Skip to main content

Insider Forum Podcasts

Insider Forum Podcast

The Insider Forum podcasts offer listeners a regular series of interviews with leading credit union executives associated with the Cooperative Credit Union Association.

New Insider Forum Podcasts

Capstone Strategic: Crafting a Tactical Path to Success with External Growth

John Dearing of Capstone Strategic joins the Insider Forum to discuss their focus on helping credit unions with strategic planning and external growth initiatives. Capstone specializes in growth and planning areas, such as mergers, partnerships, and fintech collaborations. Dearing emphasizes the importance of having a structured approach and highlights a recent project where Capstone assisted a credit union in expanding its non-interest income through CUSOs.

Building Success: Designing and Branding Financial Institutions the NES Group

Gregg Rosen, President of the NES Group, joins the Insider Forum to discuss how NES works with financial institutions on their building and branding. Rosen prides himself and the NES Group on listening to credit unions' pain points and guiding them towards successful strategic plans. Through these processes, NES Group is committed to thinking differently, adapting to changes, and providing unique solutions tailored to each credit union's identity and goals.

Navigant CU: Reflections on a Year of Transformation and Leadership

Kathy Orovitz of Navigant Credit Union, joins the Insider Forum to reflect on her one-year anniversary of being CEO. Orvitz discusses her journey from an 18 year old teller to CEO, and emphasizes the balance between planned transformations and adapting to economic challenges. The conversation touches on Orvitz's experience as a female CEO, community engagement, and Navigant's future vision.

MemberClose: Simplifying the Lending Process

Melissa Pomeroy, CCUA Chief Revenue Officer and MemberClose Board Chair, joins the Insider Forum to emphasize the benefits of utilizing the MemberClose online dashboard. Pomeroy highlights the simplified “one-stop-shop for credit unions” covering every residential lending need. Hear more about the nationwide growth of the financial services provider, and how MemberClose plans to increase partnerships to address various needs for credit unions.

National Credit Center: Reduce Costs and Save Money

Kyle Wayland, Director of Sales at National Credit Center, joins the Insider Forum to share that NCC helps credit unions reduce costs associated with pulling credit reports by leveraging their partnership with all three credit bureaus. Wayland emphasizes that the goal is to save credit unions money, allowing allocation of those savings to member-driven initiatives.

Posh: Using Chatbots to Effectively Communicate

Nick Leonard, Senior Vice President of Posh, joins the Insider Forum to emphasize Posh's focus on language-based artificial intelligence chatbots for effective communication with credit union members. Leonard highlights the accessibility and affordability of Posh's AI services for smaller credit unions, providing examples of successful implementation with Somerville Federal Credit Union.

ViClarity: The Significance of Staying Informed

Kyle Kubiak, Business Development Manager of Viclarity, joins the Insider Forum to highlight the significance of staying
informed and compliant in a dynamic regulatory landscape. Kubiak outlines the array of services ViClarity offers CCUA member credit unions, and emphasizes the importance of compliance, regulatory information, and education.

Alera Group’s Innovative and Scalable Approach to Healthcare Costs

John Clark, Senior Partner at Alera Group, joins the Insider Forum to discuss how Alera helps credit unions provide robust
employee benefits in a cost-efficient manner. Clark emphasizes their innovative and scalable approach to tackling rising
healthcare costs. Hear more about Alera’s diverse services beyond cost containment that address the unique needs of credit unions.

Newcleus CU Advisors Approach to Financial Cooperative Support

John Moreno, Managing Partner at Newcleus Credit Union Advisors, joins the Insider Forum to discuss their specialization in deferred compensation, compensation consultation, and charitable donation accounts for credit unions. Moreno explains how CDAs allow credit unions to use investment vehicles to contribute to 501(c)(3) organizations, estimating that credit unions could be forgoing millions annually in charitable donations. He also emphasizes aligning charitable goals with the credit union's mission and marketing strategy, showcasing their distinct approach to financial cooperative support.

New England Money Handling Systems at Somerville CU

Ron Draper, CEO of Somerville Credit Union, and Hank Veloso, Account Manager for New England Money Handling Systems, join the Insider Forum to discuss the transformative impact of implementing a cash recycler at Somerville Credit Union. Draper highlights how the new technology improves processing time, accuracy, and security, while Veloso emphasizes the collaborative and successful relationship with credit unions, showcasing the efficiency of the cash recycler across various credit union environments.

Back to top of page

Apex 2023 Podcasts

 

MemberClose Unveils New Mortgage Academy

Bryce Jackson, MemberClose COO, joins the Insider Forum after launching the new Mortgage Academy educational program at APEX 2023. Jackson highlights the comprehensive 8-module curriculum that aims to enhance expertise in real estate lending, covering topics such as consumer rights, credit reports, and debt-to-income ratios. Hear how the Mortgage Academy provides an affordable and flexible educational opportunity, empowering credit unions to expand their mortgage services and retain top talent.

Glide and Janusea: Streamlining CU Account Opening

Gautman Ajjarapu, Co-founder and CEO of Glide, and Kyle Stutzman, Co-founder and CEO of Janusea, join the Insider forum to discusses their new collaboration. Glide focuses on creating a frictionless account opening platform for credit unions, aiming to streamline the process and attract younger members. Janusea complements Glide by simplifying integrations with core systems, eliminating barriers, and enabling credit unions to innovate seamlessly.

