Miriam Ackerman
Director and Chief Strategy Officer of DNT BLNK and Co-founder of NetGiver
Miriam Ackerman has been actively involved in developing creative products and business solutions for over 20 years. Her professional experience has spanned the spectrum from the arts and entertainment industry, to sports, healthcare and financial technology. She holds an MA in Arts Management and Cultural Policy from the University of London (London School of Economics and Birkbeck University). Ms. Ackerman is Chief Strategy Officer at DNT BLNK, a Minneapolis- based venture studio focused on developing, building and advancing startups through strategy, partnerships, brand, and product development where she is co-founder of NetGiver, the mobile giving platform exclusively for credit unions. Before taking her position in DNT BLNK, she led creative strategy for a healthcare technology platform with an emphasis on accessibility and usability. Ms. Ackerman was elected to the board in March of 2023.
NetGiver
323 N. Washington Ave., Suite #200
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Phone: (612) 642-1750
Miriam@netgiverapp.com
Bill Beardsley
Board Chair and President and Chief Lending Officer of Michigan Business Connection
After nearly a 20 year banking career in Michigan, Bill led the launch of Michigan Business Connection, LC in March 2004 and serves as its president and chief lending officer. MBC is a collaborative effort by credit unions throughout the State of Michigan to provide small business and commercial real estate financing. The MBC business model enhances sustainable lending capacity by allowing credit union lenders to share the risks and costs of commercial loan program management while collaboratively providing capital critical to Michigan’s economic prosperity. Since inception, MBC has helped the credit unions originate and manage over $1 Billion in financing for Michigan business owners and real estate investors. The company is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mr. Beardsley has been a member of the board since 2017.
Michigan Business Connection
2200 Commonwealth Blvd., Suite #200
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Phone: (734)926-4250
billb@mbcloans.biz
Nick Evens
Board Vice Chair and CEO of Curql Collective, LLC
Nick Evens is the President and CEO of Curql Collective, LLC. Nick cultivates opportunities to help fintech and credit unions collaborate on breakthrough technologies that minimize threats and successfully improve, disrupt and position the industry with a best-in-class member experience. Prior to leading Curql Collective, Nick was President of The Veridian Group, Inc. (TVG), the wholly-owned CUSO holding company of Veridian Credit Union, where he led investment strategy and direction for the $5.2B institution. Based in Waterloo, Iowa, TVG’s holdings include Veridian Insurance and Veridian Fiscal Solutions with total staff over 45 strong. During his tenure, Nick managed TVG’s more than ten direct minority investments in CUSO companies, positioning the organization with direct equity stakes in Dwolla, Alkami Technology and Moov Financial and committing approximately $10MM in six venture or seed capital funds. Mr. Evens was elected to the board in 2016.
Curql Collective, LLC
666 Walnut Street, Suite #2260
Des Moines, IA 50309
Phone: (319) 415-7064
nick@curql.com
Scott Collins
Board Secretary and EVP, National Sales & Marketplace Relationships
Scott Collins is the Executive Vice President of National Sales and Marketplace Relationships at CU*Answers and serves on the CUSO’s Executive Council. He joined CU*Answers in March of 2003, where he began his tenure as the President and first employee of Xtend, Inc., a multi-owned cooperative CUSO formed with the sole purpose of increasing the competitive advantage of its owing credit unions through aggregate buying, strategic partnerships, and shared resource services. During his fourteen (14) years leading Xtend, he oversaw the growth of the company to more than 75 employees and the development of a broad product and service portfolio that served more than 150 credit unions across the country. In March of 2017, Scott transitioned to his new role leading the national sales and collaboration efforts for CU*Answers.
Scott has a long history of supporting the Credit Union movement. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Hope College, he was hired by IBM Corporation in 1985. In his seven years at IBM, Scott occupied various sales and management positions, where his many clients included WESCO (the data processing CUSO that is now CU*Answers). After leaving IBM to pursue other opportunities, he continued to serve the credit union industry as an IT Consultant, working very closely with CU*Answers and its clients for nearly a decade.
Scott and his wife Penny are the proud parents of three boys, and although Scott is an avid golfer, the family finds time to enjoy many other outdoor activities such as camping, hunting and fishing.
CU*Answers, Inc
6000 28th Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546
Phone: (616) 285-5711 ext. 183
scollins@cuanswers.com
Mike Haggerty
Board Treasurer and COO of CommunityAmerica Credit Union
Mike Haggerty serves as Chief Operating Officer of CommunityAmerica Credit Union. CUSO One is a wholly owned subsidiary of CommunityAmerica Credit Union, providing white-labeled, full service financial, wealth, and mortgage services to credit unions across the nation and members all over the world. CUSO One also serves as the innovation lab for CommunityAmerica, a member centric team developing products and solutions to ease member pain points enabling their path to financial peace of mind. Mr. Haggerty is very active in both the Kansas City and financial community, currently serving as a board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Kansas City, the Directed Account Plan, and TruHome Solutions. He formerly served as a board member of Catholic Charities. Before joining CommunityAmerica, he worked as an auditor with KPMG and a wealth advisor for Smith Barney. Mr. Haggerty was originally elected to the board in 2022.
