Bill Cheney / President & CEO, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union

As President and CEO of SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union in Santa Ana, Calif., Bill works closely with the credit union’s Board of Directors and teammembers to lead one of the largest, most progressive credit unions in the nation, while strongly adhering to the timeless credit union value of maximizing service to the credit union’s Members on a not-for-profit basis.

SchoolsFirst FCU is the largest credit union in California and the fifth largest in the United States by asset size, with more than 750,000 Members, and over $13 billion in assets.

Before joining SchoolsFirst, Cheney was president and CEO of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), the nation’s largest advocacy group for credit unions. As leader of the national trade group, Bill worked in Washington, D.C. and throughout the country to represent America’s credit unions and their more than 99 million members before the White House, Congress, federal government agencies, the press and the public.

Bill has played an active role in the credit union movement for more than 30 years, beginning in community-based and employee-based credit unions, then as a leader in the state league system, the national trade group, and now as the CEO of SchoolsFirst FCU.

Bill earned his BBA at The University of Texas at Austin. He completed the Advanced Leadership Institute at Harvard Business School and the CUES Director’s Leadership Institute at the London Business School.

Bill and his wife Crissy live in Santa Ana, California. They have two grown children – Catherine, a journalist living in Northern California and Will, a teacher living in New Hampshire.

Brett Christensen / Owner, CU Lending Advice, LLC

Brett is the owner of CU Lending Advice, LLC. As such, he consults and conducts training sessions on various lending topics to professionals that work in the credit union industry. His personal and entertaining speaking style have also made him a popular and sought out speaker in the credit union industry.

Prior to forming his own company, Brett worked as a lending consultant and trainer for Lending Solutions Consulting, Inc. of Elgin, IL. Prior to his job at Lending Solutions, Brett was the Chief Sales Officer of APPRO Systems, Inc. which purchased the Loan Link Lending Center, which Brett managed as the President for three years.

Prior to his work at Loan Link, Brett was the Vice President of Lending & Sales at Clark County Credit Union in Las Vegas, Nevada. He also worked for five years as a civil engineering officer in the United States Air Force.

He has earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 1987, and a Master’s of Business Administration degree from the University of Phoenix in 1991.

Kirk Drake / Founder, Credit Union 2.0

Kirk Drake is a lifelong entrepreneur, author, and founder of Credit Union 2.0. He is a credit union and technology enthusiast who built nine successful businesses, notably the Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) Ongoing Operations, CU Wallet – a mobile wallet venture, Resistance Wine Company, and several additional lifestyle e-commerce/mobile platforms.

Kirk harnessed the power of inbound marketing, generating over 500 blog articles, twelve books, created a lead scoring system, and developed a digital engagement strategy resulting in over 100 leads per month.

In 2016, Kirk harnessed his 25 years of industry experience to write Credit Union 2.0: A Guide to Helping Credit Unions Compete in the Digital Age. His second book – Financial – Artificial Intelligence for bankers will be published in 2019.

Kirk is a featured speaker with over 100 previous appearances at conferences, including The California Credit Union League, CU Leaders, PSCU Annual Conference, Cornerstone Credit Union League, and many more. He helps audiences understand the current state of credit unions, the imminent need to adapt into current digital technologies, and how to regain crucial market share in the banking industry.

When Kirk isn’t busy helping credit unions be relevant in today’s digital age, he loves spending time with his beautiful wife Kimberly and their three amazing kids. They are also starting a vineyard in their beautiful new hometown of Ashland, Oregon.

Bruce A. Pearson / Senior Partner, SW&M

Bruce Pearson is a senior partner at the law offices of Styskal, Wiese & Melchione, LLP (“SW&M”). SW&M has been involved in the financial institution movement since 1936 when its founding partners began practicing law. Bruce has over twenty-four years of experience representing the industry. He provides clients with results oriented, practical and strategic legal and business advice focusing upon corporate governance, insurance coverage, operations and regulatory matters. Bruce’s past credit union work experience provides the firm’s clients with a valuable “in the trenches” perspective.

