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Our Team

Named as one of 2016 Best Credit Unions to Work for nationally by Credit Union Journal, Latino Credit Union is an award-winning leader in social finance, with innovative financial products and services tailored to its members. We can do this so well because we are passionate about what we do, we come from the diverse membership we serve and we are committed to helping them continue to dream big and achieve their goals.

We are proud to have staff that represents 20 countries and offer unique perspectives on how to best serve our members.
Additionally, 75% of employees have been promoted during their tenure at Latino Credit Union.

All of our employees have a personalized career plan to help them reach their full potential.

Join our Team

Developing, rewarding, and retaining the industry’s best and brightest talent isn’t just good for LCCU it’s a part of who we are. We foster a culture that incites creativity, encourages collaboration, and provides the opportunity for our employees to be their best and build their careers.

Meet our Executive Team

Vicky Garcia Portrait
Vicky Garcia works in coordinating and controlling the process of analysis, measurement, evaluation and control of the risks inherent to the organization in accordance with the policies and limits set by the Board of Directors. She also works on the preparation, coordination and implementation of the overall strategy of the Credit Union. She was previously Vice President of Operations where she managed the lending program, participated as a product development head, operations and also served as the compliance officer. She has served in various other capacities as both staff and as a volunteer since 2001, such as overseeing the branches in the Triangle, and serving as manager of LCCU’s flagship branch in Durham. Prior to that, she served as a volunteer loan officer and member of the credit committee. Garcia joined the Credit Union after 8 years in corporate relationship management and risk analysis in Citibank Colombia in the global and top tier local corporate business. She has a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia and an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Roger Montes is responsible for supervision and coordination of all branches, as well as the development and implementation of operations, lending procedures and policies in all the branches, and has been with Latino Credit Union since 2003. He also acted as Vice President, overseeing branches in the Triad and Charlotte. He has moved through various positions at the credit union including Member Service Representative, Teller, Loan Officer, and Branch Manager. He joined the credit union after 13 years of working as an engineer in the mining industry in Colombia. Montes has a B.A. and M.A. in Engineering in Mining and Metallurgy from the National University of Colombia and a specialization in Financial and Enterprising Management from the University of Medellin, Colombia.

Alison Beck Yonas

Alison Yonas Beck is responsible for overseeing the development and impact of the credit union, garnering new resources, grants management, as well as external communications with certain stakeholders. Alison has an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, an M.A. in Latin American Studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a B.A. from Duke University. She began with LCCU in 2005, bringing over 10 years of experience.

Irving Picture

Irving Bustillo is responsible for overseeing the mortgage and lending department of the organization, as well as providing coaching and training to the growing team of mortgage loan officers and underwriters. In his home country of Honduras, Irving developed extensive front and back-office experience in the banking industry while working for local and regional financial groups before joining LCCU in 2016. Since, he has served in various capacities, including loan officer, branch manager, and internal audit director.

Steve Portrait

Steve Herrell is currently LCCU’s Senior Vice President of Governance and Control. He joined LCCU in August of 2022, serves on the Executive team and handles responsibilities within Audit and Risk areas. Mr. Herrell has a B.S. Degree from N.C. State University in Business Management, holds the Certified Internal Auditor designation and retired from SECU in June 2022 after 35 years of leadership in branch management, auditing, security and risk management.

Photo Omar Lopez

Omar López is responsible for overseeing people management, delivering strategic HR plans, fostering talent development, total rewards and navigating significant transitions and changes in LCCU. With a M.S. in Human Capital Management from Universidad Panamericana in his home country Mexico, an HR Management program from Duke University, certifications in leadership assessment, and a wealth of hands-on experience, he has lead with a holistic perspective and a proven track record of impactful results across several countries, including the USA, Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Brazil. Omar's commitment to excellence and innovative strategies has made him an asset to the organization, he joined the Credit Union in July 2023, bringing over 15 years of expertise.

Terry Phelps Portrait

Terry Phelps provides strategic oversight to LCCU’s vital Operations support teams, including Deposit Operations, Business Services, Data Management, Facilities, Information Technology, and Security. Joining LCCU in January 2023, Terry brought a distinguished 16-year tenure as Senior Vice President, Managed Information Systems at Civic FCU and Local Government FCU in Raleigh, NC. His professional experience spans over 25 years in both business and technology domains, where he has led various teams and organizations, crafting business-centric strategies, driving cost efficiencies, and fostering high-performance teams geared toward gaining a competitive edge and leading those organizations in new directions. Before working with Credit Unions in 2007, he contributed his expertise to several notable technological firms and served commendably in the US Army from 1991-1998. Terry is a graduate of the University Of North Carolina Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School's esteemed Master of Business Administration (MBA) program.

Rodrigo Iniguez is responsible for overseeing the financial position of the credit union. He joined the credit union after more than 12 years of experience at Itaú NY, serving as Vice President in the finance area. there, he specialized in financial risk management, planning and analysis, optimizing processes, and enhancing performance. He holds a degree in Business and Administration from Adolfo Ibáñez University in Chile, along with several specializations in financial analysis and data analytics.

