MARLBOROUGH, Mass.–The Cooperative Credit Union Association said it has named Sarah Vega, chief of staff and senior policy advisor to NCUA Chairman J. Mark McWatters, as its new president/CEO.
The announcement was made during the CCUA’s annual meeting and convention here. McWatters himself is scheduled to speak at the meeting later today.
Vega will succeed Paul Gentile in the post. As CUToday.info earlier reported here, Gentile is leaving the association to become president/CEO of Merck Employees FCU in Rahway, N.J.
"We are excited to welcome Sarah to the Association. We are confident that her talents, experience and passion for credit unions will benefit our members. Our Association has a proud history of excellence in advocacy on the regulatory, legislative and consumer awareness fronts and that will continue to be our core focus under Sarah's leadership," said Bernie Winne, president/CEO of Boston Firefighters Credit Union and a member of the CCUA’s board and chairman of the Search Committee, in a statement.
Vega initially joined NCUA in 2009 as chief of staff to then board member (and later chairman) Michael Fryzel. She was then named senior policy advisor to McWatters when he joined the board in 2014, and elevated to chief of staff when McWatters was named chairman.
Prior to joining NCUA, Vega served as director of the Illinois Department of Financial Institutions, and before being named Director, she served as the Administrator of the Department’s Credit Union Division, which regulates state-chartered credit unions. She has also served on the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank Chicago and was a member of the board of the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors, serving as the Association’s Chairman from 1999 to 2000.
Prior to joining NCUA in 2008, she was in the private practice of law in Chicago.