Leadership – Summit Credit Union

Two groups, two very different jobs

Executive team

Who runs the credit union

Six officers carry operating responsibility for 412,000 members, $14.2 billion in assets and 42 branches.

Renata Villareal-Kim — President and Chief Executive Officer Joined Summit in 2007 as a consumer lender and became CEO in 2022. She spent her first year in the role working a shift at every branch. She reports to the board and is the only employee the board hires directly.

Desmond Achebe — Chief Financial Officer Owns the balance sheet, liquidity and the model that sets deposit yields and loan rates. A certified public accountant, he came to Summit in 2015 after a decade auditing financial institutions and publishes a quarterly rate memo to all staff.

Marguerite Falk — Chief Lending Officer Oversees mortgage, consumer and business lending. She rebuilt underwriting in 2023 to add a human review step for files a scorecard declines, which now reverses roughly one in seven of them. She still teaches the first-time buyer workshop.

Toshiro Bennett — Chief Operations Officer Responsible for the branch network, the contact centre and payments. He set the standard that a member calling 800.555.7846 in business hours reaches a person rather than a queue, and reports the answer times to the board monthly.

Alina Petrescu — Chief Technology and Security Officer Runs digital banking, core systems and fraud prevention. She led the 2024 core conversion that moved 412,000 accounts over a single weekend, and chairs the internal group that reviews every reported case of member fraud.

Grace Odum-Hall — Chief People Officer Handles hiring, pay and training for roughly 900 employees. She introduced the paid volunteer hours every employee now receives and publishes Summit's internal pay bands so staff can see the ladder they are on.

Why the board is unpaid, and why that matters

Summit's board has nine seats. Every one is held by an ordinary member who was nominated, put on a ballot, and elected at an annual meeting. Directors receive no salary, no fees, no retainer and no equity, because there is no equity in a credit union to grant. Summit reimburses documented travel to required regulatory training and nothing beyond that.

The practical effect is that a director has no financial reason to prefer growth over prudence. When the board debates whether to chase a higher-yielding loan book, nobody in the room gets paid more if the answer is yes. That is the structural difference between a member-owned institution and a shareholder-owned one, and it shows up most clearly in a bad year.

Directors serve three-year staggered terms, so roughly three seats come up each year. Any member in good standing may stand for election; a finance background helps but is not required, and new directors complete regulatory financial literacy training within six months. Nominations open each January, and you can ask about the process through contact us.

Board of directors

The officers, and what each one watches

Four officers plus five directors, all volunteers, all elected by the membership.

Willa Boureau — Board Chair A retired school superintendent and a Summit member since 1984. Elected in 2012, chair since 2020. She sets the agenda with the CEO and is usually the director asking what a policy change does to a member with a thin credit file.

Emmanuel Osei-Bonsu — Vice Chair Owns an independent pharmacy with eleven staff and has banked with Summit since he opened it. Elected in 2017, he chairs the governance committee that vets director nominations before every election.

Ruth Lindqvist — Treasurer Spent 26 years as a county budget director before retiring. Elected in 2019, she reviews the monthly financial package before it reaches the full board and insists the annual report stay readable by someone who has never seen a balance sheet.

Sam Okada — Secretary A journeyman electrician and third-generation member; his grandfather joined in 1951. Elected in 2021, he keeps the minutes, runs the ballot process for the annual meeting, and handles member correspondence to the board.

Nadia Sarwar — Director, supervisory committee chair A nurse practitioner elected in 2018. The supervisory committee she chairs hires the independent auditor and can investigate a member complaint on its own authority, reporting to the membership rather than to the CEO.

Theo Kalilombe — Director, foundation liaison Dean at a regional community college, elected in 2023. He sits on the Summit Foundation grant panel and pushed for scholarship awards to be usable for trade and apprenticeship programmes, not only four-year degrees.

Full roster

All nine directors and their terms

Terms are three years and staggered, so about three seats appear on the ballot each spring.

Director Role Current term ends

Willa Boureau Chair 2027 annual meeting

Emmanuel Osei-Bonsu Vice Chair, governance committee 2026 annual meeting

Ruth Lindqvist Treasurer, finance committee 2028 annual meeting

Sam Okada Secretary 2027 annual meeting

Nadia Sarwar Director, supervisory committee chair 2026 annual meeting

Theo Kalilombe Director, foundation liaison 2028 annual meeting

Colette Ferrand-Hays Director, agricultural and rural lending 2026 annual meeting

Bertrand Ilunga Director, risk committee 2027 annual meeting

Junie Marchetti Director, member experience 2028 annual meeting

All nine Compensation for board service None. Directors serve unpaid

This is a demonstration website; rates, products, and figures shown are illustrative only.

Common questions

About governance at Summit

Do directors really receive nothing?

Correct. Credit union directors serve as volunteers. Summit reimburses documented travel to required training and conferences and that is the whole of it. There are no director fees, no retainers and no stock, because a member-owned institution has no stock to issue.

Who decides what the executives are paid?

A board compensation committee benchmarks executive pay against credit unions of similar size and approves it. Aggregate salary and benefit expense appears in the annual report, and the board sets the CEO's pay without the CEO in the room.

What is the supervisory committee for?

It is a separate group of member volunteers that appoints the independent auditor and can investigate complaints on its own authority. It reports to the membership, not to management, so a member who feels wrongly treated can escalate outside the normal chain.

Can I stand for the board?

Yes, if you are a member in good standing. Nominations open each January through the governance committee, and members can also be nominated by petition. Expect one board meeting a month, committee work, and required training in your first six months.

How do I raise something with the board directly?

Write through contact us and mark it for the board of directors. The chair reviews member correspondence before each monthly meeting, and you can also speak during the open portion of the annual meeting.

Owners get a say

Join with $5 and you can vote in the next director election, or come work here yourself.