– Minutes 2023

Minutes 2023

Minutes of the OAS FCU Sixtieth Annual Meeting

May 30, 2023

            The sixtieth Annual Meeting was held in a hybrid mode. More than one hundred members attended “in person” at the OAS GSB building’s Ruben Dario Hall, and over one hundred members virtually.  Interpretation in Spanish was provided.

  • CALL TO ORDER AND START OF MEETING

Quorum was ascertained, and Ms. K. C. Soares, Board Chair, called the meeting to order at 12:07 pm.

All Board members and others present were introduced by the Chair K.C. Soares, Board Chair:

David Rojas, Vice Chair and Technology Committee Vice-Chair; Lynn Swenson, Treasurer and ALCO Chair; Ian Edwards, Secretary and Community Relations & Membership Chair; Katherina Diaz-Viana, Supervisory Committee Liaison; Colette Akande (On-line), Governance Committee Chair; Yacsire Cutler, Human Capital Committee Chair; Magaly Rothe, Technology Committee Chair and Jeff Hertrick, Community Relations & Membership member.

Cynthia Miller, Supervisory Committee Chair; Sebastian Ordoñez, Credit Committee Chair; Maria

 Elena Cruz, Nominating Committee member; and Carlos Calderon, CEO/President.

  • APPROVAL OF THE 2022 ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES

      Ms. Soares presented the Minutes of the 59th Annual Meeting held on May 24, 2022, for members’ consideration. The Minutes had been distributed via email to all registered members and were available in the election portal. She called for the vote of members attending in person and virtually no concerns or objections were raised by the members. The minutes were unanimously approved.  

  • REPORTS

      3.a Ms. K. C. Soares presented the Chair’s Report. She invited members to review the full Chair’s Report in the 2022-2023 Annual Report, available on the Credit Union’s website. Ms. Soares highlighted some of the accomplishments, as follows:

  • Working on positioning us better to have a greater global presence. With that intent a World Café was held with the participation of members and their guests.
  • A Green Committee was created with three pillars – people, planet, profit. It is the only committee that is composed of both volunteers and staff.
    • The Credit Union co-sponsors yearly the “Credit Union Sustainability Summit” with UN FCU – this has occurred for the past 5 years.
    • The Credit Union donated 3,000 trees to be planted in our name and we plan to plant one tree for every new Online Banking Registration, starting in June 2023. 
  • Our Volunteer Program is unique compared to other Credit Unions with over 50 active volunteers that participate serving on various committees. As part of the Volunteer platform, we created a Leadership Development program which is currently conducting its ‘third cohort.

Ms. Soares thanked the staff for their work; volunteers for giving their time and energy to the Credit Union; and the members for the trust placed in the Credit Union.

            3.b Mr. Sebastian Ordoñez presented the Credit Committee Report. He highlighted that The Credit Union continues working hard to provide relevant loans and other types of credit-related services to members.  The committee meets weekly to review credit applications and ratify loans approved by the lending officers.  He further stated that the past year was very good for quality lending.

  • A 360 % increase in Home Equity Lines of Credit, especially attractive in the face of the increase in interest rates on mortgage loans.
  • We booked $18 million worth of home loans for our members.
  • The loan portfolio grew by 1.78%, and  
  • 11.9% increase in loan applications.  

OAS FCU continues to help our members to prosper when requesting suitable loans at the correct times, for amounts that they can afford, and provides access to unlimited one-on-one financial counseling sessions, debt management services, and financial education through our partner GreenPath; services at no cost to you.

Mr. Ordoñez thanked the Credit Committee members, Lending Department and Management for their work and support.   The full report is available in the Annual Report on the website.

            3.c Ms. Lynn Swenson presented the Treasurer’s Report. She noted that 2022 was an interesting year since the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates:  Ms. Swenson further stated that:

  • OAS FCU’s assets decreased slightly to $283.9 million, but equity increased to $23.03 million.
  • So far in 2023, the economic news has been mixed, but the OAS FCU remains strong.
  • She pointed out that the strength of a Credit Union comes from its members pooling their deposits to provide resources for non-profit financial services.
  • The Management team and staff continue to be responsive, listening to members and providing solutions as needed.

