About Us
We Are a Financial Cooperative That Exists to Actively Serve Our Membership
Governance
Doing the Right Thing Comes Naturally
In the Credit Union tradition, BECU has developed fair and ethical guiding principles designed to serve our membership. This includes open communication about our financial standing. BECU is a cooperative society organized under Washington state law as a nonprofit corporation. BECU promotes thrift among its members and creates a source of credit for them at fair and reasonable rates of interest. BECU is dedicated to "people helping people" and will strive to serve its members by providing superior financial products and services.
Board of Directors
As a member-owned cooperative, BECU is governed by a Board of Directors that is responsible for guiding the general direction of the credit union in the best interests of the membership and in accordance with BECU bylaws. We are proud to have this group of qualified professionals dedicate their time to serve BECU.
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee provides oversight of the audit function of the credit union as well as the safety and soundness of the credit union through monitoring risks and controls associated with its business objectives, strategies, and plans.
Stipends
By paying a reasonable stipend to Officials for their time and effort, BECU enhances its ability to attract and retain well-qualified Officials who can further BECU's purpose and strategic goals in a safe and sound manner. Serving as an Official of BECU requires a substantial commitment of time and effort and well-qualified individuals are in demand by other organizations to serve in governance capacities. Consequently, BECU believes that the payment of stipends to its Officials is in BECU's best interests.
BECU and an independent third-party consultant periodically review Official stipends to ensure that they are:
- Proportional to the services provided;
- Reasonable considering our financial condition; and
- Comparable to compensation paid by organizations of a similar size, location, and operational complexity.
Executive Management Team
The BECU Executive Management Team is responsible for ensuring that the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of BECU support our credit union principles and bring value to members and our local communities.
Compensation for BECU's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is set by the BECU Board of Directors' Compensation Committee and reviewed every other year. Compensation is determined based on a variety of factors and includes base salary, annual incentive pay, long-term incentive pay, and retirement benefits. This approach delivers a balanced, yet competitive pay-for-performance compensation model that attracts and retains high-performing leaders who are responsible for the stability and sustained growth of BECU, the financial health of our members, and our unique culture that fosters and celebrates engaged, caring employees.
2024 Annual Meeting Information
BECU's Annual Membership Meeting took place virtually on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. At the meeting the Audit Committee's Annual Report and election results were presented to the membership.
Patrick Smith
BECU Board of Directors
Patrick is currently the Head of Small Business & Home Lending at Santander Bank, N.A. Previously, he served as an Executive Vice President at KeyBank and was also a member of the Executive Council.
Patrick has held senior leadership roles at Liberty Mutual, Capital One, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. Patrick holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an M.S. in IT management from the University of Virginia, and a B.S. in finance from Tuskegee University.
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Bryan MacDonald
Executive Vice President and Chief Impact Officer
Bryan joined BECU in 2010. In his role, he fosters a diverse workforce, supports community partners and ensures clear communication.
Bryan's prior experience includes senior risk roles at Washington Mutual, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup. Bryan holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University and graduated from the Pacific Coast Banking School.
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Beverly Anderson
President and CEO, BECU Board of Directors
Beverly Anderson has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. Her core areas of focus include strategy development and sustainable growth, overseeing daily operational activities, and fostering BECU's culture of promoting the financial well-being of its members and communities.
Beverly has held executive roles defining and executing growth strategies at Equifax, Wells Fargo, and American Express. She serves on the boards of Expedia Group, Accion, Sword Health, and the Harvard Business School African-American Alumni Association. Beverly holds an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School and graduated summa cum laude with a BS in business from Florida A&M University.
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Drew Wolff
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Drew leads BECU's finance division, overseeing all aspects of the credit union's financial strategy, management, and performance.
Before joining the executive team, Drew served as BECU's Audit Committee Chairperson and was CFO at Trupanion. He also held senior leader roles at Starbucks, Barclays and Washington Mutual. Drew holds an MBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and a BS in Economics from the U.S. Naval Academy.
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Mike Ryan
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel
Mike joined BECU in 2015 and has over 20 years of experience in financial services. Mike leads BECU's corporate governance and legal functions, advising BECU's Board of Directors, Audit Committee, and Executive Management Team.
Prior to BECU, Mike was a partner at Miller Nash and an associate at Foley & Lardner. Mike has a law degree from Willamette University College of Law.
Raquel Karls
Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer
Raquel joined BECU in 2023 and has nearly 30 years of global human resources experience. In her role, Karls is responsible for leading teams focused on talent, human resources and equity and inclusion. She also oversees BECU's efforts to develop and implement people and diversity, equity and inclusion strategies that ensure employees continue to be the company's most strategic asset.
Prior to BECU, Raquel served as Chief People Officer for REI and held senior roles at Pepsi Bottling Company, Expedia, Starbucks and Outerwall. Raquel holds a master's degree from the University of Oregon.
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John Stewart
Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer
John leads the Legal, Governance, Risk, and Compliance functions at BECU.
John has nearly 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. He serves on the boards for the Open Window School and the Institute for Family Development, and is a faculty member of the University of Washington's Computational Finance and Risk Management program. John holds a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.
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Nathan Ramachandran
Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Nathan leads BECU's technology division, overseeing the modernization of core banking platforms to deliver innovative technologies to BECU's members. He is responsible for teams focused on technology operations, architecture, engineering and business support.