CommunityAmerica Credit Union
9777 Ridge Drive
Lenexa, KS 66219
Phone: (916)905-8116
mhaggerty@cacu.com
Neetu Bhagat
Director and Chief Financial Officer of Origence
Neetu Bhagat is the Chief Financial Officer at Origence, where she oversees financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting to ensure stability and growth. With over 25 years of experience, Neetu has played a key role in driving financial strategy and profitability. Prior to joining Origence in 2016, she was Senior Vice President/Controller at Ontellus, Inc., leading financial reporting and the annual budgeting process.
Neetu began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a Supervising Senior Associate and later worked at Actavis, Inc. as Associate Director of Financial Reporting. She has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, and cost analysis, contributing to organizational efficiency.
Neetu holds an MBA from Fore School of Management, a Bachelor of Commerce from Delhi University, and is a CPA in California. Ms. Bhagat was elected to the board in 2025.
Origence
18400 Von Karman Avenue, Suite #900
Irvine, CA 92612
Office: (909) 481-2307
Neetu.Bhagat@origence.com
Brandee Bickle
Director and VP of Governmental Affairs & Executive Projects
Brandee Bickle is the VP of Governmental Affairs and Executive Projects at Georgia’s Own Credit Union, where she leads advocacy strategies and builds consensus to advance the industry. With decades of experience shaping policy, she has played a key role in regulatory modernization for credit unions and CUSOs, focusing on fintech partnerships and financial innovation.
Before joining Georgia’s Own, Brandee served as Senior Advocacy Officer at Georgia Credit Union Affiliates, managing grassroots campaigns and PAC fundraising. She has earned national recognition for her advocacy, including being named Georgia’s top lobbyist (2019) and receiving the NAFCU Paul Revere Award (2023).
Brandee serves on several advocacy committees, including America’s Credit Unions’ Federal Advocacy Committee. She holds a BA from the University of Georgia and will graduate from Georgia State’s EMBA program in May 2025. Ms. Bickle was elected to the board in 2025.
Georgia’s Own Credit Union
100 Peachtree Street
Atlanta, GA 30303
bjbickle@georgiasown.org
Seth Brickman
Director and President of Ranqx
Seth Brickman is President of Ranqx (Small Business Lending CUSO). Mr. Brickman is an innovative, award-winning leader with a successful track record of building software products customers love to use and transforming businesses through the use of data-based decision making and conversion rate optimization.
As Head of Product for Amazon and leading high perfoming technical teams at Microsoft and Carnival Corporation, Mr. Brickman has seen many successes and has consistently grown customer satisfaction/engagement, revenue and EBITA.
As a veteran and nuclear engineer of the US Navy and MBA Adjunct Professor, Mr. Brickman gets to regularly interact with future leaders and also grow his own knowledge base. Mr. Brickman was elected to the Board in 2022.
Ranqx
1562 Boardwalk Pl
Gallatin, TN 37066
Phone: 425-949-6724
seth@ranqx.com
Brad Crandall
Director and CEO of The Servion Group
Brad Crandall serves as president and chief executive officer of The Servion Group, Inc., a Minnesota-based credit union service organization partnering with more than 450 credit unions and community banks around the country. Mr. Crandall joined The Servion Group (then C.U. Mortgage Services) in 1995. Over the next decade, he held a variety of roles including loan officer and vice president of production. He was named CEO in 2005. During his tenure as CEO, the company has expanded from its origins as a mortgage support organization for credit unions into a diversified organization providing a variety of solutions for financial institutions. The Servion Group was awarded the NACUSO CUSO of the Year award in 2018 as a recognition of excellence in innovation and collaboration in the industry. Active in the credit union movement, Mr. Crandall has presented for CUNA’s Lending Council, the National Association of CUSOs, and Prime Alliance Symposium. Mr. Crandall was elected to the board in 2021.
The Servion Group, Inc.
500 Main Street
New Brighton, MN 55112
Phone: (651)787-9525
bcrandall@myservion.com
Danielle Milner
Director and Chief Experience Officer of Community Financial Credit Union
Danielle Milner is the Chief Experience Officer at Community Financial Credit Union, a $1.6B organization in Plymouth, Michigan. In this role, she shapes and supports the credit union’s strategy, overseeing brand innovation, retail network transformation, and insights functions. Danielle also serves as the President & CEO of the credit union’s CUSO network, including Huzzah, LLC, and Room 39(a), a new research CUSO launched in 2025. Under her leadership, these organizations have achieved key milestones in infrastructure and investment portfolios.