Bruce received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois where he majored in Russian, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated Cum Laude in 1985. While working for a credit union, he attended Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1992. He is licensed to practice in the state of Arizona, California, New York, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

Bruce is a frequently requested speaker and teacher at credit union industry meetings and events; he is on the faculty of Western CUNA Management School and regularly trains senior management and volunteers on fiduciary duties and responsibilities, vendor contract negotiations and is a main speaker at SW&M’s annual legal update seminars.

Art Sookazian / President of National Credit Union Collections Alliance (NCUCA)

Art Sookazian serves as the Vice President of Special Services and Risk Management for Los Angeles Federal Credit Union (LAFCU). In addition, he is the President of the National Credit Union Collections Alliance (NCUCA). The NCUCA is a nationwide collections organization for credit unions providing networking, best practices, and educational services. He oversees collections, recoveries, litigation, repossessions, and remarketing at LAFCU. He has twenty years of experience in collections at both captive finance and credit union industries. Art has worked at some of the leading captive finance companies including Toyota Financial Services, Lexus Financial Services, and Isuzu Motors Acceptance Corp. Prior to his time at Los Angeles Federal Credit Union, Art served as the Vice President of Collections at Xceed Financial Credit Union. Art has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from The University of Virginia. In 2016, Art was awarded the CU Times Trailblazer 40 Below award for his success overseeing collections programs at credit unions while forming the NCUCA.

Alana Anaya, Esq. / Principal & Owner, Anaya Law Group

Ms. Anaya has proudly been representing credit unions, corporate clients and real estate brokerages for over twenty two years. She also is a California Real Estate Broker. Ms. Anaya handles all aspects of litigation, regularly provides legal review and guidance on contracts/transaction matters, handles bankruptcy matters on behalf of creditors and engages in skilled negotiation tactics to maximize all settlement opportunities. Ms. Anaya regularly conducts arbitrations and trials. When clients need guidance backed by experience, Ms. Anaya can prove to be an asset to assist through any difficult or complex matter and can provide the legal guidance needed for a successful conclusion. Ms. Anaya regularly provides ongoing legal education and updates to credit unions and the real estate industry on various current topics of interest and participates regularly as a speaker at local and national venues.

Thomas J. Prenovost, Jr. / Managing Principal Attorney

Education:

• Loyola Law School (Los Angeles), Juris Doctor Degree, 1977
• University of California, Los Angeles, Graduate Studies in Architecture and Urban Planning, 1973-1974
• California State University, Long Beach, Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science/Public Administration, “Cum Laude”, 1972

Practice Areas:

• Automobile Law & Dealership
• Banking Law/ Commercial Litigation
• Creditor’s Bankruptcy Law
• Civil Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Corporate Law
• Credit Unions
• Financial Institutions
• Real Estate Law

Admitted To Practice In:

• United States Supreme Court
• California Supreme Court
• All California Courts of Appeal
• All Federal, State and Bankruptcy Courts in California

Professional Profile:

• Managing Principal of Prenovost, Normandin, Bergh, & Dawe (1984-Present)
• Director – California Credit Union Collectors Council – Orange County Chapter (2012-2017)
• Director – California Domestic Water Company (2015 – present)
• Top 100 Irish Attorney in U.S.A. (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
• Planning Commissioner for the City of Brea (1998-2013)
• Parks & Recreation Commissioner, City of Brea (1996-1998)
• Served on the Board of Governors for Loyola Law School (1995)
• Served on the Board of the St. Vincent de Paul Society (1996)
• Associate Professor at Chapman University (1977-1983)
• Founder (2000) and President (2010-2012) of the Celtic Bar Association of Orange County
• Speaker on various topics, including “Current Legal Issues” and “Update on Legal Lending Issues” at California Bankers and Lenders Conference
• Brea-Olinda High School Football Booster President (1994-1999)
• Member of American Bar Association, Orange County Bar Association, Debt Collection, Bankruptcy and Real Estate Sections, Community Bankers of California, California Bankers Association, American Financial Services Association, Mortgage Bankers Association of America, and Trial Lawyers Association of America
• Member of the California Association of REALTORS® (“C.A.R.”) Attorney Referral Panel (2006 to present)
• Expert Witness
• California Licensed Real Estate Broker
• Judge Pro-Tem, Orange County Superior Court (1983-1988)