Prior to BECU, Nathan led Accenture's Data and Applied Intelligence division for Financial Services West Market and held leadership roles at Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Nathan holds an MS in Mathematics from Annamalai University and a BS in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry from University of Madras, in addition to other industry accolades.
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Beth Hale
Executive Vice President and Chief Consumer and Business Solutions Officer
Beth joined BECU in 2023 with decades of financial services experience. As Chief Consumer and Business Solutions Officer, Beth leads the teams accountable for creating and managing products and services across all BECU lines of business.
Prior to BECU, Beth was the President and Vice Chair of USAA Savings Bank and held leadership roles at Washington Mutual and Bank of the West. Beth holds a BBA from University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
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Jason Rudman
Executive Vice President and Chief Member and Digital Experience Officer
Jason joined BECU in 2023 and has over 20 years of financial services leadership experience. As chief member and digital experience officer, Jason oversees BECU's member journey across all channels, including its Neighborhood Financial Centers, Contact Centers, ATMs and digital. He also leads Marketing and Communications.
Prior to BECU, Jason was Chief Customer Officer at Finance of America and held senior roles at USAA, KeyBank and American Express. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of NeighborShare and co-founded the Alvin O. McCray and Jason A. Rudman Community College Scholarship with his husband in partnership with Point Foundation. Jason holds an MBA from Baylor University and a BA from Middlesex University of London.
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Rick Eiel
Executive Vice President and Chief Data and Analytics Officer
Rick leads BECU's data and analytics division, where he's focused on developing and enabling enterprise data, analytic and insight capabilities that will inform and accelerate the credit union's business strategies, execution and performance.
Prior to BECU, Rick was the Head of Product and Analytics at Equifax and held leadership roles at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase. Rick holds an MBA with concentrations in Information Systems and Economics from New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
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Shawna Thompson
Executive Vice President and Head of Operations
Shawna leads BECU's operations division with a dedicated focus to operational efficiency and effectiveness across all lending and credit operations, deposits and payments operations, fraud and default management as well as real estate and facilities.
Shawna joined BECU nearly three decades ago and has held product and operational leadership roles across the organization's Lending, Finance, Audit, Product Management and Operations functions. She sits on the board of the Hearing, Speech and Deaf Center (HSDC) and chairs BECU's Achieving Disability Awareness Employee Resource Group. Shawna holds a BS in Business and Marketing from Western Oregon University and several operational excellence certifications, including a Six Sigma Yellow Belt.
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Debra Somberg
Board Chairperson, BECU Board of Directors
Debra is co-founder of NewView (formerly Win-Win), an organization supporting new ventures that drive synergistic benefits for the private, social and public sectors. Debra also sits on the boards of The Seattle Foundation and The Port Blakely Companies.
Previously, she was the co-managing partner at Maveron LLC. Debra began her career at Goldman, Sachs and McKinsey & Co., and has served as Senior Managing Director at Montgomery Securities and a founding partner at Thomas Weisel Partners. Debra holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
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John McMurray
BECU Board of Directors, Audit Committee
John is the Chief Risk Officer and Chief Auditor for Russell Investments. John has extensive experience as a board director as well as a senior financial services executive working with boards, including audit, finance, investment, and risk committees.
He holds an M.S. from MIT, an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a B.S. from Trinity University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a Certified Public Accountant and a Charted Global Management Accountant.
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Matthew Oppenheimer
BECU Board of Directors
Matt is the co-founder and CEO of Remitly. Prior to starting Remitly, Matt was Head of Mobile and Internet Banking Initiatives for Barclays Bank Kenya and worked for the Barclays Corporate Bank in the United Kingdom.
Matt was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 in the Pacific Northwest and has been recognized as a Puget Sound Business Journal “40 Under 40” honoree for his work with Remitly. He holds a B.A. in psychology from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
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Bill Longbrake
BECU Board of Directors, Audit Committee
Bill has extensive experience in finance and investments, macroeconomics and monetary policy, risk management, housing, and public policy. He has served in business, academic and government organizations.
Bill began his career in Washington, D.C. in various government positions from 1970 – 1982. During his tenure, he served as CFO and deputy to the chairman for finance at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). He was also previously CFO of Washington Mutual, helping the company become the sixth largest depository institution in the U.S. Bill holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Maryland.
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Vanessa Pegueros
BECU Board of Directors, Audit Committee
Vanessa is a Chief Information Security Officer with over 26 years of experience managing technology, security and risk teams. She has worked with startups and Fortune 500 companies around the world, and has deep experience in governance, risk management and cybersecurity.
Vanessa has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley, an MBA from Stanford University and a MS in Telecommunications from University of Colorado, Boulder.
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Manolo Sanchez
BECU Board of Directors
Manolo is currently a Director at Fannie Mae and Stewart Information Systems. Previously, he served as chair and CEO of BBVA Compass and held leadership roles at the American Bankers Association, the Institute of International Bankers and the Greater Houston Partnership.
Manolo has nearly 30 years of experience in the financial services industry and teaches at Rice University's Jones School of Business. He is also an advisor to several fintech and blockchain startups and holds M.Sc's from the London School of Economics and the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.
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Denis Farmer
BECU Board of Directors, Audit Committee
Denis is a Managing Director with Slalom Consulting, a purpose-driven consultancy focused on strategy, technology and business transformation that is dedicated to helping people reach for and realize their vision.
Prior to joining Slalom, Denis was a partner with Accenture, in addition to earlier roles with Electronic Data Services and various Internet startups.
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