Ms. Swenson thanked ALCO Members and Management for their work and the members for placing their trust in the Credit Union.

           3.d Ms. Cynthia Miller presented the Supervisory Committee Report. She reported that the 2022-2023 cycle was one in which we went back to face-to-face activities, and the Supervisory Committee meetings became hybrid.   She reported that the Supervisory Committee:

  • Conduct regular audits, such as the review of all closed accounts and the quarterly review of all accounts that were open.
  • The Committee reports on the cash count that is carried out every month.
  • Conduct ongoing audits.
  • Responds all complaints received from members.
  • The Credit Union has been focusing on providing information and tools to prevent and detect online fraud. Cybersecurity has become a critical issue for Banks and Credit Unions.

Ms. Miller thanked the Supervisory Committee Members and Management for their work, and the Board for placing their trust in the Committee. Finally, she invited the members to contact the Supervisory Committee at any time to share any feedback or concerns they may have.

  • CEO REPORT

Mr. Calderon welcomed and thanked all present and those attending virtually and mentioned that this was the first hybrid Annual Meeting since the pandemic: Mr. Calderon:

  • Talked about the 60th anniversary of the institution and the vision of the founders who started humbly in 1962 with $15,000 and with 286 members at the end of that year.  Now, the OAS FCU has reached close to $300 million in assets and over 9,000 accounts. Our membership is global.
  • Emphasized that we are in the process of updating our member services platform, a new means of banking and communicating with the Credit Union, and one that is both accessible and provides a personal touch for our members.
  • OAS FCU has a very strong commitment to the environment co-sponsoring the 6th Credit Union Sustainability Summit with UN FCU.
  • Once again, the OAS FCU received an award from the Credit Union Mortgage Association for our mortgage production in 2022. and congratulated the Lending Team and the Credit Committee for all their work and support.

Mr. Calderon thanked the team that organized the Annual Meeting event and the OAS for the

support provided. Also, he thanked the Board of Directors, all volunteers, for all the work they do, their time, effort, energy to make sure the Credit Union continues reaching new heights and operates in a safe and excellent manner.  He thanked the employees who work hard and believe in our mission. Finally, he thanked members for their continued trust and support during these past 60 years.

  • NEW BUSINESS:  There was no New Business.
  • NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT

Ms. Maria Elena Cruz, Committee, presented the Nominating Committee Report.  She noted that the volunteer program currently counts 50 volunteers representing 21 countries.  The Nominating Committee main activities over the past twelve months included:

  • Fulfilling with responsibilities of the Committee
  • Volunteer Recruitment
  • Preparations for the 2023 Elections
  • ELECTIONS REPORT

The Committee presented five candidates for three seats on the Board of Directors and three candidates for two seats on the Credit Committee.

This year a total of 2,107 valid ballots were received representing 26% of membership participation.  

The results of the elections for the Board of Directors were:

Ezequiel Galatro                                 1,351   Elected for a 3 Year Term
Rocio Suarez                                          754   Elected for a 3 Year Term
Yadira Pinilla                                         747   Elected for a 3 Year Term
Jeff Hertrick                                           628
Hermenegildo Matsinhe                        464
Blank Votes                                             23

The results of the elections for the Credit Committee were:

Jennifer Molina-Vrolik                        1,043  Elected for a 3 Year Term
Sergio Pino                                          1,015   Elected for a 3 Year Term
Joel Andrews                                          598
Blank Votes                                            416

Ms. Cruz thanked all the candidates for running in this year’s elections. She also thanked all the volunteers for their outstanding work and commitment this past year, and the Board for the confidence it placed on the Committee’s work.

  • QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

No questions were raised. All reports were accepted as presented.

  • ANNUAL MEETING PRIZES: 

            Ms. Soares presented the e-voting and raffle prizes.

  • ADJOURNMENT

           There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:52 p.m. by Ms. K.C. Soares, Board of Directors.

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