A Board of Directors governs CCUA from various credit unions and caisse populaires. Below is the current list of CCUA’s Board Directors.
As First West Credit Union’s Chief Credit Officer, Shelley Besse is responsible for credit policy, adjudication and recovery. She provides senior leadership oversight to all lines of business, including retail and commercial lending, and loan syndication and securitization.
Shelley is a highly respected leader with extensive knowledge and experience in the financial services industry. Since joining Envision Financial in 1984, Shelley has held a number of increasingly senior leadership roles including branch manager, Assistant Vice-President of Marketing and Communications, Vice-President of Branch Operations, Vice-President of Sales and Service and Vice-President of Risk Management and Operations. She was appointed to lead First West’s merger transition in 2009 and successfully delivered against a three-year strategy to create a high-performing operations team within First West’s new operating model.
Following this role, Shelley was appointed Senior Vice-President of Operations, Sales and Member experience and focused on providing employees with operations support and for developing and implementing an enterprise-wide continuous improvement strategy known as Lean. In 2012, Shelley became president of Envision Financial. Four years later in 2016, Shelley was appointed chief operating officer of First West where she was responsible for leading First West’s regional operations, encompassing retail, business and commercial banking, wealth management, general insurance, and operations for all of First West’s local market brands.
In 2012, Shelley received international recognition for her leadership and business acumen when she was awarded a Silver Stevie Award in the category of Female Executive of the Year – Consumer Services and a Bronze Stevie Award in the category of Female Executive of the Year in Canada. In 2024, she was recognized as one of the 50 Remarkable Alumni by the University of the Fraser Valley Alumni Association.
Shelley holds an MBA from Royal Roads University, a certificate in financial planning, is a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program, specializing in strategy and organizational design and has a Masters Certificate in Enterprise Risk Management from Schulich School of Business. In 2022, she received the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) designation and in 2024 she received the Competent Boards Sustainability & ESG Designation (GCB.D). Shelley is the past chair for the Surrey Board of Trade and is currently chair of the Canadian Credit Union Association’s board of directors.
Maggie Sinclair is Beem Credit Union’s Chief Growth Officer, where she is responsible for ensuring member and market insights are converted into omni channel member experiences that drive sustained revenue growth, increasing member wallet share and new member acquisition.
She has over 25 years extensive experience in the Financial Services Industry in Canada and Australia as a proactive results driven business leader that has the commercial drive and presence to create and mold operational and sales teams to deliver against stretching business objectives. She combines advanced business practices and strategy to integrate focused programs that will increase revenue, enhance member advice delivery, improve internal processes, and align operations to corporate goals. Describe to have a passion to make the ‘difficult seem simple’.
Maggie’s hands on experience is complemented by numerous academic accomplishments. She holds an Masters of Business (MBA) degree from the University of Southern Australia, with an additional distinction in Human Resources, is an alumni of the Queen’s Executive Program and recently completed her ICD.D director designation through Rotman Business School.
Glenn is the Chief Executive Officer of Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union (NLCU), the largest credit union in the province. NLCU has more than 31,000 member accounts, over $1.5 billion in member business, and employs 130 team members across 12 locations, making a significant community impact throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Prior to his appointment as CEO in January 2022, Glenn dedicated 17 years as NLCU’s Chief Operating Officer. In this role, he oversaw a wide range of critical functions, including branch operations, human resources, marketing, the member solutions call centre, wealth management, insurance services, and facilities management. Glenn’s initial three years at NLCU were spent as the Director of Human Resources. Glenn’s academic achievements include a Bachelor of Commerce (Co-op) Degree from Memorial University, with a concentration in Labour Relations and Human Resources Management. He is a Fellow of the Credit Union Institute of Canada (FCUIC) through Dalhousie University. Furthermore, Glenn is a proud alumnus and sole North American winner of the World Young Credit Union Professional (WYCUP) award from the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU).
His extensive governance experience includes nine years on the Board of Directors of League Data, a Halifax-based fintech providing essential enterprise systems to Atlantic Canadian credit unions. During his tenure, he served as Vice Chair for two years and subsequently as Chair for three years. A significant achievement under his leadership in 2025 was NLCU’s very successful banking system conversion along with Atlantic Canada credit unions to Mambu, a cloud-native, SaaS core banking platform recognized globally for its scalability and efficiency, in partnership with League Data.
Glenn is actively engaged in the credit union system at a national level, having been elected to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Credit Union Association (CCUA). He contributes his expertise to several CCUA committees, including the Governance and Human Resources Committee, the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Committee, and the Atlantic Canada Open Banking Committee. Additionally, he participates in the PMX- PayModXchange Committee with Central 1. Within the Atlantic region, Glenn currently chairs both the Atlantic Canada Large Credit Union CEO Group and the NL Credit Union Managers Association (CUMA). His commitment extends to the NLCU Charitable Foundation, where he has been a long-standing board member and now serves as its President and Board Chair. Beyond the credit union sector, Glenn is a Director on the Board of Junior Achievement of Canada (JACAN), contributing to their Human Resources Committee and the Canadian Business Hall of Fame Governance Committee. He also dedicated 14 years to the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of Newfoundland and Labrador (JANL), holding the positions of Vice Chair, Chair, and Past Chair. Glenn resides in the historic city of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, the oldest city in North America with his wife, Rhonda, his daughter, Emily, and their shih tzu, Roxy.