Detective Michael Gomez with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD)

Detective Gomez has been employed with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for 17 years. For over the last 11 years, he has been a part of the Financial Crimes section which investigates Frauds, Forgeries and Identity Theft. Detective Gomez is also a member of the Electronic Crime Task Force of the Secret Service.

Detective Gomez is trained in Virtual Crypto Currency investigations, network intrusion response, cellular and Wi-Fi analysis, Social Media investigations, Synthetic Identities and Detection of Counterfeit documents. Detective Gomez teaches at the LVMPD police academy as well as instructs various public groups on ways to avoid becoming a victim of Financial Crimes.

Sergeant Roger Palmer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD)

Sergeant Palmer has been employed with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for 20 years. For the last 3 years, he has been assigned to the Financial Crimes section. He has worked a variety of investigative assignments covering person and property crimes, including conducting numerous covert and overt investigations. He is currently a member of a Financial Crimes Task Force.

With a large tourism industry based around gambling, there is a constant issue of monetary based financial crimes. Nevada continues to be in the top states for financial crimes and identity theft, which has resulted in a wide range of financial investigation types. LVMPD’s Financial Crimes Section averages over 25 new cases every day, which provides a wide knowledge base of current trends affecting the financial industry.

Gregory Allen / Founder & CEO of Pairity

Gregory Allen is the Founder and CEO of, Pairity, and well versed in the mathematics of machine learning and artificial intelligence. He grew up in Westchester, NY and studied applied mathematics at MIT and the University of Maryland. In 2008, as a student, he sold his first technology in the form of high frequency trading algorithms, which are still in use to this day, and began a career developing intellectual property in the field of algorithmic modeling for the financial and health care industries. Three years ago, he began researching his current endeavor of developing artificial intelligence powered software as it applies to the consumer debt industry. From designing usable technology to composing music, Greg, brings and unprecedented level of passion to every challenge he faces and is leading Pairity to innovate across an entire industry.

Abhishek Goel / Founder, Chief Data Scientist and CEO of Dasceq

Abhishek is agile data science and strategy leader with over 15 years of experience in developing and implementing innovative solutions across customer lifecycle.

He is the CEO and Founder and Chief Data Scientist for Dasceq.com. Dasceq is Transforming Collection with Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Big Data. Dasceq is a Thought Leader on how to lead data and AI centric collection.

Abhishek has successfully bootstrapped analytics practices and multiplied revenue for multiple business units as part of Big 4, global financial services and fintech companies. He has created and improved analytical solutions for employers and clients that have saved or improved profit by more than $2 Billion+. He has experience working and providing consulting and strategy services to C-Level executives of global financial institutions as CiitBank, Elevate, Think Finance, US Bank, Synchrony etc. He has build high frequency fraud models for Trillions of $$ worth of transaction, managed a book of $7bn+ credit card portfolio and build bust out models impacting more than $50bn of portfolio. He has in-depth industry knowledge of Compliance and Risk and third party dataset and worked with multiple vendors in the area including all prime and non prime bureaus, social media data to name a few.

Abhishek is passionate to give back through teaching how to learn and apply data science. He is adjunct professor and advisor teaching data science concepts and applications to various professional, corporates and graduate programs as Springboard.com, SMU and UTD. He is regular speaker at local and national data science conference. He has been guest speaker in multiple local Data Science and Data Visualizations Forums, Graph Connect – 2017, Tech Titans, Dataversity Keynote Speaker etc.

