Chairman

Key Experience and Qualifications

Alan began his credit union journey as a teller working in Escondido California in 1986. Within less than three years he progressed though New Accounts, Loans, Management Trainee, and was selected as a Branch Manager, a role he held for 11 years. After 14 years working in a large credit union, Alan spent time in three more credit unions holding titles of Financial Analyst, VP of Lending and Collections, and Executive Vice President, before being selected as the President and CEO of Valley Oak Credit Union in 2011.
As President CEO of Valley Oak Alan has pushed his credit union to implement many new programs including Mobile Banking, Mobile Deposit, and Shared Branching. He is an active participant in credit union league functions, as well as serving in advisory roles for CSCU (now known as Trellance), and the credit union league.
Alan holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Finance from San Diego State University. In addition, he is a graduate of Western CUNA Management School and the CUES CEO Institute.

Vice Chairman

Key Experience and Qualifications

The CU*NorthWest board seat is just one of Chuck Papenfus’ volunteer efforts in the credit union industry. He also sits on the California Credit Union League Board of Directors, is a member of the Catalyst Western Region Council and is a member of the Southern California Credit Union Alliance. He has a Masters from Claremont Graduate University and Bachelors of Science from the University of California, San Diego. Papenfus came up the ranks at Inland Valley where he started right out of college in special projects in 1985 and became CEO in 1993. The credit union is located in Fontana, California.

Secretary Treasurer

Key Experience and Qualifications

Jake began his credit union journey in November of 2006 as a bilingual teller, back when things in the financial world were going great. Environmental changes allowed for his growth within the industry to be accelerated learning lending, accounting, operation and management functions over the next few years. Jake is a graduate of Western CUNA Management School, class of 2016 and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Sacramento State University. He became President/CEO of Santa Barbara County FCU in November 2018 and joined the CU*Northwest community in early 2020.

Aside from all of the activities Jake does with his family, he has spent years officiating football, volunteering with the Boy Scouts and mentoring at risk youth through the Discovery Academy.

Board Member

Key Experience and Qualifications

Leslie started in the banking industry in 1988 for Yakima Valley Bank as a teller. In one year there, she held several different positions, back up mortgage loan teller, insurance clerk and drive up teller. In July 1989, Leslie was hired on at CALCOE FCU as a teller, loan processor, and assistant to the manager. She graduated from Western CUNA Management school in 1998. In June of 2000 she was hired to replace the retiring manager. Leslie holds a bachelors degree in business from Central WA University. She has held the position of treasurer for the Yakima Valley Chapter on and off for 13 or so years. Leslie is active with local managers meetings and spearheaded a community school supply drive for 4000 kids in her community. The project originated in 1991 and for the 1st 10 years, she organized the majority of the great event.

Leslie loves the outdoors including farming, boating, RV’ing and traveling. She is married with two step-daughters and one grand-daughter.

Board Member

Key Experience and Qualifications

Heri comes to the world of Credit Unions from the ultimate customer service experience…The Walt Disney Company, where he gained experience in training, marketing, public affairs, and human resources. His entrance into Credit Union management started as the Training and Development Manager and worked through VP/Operations/COO and eventually to President/CEO in October of 2017. He is enthusiastic and thrives in fast-paced environments, quickly adapting to new responsibilities and applying knowledge and skills. He is known for actively pursuing challenging opportunities and working to accommodate needs

Board Member

Key Experience and Qualifications

Bringing more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, Paris is passionate about the credit union movement’s “people helping people” ethos and is 100% committed to our member-first philosophy. Convinced that the CUSO model is essential to the long-term success of our movement – especially Shapiro-sized credit unions like South Bay – Paris is enthusiastic about the prospect of working to represent the interests of user credit unions, help chart CU*NW’s course for the future, and create even more value for owners.

A true believer in the power of the cooperative model, she currently serves on the Executive Committee of CUNA’s Marketing & Business Development Council, on the Board of the CUES Southern California/Nevada Council, as well as the CCUL’s Shapiro Advisory Committee. She previously served as a Board Officer of the Marketing Association of Credit Union, on the Planning Committee of Future Credit Union Leaders, and on the Children’s Miracle Network Advisory Board at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles from 2014-2018. A proponent of credit union advocacy, Paris regularly participates in the CCUL’s Government Relations Rally in Sacramento and CUNA’s annual Government Affairs Conference to advocate for credit unions and their members.

Associate Board Member

Key Experience and Qualifications

In her leadership roles as both a trade association chair and a member of the CUNA Charter Review & Enhancement Task Force, Debie Keesee has been a convincing voice for supplemental capital, member business lending and other initiatives that benefit the credit union movement as a whole.

Ms. Keesee’s service to credit unions spans nearly four decades. She has served in positions from the front lines to the CEO’s office. She began her credit union career at Fairchild Federal Credit Union (Global Credit Union) in 1976 and went on to serve in board and supervisory committee positions at Ironworkers Local #14. By 1985, she was appointed CEO at Roundup Federal Credit Union, where she held the reins until 1992.

Ms. Keesee worked with small and mid-sized credit unions from 1992 to 1996 in her role as an account executive and conversion specialist for FISERV, then joined Spokane Media FCU as CEO in 1997, a position she still holds. Ms. Keesee chaired the board of the former Washington Credit Union League from 2009-2010, successfully managing its merger with the Oregon Credit Union Association. In October, 2012, Ms. Keesee was elected chairman of the Northwest Credit Union Association’s board.

Ms. Keesee is currently a member of CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Committee, as well as the Small Credit Union Committee.

She attended Eastern Washington University, and is a graduate of the Western CUNA Management School. She has earned the designation of Credit Union Development Educator.

Board Member

Key Experience and Qualifications

Scott Collins serves as the Executive Vice President of National Sales and Marketplace Relationships for CU*Answers. In this role, he is responsible for leading the sales and business development efforts. He is also part of the company’s Executive Council, the senior leadership group at CU*Answers. Scott is the primary point of contact for new and existing business partner relationships, and his teams work closely with credit unions and business partners to drive awareness of the CUSO’s core data processing and professional services solutions.

Scott joined the CU*Answers team in 2003, and has also served as President of the Xtend, Inc. CUSO from 2003 through 2017. Prior to joining CU*Answers, he was a vendor and business partner that supported several industries, including credit unions. He also spent seven years at IBM Corporation in various sales and managerial positions. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Hope College, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of West Michigan Credit Union and CU*NorthWest, Inc.