And just like that, we’ve closed the door on 2023. One would think there wouldn’t be many executives moving around the industry between Thanksgiving and December. But one would be wrong.
Welcome to the third edition of the Banking People Moves from The Financial Brand, our new monthly one-stop a record of the c-suite executives, marketing VPs and more moving around the industry — whether they’re arriving from other industries, moving from institution to another or getting promoted within their own bank or credit union.
Did you miss our November Banking People Mover? Check it out.
Here are the December moves we’re highlighting this month:
- Michael G. Rhodes, new at Discover Financial Services
- Diane Morais, retiring from Ally Financial
- Peter Reichardt, retiring from CCF Bank
- Nathanael Tarwasokono, new at Allegacy Federal Credit Union
- Michael Wilkins, new at Torrance Community Credit Union
- Li Jacobson, new at Embold Credit Union
- Michael Schrodt, new at Smart Bank
- Justin R. Hendrickson, new at First Harvest Credit Union
- Simon Powley, new at Kitsap Credit Union
- Robert L. Thornton, leaving First Republic Bank
- Paul Camp, new at Goldman Sachs
- Joshua Houde, new at Blue Federal Credit Union
- Christina Barnes, new at Provident Bank
- Michael Johnson, new at The Victory Bank
- Venki Nayani, new at Tangerine Bank
- Big December Banking Promotions
- Other Banking Moves to Keep an Eye On
The Big Annoucements of December
Michael Rhodes
Institution: Discover Financial Services (Riverwoods, Illi.)
New position: Chief executive officer and president
Coming from: TD Bank Group (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Old position: Group head of Canadian personal banking
To take effect no later than March 6, 2024
What Rhodes said about his new position: “I have long admired Discover and the company’s mission to help people achieve a brighter financial future. With more than 25 years of experience within the payments and banking industry around the globe, I’ve developed a clear understanding of what it takes to deliver a great customer experience at every touch point.”
What else to know about Rhodes’ new move: Discover Financial Services named its new chief executive and president in mid-December, Michael G. Rhodes, who will take over in early March 2024, succeeding the interim CEO John Owen.
Rhodes, with a history exceeding 25 years in the banking industry, was most recently the group head of Canadian personal banking at TD Bank. He also worked stints at Bank of America and MBNA America Bank, in addition to a catalog of European roles.
A little backstory on Discover’s CEO transition: Owen took the helm temporarily in August 2023 from Roger Hochs, supposedly as a result of “a series of compliance-related problems, including years of inadvertently overcharging some merchants for customers’ credit card purchases in their stores,” according to Crain’s Chicago Business.
Banking Retirements
Diane Morais
Institution: Ally Financial (Detroit, Mich.)
Retiring as: President of consumer and commercial banking
To take effect on July 1, 2024
What else to know about Morais’ new move: After over 15 years at Ally Financial in various roles, Diane Morais is stepping down from her role as president of the consumer and commercial banking “to pursue new opportunities.” In addition to her work at Ally, she also spent 12 years at Bank of America in various executive roles and a nine-year stint at Citibank as head of card services.
Keep in mind: Chief executive Jeffrey Brown will also be stepping down as of January 31, 2024.
Peter Reichardt
Institution: CCF Bank (Tomah, Wis.)
Retiring as: Regional president
To take effect immediately
What else to know about Reichardt’s new move: Peter Reichardt, the former regional president of $1.8 billion CCF Bank, is retiring from banking, but he’s not done altogether. Following the announcement of his retirement, local paper Monroe County Herald ran a feature on Reichardt and his public service.
“I will have more time to devote to (volunteering), but it will probably be in different capacities and there are some other organizations that I’d like to work with,” he told the paper.
“When you believe in it and you believe your call-to-serve, which is part of what my belief is, you make time for things that you want to make time for and to make a positive difference in the community.”
Reichardt will work part-time at CCF until late January, to aid the transition to a new regional president.
New Banking Moves
Nathanael Tarwasokono
Institution: Allegacy FCU (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
New position: Chief executive officer and president
Coming from: Firstmark CU (San Antonio, Texas)
Old position: Chief executive officer and president
Michael Wilkins
Institution: Torrance Community Credit Union (Torrance, Calif.)
New position: Chief executive officer and president
Coming from: First City Credit Union (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Old position: Chief operating officer
What Wilkins said about his new position: “I am eager to build upon our strong foundation to deliver exceptional value to our members and ensure a seamless transition.”
What else to know about Wilkins’ new move: Michael Wilkins has taken the helm of Torrance Community Credit Union, moving half an hour down the coast from First City Credit Union, where he was the chief operating officer for six years. Before that, he served in a myriad of roles at California Credit Union, including senior vice president of retail operations.
Li Jacobson
Institution: Embold Credit Union (Portland, Ore.)
New position: Chief information officer
Coming from: Nike (Beaverton, Ore.)
Old position: Vice president of digital transformation and global technology
What else to know about Jacobson’s new move: Li Jacobson might be new to consumer banking, but she has a broad resume of experiences in the tech space, most notably as the chief information officer at Nike. There she leads the strategy development team working on digital transformation as well as the “consumer direct offense.”
Prior to her nearly three-year stint at Nike, she also spent nine years at Kohl’s in the technology department and 10 years before that at Northwestern Mutual as the senior project manager.
Martin Schrodt
Institution: SmartBank (Franklin, Tenn.)
