PenFed Credit Union Promotes 4 More Leaders from Within

8/7/18

PenFed Credit Union today announced the promotion of four leaders who will oversee consumer products, member operations, and digital transformation:

  • Ricardo Chamorro, Senior Vice President of Consumer Lending Development and Corporate Development, has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Corporate & Business Development;
  • Jamie Gayton, Vice President of Strategy and Policy, has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Member Operations;
  • John Kelly, Senior Vice President of Payment Products and Services, has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Consumer Lending;
  • Bozena Kalita, Senior Vice President of Infrastructure and Operations, has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer.

"Again it gives me great pleasure to promote from within our ranks," said PenFed Credit Union President and CEO James Schenck. "These four outstanding individuals, working with our 13-member Executive Team, will help us shape the future of PenFed and the next generation of PenFed leaders. Together, we will drive our continued growth and transformation, while fulfilling our mission to help our members – and our employees – reach their full potential."

Last week, Schenck announced promotions for two executive vice presidents. Lisa Jennings was promoted to First Senior Executive Vice President. Shashi Vohra was promoted to Senior Executive Vice President and President of Affiliated Businesses.

All six promotions will take effect August 11.

Gayton will report directly to Schenck and replace Kevyn Myers, Executive Vice President, COO and President of Payment Systems, who is retiring from PenFed after 28 years of outstanding distinguished service.

Chamorro, Kelly, and Kalita will report to Vohra.

Chamorro will be responsible for marketing and business development, and affiliated businesses including PenFed Realty, PenFed Title, CU Rate Reset, wealth management, and insurance products. He will also have oversight of the PenFed Foundation's recently launched Veterans Entrepreneur Investment Program. Chamorro has over 12 years of experience in financial services and investment banking, including leadership roles at USB Investment Bank and Lazard. He joined PenFed four years ago and initially served in the role of Senior Vice President. A graduate of West Point (B.S.) and Harvard Business School (MBA), Chamorro served as a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army and was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal and Bronze Star.

Gayton will oversee operations of PenFed service centers and branches, research and loan servicing. After leading teams in the U.S. military for 30 years with combat deployments to Iraq for Desert Shield/Storm in 1990-1991, and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005-2006, he joined PenFed in 2017. He earned degrees from West Point (B.S.), MIT Sloan (MBA) and Pardee RAND (Ph.D.). He previously taught economics at West Point and culminated his military career by teaching economics at the National Defense University's Eisenhower School from 2015 to 2017.

Kelly will be responsible for consumer lending, including credit and debit cards, auto, personal and student loans. He will also lead retail consumer deposits and payment systems. Kelly has worked as a leader in the credit card industry for 21 years both domestically and internationally, having held various Senior Vice President roles for more than 10 years at Bank of America. He has been with PenFed for three years. Kelly most recently served in the role of Senior Vice President, Head of Payment Products and Services and, in this role, led the launch of PenFed's Power Cash Rewards Visa Signature® card and PenFed Pathfinder Rewards American Express® card – two of the most successful credit cards in the history of PenFed. He received his B.A. from East Carolina University.

Kalita will lead PenFed's enterprise-wide digital transformation in the role of Chief Digital Officer. She has been with PenFed for almost three years and an IT leader for 20 years. Kalita previously held positions at Capital One, HSBC and IBM. She holds Master's Degrees from Lviv National Polytechnic University (Ukraine), DePaul University and MBA Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Kalita most recently served in the role of Senior Vice President, Infrastructure and Operations.

About PenFed Credit Union

Established in 1935 as the War Department Credit Union, Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) is America's second-largest federal credit union, serving 1.7 million members worldwide with $23.5 billion in assets. Our mission is to help members reach their financial potential. PenFed Credit Union offers market-leading mortgages, automobile loans, credit cards, student loans, checking, certificates, and a wide range of other financial services with members' interests always in mind. We have a proud history of serving those in the Armed Forces, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Military Associations, eligible veterans and retirees, and their families. You may also qualify through membership in select organizations within our field of membership. PenFed Credit Union is federally insured by the NCUA and is an equal housing lender. To learn more about PenFed Credit Union, visit PenFed.org, like us on Facebook and follow us @PenFed on Twitter. Interested in working for PenFed? Check us out on LinkedIn. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

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