CUNA Operations & Member Experience Council and CUNA Technology Council Virtual Conference Option

Recognized as a thought leader and visionary of technology advancements and financial application development within the financial industry, John Best is a futurist, an Amazon bestselling author, an award-winning speaker, hosts a globally recognized podcast show, is the Co-Founder and CEO of Best Innovation Group, and in his spare time enjoys flying as an FAA certified drone pilot, playing guitar, gaming and Sci-Fi.

John previously served as CTO and Senior Vice President of Wescom Credit Union as well as head of technology for Wescom Resources Group. In 2014, John left Wescom to form his own company called Best Innovation Group, or BIG for short. BIG was created to provide clients with the resources to quickly implement digital solutions and adopt cutting-edge technologies. BIG provides research and development in areas including voice banking, distributed ledger and machine learning, as well as a wide array of development, integration, and consulting services. For more information, visit www.big-fintech.com

Steven Rick is a director and the chief economist for CUNA Mutual Group. His responsibilities include conducting strategic research, analysis, and forecasting of the financial services industry with special emphasis on the consumer and credit union markets. Rick publishes the Credit Union Trends Report, a monthly “pulse check” on the economic state of the credit union movement.

Before joining CUNA Mutual Group, Rick was the senior economist for CUNA & Affiliate’s Economics & Statistics Department for 22 years. Rick also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the University of Wisconsin Credit Union ($2.7 billion).

Rick holds a senior lecturer position with the Economics Department at the University of Wisconsin – Madison where he teaches Money & Banking and Macroeconomics courses. He is also the facilitator and instructor for CUNA Management School’s Stanford Bank Game, and has been a bank simulation advisor for Prochnow Graduate School of Banking.

Mike Schenk has over 35 years of experience in the financial services industry. In 1992 he joined the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) – the largest and most influential national trade association advocating for America's credit unions. There are over 5,000 credit unions nationwide, with 120 million memberships and over $1.6 trillion in assets

Mike is Deputy Chief Advocacy Officer for Policy Analysis and Chief Economist for CUNA and conducts economic research and supports CUNA’s public relations and advocacy efforts.  His analyses regularly appear in trade publications such as Credit Union Magazine.  He also is a frequent contributor to the financial media.

Schenk serves on the board of the Filene Research Institute, an independent, non-profit consumer and cooperative finance think tank.

He also serves on the board of Summit Credit Union in Madison, Wisconsin – a $4.2 billion financial cooperative with over 200,000 members.  He serves as Board Chair and has Chaired the credit union’s Asset-Liability Management and Risk Management/Internal Audit Committees. 

Wesley Williams is the Vice President of Information Technology for ValleyStar Credit Union. He has worked in the CU industry for over 10 years at 3 different organizations. Wesley is a member of the African American Credit Union Coalition, where he previously served as the Chairman for the Young Professionals. Additionally, he has served as a past Board Chair for the Virginia Credit Union League’s Young Professionals Network, as a member of the Business Management Advisory Board for Patrick Henry Community College, as the President for the Piedmont Chapter of Credit Unions and currently serves on ValleyStar’s culture committee.

Wesley is passionate about volunteering his time, knowledge and connections to help people grow professionally and personally. He serves as an Elder and Community Groups Director at Belmont Church where he also heads up a Diversity Ambassadors Group that focuses on racial reconciliation and social action, with a Christ centered focus.

Wesley holds a banking degree from the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking, a Master of Education degree in Instructional Technology, a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems, a Wharton Leadership Certificate and a Credit Union Executive Society IT Leadership Certificate. He and his wife Whittney live in Roanoke, VA with their 22-month-old son Wynston, whose favorite station on Pandora is Baby Shark Radio 😊.