Kyle Markland

Chief Executive Officer

Kyle Markland has been Chief Executive Officer at Municipal Credit Union since 2020. Kyle joined MCU from Bethpage Federal Credit Union, where he served as Chief Operating Officer subsequent to serving as Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to Bethpage, he ran his own consulting and research firm, before which he served for 15 years at Minnesota’s Affinity Plus Credit Union (President/CEO) and Colorado’s Bellco Credit union (Executive Vice President/CFO). Kyle’s deep and varied experience in credit unions started with his first job as an accountant at a Florida credit union. He eventually rose to assume positions of leadership in the areas of corporate strategy, marketing, digital enterprise strategy, consumer and real estate lending, retail banking operations and facilities management. A graduate of the University of South Florida, Kyle also holds an MBA from Regis University, and has been honored by his peers with many awards, including the Trailblazer CEO of the Year by the Credit Union Times, and is the first two-time recipient of the Business Ethics Award given by the Minnesota Business Ethics Association.

Robert “Bob” Bedford

General Counsel

Robert “Bob” Bedford serves as General Counsel for MCU, where he manages Legal, Compliance, Bank Secrecy Act and Anti Money Laundering, as well as Enterprise Risk Management. Prior to joining MCU, Bob held the position of General Counsel at Aspire Federal Credit Union. Previously, he served as Deputy County Attorney for the County of Nassau, and has been practicing law for 17 years. Having previously worked in law firm, in-house and public service governmental settings, Bob focused on litigation, government and regulatory law, labor law and contract negotiation. Born and raised on Long Island, New York and hailing from a family with multiple generations of teachers, police officers and fire fighters, Bob is inherently connected to New York’s civil service and values the opportunity to work on behalf of MCU’s membership. He is a graduate of the University at Albany and the Maurice A. Dean School of Law at Hofstra University.

George Chacon

Chief Strategy Officer

George Chacon serves as MCU’s Chief Strategy Officer, where he oversees Strategic Planning, Digital Channels, Transformation, Organizational Agility, and Marketing & Business Development. Born and raised in New York City, in a family of teachers, George has over 20 years of retail, strategy, and innovation experience with banks and credit unions. George began his banking career as an intern at Citibank, where he cut his teeth on retail banking, working his way up to managing one of the largest branches in the US. Developing a passion for customer service, he brought that passion to the field of credit union management at Bethpage Federal Credit Union, one of the largest CUs in the country, where he rose to the position of Vice President, Corporate Strategy, before leaving to join MCU as Chief Strategy Office in 2021. George is a graduate of Hofstra University.

Stephanie Clancy

Chief Member Experience Officer

Stephanie Clancy is MCU’s Chief Member Experience Officer. With over 15 years of bank operations experience and a wide range of banking knowledge from financial analysis to change management to driving continuous improvement, Stephanie joined MCU from Piermont Bank where she served as Director of Operations. Prior to Piermont, she spent a dozen years with Dime Community Bank and its predecessor BNB Bank, where she rose from Director of Project Management to SVP & Director of Bank Operations. Previously, she was a Private Client Manager at Herald National Bank. Stephanie began her career at North Fork Bank, since acquired by Capital One. She is a graduate of Suffolk County Community College.

Juan Luna

Chief Information Officer

Juan Luna serves as MCU’s Chief Information Officer, where he oversees IT Core Operations, Network Operations, and Systems Programming. He joined MCU in 2019 as a consultant, and accepted a permanent role in 2021. A proven Information Technology leader, Juan has over 30 years of credit union experience. Born in Lima, Peru, Juan came to the US at the age of 7. He started in the credit union industry by working for Aerospace FCU in Northridge, California, managing an accounting department. He subsequently moved into the technology area and over his career has many accomplishments including core systems automation, ATM/debit card development and deployment, VISA credit card development, consumer loan product upgrades and disaster recovery planning creation and management

Frank Madeira

Chief Financial Officer

Frank Madeira is MCU’s Chief Financial Officer. An experienced banking finance executive, he joined MCU from Affinity Federal Credit Union where he most recently served as Senior Vice President for Finance & Payments. Before getting into the credit union industry, Frank spent many years in banking at TD Bank and CIT. He has extensive experience in treasury, accounting, strategic planning and capital markets, as well as a deep understanding of lending, payments, deposits and retail operations. Frank began his career as an auditor and capital markets specialist at KPMG in New York, after receiving his bachelor’s in accounting from St. John's University. Frank has continued his education with professional education courses at the Darden School of Business, the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, and the Wharton School of Business. He holds the designations of Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Treasury Professional (CTP), and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA).