Before joining Community Financial, Danielle was the Chief Strategy Officer at DO:BETTER, a branding firm she co-founded. She has also held senior leadership roles at Lake Trust Credit Union, driving organizational strategy and culture. Danielle holds an MBA from Cleary University and a BA from Michigan State University. She has been recognized by Forbes on their Next 1000 list and is passionate about driving impactful change in the credit union movement. Ms. Milner was elected to the board in 2025.
Community Financial Credit Union
500 S Harvey
Plymouth, MI 48170
dmilner@cfcu.org
Becky Reed
Board Chair Emeritus and Co-founder/Partner of PureIT CUSO
Becky Reed is a co-founder of the Credit Union Service Organization, PureIT CUSO, which provides technology infrastructure support and professional services to credit unions. She is a credit union industry veteran and thought leader with more than two decades of leadership in credit unions and CUSOs. In her most recent role as the CEO of Lone Star Credit Union, Becky led the organization through a complete digital transformation starting with a technology foundational remediation in 2016 which allowed the credit union to achieve economies of scale through increased efficiency. Ms. Reed is also CEO and Founder of BRaaS. Renowned for her unique perspective as both a credit union executive and CUSO leader, her expertise and advice are sought after by those who seek to embrace innovation. Ms. Reed was elected to the Board in 2018.
PureIT CUSO/BRaaS
14555 N Dallas Pkwy Ste 100
Dallas, TX 75254
Phone: (817) 909-3174
Becky@BRaaSconsulting.com
Mary Beth Spuck
Director and President/CEO of Resource One Credit Union
Mary Beth Spuck is the President/CEO of Resource One Credit Union. Prior to joining R1 in December, 2017, Mary Beth was the Chief Administrative Officer at TwinStar Credit Union where she oversaw Human Resources, Employee Development, Facilities, Operations, and Administration. In addition to being the CAO at TwinStar, Mary Beth was the CEO of The Paragon Consulting Group, a wholly owned CUSO. Mary Beth’s expertise in leadership, sales, member service, collaboration, and CUSO operations was honed over three decades within the financial services industry. Prior to joining TwinStar, Mary Beth worked for PEMCO Insurance Company where she managed 45 agents and support staff. Mary Beth started her career in the financial industry with Inspirus Credit Union, formerly School Employees Credit Union of Washington. Ms. Spuck was elected to the board in 2020.
Resource One Credit Union
P.O. Box 660077
Dallas, TX 75266-0077
Phone: (214) 565-5396
marybeth.spuck@r1cu.org
Dean Young
EVP/Chief Experience Officer Belera
Dean Young is the EVP/Chief Experience Officer at Velera, which serves the CUSO’s 800 Member-Owner credit unions across the country. Dean is responsible for leading cross-company collaboration efforts to create the strategy, design, engagement and execution of the CUSO’s member experience, as well as provide an added focus on service excellence and improvement initiatives for all stakeholders. Additionally, he will oversee all marketing and communications efforts. Dean joined then PSCU in 2005 with 15 years of financial services expertise focused on bringing the greatest value to partnerships. Prior to joining PSCU, Dean was a Vice President of Relationship Development for a subsidiary of Bankers Financial Corporation. Under his direction, the subsidiary experienced double-digit revenue growth as well as 95% client retention. During his 12-year career with the firm, he held various relationship development, sales, finance and operational leadership roles. Mr. Young was elected to the board in 2015.
Velera
560 Carillon Parkway
St. Petersburg, FL 33706
Phone: (727) 571-7982
dyoung@velera.com
Brian Lauer
General Counsel
Brian G. Lauer is a partner with the law firm of Messick Lauer & Smith P.C. in Media, Pennsylvania where he concentrates his practice on assisting credit unions, primarily through CUSOs, in finding effective ways to work collaboratively with other credit unions and third party service providers to serve their members with non-traditional products and services. Brian also assists credit unions and CUSOs navigate the sea of regulations affecting nearly every aspect of their day to day operations. Upon the retirement of Guy Messick at the end of 2020, Brian became NACUSO’s General Counsel in 2021. Brian will continue to serve as a liaison with the NCUA and other regulatory agencies for NACUSO. His law firm maintains a website at www.cusolaw.com. Mr. Lauer has been with NACUSO since 2006.
Messick Lauer & Smith P.C.
1055 E. Baltimore Pike, Suite #202
Media, PA 19063
Phone: (610) 891-9000
blauer@cusolaw.com
