At Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union, our five core values drive everything we do. Each month, we look to acknowledge a group of employees who go above and beyond their day-to-day responsibilities and exemplify a Heart to Serve, Communication, Accountability, Teamwork, and Growth.
As April has come to a close, we’d like to recognize our Core Value winners for the first quarter. Congratulations to Gerard Moussette, Daniel Belanger, Diego Estrada, Nazmeen Syed, Sharon Garrido, Bethany Watson, Frank Sitnik, Jonathan Betancur, Judith McCullough, Robert Boley, Caitlyn Aguiar, Fady Sidhom, Sarah Mackness, and Corinne Badenhoff.
January
Gerard Moussette, Loan Servicing Analyst, was recognized for teamwork and accountability during a month where he had several competing priorities. Not only did Gerard complete the tasks accurately and on schedule, the quality of his work was unmatched. He completed tax document validation, product testing, improved departmental quality control, all while assisting with training, procedure updates and more.
“Gerard consistently gives 110%,” stated Emily Farham, VP of Payments and Loan Servicing. “I truly appreciate the level of detail he provided, as well all the hard work he does on a daily basis”.
Also recognized for teamwork and accountability was Daniel Belanger, AVP of Financial Analytics. When recently asked to assist with automating summaries for monthly reports, Dan knew he could take it one step further.
Paul McDonald, VP of Residential and Consumer Lending recalls, “Dan quickly produced what was asked for but even better identified what we could improve on.”
While improving efficiencies was a more involved process than the initial request, Dan was able to complete the project by the end of the day. Thank you, Dan, for your insight and expertise.
Congratulations to Diego Estrada, Nazmeen Syed, and Sharon Garrido for being recognized for teamwork and communication. This group of employees worked together across multiple departments and were able to stop member fraud.
Earlier this year, a fraudster posing as a legitimate Jeanne D’Arc member visited our Nashua Branch, attempting to withdraw funds. Nazmeen, Nashua Assistant Branch Manager, recognized the member’s name as being a victim of identity theft and immediately enlisted the help of Sharon, Senior Financial Risk Management Specialist. Sharon instructed Nazmeen to call the police immediately. With the help of Diego, Member Service Representative, the team was able to stall the imposter until the police arrived.
“This event showcased the incredible amount of teamwork and communication that was needed to successfully respond to member fraud,” stated Sheila Fortin, VP of Operational Risk Management, and Matthew Gadilauskas, Nashua Branch Manager. “These three employees reacted quickly and worked together expertly to identify this imposter and stall her until the police arrived.”
February
Bethany Watson, Executive Assistant Officer, was recognized for her heart to serve her colleagues. Acre Crossing, home to Jeanne D’Arc’s new office building on the corner of Merrimack and Cabot Streets, will be dedicated to affordable housing. Bethany organized a special meeting of the Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership (MVHP) and credit union employees. This allowed employees to gain a greater understanding of the programs and parameters surrounding the Acre Crossing development and more about what MVHP does in our community. Paul McDonald, VP of Residential and Consumer Lending said of the experience, “…it was another example of making our own employees a focus of our priorities by providing this exclusive session.”
Retirement Plans Officer Frank Sitnik was also acknowledged for his heart to serve our members. At the Veterans Breakfast in Dracut this February, a very concerned member in attendance was brought to Frank by a colleague. She opened a CD several months earlier, but had recently received a letter informing her of a mandatory disbursem*nt and tax implications. She was incredibly distressed by this, and Frank calmed and assured her that he would do everything in his power to help. He then went out to his car, got his laptop, brought it into the kitchen, and worked with the member until the issue was resolved. Frank’s willingness to stay after the event and make sure the member was at ease, all with a kind smile on his face, exemplifies what it means to have a Heart to Serve.
Jonathan Betancur, Senior Real Estate Loan Processor, was recognized not just by his teammates, but also by our members for communication and heart to serve. Jonathan recently received a note from members who have a loan Jonathan closed on. These members were so appreciative that they wrote to him personally. They wrote, “Just wanted to write and say thank you for your help with our purchase this summer. Your team was great and I know things went super-fast when you got back from vacation. I didn’t say it at the time, but I really appreciated and was impressed at how quickly (within minutes!) you sorted it all out and helped us get through what was a stressful time. Thanks for all your work!”
March
We also saluted both Robert Boley and Judith McCullough for growth and teamwork. Robert, our VP, Business Services, is a member of the Rotary Club of Westford, and they recently held a cornhole tournament fundraiser. He and the other Rotary members put in a great amount of work, and the fundraiser was a huge success. Several Jeanne D’Arc teams participated, and Judy was one of them. Judy, Tyngsboro Branch Officer, did a wonderful job mingling and chatting with attendees, excellently representing the credit union. She left such an impression upon the owner of the complex that he agreed to donate to the We Share a Common Thread Foundation!
Member Contact Center team members Caitlyn Aguiar, Fady Sidhom, and Sarah Mackness were all highlighted for their excellent teamwork and heart to serve. The team was tasked with opening approximately 150 new EmergeStrong accounts, an employee benefit to support financial resilience. A daunting task, they powered through opening all the accounts and contacting each employee for required documents.
As Vice President, Member Contact Center, Anexis Sanchez put it, “They did a great job completing everything and the EmergeStrong account opening process wouldn’t have been a success without them. I know every employee appreciated their attention to detail and their thoroughness!”
Corinne Badenhoff, Learning & Development Officer, was recognized by her colleagues for growth for the excellent job she is doing facilitating training for our Member Experience department. Corinne recently completed a “Train-the-Trainer” program to deliver sales training to our managers and team without having to go through a third-party and then met with our AVP, Regional Branch Officers to design three separate training programs for the managers, tellers, and member service representatives. She designed a custom workshop for managers to teach them how to coach and to practice sales role-plays.
Kate Dame, VP, Branch Administration, explained, “I appreciate that Corinne has designed the training with our ‘spin’ on educating and helping the members make smart financial choices.” This training supplements online courses they are taking and reinforces the lessons they’re learning, ensuring that our team can more easily absorb the information they need.
These are just some of the incredible people we have the privilege to call our team. Do the values of Heart to Serve, Communication, Accountability, Teamwork, and Growth resonate with you, too? Don’t just look on from the outside – come join us! Check out our Careers Page to see our current job openings.
