Maurice R. Smith Leadership Award

Pablo DeFilippi leads Inclusiv’s membership development and engagement strategies and manages Inclusiv/Network, a network of community development finance practitioners that provide valuable consulting services to CDCUs. Mr. DeFilippi has more than 20 years of experience in community finance, working with regulated financial institutions both in the domestic and international arena. Originally from Chile, DeFilippi came to the US in the early 90s and almost immediately became involved in credit unions.

After working at MCU, a large credit union serving New York City employees, he joined the Lower East Side People’s FCU (LESPFCU) a credit union serving Hispanics and other underserved populations in the New York City area and acted as its CEO until early 2004. From then and until the end of 2005, Mr. DeFilippi managed the World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU)‘s International Remittance Program (IRnet), a world-wide initiative to provide alternative remittance services to consumers both in the US and in recipient countries through the credit union system.

Mr. DeFilippi holds a B.A. in Social Studies from Universidad de Chile, as well as a Professional Accounting Certificates from Baruch College and New York University. He has a Master of Business Administration from Pace University and is a graduate of CUNA’s Management School and NCUF’s Social Impact Management Institute. He is also a Credit Union Development Educator (CUDE) and a UK Credit Union Development Educator.

Martin Eakes is the CEO of Self-Help Credit Union and Self-Help Federal Credit Union. In 2002, he helped establish the Center for Responsible Lending, an affiliate of Self-Help, that battles predatory mortgage and payday lenders across the country and fights to protect homeownership and family wealth for working families. Eakes is a well-decorated credit union executive and has been recognized with national awards including the National Credit Union Foundation’s Wegner Award, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Hubert Humphrey Award and Ford Foundation’s Visionary Award, to name a few. Martin holds a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and physics from Davidson College, a Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School and a Master of Arts from Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs.

Juan Fernandez is the President/CEO of the Credit Union Association of New Mexico (CUANM). Over the course of his nearly 20-year credit union tenure, which he began as a teller during college, he has led credit unions’ community development efforts in New York, assisting them in seizing opportunities to serve unmet needs in their communities and achieving sustainable growth. He and his team are credited with drafting legislative initiatives – that ultimately passed – to lower the compliance burden and enable credit unions to reach more markets and communities. He recently launched programs to help New Mexico credit unions achieve CDFI certification and serve needs that went unmet by other financial institutions. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Binghamton University and a Master of Business Administration from Western Governors University.

Gigi Hyland serves as the Executive Director for the National Credit Union Foundation, the philanthropic and social responsibility leader of America's credit union movement. In her role, she ignites and inspires credit union professionals to put consumer financial health and cooperative principles at the heart of their business strategy. Her career in credit unions spans 30 years as an advocate, attorney, federal regulator and now philanthropist. She is a Credit Union Development Educator and Certified Credit Union Financial Counselor. Hyland serves on the America Saves® Advisory Board and the National Cooperative Bank Board of Directors, chairing its Board Risk Committee. In 2022, she was inducted into the America’s Credit Union Museum Herstory exhibit, which highlights a range of credit union women and their achievements in the industry.

Inclusiv is the new name of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.  Inclusiv's mission is to help low- and moderate-income people and communities achieve financial independence through credit unions.  Inclusiv advocates with government agencies, regulators and lawmakers for policies and programs that promote the safety and soundness of credit unions while allowing them to grow and promote the financial inclusion of low-income communities.

Diane Rector is the Consumer Affairs Analyst for the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). She advocates for making NCUA a workplace more equitable and inclusive for people with visible and invisible disabilities. Joining NCUA in 1997, her past roles include leading, developing and implementing consumer education and outreach initiatives for credit unions. She has collaborated with various agencies and financial institutions to provide resources and training to credit unions relating to expanding access to financial resources and financial needs to underserved communities. Her work also includes providing strategic counsel and programs that support Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Strayer University.

Angela Russell is the Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and is the Vice President of the CUNA Mutual Foundation at CUNA Mutual Group.  Angela is responsible for leading the development, direction and implementation of short and long-term strategies and programs that support Diversity & Inclusion and overseeing CUNA Mutual’s Corporate Social Responsibility program.  

In 2018, Ms. Russell was named as one of the nation’s most powerful diversity executives by Black Enterprise magazine.  

Ms. Russell has nearly 20 years of professional experience involving diversity and inclusion, external relations and outreach, communications, policy development, and research and evaluation. 

Prior to joining CUNA Mutual she worked in various roles in public health including serving as a Health Equity Coordinator for Public Health Madison Dane County and she was the Community Engagement Lead for the National County Health Rankings & Roadmaps Program at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. 

Ms. Russell has also worked in a variety of roles in Wisconsin state government including Division Administrator for the Division of Early Care and Education, and Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Department of Children and Families, and Policy Advisor to Governor Jim Doyle.  She was formerly an epidemiologist with Wisconsin AIDS/HIV and Hepatitis C Program at the Department of Health Services. 

She holds a Master of Science in Population Health from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Beloit College. 

Angela serves on the Board of Madison Urban Ministry, Edgewood College Board of Trustees, and Wisconsin School of Business Advisory Board. 

Maurice Smith is the CEO of Local Government Federal Credit Union and Civic FCU. Both are financial cooperatives serving the financial needs of employees, appointed officials, elected officeholders, and volunteers of local governments in North Carolina.   

Smith began his career in financial services as a loan officer for State Employees’ Credit Union. Smith served in several capacities including vice-president/city executive and vice-president of marketing/training. Smith joined LGFCU in 1992 as the Executive VicePresident and was promoted to President in 1999 and later CEO. Civic was chartered in 2017.   

Smith received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and earned a Juris Doctorate from the NC Central University School of Law. Smith is licensed to practice law in North Carolina, the District of Columbia and before the United States Supreme Court. Smith is also a North Carolina Certified Superior Court Mediator. Smith achieved a NC Real Estate Brokers License, Certified Credit Union Executive Designation and attended several management and marketing schools.  

Smith and his wife have two children and live in Cary, North Carolina. He is a Deacon at Wake Chapel Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, and participates in several community and civic activities. Smith is a self-proclaimed cooperative nerd. He believes that a business model that empowers its members to engage in democratic, self-help, classless principles is superior to other business types. As a fan of credit union ideals, Smith is avid about his beliefs. 

Self-Help, co-founded by Martin Eakes and Bonnie Wright in 1980, is a community development lender. Self-Help has provided $13 billion in financing to more than 200,000 homebuyers, small businesses and nonprofits. Self-Help reaches people who are underserved by conventional lenders – particularly persons of color, immigrants, women, rural residents, and low-wealth families. Self-Help has 75 branch offices in North Carolina, California, Illinois, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington. The Self-Help nonprofit family includes two credit unions. Self-Help Credit Union is a North Carolina state-chartered credit union that started with a $77 bake sale in 1984 and now has 93,000 members and $1.8 billion in assets. Self-Help Federal Credit Union was chartered in 2008 and has 101,000 members and $2 billion in assets.