New position: Chief banking officer
Coming from: Simmons Bank (Nashville, Tenn.)
Old position: Senior vice president, director of market development
Justin R. Hendrickson
Institution: First Harvest Credit Union (Deptford, N.J.)
New position: Chief member experience officer
Coming from: Member Support Services LLC
Old position: Senior vice president of lending and collections
Simon Powley
Institution: Kitsap Credit Union (Bremerton, Wash.)
New position: Chief revenue officer
Coming from: Diebold Nixdorf (Seattle, Wash.)
Old position: Senior director and head of banking advisory services
Robert L. Thornton
Institution: Launching his own firm
Coming from: First Republic Bank (San Francisco, Calif.)
Old position: Head of private wealth division
What else to know about Thornton’s new move: Robert L. Thornton, after 24 years at high-profile roles in the financial industry, is stepping down from his position as the president of First Republic Bank’s Investment Management team. Instead, he is planning on launching his own firm, reports Advisor Hub .
Paul Camp
Institution: Goldman Sachs (New York, N.Y.)
New position: Head of transaction banking
Coming from: Wells Fargo (San Francisco, Calif.)
Old position: Head of global treasury management
What else to know about Camp’s new move: The news of Paul Camp’s hire comes at the same time that Goldman Sachs announced it would be reorganizing its private capital business executives.
Joshua Houde
Institution: Blue Federal Credit Union (Cheyenne, Wy.)
New position: Senior product strategist card portfolio director
Coming from: Credit Union of Colorado (Denver, Colo.)
Old position: Regional branch manager
Christina Barnes
Institution: Provident Bank (Jersey City, N.J.)
New position: Senior digital product owner
Coming from: M&T Bank (Hartford, Conn.)
Old position: Digital product manager
Michael Johnson
Institution: The Victory Bank (Horsham, Penn.)
New position: Market president
Coming from: ACNB Bank (Southampton, Penn.)
Old position: Regional commercial lending manager
Venki Nayani
Institution: Tangerine Bank (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
New: Director of deposit product and value propositions
Coming from: Manulife Bank of Canada
Old: Director of consumer/SMB deposit products
December Banking Promotions
Mark Sekula
Institution: Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union (San Antonio, Texas)
New position: Chief executive officer
Old position: Chief financial officer
Susan Chapman
Institution: ValleyStar Credit Union (Martinsville, Va.)
New position: Chief marketing officer
Old position: Director of business intelligence
Danielle Frawley
Institution: Community Financial Credit Union (Elkhorn, Wis.)
New position: Chief growth officer
Old position: SVP of member engagement
What Frawley said about the promotion: I love the heart and hustle we bring to the noble purpose of CFCU. With our digital conversion to Lumin Digital yesterday, we are just getting started, and I could not be more excited to see what the next year holds for our team and our members. The execution of this conversion by both our partner, Lumin, and our team was a magical feat.
“I hope you will let yourself be expanded, to see that there are others just like you taking big leaps in the directions you always hoped to go…”
Molly Mayers
Institution: Cornerstone Community Federal Credit Union (Lockport, Penn.)
New position: Chief operating officer
Old position: Director of lending and marketing
Kelly Spica
Institution: Flagship Bank Florida (Clearwater, Fla.)
New position: Chief operating officer
Old position: Director of operations
Jennifer Gillings
Institution: JPMorgan Chase (Dallas, Texas)
New position: User experience design director
Old position: User experience research lead
Jenna Amato
Institution: Bethpage Federal Credit Union (Bethpage, N.Y.)
New position: Vice president of marketing
Old position: Assistant vice president of marketing
Julie Waddle
Institution: FNB Community Bank (Midwest City, Okla.)
New position: Vice president of marketing
Old position: Digital marketing manager
Krystalina Brown
Institution: Mountain America Credit Union (Sandy, Utah)
New position: Director of business development and marketing events
Old position: Director of strategic communications and social media
Orlando V. Fulgenzio III
Institution: F.N.B. Corporation (Pittsburgh, Penn.)
New position: Vice president and director of marketing services
Old position: Vice president and manager of consumer marketing
Sarah Poynter
Institution: Wray State Bank (Wray, Colo.)
New position: Assistant vice president
Old position: Marketing manager
Other Banking Moves to Keep an Eye On
Sal Karakaplan
Company: The Clearing House (New York, N.Y.)
New position: Chief strategy officer
Coming from: Truist Financial (Charlotte, N.C.)
Old position: Executive vice president for the enterprise payments group
What Karakaplan said about his new position: “I’m excited to bring my payments know-how to The Clearing House. I look forward to working with the TCH team on strategic opportunities to enhance the company’s position as the leading payments provider in the United States.”
What else to know about Karakaplan’s new move: The Clearing House nabbed Sal Karakaplan — a former executive at Truist — to be its new chief strategy officer. His expertise spans well over 25 years in the industry, with a specific niche in payments, including jobs at JPMorgan Chase and Mastercard.
Jonas Templestein
Institution: Monzo (London, England)
Leaving his position as: Co-founder and chief technology officer
What Templestein said about his leave: “After nine incredible years at Monzo, it’s time for me to move on. This moment feels right.”
What else to know about Templestein’s new move: In what he calls half of his adult life, Jonas Templestein is leaving Monzo after nine years as its co-founder and chief technology officer. Although he formally announced his leave this month in a letter on the bank’s website, he has been on parental leave since February 2023.