Melissa Hartzell

Chief Lending Officer

Melissa Hartzell is MCU’s Chief Lending Officer. Prior to joining MCU, Melissa was a Senior Vice-President, Head of Consumer Lending at Investors Bank where she worked for 13 years in various roles. Melissa is a strategic executive leader with over 25 years of progressive experience in operations, credit risk management, and lending. Her recent focus has been on executing transformational business strategies through cross-functional projects. Melissa is a passionate advocate for community, inclusion, and creative change.

Melissa earned her Bachelor of Science in Finance and is currently pursuing her Master of Business Administration at Johns Hopkins University, Carey School of Business.

Melissa was awarded NJBIZ’s Best 50 Women in Business award, The BPeace Mentor of Distinction award, and The Boy Scout’s Tribute to Women award.

Toni-Ann Sforza

Chief Human Resources Officer

Toni-Ann Sforza is MCU’s Chief Human Resources Officer overseeing HR, Learning & Development, Security & Fraud, and Facilities. For more than 15 years, she has served in various people leadership roles within New York's financial services sector, most recently with Amalgamated Bank and Apple Bank. Joining MCU with a strong community banking background, Toni-Ann is proud to continue championing New York's municipal workers. Growing up in Yonkers, NY, in a family of Teamsters, she holds a distinctive connection to the strong character of our hardworking members. Holding sHRBP and SHRM-CP certifications, Toni-Ann pursued a bachelor’s degree from Mercy College and has studied advanced employee relations/labor relations at the Cornell University ILR School. In 2015, the National Association of Professional Women inducted Toni-Ann into their “Woman of the Year Circle” in recognition of her trusted leadership in HR.

Tom Canty

Chair

Tom Canty is Vice President and General Manager of Labor, Government, and Special Accounts, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, and has been working in the labor relations and health care insurance fields for over twenty years. He has been with Empire since 2001. Prior to joining Empire, Tom held executive positions with both HIP, the Workers Compensation Board and the New York State Employment Relations Board, where he also served as an Administrative Law Judge. Throughout his career, Tom has worked extensively with New York’s various labor unions and developed a reputation of being someone who gets things done. Tom earned a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College, and a Juris Doctor from Western Michigan University; Thomas M. Cooley School of Law.

Meisha Ross Porter

Vice Chair

Dr. Meisha Porter is the inaugural President and CEO of the Bronx Community Foundation. Formerly Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, she left the position in January of 2022. Dr. Porter has been a passionate advocate for educating New York City’s youth for over twenty years. Starting as a teacher and rising through the educational system, holding positions as Principal, Community Superintendent and Executive Superintendent, Meisha was appointed as the Chancellor of New York City’s Department of Education, the nation’s largest, by former Mayor Bill DeBlasio in March of 2021. A graduate of Hunter College, she received her Master’s Degree in Administration and Supervision from Mercy College, and completed her doctorate in education at Fordham University in October 2021.

James Saunders

Secretary-Treasurer

James Saunders is currently Deputy General Counsel and Chief Health Care Compliance & HIPAA Privacy Officer for the New York City Fire Department. James joined the ranks of the Fire Department in 2014, prior to which he held multiple legal and compliance positions with New York City Health + Hospitals, eventually rising to the position of First Deputy Corporate Compliance Officer. James earned his Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law. He also holds CHC (Certified in Healthcare Compliance), CHPC (Certified in Healthcare Privacy Compliance) and CHRC (Certified in Healthcare Research Compliance) certifications from the Compliance Certification Board.

