MARLBOROUGH, Mass.–Less than two weeks after announcing Sarah Vega would leave NCUA in order to become president/CEO of the Cooperative Credit Union Association, Vega has opted to not take the position.
NCUA, where Vega is chief of staff to Chairman J. Mark McWatters, has confirmed to CUToday.info that she will remain with the agency in her current position. NCUA said Vega is not available for comment.
At its annual meeting in Uncasville, Conn., on Oct. 11, the Cooperative CU Association introduced Vega as its new president/CEO to succeed Paul Gentile, who 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,” Bernie Winne, president/CEO of Boston Firefighters CU and chairman of the search committee said at the time of the announced hiring.
McWatters, who also happened to be speaking to the CCUA annual meeting on the same day, also issued a statement praising Vega for her work and contributions to the agency.
CUToday.info has contacted the Cooperative CU Association for comment.
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 was 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.
The Cooperative Credit Union Association serves nearly 200 member credit unions in Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.