Leadership At Verity

Nancy Woodland, Board Chair

Nancy Woodland currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors and spends her workdays as both a nonprofit consultant and an Executive Director. She is a partner with Ampersand Community, LLC fueling nonprofit transformation and excellence through trusting relationships and anti-racist diligence. In addition, Nancy spends half her workweek serving as Executive Director for the Learning Communities Foundation. Partnering with the Puget Sound Educational Service District, LCF raises funds in support of early learning and racially just and humanizing school systems overall. Nancy is a wife, mom to two almost-adults, sister, aunt and friend. She is a learner, lawyer and collaborator. She is not afraid to “do things differently” and is especially energized by Verity’s commitment to equity in its activities. Nancy has a BA from Michigan State University and a JD from Loyola University in Chicago. She litigated child abuse, neglect and foster/childcare licensing cases for four years as an Assistant Attorney General. She proudly serves as a board member for the National Diaper Bank Network, King County Children and Youth Advisory Board and hopes to continue service with Verity Credit Union. Most of what she has learned in life is from the times she simply showed up… willing.

Michelle Pham, Vice Chair

Michelle Pham has served as a Verity board member since 2020 and previously served as a board associate. She chairs the Experience Committee and serves on the Finance, Nominations, and DEI committees. Michelle earned a BA in psychology and art history from the University of Washington and a JD from Seattle University School of Law. She is a partner at Seattle-based firm Helsell Fetterman LLP, and practices intellectual property law and commercial litigation. In her spare time, she coaches UW Law’s national mock trial team, serves as Chair of the Washington State Bar Association's Litigation Section, and enjoys cooking and traveling.

Nick Etscheid, Secretary

Nick Etscheid has served as a Verity director since 2020, starting as a Board Associate in 2019. He chairs the Technology Committee and is a member of the Finance Committee. A Seattle native, he earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Washington and currently manages international real estate expansions at Amazon Web Services.

Vikash Chhagan

Vikash has been a member of Verity Credit Union since 1997 and began volunteering in 2019. Since 2019, he has served as a board associate, Supervisory Committee member, and board member. He earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Texas – Dallas and a Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University. Vikash has served in one federal agency since 1994 in a variety of legal roles and is currently a member of the Senior Executive Service.

Chad Klemme

Chad has been a board volunteer since late 2020. During this time, he has served as both an associate and a director and sat on several different committees. He is a local product, graduating from the University of Washington in economics and political science. Chad spent the early part of his career in finance and banking, but currently works as an Agile and Product Management Consultant for Slalom.

Pelin Muharremoglu

Pelin has been serving Verity as the Chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the Executive Committee since October 2021. She started serving Verity as a Board Associate in August 2020. Pelin is a finance professional with more than 11 years of experience, mostly in Fortune 100 banks, with responsibilities in financial planning and analysis, team leadership, governance and processes design, governance and improvement, investor relations, business case development and capital management. Pelin has an MBA from Columbia Business School and MS in Electrical Engineering from Boston University.

Wesley Nguyen

Wesley Nguyen began volunteering at Verity Credit Union in 2021. Since then, he has served as a Board Associate on various subcommittees including Finance, Technology, and Governance. Wesley earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Georgetown University and a MBA from La Trobe University in Australia. Wesley currently works for the City of Lacey as their Economic Development Liaison. He also serves on the Social Justice and Equity Commission for the City of Olympia. Wesley just finished a 4-year term as President of the Board for Project Feast; a non-profit that supports workforce training for immigrants and refugees in King County.

Will Collins

Will Collins has served as an Associate Board Member since September of 2021 and as an interim Supervisory Committee member. He graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering. He is a Senior Software Architect at West Monroe Partners with a specialty in Fintech.

Zhu Zhu Xiao, Chair

Zhu Zhu Xiao has been a Verity member since 2018. She currently serves as a member on the Supervisory Committee. Zhu Zhu is a Senior GIS Specialist for the Washington Surveying & Rating Bureau. She received her BS in Biology from the University of Washington.

