Converge

Becky Reed, COO of BankSocial sits down with Anne Legg, Founder and CEO of THRIVE Strategic Services.

Anne Legg is a recognized, award-winning industry expert, author, educator, and member-centric data strategist who holds an MBA thesis on the credit union business model. She is the author of Big Data/Big Climb: A credit union playbook for leveraging data and talent to achieve revolutionary member relationships.

Recently added to America's Credit Union Museum's Ensweiler Research Library.

She is the founder and CEO of THRIVE Strategic Services. She has guided over 600 credit union leaders on a mission to simplify their data transformation, identify new revenue sources, lessen member friction, and increase talent productivity to truly change member lives. 

Anne has received numerous awards, including; 

CUNA MBDC Professional of the Year

Credit Union Executive Society Rising 100

CO-OP ThinkPrize semi-finalist

She has also been named “A Woman To Watch” By the Credit Union Times.

Anne is currently the Southwest CUNA Management School lead faculty for Data & Analytics. And she has served as a lead instructor at the CUNA Marketing School and acted as the subject matter expert for CUNA’s Credit Union marketing curriculum. Anne has also been an author for CUNA’s Environmental Scan, The Credit Union industry’s leading strategic planning guide.

Her work has been published and presented at both the 2012 and 2014 International Cooperative Summits,

Making her the only Credit Union professional in the United States to do so.

In 2019, she climbed the tallest freestanding mountain on the planet, Mt Kilimanjaro.

Becky Reed ( Credit Union & CUSO Consultant. Crypto/ DLT Enthusiast, Educator and Author) is a seasoned executive and respected thought leader in the financial industry. She boasts over two decades of exceptional leadership experience in credit unions and CUSOs. Her unique insights stem from her distinct perspective as both a credit union executive and CUSO leader, making her a highly sought-after expert. Becky’s belief in leveraging cutting-edge solutions underscores her commitment to creating frictionless experiences for both employees and members alike.

Notable positions held by Becky include her tenure as the CEO of LoneStar Credit Union, her role as Board Chairman of the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations (NACUSO), and her contribution as the Co-Founder and Board Chairman of PureIT Credit Union Services (CUSO).

Ken Hersh sits down in our Dallas studio with Lee Bratcher, President of Texas Blockchain Council and John Wingate, CEO of BankSocial. '

Ken Hersh is President and Chief Executive Officer of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, a non-partisan institution which houses the George W. Bush Library and Museum and the George W. Bush Institute. He is also Co-Founder and Advisory Partner of NGP Energy Capital Management, a Dallas-based private equity franchise in the natural resources industry. NGP has managed over $17.0 billion of cumulative committed capital since inception in 1988. Additionally, Ken currently serves as a Senior Advisor for The Carlyle Group's natural resources division. He is on the Hoover Institute's Board of Overseers, the Harvard Kennedy School Dean's Council and sits on the Board of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club. Additionally, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Council of the American Enterprise Institute and the World Economic Forum. Ken received a B.A. in politics from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.

Becky Reed, COO of BankSocial sits down with Greg Gallant, President/CEO of WeStreet Credit Union.

Greg Gallant is the President/CEO of WeStreet Credit Union ($1 billion, 57,000 members) since 2011.

His passion for the Credit Union movement is the result of a 40-year career where he has been employed within trade associations, corporate credit unions, and credit unions.  These experiences have helped shape Greg's progressive view of what a credit union can be while being committed to the principles that are deeply rooted in our movement.   

Gallant holds a BS Finance, BS Management, and an MBA. Currently, he serves on the Cornerstone Resources Board (Cornerstone League). He previously was a CUNA Board Director and Chair of CUNA’s Credit Union Powers Sub Committee. 

This week Ronaldo Hardy of Nacuso along with Becky Reed and John Wingate of BankSocial, sit down with John Dearing of Capstone, Strategic, Inc. (Capstone).

John has played a key role in the success of Capstone, Strategic, Inc. (Capstone) since 1996. The firm focuses on helping organizations grow successfully through proactive strategic growth programs.

Capstone has particular expertise in assisting in acquisitions of closely-held not-for-sale businesses and has completed over US$1 billion in transactions. John leads Capstone’s client engagement teams and operations while advising clients on strategic external growth (acquisitions, investments, and partnerships).

