s.

Claudine Oriani has been involved in adult education assessment, design, and delivery for the past 25 years, 15 of which have been spent in the credit union industry. Her thought-provoking presentations on marketing/branding, employee development, team building, leadership, strategic planning, service, and financial literacy have received superior marks from thousands of participants. Claudine once performed as a stand-up comedian and often infuses her presentations with humor. On this subject, she states: "Research has quantified the link between laughter and learning retention, so there's a method to my madness."

Gary Perez has served the member/owners of the $260 million USC Credit Union since 1988. With over $350 million in student loan fundings over the past eight years, USCCU is the nation's largest credit union student loan originator on the strength of its unique pricing, positioning, and marketing strategies.

A native Angelino with a Bachelor's Degree from Azusa Pacific University, Gary has spent his entire adult life in the credit union movement. Prior to joining USCCU, he was the CFO at the Los Angeles Schools FCU and a regional manager for Richards and Associates, CPA's, a west coast firm specializing in credit union auditing and consulting.

Jeremy Presta has been with Park Side Federal Credit Union for almost seven years. In that time, the credit union has grown from $38 million to over $106 million in assets. Park Side was a peak performing credit union in 2006 for total return to members and total return to borrowers. Jeremy has been a league board member since 2006 and league controller since 2007. He is a league health insurance trustee, and was a participant on the league governance task force. He is a graduate of Western CUNA Management School and a member of Filene's 30 under 30 group.

Jeremy was born and raised in western Montana where he graduated form the University of Montana with a B.S. degree in business administration with a management emphasis.

Mark Schwanhausser worked nearly 26 years for the San Jose Mercury News, most of it as a personal finance reporter writing about money and emerging trends in financial services and payments technology.

For 17 years he wrote or edited the publication's annual tax guide, arguably the most thorough report on the subject year in and year out at general newspapers. During his career he helped launch Getting Ahead, a personal finance and careers section, and wrote the Money Manual, an occasional column aimed at helping consumers with their financial needs.

Sarah Shirley helped develop the Military Saves campaign while serving as an Air Force chaplain at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. She left active duty in 2006 with the goal of expanding the Military Saves campaign to four military installations by beginning of 2007. Thanks to a global team of volunteers who care about sailors, soldiers, airmen, marines, and guardsmen, her goal was met times 50 over. Defense credit unions deserve much credit for that success.

Military Saves is now a worldwide campaign shared by banks, credit unions, non-profit associations, and military commands. Sarah is "the Military Saves lady," looked to for advice and inspiration on promoting a savings culture within military communities.

Kris Wickline is a consumer program manager for CUNA Mutual Group in Madison, Wisconsin. She focuses her efforts on helping credit unions attract and retain the Gen Y audience. Since joining CUNA Mutual in 1993, Kris has held a variety of marketing roles in market research, direct response, and product marketing.

From 2002 to 2008, Kris served as a consultant to CUNA Mutual, working on a wide range of projects focused on new product development, direct response testing, distribution channel enhancements, and program pilots.