Tom Holz

Tom joined Verity after moving to Seattle in 2019 and began volunteering as a board associate in 2020. He is a Product Manager at Fluke Corporation in Everett with a background in engineering. He holds a master's in business administration from the University of Virginia and a master's in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Florida. Tom is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional, Eagle Scout, and 9-time veteran of Burning Man.

Tonita Webb, CEO

Tonita is Verity’s first Black female CEO, and one of few Black female executives in the industry. She harnesses the power of tools, data and technology to drive decision-making that ensures financial prosperity for all, especially underserved members of the community. Her passion for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is at the heart of her work moving Verity forward in socially responsible banking to create vibrant communities.

Prior to joining Verity, Tonita spent 15 years at Seattle Credit Union (SCU), where she served as both Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, and formerly, the Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. Before SCU, Tonita worked in various executive human resources roles in the Seattle area.

Tonita was raised by her single mother in low-income housing projects in Virginia. That experience has sharpened the sense of compassion and empathy she brings to her leadership style. In addition, Webb says her mother's work ethic inspired her to go the extra mile in serving her employer and its employees, our country,  the credit union members, and the community overall.

“I believe to be a good leader requires listening and empathy. Being an active listener allows me to lead with impact and enables me to learn in the process. I don’t have to know everything. I just need to be able to listen to the needs of my team and our members and put myself in their shoes with a deep openness. This is empathy. Embodying these traits creates the space and conditions for meaningful change.”  

As an Air Force veteran, an MBA holder, and mother of four, Tonita leads by example and gives herself freely to her community work. She currently serves on boards for non-profits like Southeast Effective Development (SEED) and 21 Progress, as well as social enterprises like Pioneer Human Services. She is a champion of diversity and inclusion and a frequent public speaker on the subject.

Tonita is a Puget Sound Business Journal Woman of Influence and an American Heart Association Woman of Impact nominee. She has also been featured on numerous podcasts including Seattle Seahawks Coach, Pete Carroll and Audrey Casenecia’s leadership podcast on “Generational Wealth in Leadership,” Unlikely, See It to Be It on “Changing the System from Within”, and Leading with Empathy & Allyship on “Strategies for Supporting Black Leadership in the Workplace.”

Jason Hirl, Chief Technology Officer

Jason joined Verity in 2014 and currently has over 30 years of experience in the credit union industry. After starting as a teller in his first credit union, Jason quickly moved up the ranks with roles in accounting and software support. Previously, Jason led the technology operations as the Vice President of IT at a Minneapolis credit union for 15 years. He believes that his technology team has a huge responsibility providing tools that are secure, available, and efficient, and meet the needs of Verity's membership and staff. He enjoys the challenges that come with the pace of change technology brings.

Jason received his BA degree from the University of Northern Iowa, majoring in finance and minoring in mathematics. He is also a 2005 graduate of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Management School in Madison, WI. Currently, in the spirit of “learning is life-long”, Jason is seeking his MBA degree online with the University of Iowa.

In his spare time, he volunteers many hours in his community coaching youth baseball and leading the local Scout troop supporting his two boys. In addition, for fun, he enjoys rooting on the Iowa Hawkeyes and the WSU Cougars, as well as golfing, boating, hiking and camping with his wife and two boys. 

Tina Narron, Chief Lending Officer

Tina joins Verity with a wealth of experience in the financial services industry. She started her career as a teller and has worked her way up through senior lending positions before ending up in executive leadership. In addition to managing all aspects of lending for billion-dollar loan portfolios, Tina has also helped lead organizational and cultural transformations at credit unions to improve member service. 

In her role as Chief Lending Officer, Tina believes that her team is essential to helping people achieve their dreams. As such, she is responsible for contributing to the development of loan products and services and equipping her lending team with the tools they need to be successful. 

In her spare time, Tina enjoys charity work, cooking and spending time with friends and family. She also enjoys traveling and visits a new destination every year. 