Ian Frame / Field Sales – Auto Finance at CARFAX

Ian Frame is a licensed attorney with more than a decade of experience in the automotive industry. Ian has established himself as a highly successful consultant at CARFAX, advising some of the largest credit unions and captive finance arms in the nation on proprietary CARFAX solutions designed to assist lenders throughout the auto loan lifecycle. In a recent collaboration with major lenders and insurance companies, Ian utilized machine learning to help develop fraud indicators that integrate with loan origination platforms and feed directly into lender scorecards. Ian retains an impressive cache of knowledge on key topics in the auto lending space, including: machine learning, collateral fraud, big data and more.

Nathan Anderson / Sales Director at Interactions LLC

Nathan Anderson is Sales Director for Interactions, the largest stand alone AI company in the world focused on leveraging a blend of artificial intelligence and machine learning, with the human touch, to elevate the communication process. Nathan joined Interactions in 2018 and is focused on educating and connecting companies in the credit and collections industry to Interactions’ World Class Solutions.

Before Interactions, Nathan spent the last two decades in the credit and collections industry starting as a collector back in 1995 and most recently as Director of Operations for Account Control Technology. Thru his career, Nathan has consistently utilized technology and process innovation to drive efficiency and create real market differentiators. Nathan’s experience spans across credit card, auto, mortgage, utilities, and student loan verticals to name a few.

Rozanne Andersen / Vice President & Chief Compliance Officer at Ontario Systems

Rozanne Andersen, J.D., serves as Ontario Systems VP and Chief Compliance Officer. She leads the company’s compliance products, services, and consulting initiatives. Her 28+ years of experience includes roles as general counsel, chief lobbyist, executive vice president and CEO of ACA International. As a frequent presenter and consultant on CFPB-related compliance topics, Rozanne is recognized nationally for her advocacy work on behalf of the credit and collection industry resulting in landmark FDCPA, FCRA, and HIPAA reforms.

Mike Cantrell / President at Solutions by Text

Mike Cantrell serves as President for Solutions by Text (SBT). Mike currently oversees all domestic and international communication product offerings including: consulting, text message services, smart URL strategies, text pay implementation and numerous strategic business partnerships. Mike and his team have been consulted the banking/consumer finance, utilities, auto finance, insurance and governmental industries since 2010.

Prior to joining SBT in 2009, Mike served for eighteen years as National Director of Customer Acquisition for Bally Total Fitness Corporation, with responsibilities including strategic partnerships and member conversion.

Mr. Cantrell holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University. Mike has been married for 25+ years and has 4 kids including triplets!

Jerad Broaddus / Vice President of Loan Services, Partners Federal Credit Union (PFCU)

Jerad has worked in the financial services industry for over 20 years; with most of that experience being in leadership roles within inbound/outbound contact centers. Jerad has been in the credit union industry now for 8 years and has no desire to move back to banking! Jerad prefers working within credit union’s because they are focused upon servicing the member. In his current role at PFCU Jerad is responsible for the development and implementation of collection, loan servicing, loss mitigation, repossession and recovery strategies. He will graduate with his MBA from Southeastern University in August 2019

On his move from Tucson, AZ to Orlando, FL in 2015, “Heat is heat. Dry, or wet…it’s just plain hot.”

Shelly Frank / National Accounts Director, Dealers Auto Auction of the Rockies and Southwest

Shelly has been employed in the Auction business for over 12 years, working in various executive levels in both marketing and operations. Prior to that, she has served in various management capacities on the lending side of the business, serving as Repossession and Remarketing Supervisor at Fireside Bank, and as Branch Manager at WFS Financial. Working on both sides of the business, Shelly has gained a unique understanding of the operational needs of an auction from the lender’s as well as auction’s perspective. Shelly’s current position of National Accounts Director for Dealers Auto Auction of the Rockies and Southwest allows for her to build relationships with various Credit Unions and Financial companies across the United States. Her unique understanding of all facets of the industry have proven valuable to the auctions she represents as well as the clients she serves. Shelly also spends her time with trade organizations, serving on the Board for the CCUCC Sacramento Chapter as well as being on the Compliance Team for the Independent Auction Group. Her Auction expertise assists various lenders with gaining an understanding of the auction processes as well as offering a secure, professional and trustworthy platform with which to sell vehicles in the most efficient and mutually profitable manner possible. Shelly is fairly new to the NCUCA annual conference and is looking forward to meeting each attendee and exchanging ideas and philosophies, and is excited to answer any questions they may have.