Linda Bowyer has been the President & CEO of First Credit Union since February of 2018. Prior to her role at First, Linda worked in senior executive roles in banking & insurance, with a specific focus on member experience, process improvement and change leadership.
Linda considers herself a lifelong learner. She holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, earned a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma, and holds the Rotman’s Institute of Corporate Director’s (ICD.D) designation. Linda is also a passionate Credit Union Development Educator; she has recently achieved her I-CUDE accreditation, and has been a participant and mentor for the program in Canada, the Caribbean and Africa.
Over the past six years, Linda has immersed herself in the Credit Union cooperative system. She is currently Vice Chair of the Board of Stabilization Central Credit Union, a Board Director for the Canadian Credit Union Association (CCUA), and is serving a second term as a CCUA appointee on the World Council of Credit Union’s (WOCCU) Board.
Jodi Chambers is Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer with Cornerstone Credit Union. Jodi started her career in Winnipeg with Assiniboine, where she enjoyed working in many different roles and areas for 20 years. In 2013, she moved to Alberta and worked with Alberta Central and Celero before taking an opportunity to work remotely with Conexus, Cornerstone, Innovation, and Synergy credit unions in Saskatchewan.
Jodi is passionate about continuous learning and making a positive impact on the people around her. She has a Master in Business Administration from Royal Roads and recently completed a Digital Leadership certification through eCornell. As past Chair of the National Young Leader committee, she was the thought leader that brought seasoned and young leaders together through experiential learning and networking opportunities. Jodi is an advocate for financial literacy and teaches courses at Momentum, a Calgary organization committed to community economic development through the principles of the sustainable livelihoods model. Internationally, Jodi spent 3 weeks in Africa coaching credit union managers and board members.
Jodi is known for her ability to inspire and motivate others. She is committed to creating a learning culture through her passion for innovation and strategic thought leadership. Jodi is often recognized for her dedication to driving positive transformational change and her belief in the benefits that technology and digital transformation can provide.
With over 20 years of leadership experience, Tammy Christopher is Chief Executive Officer of OMISTA Credit Union in New Brunswick. Tammy heads up a dynamic leadership team who develops strategy with the credit union principles of honesty, fairness, and trust top of mind. She is passionate about the evolution of the credit union system and being a trusted partner of financial advice and guidance by members.
Tammy is a well-rounded leader who holds a Charter Professional Accountants (CPA) designation, is a Fellow of the Credit Union Institute of Canada (FCUIC), a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D), the Credit Union Directors Achievement (CUDA) Program, and who is certified in Change Management through Prosci. At present, Tammy serves as a Director with Atlantic Central and is a past vice-chair of League Savings and Mortgage.
She lives just up the road from the world-famous Hopewell Rocks with her husband Tim. She is a proud mother to 3 children, Grace, Aidan, and Faith, who are all currently attending post-secondary educational institutions. Tammy is an avid runner and logs many miles on the trails of her favourite location at White Rock Recreational Park.
John Doran is the Chief Financial Officer at FirstOntario Credit Union and is responsible for leading the Finance, Treasury and Procurement teams.
John’s expertise has been central to FirstOntario’s success in developing and delivering strategies designed to enhance profitability, safeguard members’ assets, create value for the membership and maximize FirstOntario’s financial contributions to local communities.
Throughout his tenure, John has been a valued member of the credit union’s executive team, providing effective leadership for a variety of significant and complex projects. As an active member of the credit union community and a financial expert, John is a frequently sought after speaker and has presented on a variety of topics at regional and national finance and treasury-focused conferences. He has also represented FirstOntario as a key interested party during regulator consultation processes.
John received a Bachelor of Accounting degree from Brock University and is both a designated Chartered Professional Accountant and a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Ryan joined Servus Credit Union in 2005 and has served as Chief Financial Officer since 2018.
Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Ryan holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan, a Master of Business Administration from Edinburgh Business School, and the Derivatives Market Specialist designation from the Canadian Securities Institute. In 2016, he completed the Business Leadership Program for Financial Executives from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. More recently, Ryan obtained his Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation, achieving National Honour Roll status for the 2021 Common Final Examination (CFE).
One of Ryan’s proudest achievements during his credit union career has been receiving CCUA’s National Credit Union Young Leaders Award and Scholarship in 2015 and subsequently serving on the National Young Leader Committee for a three-year term with an impressive group of CU leaders from across the country.