Brad Tanberg, Chief Financial Officer

Brad joined Verity in 2018 and brought with him decades of experience in the financial industry. He “caught the bug for credit unions” as a teenager when working as a teller at Olympia Credit Union. He loves being part of the credit union movement because he believes in one of the key philosophies: people helping people. Before coming to Verity, Brad was the CFO at TruWest Credit Union in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Brad is a “lifelong learner.” He has a post-baccalaureate degree in accounting from Arizona State University, a bachelor’s degree in finance from Western Washington University and is a graduate of Western CUNA Management School. 

In his free time, Brad enjoys spending time with family and watching his daughter play volleyball. He also enjoys flying (he has his private pilot’s license), boating and golfing. 

Josh Sidell, Chief Experience Officer

Josh joined Verity’s executive team in 2022 with more than 15 years in the financial services industry. He spent seven of them leading Verity’s sales and member experience efforts, opening new branches, expanding online and mobile access, as well as working to better integrate our branches into the communities we serve.

Josh was drawn to Verity—and chose to be a senior leader—because his life’s work is to improve other people’s lives, especially those who have been historically excluded. He believes in Verity and our mission to make systemic change by creating greater connections to affordable financial services and increasing access to wealth-building programs to help close the wealth gap.

“The cooperative models of credit unions are best suited to take on the difficult work of bringing equity and prosperity to the financial system, improving the lives of our community as a whole.”

Josh has an MBA from Western Governors University, and a bachelor’s degree in English from Western Washington University. He’s a member of Filene’s i3 program, which focuses on innovative solutions to consumer financial problems at credit unions. Josh is also a board member of the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association, where he sits on the finances, property development, and strategic planning committees.  

Outside of work, Josh enjoys spending time with his kids, cooking and listening to music.

Ziquora Banks, Chief Impact Strategy Officer

Ziquora oversees the Community Impact Team, providing community fund grants, community impact projects, financial well-being and related initiatives to accomplish Verity’s Community Impact agenda. She joined Verity with more than a decade of experience working in a variety of community and member-focused positions within well-known financial institutions. Her passion for building equity and shifting power to historically excluded communities led her to pursue a promotion from the director of community relations to Chief Impact Strategy Officer, where she strives to create social change that leads to measurably improved lives and stronger communities in Washington State. Linking donors, volunteers and advocates’ aspirations to need, Ziquora cultivates and manages relationships to mobilize resources for meaningful engagement. 

“I’m committed to helping communities repair and heal their relationships with money; to move away from a scarcity mindset to one that creates space for abundance. By moving barriers that get in the way of meeting goals, and meeting people where they are, we can partner together and co create a vision to prosperity as our communities define it.”

Prior to joining Verity, Ziquora served as the AVP of DEI & Strategic Partnerships at Seattle Credit Union, where she focused on creating strategic partnerships in BIPOC, Immigrant and refugee, and LGBTQIA+ communities to further opportunities to access inclusive financial products and programs. She also focused on developing Seattle CU internal culture to focus on creating an inclusive culture for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ staff with the creation of the credit union’s first Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s).   She has held positions at USAA and BECU, where her career in the financial sector began to flourish and her love and passion for community grew. Ziquora graduated from Colorado Technical University with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Business Administration. She also received a Diversity & Inclusion Certificate for Intercultural/Multicultural and Diversity Studies from Cornell University. 

Ziquora enjoys spending time with her son traveling to new places and immersing herself in the stories and cultures around the world. 

Alma Granic, Chief Risk Officer

Alma came to Verity in 2022 with more than 25 years in the financial services industry, specifically in the areas of Risk Management, IT, and Project Management. While most people don’t find Risk Management and compliance exciting, Alma is passionate about the areas because she is able to touch every aspect of the organization and help keep members’ financial well-being safe.

Most of Alma’s professional career has been with credit unions because she is drawn to the underlying mission of people helping people. “When you join a credit union, you join a family.”

Alma has an MBA in finance from Western International University, and a bachelor’s degree in global business-finance from Arizona State University. She also holds several certifications in areas of Risk Management and Information Technology.

In her free time, Alma enjoys hanging out with her family, traveling, and hiking.