Dawn Rogers / Collections Manager at Arizona Federal Credit Union (AZFCU)

Dawn Rogers serves as the Collections Manager for a 1.6 billion dollar credit union, Arizona Federal Credit Union (AZFCU). In addition, she is the President of the Arizona Credit Union Collector’s Council (ACUCC). The ACUCC is an Arizona based collections organization specifically for Credit Unions, providing opportunities for education, networking, and best practice sharing. She oversees collections, recoveries, repossession and remarketing for AZFCU. She has twenty plus years of experience in collections and financial services at both Credit Unions and Large Banks. She has played a key role in two of the largest system conversions in banking history. Dawn’s first love is training where she managed new hire as well as on-going training and leadership learning for sites in excess of 2,500 employees.

Ken Evancic / Vice President, Resource Management Services

Ken Evancic is a collections veteran with over 20 years experience, managing more than 1200 collectors, and multiple portfolio types. He has managed all phases of collection, including all levels of delinquency, automated dialer units, early out agency management, recovery, and skip tracing. In addition to collections operations management, he has lead initiatives in the areas of performance management, collections strategy development, collector and manager training, collector desktop design, collections reporting systems, and risk and compliance.

Prior to joining Resource Management Services, Inc. in 2011, Ken was a Sr. Vice President and Collections Director at Citi Cards. His responsibilities included the consumer and partnership credit card portfolios. In addition to this responsibility, Ken played the lead role in developing Citi’s current collections performance management system. Prior to Citi, Ken worked at AT&T Universal Card where his career started as a collector and moved throughout collections with roles as a dialer operator, Front Line manager, and a Vice President Collections Operations manager.

Ann Davidson / Vice President of Risk Consulting, Allied Solutions

Ann has over 40 years assisting credit unions in identifying areas of risk in their operations and recommends appropriate loss controls to reduce loss exposure.

In her past experience she has worked in claims, underwriting and risk management in helping credit unions manage their risks. Ann is frequently asked to speak by various organizations on a variety of topics related to fraud risk. She also provides training for credit union employees and is considered an expert on payments. Ann often conducts training seminars on electronic payments, cards, ACH and wires.

Ann attended the University of Wisconsin and is associated with many industry experts as it relates to managing risk. In her spare time, she spends time with her family, enjoys snow skiing and volunteering with various groups.

Scott Wilder / Fraud Manager, CFE at Toyota/Lexus Financial Services

Scott Wilder has been employed by Toyota Financial Services (TFS) over the past 10 years as Fraud Control Manager. In this capacity he manages a high performing team of Fraud Investigators with dual objectives of detection/prevention in originations and recovery/loss mitigation. Scott is a believer in education, training, and collaboration between the auto finance industry and law enforcement in order to fight fraud. Partnering is critical not only to detect fraud but to help law enforcement enforce penalties against the fraudsters. His Fraud Team conducts regular training sessions within the TFS organization and Toyota/Lexus dealerships to improve fraud awareness in the credit approval process.

Scott is a former Chairperson of the Auto Finance Coalition, (AFC), which is a sub-committee of the IAFCI and serves as a platform for members to collaborate in sharing information to help fight fraud. In this capacity he has presented as an authority on topics of Auto Finance fraud at a number of conferences.

He is designated as a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).

