Event Details

Thursday, July 9, 2020
Webinar 11:00 AM - 12:00 PMCDT

What impact will the COVID-19 pandemic have on consumer and cooperative finance in the coming months? What role will credit unions play in mitigating its effects? 

Filene’s Special Report series sponsored by CO-OP Financial Services analyzes how the COVID-19 crisis may affect financial services providers, particularly credit unions. Part one presented an early analysis of the economic and social disruptions caused by the crisis and outlined the likely consequences many people will confront going forward. Part two reviews evidence as recent as June 2020 and focuses on concerns for financial services and looks specifically at how credit unions have responded.

In this webinar, George Hofheimer, EVP + Chief Research + Development Officer for Filene, will be joined by David Demsko, SVP, Corporate Strategy & Business Performance Management for CO-OP Financial Services, and Rebecca Gerothanas, Chief Operations Officer at Summit Credit Union, to share their insights, perspectives, and expertise on the impacts and implications of this crisis.

This session will explore: 

  • how credit unions have responded to members’ immediate needs
  • how financial well-being is being re-centered in the credit union value proposition
  • how credit unions will need to innovate and evolve their service delivery models, focusing on digital financial services
  • how the credit union business model will be challenged as organizations navigate a depressed, low-rate economic environment

Speakers

David Demsko
Full Name
David Demsko
Job Title
SVP, Corporate Strategy & Business Performance Management
Organization
CO-OP Financial Services
Speaker Bio
David has worked exclusively in financial services during his 15+ year career in the retail, business, and wholesale banking space. His prior positions include strategic planning and implementation at both ABN AMRO and Lehman Brothers and, most recently, as a senior manager at EY in the Performance Improvement practice. He attended Penn State and Duke University.
Rebecca Gerothanas
Full Name
Rebecca Gerothanas
Job Title
Chief Operations Officer
Organization
Summit Credit Union
Speaker Bio
Rebecca Gerothanas is the Chief Operations Officer at Summit Credit Union, in Madison Wisconsin. Summit Credit Union has $4.2 billion in assets, 200,000 members and 42 branches throughout southern Wisconsin. Rebecca has been at Summit for 24 years and currently oversees the branch network, marketing, cards and payments, deposit operations, collections, project management, facilities, and risk management.

She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Political Science.
George Hofheimer
Full Name
George Hofheimer
Job Title
Chief Research Officer
Organization
Filene Research Institute
Speaker Bio
George Hofheimer arms credit unions with the creative, yet practical, ideas that meet the needs of today’s financial consumers. At Filene Research Institute, he leads five university-based, research centers focused on topics of critical importance to the future of consumer finance, oversees a series of product incubators, guides advisory programming and is consistently in the field working with institutions to create a positive consumer impact.

Prior to joining Filene, George spent eight years leading the executive education function for the Credit Union Executives Society (CUES). Before his career in consumer finance, George lived in the former Soviet Union working for such disparate organizations as the United States Peace Corps, Price Waterhouse, and US Trade and Development Agency. He previously served as board president at Willy Street Coop, a $60 million, 40,000-member natural foods cooperative.

George earned his MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.