TAMPA, Fla. – GTE Financial, one of Florida’s largest credit unions, has promoted seasoned lending executive, Dona Svehla, to chief lending officer and senior vice president of GTE Financial.
“Dona’s exceptional work within the lending, fraud, and collections areas will continue to make our credit union stronger and further improve our member experience,” says Brain Best, chief experience officer and acting CEO of GTE Financial. “She is a motivational leader who always finds viable ways to help our members and enhance employee productivity within these disciplines.”
Svehla served as GTE’s vice president of Fraud/ BSA and Member Resolution for the past four months and has more than 20 years of experience in lending, loss prevention, and collections. She began her career in 1995 with Alliant Credit Union in Chicago where she established the financial institution’s fraud department and designed and implemented enhancements to their collection platform.
In 2007, Svehla brought her expertise and leadership skills to Grow Financial where she held the position of senior vice president of Retail, Lending and Loss Prevention, which won her the Credit Union Times Trailblazer Award - Lending Officer of the Year in 2013.
Svehla earned her Bachelor of Arts in Social Behavioral Sciences from National Louis University in Chicago. She also received a Master of Business Administration from Saint Leo University in St. Leo, Fla. Svehla is a credit union activist, holding several board positions such as recently serving on the CUNA Lending Council as an executive committee member.