Keynote Speakers

Stephen J. Dubner

Bestselling Author, FREAKONOMICS and SUPERFREAKONOMICS

An award-winning author, journalist, and radio and TV personality, Stephen J. Dubner is the co-author of the international bestseller FREAKONOMICS and SUPERFREAKONOMICS. Hailed by critics and readers alike, FREAKONOMICS spent more than two years on The New York Times bestseller list and sparked a cultural phenomenon.

Dubner spent several years at The New York Times as an editor and writer, and has also written for The New Yorker, Time, and elsewhere. His journalism has been anthologized in The Best American Sports Writing and The Best American Crime Writing. He is the author of two previous bestselling books, Choosing My Religion and Confessions of a Hero-Worshipper as well as a children's book, The Boy With Two Belly Buttons.

Dubner is a forceful storyteller with wry insight and his presentation will lead you to see the world in a bold, fresh new way. He will show you how economics is, at root, the study of incentives, and how having insight into those incentives is essential to driving membership, increasing loyalty and developing the right products and services at your credit union.

Tim Harrington, C.P.A., P.C.

President, T.E.A.M. Resources

Exploding the stereotype of his profession, Tim Harrington is a Certified Public Accountant and a dynamic public speaker. Harrington has that rare ability to make complex subjects very simple. As an expert in the field of credit unions, he has consulted with and provided training for hundreds of credit unions and tens of thousands of credit union volunteers and staff members throughout the United States.

Since 1996, Harrington has been President of T.E.A.M. Resources, a firm which provides consulting, strategic planning, and training to credit unions from coast-to-coast. TEAM Resources' clients range from a few million in assets to the billions in assets.

Harrington was formerly the chairman of the board of a $150 million credit union in Tucson, Arizona and an associate partner with the nation's 3rd largest auditor of credit unions. He has been working with credit unions since 1989 when he directed the internal audit of a large credit union in Tucson, Arizona. Prior to that, he was with a national accounting firm and has been practicing accounting and consulting since 1980.

In Harrington’s inspirational presentation “Enlightened Leadership Inspired by Eisenhower”, he will discuss how Ike Eisenhower, arguably the most important leader from World War II, had methods of leadership that are as effective in the business environment today as they were in the battlefields and war rooms seventy years ago.

General Session Speakers

Fred R. Becker, Jr.

President and CEO, NAFCU

Fred Becker has spent the last 12 years working tirelessly to advance credit union issues. He has championed credit unions— advocating an increase in the credit union member business lending cap, expanded credit union participation in the Small Business Administration programs and creation of a new risk-based capital regime. During the most recent debate on financial services reform, he advocated for a credit union exemption from the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and removal of interchange fee restrictions.

Most recently, Becker spearheaded NAFCU’s media outreach related to the Bank Transfer Day movement which launched a blitz of landmark coverage, including ABC World News Tonight, CNN and PBS Nightly Business Report. Becker’s commentary has been in The Huffington Post, USA Today, U.S. News and World Report, The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal; and he has appeared on numerous national and regional television and radio outlets, including CNN, Fox Business Network, Bloomberg Radio and Wall Street Journal Radio.

The Honorable Deborah Matz

Chairman, National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)

NCUA Board Chairman, the Honorable Debbie Matz, served on the NCUA Board from 2002-2005, and was reappointed and named chairman by President Obama in 2009. Formerly, Matz served on President Barack Obama’s transition team and was executive vice president and chief operating officer at Andrews Federal Credit Union of Suitland, Maryland. From 1993-2001, Matz served at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Before that, she was an economist for the Congressional Joint Economic Committee.

Michael N. Lussier

President/CEO, Webster First FCU and Chair/Director-at-Large, NAFCU

Mike Lussier has over 25 years of banking and credit union experience. He began his career in 1986 at Spencer Savings Bank in Spencer, Massachusetts as the assistant treasurer and then moved onto controller. In 1987, he accepted a position at Webster First Federal Credit Union as controller. In 1989, he was promoted to VP of Finance and in 1990 was promoted to President/CEO.

Mike is very active in the credit union movement and currently holds the position of Chairman of the Board of NAFCU. He is also a board member of MSIC (Mass Share Insurance Corp) and has previously been on the local Better Business Bureau, Rotary Club, Hospitals and American Red Cross boards.

Breakout Session Speakers


  • Dan Berger, Executive Vice President of Government Affairs, NAFCU
  • James Brooks, Product Management Director, Cyveillance
  • Jeffrey Chesky, President and CEO, Insuritas
  • Jack Clark, PhD, Principal, Clark & Chase Research, Inc.
  • Wayne Conte, Executive Vice President, Affinion Group
  • Anthony Demangone, Esq., NCCO, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, NAFCU;
  • Dan Green, Executive Vice President of Strategy, Prime Alliance Solutions
  • Tim Harrington, C.P.A., P.C., President, T.E.A.M Resources
  • Carrie Hunt, Esq., General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, NAFCU
  • Michael James, Chief Operating Officer, Lending Insights
  • Katherine Marisic, Director of Political Affairs, NAFCU
  • Steve Miller, Director of Financial Communications, Cathedral Corporation
  • Kevin O’Donnell, Vice President of Credit Issuance, Discover Network
  • Steve Richman, Sales Trainer and National Spokesperson, Genworth Mortgage Insurance
  • Ken Schroeder, Vice President of Business Continuity, Southeast Corporate Federal Credit Union
  • Dean Seifert, Senior Vice President of Product Development & Innovation, Vantiv
  • Brad Thaler, Vice President of Legislative Affairs, NAFCU
  • Don Thompson, Independent Consultant, Allied Solutions, LLC
  • Karen Tyson, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, NAFCU
  • Steve Van Beek, Esq., NCCO, Director of Regulatory Compliance, NAFCU

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