G. A. “Jay” Mossman, III / Founder & CEO at AKUVO

Jay started his career as a software developer with Mellon Bank. He continued his banking career at RebublicBank in Dallas and BankOne in technology but eventually migrated to the business side of banking, with a focus in wealth management. Jay was recruited by Safeguard Scientifics in the early 90’s to become CEO of Premier Systems, which was one of Safeguard’s largest fintech investments. When Jay was brought in by Safeguard, Premier had just been written up in the Wallstreet Journal as the largest software failure in banking history. It had a negative cash flow of $1mm per month on $4mm in revenue, no referenceable customers and $50mm of outstanding lawsuits. Within 18 months Jay led the turnaround of the company to be cash positive and eventually grew revenue 9 times within 5 years, eventually selling the company to Sungard.

After years of working for banks and being CEO of a software company, Jay started his own company in the late 90’s. The beginnings were an incubator which Jay incubated 6 separate companies. In October of 2000 Jay founded what would become Akcelerant which when sold to Temenos in 2015 had over 600 credit unions as customers and a 70% share of credit unions over $1b running his collection or origination software.

In February 2020 Jay launched a new company that is focused on delivering AI driven solutions for the credit union industry. This time Jay is sharing the success with credit unions as his new venture is a CUSO.

Jay has been received many awards over his career, such as, Inc. Magazine Turnaround of the Year, and he has received citations from both the house and senate of Pennsylvania for his technology contributions and leadership.

Jay is an active technology investor having ownership in over a dozen companies. He recently has been involved in impact investing, helping those that normally would not receive funding to start a venture due to their background or income status.

Jay has been married for 41 years, has two children and 6 grandchildren.

Shantanu Gangal, CEO at Prodigal

Shantanu Gangal is the CEO of Prodigal. Prodigal improves compliance and boosts revenues by running Artificial Intelligence (AI) models on the richest source of data — the phone calls the team makes to your members. Each month, Prodigal analyzes into close to 2 million phone calls to find insights for customers as well as continuously refine the models further. Prodigal is backed by Y-Combinator and other leading Venture investors from the Bay Area.

Before founding Prodigal, Shantanu was the Head of Data Science & Analytics at Fundbox, an online lender that has raised over $500m. At Fundbox, Shantanu leveraged Machine Learning (ML) to drive value across acquisition, underwriting and of course, Collections!
Shantanu is an MBA from Wharton (University of Pennsylvania) and a gold medalist in CS from IIT Bombay. He lives in Mountainview, CA with his wife and a toddler!!

Mike Schatzman, CEO at Technology Systems Solutions

I have been working at or for credit unions since 1988. I have been writing Symitar PowerOns since 1994. Today I am the CEO of Technology Systems Solutions (TSS). I founded TSS, in 2001, with the goal to help credit unions realize the power of their Symitar System. I combine my experience with the technical aspects of the Symitar Episys system and my knowledge of the business and functional aspects of running a credit union. I grew my knowledge of the collections process and Symitar’s Collections package in 2008 because of growing number of credit unions that needed a more robust offering in those difficult times. I have used PowerOns to help collections professionals create tools to track collections processes such as; bankruptcies, repossessions, outsourced accounts, and legal processes. I have helped collection managers create reports to track productivity and results. I have helped collections executives create reports to analyze collections portfolios to recognize trends and anticipate future needs.

William Perrella, Business Development at Sentry Credit, Inc.

William Perrella is Director of National Sales for Sentry Credit Inc. a leading ARM firm based out of Everett, WA specializing in Financial Services, Education, Credit Union and Mortgage receivables.

William joined Sentry Credit Inc in May of 1998. His responsibilities with Sentry Credit Inc. have included hiring and training collection staff, managing up to 40 collectors, developing relationships with new clients and servicing existing clients. A majority of his focus over the last 25 years has been improving front line collections by bringing out the best of the collectors he has trained. William has been recognized as one of the top performers in the collection industry.

Prior to joining Sentry Credit Inc. William worked for 5 years with Continental Credit/OSI as both a collector and manager. Here, he was responsible for Financial, State and Telcom collections.