When he isn’t crunching numbers and watching the markets, you’ll find Ryan on the go around Edmonton and beyond with his wife, Erin, and their two children.
Michael and his team support visionary leadership at Libro dedicated to building the Libro Brand, shaping remarkable journeys, and driving meaningful change. With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for Owner-centric strategies, they redefine how we engage and evolve as a Credit Union. He oversees the areas of enterprise strategy lead support, strategic partnerships, enterprise project management, Owner experience, marketing, purpose integration, government relations, and offensive data.
Michael holds a Bachelor of Commercial Studies from Western University, and Executive Education from MIT in Strategy and Innovation. He also has completed training in Agile, Innovation through Human Centered Design and is a certified Lean Greenbelt champion. Since joining the Credit Union system in 2005, Michael has also worked in a variety of branch-based roles leading teams in commercial, agricultural, and personal lending, bringing an understanding of Owners’ needs from his experience.
A strong champion of the credit union system, Michael has served on national and provincial marketing committees. Locally he has served on boards and committees with several non-profit organizations, hospital foundations, and sports associations, and is currently on the board of directors for the Canadian Credit Union Association. Michael and his wife, Christine, a Registered Physiotherapist, live in Lambeth and have three children who are active in hockey and baseball.
With 26 years of experience with the organization, Wade Stayzer is Meridian’s Chief Operating Officer. As Chief Operating Officer, Wade has overall accountability for the running of our Retail, Wealth and Business Banking lines of business. In addition, this role also oversees operations and payments, including the launch of our credit card and all product development and implementation for these lines of business.
In his previous role as Chief People and Culture Officer and Senior Vice President Business Banking, Wade was charged with delivering on Meridian’s exceptional employee promise, employee health and wellbeing strategies, and supporting employees to succeed and grow in an adaptive culture that would embed diversity, equity and inclusion organically into its cultural core. He had single accountability for all Employee Experience functions, including the Human Resources Business Partner team, Talent Acquisition, Learning and Development, and the Corporate Communications and Member Concerns team. Wade also led Business Banking at Meridian, helping the more than 25,000 Business Members grow their businesses and build stronger communities.
During his tenure at Meridian, Wade’s People First and Member Obsession developed as his trademark while managing key lines of business including Small Business, Retail Banking and Wealth. He also led various strategic initiatives including the branch and banking system integration of Meridian’s legacy Niagara/Guelph Wellington and Desjardins Credit Union mergers. He is a staunch community supporter and champion of the Ontario credit union system with deep experience.
A tireless community advocate, Wade is engaged year-round in a number of initiatives in senior volunteer roles ranging from Wise Guys, St Catharines Rotary Ribfest and more. He was also a member of the Niagara 2022 Canada Games Host Society Board of Directors.
Wade received his MBA from McMaster University and currently resides in Niagara with his wife and two children.
Heather Sully is Chief People Officer at Affinity Credit Union. Working in financial services in both Saskatchewan and Alberta for over two decades, she brings extensive experience in business and human resources to this leadership position. With a passion for inclusion, she’s focused on developing leading people and culture strategies to foster a remarkable employee experience for teams so they can deliver the quality advice and best-in-class experience members need to achieve their financial goals.
Heather is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources with broad HR experience in both private and public organizations. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in HR and Finance from the University of Saskatchewan, a Graduate Certificate in Change Management from Royal Roads University, and a Strategic Workforce Planning Certificate. She holds the ICD.D designation and was invited by the program to join the ICD examiner roster.
In her spare time, Heather enjoys being active in the community and is passionate about contributing toward achieving an inclusive and vibrant Saskatoon. She has served on several boards and committees, engaging with organizations such as the Saskatoon United Way, Saskatoon YWCA, a past Chair of the Saskatoon Friendship Inn and has mentored with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the CPHR Saskatchewan. Heather currently serves on the board of the Saskatoon Community Foundation and the Canadian Credit Union Association.
Myrna has more than 30 years of experience in the credit union system. She is currently the Chief Strategy and Information Officer for Access Credit Union Limited. As a member of the executive team at Access, she is heavily involved in the development and execution of corporate strategy and board governance. Myrna also oversees the information technology, security, governance and business integration functions for Access.
Myrna has completed the CUES Governance Leadership Institute I and II and Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) – Rotman Director Education Program, Fellow of the Credit Union Institute of Canada (FCUIC) through Dalhousie University, Canadian Securities Course, and Certified Financial Planning designation. Her education also includes completing the Certificate in Management program at the University of Manitoba, and Post Baccalaureate Diploma in Management, and Masters in Business Administration through Athabasca University.
Myrna has been actively involved in a variety of volunteer organization boards, and has previously served on the Host Committee for Curl Manitoba Scotties 2024 and South Central Cancer Resource Board. She also served on the Host Committee for Hockey Canada’s 2019 National Women’s Under 18 Championship event. Myrna was appointed to the Teachers’ Retirement Allowances Fund Board in 2018 and serves as Chair of the Investment Committee.
