Ascend Federal Credit Union welcomes Leslie Copeland as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Planning, Mark Brown as Senior Vice President of Information Technology and Mary Pollard as Assistant Vice President of Consumer Lending.
“Leslie makes a wonderful addition to our senior management team,” Ascend President and CEO Caren Gabriel said. “She will play a major role using her data analytical skills to help lead the credit union toward its strategic goals. Her extensive marketing experience will further enhance our marketing and business development efforts – educating more members and potential members about credit union benefits. We look forward to the many successes we know she will bring to Ascend.”
Copeland earned a bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University. Before joining the credit union, she was the director of database marketing at Direct General Insurance in Nashville. She also worked as a marketing manager at Tractor Supply Company in Brentwood.
The Fayetteville resident enjoys gardening, whitewater rafting, canoeing, camping, and spending time with her family and friends. She and her husband Dain have a son named Carver, 9.
“Mark [Brown] will lead and manage our Information Technology staff as well as help us provide leading edge technology to members and employees. Our goal is to drive and sustain an excellent omni-channel member experience through our technology,” Gabriel said.
Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Tennessee Tech University, a master’s degree in business administration from Belmont University, and holds certificates in CISSP, CISA, CISM, and Security+.
Before joining the credit union, he was the director of information security at Surgery Partners in Nashville. He also worked at Pinnacle Financial Partners in Nashville as information security officer/analyst; Spheris Operations in Franklin as Global Information security manager, and CIGNA Government Services in Nashville as the security project manager.
The former Franklin resident now resides in Tullahoma and enjoys camping, hiking, backpacking, serving as assistant scoutmaster with his son’s Boy Scout troop, volunteering with Civil Air Patrol, and volunteering on boards of Middle Tennessee’s International Information System Security Certification Consortium, or (ISC)2. He and his wife Rachel have two children; Andrew, 13, and Kaitlyn, 8.
“Mary [Pollard] will help us to continue offering great loan solutions with even better rates to our members,” Gabriel said.
Pollard is also working toward a business management degree online with University of Phoenix. Before joining the credit union, she was the vice president of lending at Gulf Winds Federal Credit Union in Pensacola, Fla.
The Murfreesboro resident enjoys fishing, hunting, shopping, and attending church. She and her husband Jeff have two children; Taylor, 19, and Alyssa, 18.
[x_alert type=”info”]With more than $2 billion in assets and more than 170,000 members, Ascend is the largest credit union in Middle Tennessee and one of the largest federally chartered credit unions in the United States. The National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) selected Ascend as the 2015 Federal Credit Union of the Year. Ascend is federally insured by the NCUA.[/x_alert]