Phil Alvarez

Member

Phil Alvarez has been the Director of 9/11 Outreach and Education at the Hansen & Rosasco LLP law firm since September of 2019. Phil is the brother of the late Luis Alvarez, one of the first responders memorialized in the Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act. Prior to joining Hansen & Rosasco, Phil was a tireless advocate, alongside his brother, for those who suffered harm in the September 11th terrorist attacks. Phil served 32 years in the Suffolk County Police Department, 25 of which were as a detective. Phil earned his bachelor’s degree from Baruch College.

Joseph N. Garba

Member

Joseph N. Garba is Head of External Affairs at Cross River, a technology driven infrastructure provider that offers embedded financial solutions. He previously was the Director of State Government Affairs for the East Coast at Alexion AstraZeneca Rare Disease. Prior to these roles he has had an extensive career in state and local government, most recently serving as Secretary to the Speaker for Intergovernmental Affairs at the New York State Assembly. A role he was appointed to by Speaker Carl E. Heastie. In this role he was in charge of interactions between the Speaker’s office and all other government entities at the local, state, and federal level. During this period, Mr. Garba also spent time serving as Deputy National Political Director for the Mike Bloomberg 2020 campaign. Prior to joining the Speaker’s office, he served as Deputy Borough President for the Borough of Manhattan, with a focus on Budget and Policy under Borough President Gale A. Brewer. He was previously the Director of State Legislative Affairs for the City of New York in the Office of the Mayor, under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, where he was responsible for leading the administration's State legislative agenda. In addition, he has served in the administration of two New York State Governors in capacities including Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs, Staff Secretary to the Governor, and Assistant Secretary to the Governor for State Operations. Earlier in his career he was a Legislative Representative for NYSUT. Mr. Garba holds an MA in Public Administration from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany, and received a BA from the University at Albany.

George Cherubini

Chair

George Cherubini currently serves as the founding Chief Executive Officer of DeepCleanUS, an infection prevention company utilizing state-of-the-art disinfection in combination with advanced surface testing to generate disinfection data reports for public dissemination. Prior to assuming that role, George served in the New York City Police Department for 25 years in various positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of human resources, marketing, recruiting and business continuity. George also teaches; he is an assistant professor at Wagner College’s Nicolais School of Business, and adjunct faculty at the College of Staten Island and St. Joseph’s College. George earned his bachelor’s, master’s and MBA degrees at St. Joseph’s college, an MPA from Marist College, and a master’s in Human Resources Training & Development from Seton Hall University.

Juanita Holmes

Member

Juanita Holmes is the Chief of Patrol in the Patrol Services Department of the New York City Police Department, overseeing 16,800 uniformed members serving in 77 precincts and 8 patrol boroughs across the city. Rejoining the NYPD in 2020 after a stint as the Global Head of Security for BNY Mellon, Juanita continues a career at the NYPD begun in 1987, where she has been recognized with multiple awards and citations, including a New York City Council Proclamation for Outstanding Service and Achievements, Certificate of Recognition from the Public Advocate for the City of New York, New York City Council Women’s Caucus Woman of the Year, and NYPD DESI Society Person of the Year. Juanita holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Empire State College and attended the Columbia Business School Executive Education’s Police Management Institute. Additionally, she has completed multiple certificates and trainings in professional development.

Tricia L. Roberts

Member

Tricia L. Roberts, CIA, CFE is the Chief Financial Officer for NYC Health + Hospitals, a position she has held since June of 2021. Prior to joining Health + Hospitals, Tricia spent five years at the New York City Housing Authority, starting as Director of Internal Audit before being promoted to Vice President of Finance. Having focused the majority of her career on finance and risk, Tricia also held multiple positions in risk management in the not-for-profit and government sectors. Tricia earned her BA from Temple University, as well as a Master of Public Health, a Master of Public Administration and a Professional Certificate in Audit & Accounting from New York University. She is currently a Board Member and Member of the Audit and Finance Committee for the Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy.