Executive Management Team
BECU is proud to have this group of qualified professionals serve as our BECU
Executive Management Team.
Gary J. Oakland
President/CEO
Gary J. Oakland has been the President/CEO of BECU since 1986.
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He began his career with BECU in 1980 as the Director of Finance, handling
investments and planning, and his credit union career began in 1975 as a teller
at Seattle Telco Credit Union.
Gary currently represents BECU and other credit unions by sitting on the
administrative boards of the National Credit Union Foundation and Open Financial
Solutions, and as a trustee for the Trust for Credit Unions. He has served on
the boards and committees of several trade-related organizations, including the
Washington Credit Union League, National Association of State Credit Union
Supervisors, Credit Union National Association, Filene Research Institute, and
others.
Gary is a native of Washington, graduating cum laude in economics from Washington
State University. He spent a semester at the University of Aarhus in Denmark,
studying comparative political and economic systems. In addition to numerous
industry educational programs, he is a graduate of the Advanced Management
Program at Duke University Fuqua School of Business.
Tom Berquist
Senior Vice President of Member Strategies
Tom Berquist has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry and has worked at BECU since 1994.
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In his role as Senior Vice President of Member Strategies he leads BECU's marketing, product development, community affairs, and strategic planning efforts. Prior to joining BECU, he started his career in financial services with Bank of America.
Tom currently serves on the Board of Directors for Rebuilding Together South Sound and is a trustee of the Washington Credit Union Foundation. He earned a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Washington and is currently working on his MBA at Seattle University.
Katherine Elser
Senior Vice President of Finance & Administration and Chief Financial Officer, BECU and CFO, Prime Alliance Solutions, Inc.
Kathy has been involved in the financial institution industry since 1989. She
joined BECU in 1996 as the Manager of Accounting, and subsequently held the
position of controller.
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She is a current Board Member of Prime Alliance Solutions, Inc., a majority owned
CUSO of BECU, an advisory board member to Central Washington University's
College of Business, and has served terms on the Executive Committees of the
boards of the Seattle Chapter of the Washington State Society of CPA's as well
as the King County Chapter of Credit Unions. Kathy also participates as a
panelist and presenter at various credit union education forums and conferences.
Prior to joining BECU, Kathy worked in public accounting at Deloitte &
Touche, LLP, and at various other financial institutions in both financial
reporting and internal audit. She holds a BS in accounting from Central
Washington University.
Parker Cann
Senior Vice President and General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Parker has 30 years of experience in the financial institutions industry with extensive involvement in legal and regulatory matters.
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Before joining BECU, Parker served as the President and CEO of Columbia Credit Union in Vancouver, WA. Prior to that, Parker served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Arrowhead Credit Union in San Bernardino, California. He also served on the board of three of Arrowhead’s Credit Union Services Organizations (CUSO), including Arrowhead Trust, a trust company. Before joining Arrowhead, Parker served for seven years as the chief credit union regulator for Washington State. During that time, Parker served on the board and various committees of the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS). Parker currently serves on the Advisory Council and the Legislation and Regulation Committee of NASCUS. He also serves on the Government Affairs Executive Committee of the Washington Credit Union League.
Parker received a Juris Doctor degree from the Law School of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland where he graduated magna cum laude. Parker is a member of the Washington State Bar Association.
Butch Leonardson
CIO/SVP of Information Technology
Butch Leonardson has 30 years in information technology (IT) leadership. His
initial 12 years in the profession were in strategic IT consulting and
large-scale systems implementation.
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He served as a Practice Director for the financial services industry with Arthur Andersen & Company (Accenture). From 1988 to 1996, he was the Associate Executive Director and CIO for Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. He then spent two years at Harvard Medical School exploring a pilot program for a global disease management system. He has been with BECU since 1999.
Butch earned a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in business administration at Seattle University. He is currently serving on the school's Board of Regents and is active in the Albers School of Business Mentor program. He also serves on the Albers School of Business Electronic Commerce and Information Systems Curriculum Advisory Board.
He is a frequent speaker on IT organizational leadership and a lecturer for the Master's of Business Administration program at the University of Washington—Bothell, and Seattle University. In 2008, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees at Highline Medical Center.
Grace Semingsen
Senior Vice President of Member Solutions
Grace Semingsen is Senior Vice President of Member Solutions at BECU. Grace has
over 30 years experience in the credit union industry.
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Grace oversees operations of the Member Solutions
Contact Center, Tukwila & Everett Financial Centers, Neighborhood
Financial Centers, Member Care, and Wealth Management.
Grace is recognized as an expert in identifying and driving long-term member
satisfaction. She serves on the board of the Northwest Credit Union Alliance,
Northwest Clearing House Association, chairs the newly developed Member Loyalty
Group, LLC, and participates as a panelist at various industry forums and
conferences. Grace recently graduated from the three-year executive education
program with the Credit Union Executives Society CEO Institute.
Scott Strand
Senior Vice President of Member Operations and Chief Lending Officer
Scott Strand has over twenty years experience in the financial services industry, beginning his career with Bank of America in 1985 prior to joining Washington Mutual in 2003. He came to BECU in 2008.
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At both institutions Scott held senior-level positions of regional and national scope in indirect auto lending, consumer and home equity lending, mortgage, small business and branch banking. Scott joined BECU in 2008 and brings a diverse background in lending operations, underwriting, sales management, default management and product management.
Scott holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Western Washington University and is an honors graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington. Scott’s professional interests include finance and banking education, having served as a continuing education instructor of automotive finance at Shoreline Community College, and he is currently a member of the extension faculty of the Pacific Coast Banking School. Scott is the former Chair of the Family Advisory Council at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, and he is currently a board member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County.
Elaine M. Terry, SPHR
Senior Vice President of Human Resources
Elaine Terry has been with BECU since 1975, and has served as the Senior Vice
President of Human Resources since 1986.
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She has been instrumental in developing BECU's Human Resources division since its
inception. Elaine has a BA from the University of Washington in sociology and
elementary education. She is also certified as a Senior Professional in Human
Resources, demonstrating professional mastery and achievement in the human
resources field.