AUSTIN, Texas--UFCU has named Heather McKissick executive vice president of community impact, communications, and marketing; Jim Brown as vice president of lending and chief lending officer; and Esther Edevold as vice president of finance.
All three individuals are experienced leaders promoted from within the organization.McKissick takes on a newly created position at the top-most level of the credit union overseeing UFCU’s efforts to advance the financial health of the communities in which it operates. She provides leadership on diversity, equity, and inclusion; relationship management; financial health; and social purpose, all fundamental to the credit union movement. McKissick also oversees communications and marketing. She reports directly to UFCU President and CEO Tony Budet.After joining UFCU in 2013 as vice president of human resources and organizational development, McKissick was named vice president of community impact in 2018 before progressing to senior vice president in 2019. Before joining UFCU, she parlayed her experience in government, nonprofit, private, and public enterprises to serve as president and chief executive officer of Leadership Austin. She remains a Leadership Austin faculty member. Within the credit union movement, McKissick has earned the distinction of CUDE (Credit Union Development Educator), a National Credit Union Foundation program focusing on the credit union movement's role in solving social problems. In addition, the Foundation selected her to be one of only a handful of leaders across the country to mentor other CUDEs and co-facilitate the national curriculum for the past several years.
As CLO, Brown, who was named UFCU vice president of retail lending in early 2020, will add commercial lending to his responsibilities, including consumer, mortgage, and insurance services, and long-term lending strategy development implementation, and oversight. He reports to Michael Crowl, executive vice president of Member experience.Brown joined UFCU in 1989 as a collections officer. In his 30 years at UFCU, he progressed through positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of credit, consumer lending, and retail lending. In his new role, he succeeds Laurie Roberts, who retired on December 31, 2020.In her new role as vice president of finance, Edevold will oversee UFCU’s critical financial functions. She reports to Mike Clifford, UFCU executive vice president of operations and strategy. Most recently, Edevold was director of financial planning and analytics, and she first joined UFCU in 2006 as an accountant. She has since held positions of increasing responsibility and led teams responsible for secondary markets, budgeting, profitability, investment portfolio, interest rate risk, mortgage pipeline hedging, liquidity, process improvement, data analytics, and data strategy. “These three leaders share a clear desire and ability to help people thrive both personally and professionally inside and outside the organization. They operate with integrity and contribute to the financial health of the communities we serve,” said Budet. “We put a lot of effort into professional development at all levels of UFCU and we always feel a special pride when a colleague rises from within. Heather, Jim, and Esther are exemplary professionals who have consistently demonstrated results and a people-centered approach in everything they do.”