This week John Wingate, CEO of BankSocial, sits down with the legendary Jeff Pulver - Internet Pioneer of VoIP, Co-founder of Vonage and responsible for “The Pulver Order” issued by The FCC in 2004.

Jeff Pulver is an American Internet entrepreneur and futurist known for his work as an innovator in the field of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Pulver's early work in VoIP with his company Free World Dialup led to a significant regulatory decision by the Federal Communications Commission in 2004 which classified VoIP as an internet application, rather than as a telephony service which would be subject to government tariffs and regulations, a decision which paved the way for the development of video and voice internet communications.

Lee Bratcher of The Texas Blockchain Council and John Wingate of BankSocial sit down with Mance Harmon, CEO and Co-Founder of Hedera Hashgraph and Swirlds Inc.

Mance Harmon is the co-CEO of Swirlds Labs which develops and supports the Hedera network, creating community and enterprise solutions. He is the Co-Founder and former CEO of Hedera Hashgraph, a platform that offers a distributed public ledger that enables anyone to easily develop secure, fair, lightning-fast decentralized applications.

Mance is an experienced technology executive and entrepreneur with over 20 years of strategic leadership experience in multi-national corporations, government agencies, and high-tech startups. His prior experience includes serving as the Head of Architecture and Labs at Ping Identity, Founder/ CEO of two tech startups, the senior executive for product security at a $1.7B revenue organization, Program Manager for a very-large scale software program for the Missile Defense Agency, the Course Director for Cybersecurity at US Air Force Academy, and research scientist in Machine Learning at Wright Laboratory.

Mance received an MS in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a BS in Computer Science from Mississippi State University.

In this episode, we sit down with Jack Antonini, Financial Leader, Innovator and former CEO of USAA Federal Savings Bank and President and CEO of NACUSO.

In this episode, we sit down with Keith Gray, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships of The Clearing House.

How it all started.

In this episode, the founding members of Converge Institute come together to introduce themselves, discuss the intersection of AI, FinTech and Blockchain plus how we empower disruption.

This is how it all started, this is the genesis story.

Featuring:

John Wingate - CEO, BankSocial

A thought leader on transformational technology, financial innovation, regulation and laws, entrepreneurship and business, Wingate argues that society’s centrally managed gatekeepers – governments, journalists, and corporations – are incapable of imposing order on the chaos of our decentralized, online existence. His talks present an alternative in which software and algorithms, rather than being a threat to our way of life, can supplement and improve these outdated institutions.

Lee Bratcher - President and Founder of the Texas Blockchain Council

Lee Bratcher is an influential figure in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors, best known for his role as the President and Founder of the Texas Blockchain Council (TBC), a pivotal organization in advocating for blockchain technology and legislation in Texas.

Becky Reed - COO, BankSocial

A credit union industry veteran and thought leader with more than two decades of leadership in credit unions and CUSOs. 

In addition to her credit union expertise, Becky is a management coach, mentor, consultant, and published author.

Ronaldo Hardy - President/CEO, Nacuso

Ronaldo is a powerhouse speaker and executive with the personal mission, "To change the world by building the people who will change the world."

He currently serves as the President and CEO of NACUSO, an organization focused on inspiring innovation and cultivating collaboration in the credit union industry.

Prof Dr Simon Mak, PhD, MBA, BSME/BTech - Founding Vice Chancellor

Universal AI University

Dr. Simon Mak is an award-winning PhD entrepreneurship professor with extensive experience in Silicon Valley startups and IPOs. After a successful career in entrepreneurship, he transitioned to academia in 2004, joining the SMU Cox Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship.

Steve Kinard

Experienced finance, energy and policy professional. Focused on making Texas and the United States the leading jurisdiction in the world for high performance computing and artificial intelligence innovation.

Go to https://letsconverge.org/ for more info

This is where brilliant minds come together to empower disruption.

Each week, we explore topics that delve into Fintech, Blockchain and AI through the lens of guests who are building the future.

Brought to you by the Converge Institute - a collective of thought leaders, future thinkers and fintech enthusiasts that are at the top of their industries.