CULCT Hispanic Outreach Part 1

James Higgins, President and CEO of Skyline Financial Credit Union in Connecticut, joins the Insider Forum to highlight Skyline Financial Federal Credit Union’s focus on grassroots community outreach, innovation, as well as a deep commitment to inclusivity. Higgins also notes the credit union’s recent infrastructure upgrades, education series launch, and the other successful membership impact initiatives.

CULCT Hispanic Outreach Part 2

Vanessa Kuduk, VP of Lending at Members Credit Union, joins the Insider Forum to discuss her immigrant journey and
Members Credit Union’s mission to serve Hispanic and immigrant populations in Connecticut. Kuduk highlights the commitment to breaking barriers, ensuring financial access, and celebrates MCU purchasing its first building after 85 years of renting!

Back to top of page

2023 CU Marketplace Podcasts

 

Cyber Showcase: Array Financial Wellness 

Jacob Bouer, Director of Sales and Partnerships for Banking at Array, joins the Insider Forum to discuss how Array provides an embeddable platform for financial wellness. Bouer emphasizes the importance of keeping members within the credit union's digital ecosystem by offering credit monitoring and relevant financial products based on credit reports, ultimately enhancing member engagement and decision-making.

Cyber Showcase: Illuma Voice Authentication 

Milind Borkar, CEO of Illuma, joins the Insider Forum to discuss their cutting-edge voice authentication solutions for credit unions, addressing concerns related to member experience, operational efficiencies, and security in contact centers. Borkar emphasizes how Illuma's passive voice authentication helps combat fraud by enhancing security while maintaining a convenient and pleasant member experience.

Back to top of page

NetGiver & We CU Care

 

Introducing NetGiver 

Eric Berg, NetGiver’s president and co-founder, joins the Insider Forum to discuss how their donation platform eliminates fees for credit union members, and donors contributing to nonprofits. Berg highlights the enormous transaction fees normally associated with online giving and emphasizes the importance of maximizing every dollar when supporting social responsibility initiatives.

Homerun for Community Engagement with NetGiver 

Eric Berg, NetGiver’s president and co-founder, joins the Insider Forum again to discuss an event introducing the NetGiver – CCUA partnership. Credit union professionals and nonprofits gather for a "Home Run for Community Engagement” at Polar Park to network, and learn how NetGiver can enhance community engagement and social responsibility initiatives.

Back to top of page

APEX 2022 Podcasts

 

Bruce Adams, President/CEO Credit Union League of Connecticut

Bruce Adams is featured on this episode of the Insider Forum podcast detailing more fun & exciting things to happen at APEX 2022, October 12-14 at Mohegan Sun.

Countdown to APEX 2022 with Ron McLean

Listen as CCUA President/CEO, Ron McLean highlights what's to come at APEX 2022 at Mohegan Sun, October 12-14. 

Featured Guest - Kevin Barosso, Mohegan Sun

Podcast host, Isaiah Moskowitz, chats with Kevin Barosso, Director of Convention Sales for Mohegan Sun, on all the incredible things Mohegan Sun has to offer.

Featured Guest - nCino

Featuring Trevor Mendel, Regional Vice President, this episode delves into how, nCino streamlines all customer and employee interactions within a single cloud-based Bank Operating System® that drives increased efficiency, transparency, profitability and regulatory compliance across all lines of business. 

Featured Guest - Digital Align

Kevin Murphy, VP of Sales and Business Development for Digital Align shares information about how they are focused on helping financial institutes build a sustainable, reliable and engaging multi-channel digital platform with omni-channel experience to deliver a consistent experience and help deepen relationships with their customers or members, while increasing service and sales efficiency.

Featured Guest - Jonathan Taylor

Jonathan Taylor, CEO of CU Sol, shares his passion for providing credit unions ‘Solutions with Soul’ with host Isaiah Moskowitz. Among the company’s initiatives: A Date with Data Summit, featuring experts from all aspects of the Credit Union Data Journey for credit unions of all sizes, and the CU Safe Initiative, which provides a hand up for survivors of domestic violence and abuse. 

Featured Guest - Ron Draper

Ron Draper, President/CEO of Somerville Municipal Federal Credit Union and Board Chair for the Cooperative Credit Union Association, and Isaiah Moskowitz, founder/CEO of LTI Business Solutions, share key strategies and sales tactic tips to help vendors capitalize at CU Marketplace and introduce a special podcast offer for vendors attending the event.

Featured Guest - Melissa Pomeroy

Baseball, Credit Unions and Data. Melissa Pomeroy, CCUA’s Chief Revenue Officer, and host Isaiah Moskowitz discuss the similarities between baseball and credit unions – from a data-based point of view. Listen as they explore the amount of data available and how credit unions can appropriately organize and effectively use data to retain and attract members. 

Featured Guest - LTI Business Solutions

Media Buying with LTI Business Solutions

The tables were turned on Isaiah Moskowitz, founder/CEO of LTI Business Solutions and host of the Insider Forum, when he sat down with Walt Laskos, CCUA’s chief communications officer to discuss media buying. Listen as Moskowitz announces an amazing opportunity for credit unions to save money on advertising while contributing to their state charity and supporting the CCUA.  

Featured Guest - Alera Group

Better Together Michael McKenna and Sukhi Bahal, of the Alera Group, join host Isaiah Moskowitz to explore how using combined purchasing power to solve affordability problem in employee benefits will save credit unions and their employees money. Discover the advantages of working with the experts at the Alera Group to understand the complexities of bundled health insurance plans, and the lower costs and sustainable savings offered through their proprietary NexGen program.

 

Back to top of page