Meet our Board of Directors

Lorena board member
Lorena Patterson is the President and CEO of Connecta Corp, a cultural equity firm that focuses on developing training programs to increase cultural proficiency and foster bilateral relationships. Previous to her current role, Lorena directed Go Global NC’s Latino Initiative with a focus on connecting North Carolina policy leaders with countries and topics of strategic importance to our state. Lorena coordinated programs for Go Global NC’s Global Leaders experiential learning programs to China, India, Germany, Singapore and Mexico. Previous to her employment with Go Global NC, Lorena worked for the College of Agriculture and Life Science through NC State Cooperative Extension, where she served the Latino/Hispanic Community. In that role, Lorena advocated for underprivileged Latino/Hispanic families. Lorena worked as a translator/interpreter for Johnston County Public Schools, providing services to families, teachers and the board of the Exceptional Children’s Department. She attended City College of San Francisco where she received a certificate in Diversity and Social Justice. She received a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies with a focus on International Relations with concentration in Latin American and a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) at NC State University. Lorena is native of Mexico City.
David Brehmer
David Brehmer is President and Chief Executive Officer of Vizo Financial Corporate Credit Union headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., a $6.0 billion financial institution. Prior to his current position, he was President/CEO of First Carolina Corporate Credit Union from March 1994 to October 2016. Before joining First Carolina, Brehmer served as President/CEO of San Diego Postal Credit Union, Vice President of Operations & Sales for San Diego County Credit Union, Director of Marketing and Operations for Torrey Pines FCU, and President of Torrey Pines Federal, Inc. (CUSO). He has more than 42 years of experience working within the credit union community. He currently serves as Chair of CU Business Group’s Board of Managers, an organization that helps credit unions provide business services to their members. He also serves on the executive committee of the Corporate Credit Union Alliance and on the board of the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation. He was the recipient of the 1992 Charlie Clark Award for Leadership and was presented the Carolinas CU Foundation’s inaugural “Individual Professional Achievement” Award in 2014. Brehmer is a graduate of Duke University and Western CUNA Management School.
Maria Scanga

María Scanga is a retired attorney. She practiced in the areas of commercial litigation, corporate and insurance law. As an LCCU co-founder, she provides substantial support on LCCU’s personnel administration and corporate organization. Scanga served for 16 years on the Institutional Review Board of the Duke University Health System, where her particular interest was the accessibility and fairness of clinical trials to minorities. She served on the Habitat for Humanity of North Carolina board during its successful “SECU Mountains to the Sea Challenge” to build one house in each of North Carolina’s 100 counties. Scanga also served on the advisory board for the “Latino Journalism and Media at Carolina” initiative of the University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication, a cultural development effort dedicated to improving journalism and strategic communication of Latino issues in North Carolina and beyond. She has a J.D. and an M.A. in Communications from the University of North Carolina, and a B.A. in Mathematics from Manhattanville College.

Farad Ali

Farad Ali is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development, with over 25 years of experience in banking, small business development and public service. He is responsible for developing and implementing strategies that improved the utilization of historically underutilized businesses. His leadership resulted in continuous improvement around strategy, process, architecture, resources, systems and empowerment and more than $1 billion of economic opportunity and business financing generated. Ali served as interim president and CEO of the Carolinas Minority Supplier Diversity Council (now Carolinas-Virginia Supplier Diversity Council) during 2011. During his tenure, the council expanded business opportunities for minority business enterprises (MBEs) and created mutually beneficial links between corporate members and MBEs.

Prior to joining the Institute, Ali served as assistant vice president for business and community banking at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Centura from 1995-1999 and in corporate, retail and commercial lending positions for Wachovia/Wells Fargo from 1989-1995. He served as Durham City Councilman from 2007-2011. Ali holds an undergraduate business degree with a concentration in finance from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA degree from Campbell University. He received post-graduate training for emerging business markets from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University.

Jerry Harmon is the Chief Lending Officer at North Carolina State Employees’ Credit Union (NCSECU). During his 37 years of tenure at NCSECU, he has worked as a loan officer, assistant branch manager, and Vice President before assuming his current position. Mr. Harmon has a certification in trust from Southeastern Trust School at Campbell University. He also holds North Carolina insurance licenses for life, accident, and health, Medicare/Long Term Care and personal lines. He also is a certified credit union executive, a designation from the Credit Union National Association. He graduated from Appalachian State University with B.A. in Business.
Erika Bell is an executive leader with more than 25 years of experience in strategic planning, communications, human resources and change management in the healthcare and financial industries. She is currently Chief of Staff to the Chief Digital and Technology Officer (CDTO) at Pfizer, Inc. The CDTO is responsible for enterprise-wide digital, data and technology strategy and solutions to support the purpose of delivering Breakthroughs that Change Patients’ Lives. She also leads Pfizer’s Executive Events and Services team. Prior to this role, she led IT Strategy and Change Management at Quest Diagnostics, the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services. She held a key leadership role in Bank of America’s Global Human Resources, and for 12 years, she was part of the executive leadership team at Latino Community Credit Union, an innovative credit union recognized as national model for banking the unbanked and for its bilingual financial education program. She has an M.A. in Social Work, Community and Management Practice from North Carolina at Chapel Hill.