Thomas A. Chandler
Director, Advisors Plus
PSCU Financial Services
Thomas leads the AdvisorsPlus team at PSCU Financial Services. He is responsible for directing the entire range of AdvisorsPlus services consisting of Consulting Services, Marketing Services, Portfolio Management and Portfolio Acquisitions. His ability to effectively communicate complex ideas benefits him in working side-by-side with the credit unions. Thomas brings more than 20 years of financial institution experience to PSCU Financial Services, including his tenure as Chief Financial Officer for National City Card Services (NCCS). At that time, NCCS was the nation’s 17th largest card issuer and had a $2.5 billion portfolio consisting of consumer credit cards, including agent relationships, affinity groups and business credit cards. While CFO at NCCS, Thomas was a visiting assistant professor of economics at Kalamazoo College where he taught financial and managerial accounting. In addition, he was a member of the advisory board for the Haworth College of Business at Western Michigan University. Thomas holds a bachelor’s degree from Otterbein College and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago.
Christopher D. Joy
Director of Strategic Consulting
PSCU Financial Services
Christopher brings nearly 23 years of experience to PSCU Financial Services as a Director of Strategic Consulting. His experience in the financial management of $2.5-billion in managed credit card assets gives him a strong advantage in handling various forms of credit card consulting. Although Christopher’s primary focus is analyzing member credit union’s portfolios, he also plays a vital role with the Marketing Services and Portfolio Management programs. His perfected ability in evaluating financial services from several different perspectives helps create a balanced and effective solution for the credit union. Christopher engages diverse clients, allowing him to find the best solution that specifically addresses their unique situation. Before joining PSCU Financial Services, he served as Vice President and Manager of Portfolio Profitability for the NCCS division of National City Corp (NCC). He was responsible for restructuring strategic portfolio pricing worth $33-million in annual revenue. Christopher received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ohio University.
Timothy R. Kolk
Owner
TRK Advisor, LLC
Timothy Kolk, owner of TRK Advisors, is a 15 year veteran of the credit card industry, including previous positions of Managing Partner at Brookwood Capital and head of Finance for M&T Bank’s credit card program. He has analyzed over 300 credit card programs and is considered a leading expert on credit card program design, portfolio optimization techniques, and program profitability management. In addition, Mr. Kolk has advised hundreds of issuers on the pros and cons of selling their credit card portfolios and is acknowledged as a leading figure in the negotiation and transition process related to such sales. He has experience with every type of credit card program (e.g. owned portfolios, agent programs, carve-out, distressed, affinity branded, cobranded), across all size ranges, and including a wide variety of special situations (e.g. merging institutions, transitioning endorsement negotiations). Mr. Kolk is frequently sought out by the trade press for his views on the credit card market, as well as publishing many articles and white papers over the past decade and offering expert testimony on related matters.
Mr. Kolk attended Dartmouth College as an undergraduate where he graduated with honors and two citations for academic excellence. He received his MBA, with a concentration in Corporate Finance, from SUNY Buffalo where he graduated with honors and was recognized as the M&T Bank Fellow. He serves as Treasurer for the Conval Community Scholarship Fund, which focuses on providing scholarships to students normally overlooked for such awards, as well as coaching a local youth soccer and hockey teams throughout the year.
Caroline Lane
SVP, Business Development & Marketing
CO-OP Financial Services
Caroline Lane joined CO-OP Financial Services in July of 2006. She has since assumed direct leadership of a Relationship Management team that is 23 members strong, as well as oversight of the Business Development Support and Marketing departments. Caroline personally handles strategic planning and legislative affairs for CO-OP.
Caroline has two decades of marketing and strategic planning experience, and spent more than five years on the executive team of American First Credit Union in La Habra, California.
Over the years, Caroline has built legislative affairs programs from the ground up, facilitated dozens of strategic planning sessions, developed new financial products, and led award-winning marketing departments.
Caroline is a native Californian, having received her Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from California State University, Fullerton, and her Master of Business Administration degree from Pepperdine University. She lives in Southern California with her husband Todd and his two children.
Jim Perry, Senior Strategist, Market Insights
Jim Perry has worked with Market Insights on key projects since 1995. As Senior Strategist, most of Jim’s work is about facilitating change – helping organizations anticipate it, adapt to it, and avoid the roadblocks that attempt to prevent change happening. This often involves initiatives that include strategic planning, marketing plan development, branding, messaging, executive coaching, etc. Jim is a published writer; featured speaker and workshop presenter at conferences throughout the United States.
Sarah Snell Cooke
Editor-in-Chief
Credit Union Times
Sarah Snell Cooke has served as editor-in-chief of Credit Union Times for more than a year, after having been named interim editor in December 2007. Prior to that, Cooke covered the Washington, D.C. news beat for Credit Union Times for seven years. Before joining the Times’ staff, she wrote for the Credit Union Regulatory Insider newsletter for more than a year.
Cooke earned her bachelors degree with honors in political science and a minor in journalism from McDaniel College (then Western Maryland College) in Westminster, Md. Cooke is married to John Cooke, and has two small children, Jacob, 7, and Alexandra, 4. She resides in Fulton, Md. When not writing about credit unions or chasing after her kids, she can be found on the volleyball court.
Hal Tilbury
Chairman, President and CEO
Bluepoint Solutions
Hal Tilbury is the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vista, Calif.-based Bluepoint Solutions. Boasting a 45 percent revenue growth in 2008, Bluepoint is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and leading innovator in remote deposit capture (RDC), image-based item processing and electronic document management software technology. Tilbury provides strategic guidance and planning, and oversees quality service to customers and partners. With more than 40 years of product development and venture technology experience, Tilbury is a pioneer and tenured entrepreneur in the software field. Throughout his career, he has founded, acquired or sold 20 companies.
Tilbury founded Bluepoint Solutions nearly two decades after starting and developing Bluebird Systems. As CEO of Bluebird, he was responsible for directing business operations and strategic development. Under Tilbury’s guidance, Bluebird Systems was named 11th fastest growing private company in America on the 1987 Inc. 500 list. The company developed the first time-sharing, multi-user operating system capable of running on a micro–computer, and niche vertical market applications for the trucking, auto rental and moving and storage industries.
Tilbury began his computer industry career in 1966 as a marketing representative for IBM. As a product manager, he promoted innovative concepts designed to fundamentally improve the success of the IBM system. In 1971, he founded Compusource Corporation to further his innovative technological solutions, drawing and executing plans for the first business application software made available for Data General mini computers. After selling Compusource to Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in 1979, he served as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing within the company’s Business Systems Division.
In addition to his experience in various software environments, Tilbury served on the Board of Directors of The Monarch School, a San Diego-based campus that provides homeless and at-risk children with an accredited education while caring for their basic needs. In addition to company-wide days of service, Bluepoint Solutions donates five percent of its annual net income to the school while encouraging contributions from other local organizations.
Tilbury received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Santa Clara University. He currently resides in Solana Beach, Calif. with his wife Yolanda. They enjoy the friendship of four adult children.
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