Board of Director petitions due February 2

According to the bylaws of Arizona Federal, members who have joined the credit union by December 31, 2006, are eligible to run for election to the Board of Directors.

Candidates may be selected by a nominating committee or by submitting a petition signed by at least 500 Arizona Federal members. Biographical information on nominees selected as of December 31, 2006, is printed below. For petition information, call (602) 683-1032. The deadline for submitting a petition is February 2, 2007.

Don Ayers*

Don Ayers has been a member of Arizona Federal for 18 years. He was elected to the Board of Directors in 1991. For the past 15 years he has served as Board Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and Director.

Don retired from the City of Mesa in 2004 where he served as Finance Director for 13 years. Also, he was a CPA in Arizona until his retirement. He has a Master’s degree in Accounting from Arizona State University. Don worked for 34 years in several financial/administrative positions for four different cities.

If re-elected to the Board of Directors, Don will continue to push for additional branches and ATMs for the convenience of Arizona Federal’s members. He will keep working to ensure that Arizona Federal continues to offer members very competitive loan interest rates.

J.R. Pooler*

A member of Arizona Federal for 37 years, J.R. Pooler has spent more than half of that time on the Board serving terms as Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-Chairman and Chairman. He has seen Arizona Federal experience incredible growth in assets, service capacity and technological advancement while maintaining an emphasis on safety and soundness. That emphasis resulted in loan interest refunds to members of more than $6 million over the last 5 years.

J.R. currently is principal of his engineering consulting firm, Pooled Resources, and in 2003 completed a 30+ year career as Engineering Manager for the City of Tempe. He has put his facilities expertise to work for the credit union by assisting in the strategic planning of expansion of our branch and ATM network, which will improve member service.

J.R.’s goals for the credit union include continued asset growth accompanied by increased investment in members through expanded services, simplified processes and applied technologies. He is committed to Arizona Federal’s philosophies of “people helping people” and “safety and soundness.”

Kelvin Smith*

Kelvin Smith has been involved with credit unions for 36 years. He began his membership at Arizona Federal when he purchased a car and wanted to take advantage of credit union financing. Kelvin is heavily involved in community volunteer service by coaching children’s soccer, and basketball teams. He has also served four years as a captain of a volunteer fire company in Pennsylvania.

Kelvin has been involved in serving the public for over 34 years and started his own business three years ago to provide financial guidance and management assistance to communications companies. If re-elected to the Board, Kelvin says he will continue to seek input from the members on current services and their desire for new services. He believes that by seeking member input, Arizona Federal will become the best credit union in the state. “My focus always has and will continue to be the safety and soundness of Arizona Federal as we continue into the next millennium.” Kelvin most recently voted to return $10 million dollars to the members of Arizona Federal. “The return of capital to our members is what sets Arizona Federal apart from other financial institutions. It is our goal to remain member-oriented.”

Jarret M. Sharp

Jarret Sharp has been a member of Arizona Federal since his marriage to his wife Jamie almost ten years ago. Since that time, he has been the honored recipient of the great service that defines the credit union.
Jarret is very familiar with community service since earning his Eagle Scout in 1987. Since that time he has served in various leadership roles with the Boy Scouts of America. Jarret also served with the Glendale Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Jarret is an award winning educator, coach and administrator, once the recipient of Target’s Top 100 Schools in America. Currently he is a mentor at Thomas J. Pappas, a regional school for homeless children.

Jarret served with the Arizona Army National Guard for five years as a Forward Observer helping to train soldiers and keep our nation safe and secure.

Jarret earned two Masters in Education degrees from Chapman University and holds a Bachelor’s of Science from Brigham Young University. He has over ten years experience as a special education teacher and school administrator. Jarret has exceptional business acumen, consulting with businesses in facilitating exponential sustainable best practices.
Jarret’s commitment to Arizona Federal members is to preserve the traditions of excellence and assist in providing cutting edge technological and financial support to the growing customer base.

Maggie Gerring

Maggie Gerring has lived and worked in Tucson for over 20 years. She helped to establish the South Park/Pueblo Gardens Community Credit Union in 1995 and was manager of the small neighborhood credit union until its merger with Arizona Federal in 2001. As manager and sole employee for the first year and a half, she hired and trained all additional employees, set up the office and the networked computer system, and oversaw the growth of the new credit union from occupying a 10 by 10 foot room to four employees occupying a 1000 square foot office; from opening the first account to a membership approaching one thousand. The credit union served a low- to moderate-income community, and Maggie retains her interest in providing services which will be relevant to this membership, while also accommodating the growth of services important to all Arizona Federal members.
She was an employee of Arizona Federal in the Marketing Department and at Tucson’s Broadway Branch until her retirement two years ago. Educated as a chemist, she worked as a teacher and analytical chemist for over twenty years, and retains her interest in education, especially financial education, as an important facet of the credit union’s services.

Luis Ibarra

Luis Ibarra is currently the President and CEO of the Friendly House, a community-based family service organization serving the Valley since 1920. Luis is the past Senior Vice President of the Valley of the Sun United Way. Luis is a graduate of the School of Social Work at Arizona State University and has extensive experience in health and human services, organizational management, staff development, family therapy and leadership development.

Luis is a graduate of Valley Leadership and served on the Board of Valley Leadership for six years including a term as Chairman of the Board. He also served six years on the Arizona State Bar Board. He is currently involved with the Governor’s Commission on Juvenile Justice. Luis also participates as an community advisor to the Governor’s Office, Phoenix Mayor’s Office, Glendale’s Mayor’s Office, ASU President’s Office and Maricopa Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

Luis also participated with Arizona Federal staff to develop a hispanic marketing initiative as a community volunteer. As a member of Arizona Federal, he has a commitment to help the credit union grow stronger and to provide the highest quality of services to its members.

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News & Notes

Board of Director Petitions due February 2.

Accounts and Services of Arizona Federal Membership Agreement