Sean Hession, CEO & President of Callahan & Associates, is a successful entrepreneur who cofounded a healthcare transaction processing company and grew it to 40 million in annual revenue in five years. He leads from his conducting skills, allowing him to visualize the full picture and harmonize the skills and strengths within a company.

With over 25 years as a General Manager of small and mid-size business. For 10 years, Sean managed both line and staff positions for a Midwestern financial institution. Having worked in multiple industries, Sean's strength resides in strategy and planning to ensure goals and objectives are met.

Sean clearly communicates how executives can bring all the pieces of their credit union into a cohesive whole. Done in context of which the audience lives whether it's within the company, local, community-based, or globally he'll give them new ways to frame the broader picture. With this new frame attendees will walk away refreshed and new tactics to think about their strategic structure.

Sean's passion is music which began in high school drama class where he met Jerry Lewis who came to speak to his spring musical cast. Mr. Lewis spoke of everything but his career has he talked about life and passion to fresh faced teenagers. Today, Sean actively pursues his passion by signing in his church choir and the National Men's Choir.

A nationally-recognized leader in the credit union industry, Chip is an astute author, frequent speaker, and consultant for the credit union movement. Chip co-founded Callahan & Associates in 1985 and currently has more than 30 years of experience in government, financial institutions, and business.

Chip is a well-known speaker on a wide range of critical industry topics, including analysis of credit union trends, credit union public and market-facing opportunities, and strategies for enhancing member value. Chip's consulting background includes strategic planning sessions to identify how credit unions can improve their financial position while enhancing member return.

Recent credit union related analysis includes changes in the corporate credit union system, the NCUA's Corporate Stabilization role, and the need for regulatory reform.

Previously he held concurrent positions at the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), as President of the Central Liquidity Facility (CLF) and Director of the Office of Programs, which included the NCUSIF and the examination process. He holds a magna cum laude undergraduate degree in government from Harvard; was a Rhodes Scholar at Merton College earning a BA and MA from the University of Oxford; and earned an MBA from Northwestern University.

A respected credit union strategist and industry leader, Jay Johnson is continuously sought after for his knowledge about the credit union industry and financial insights. As a well-known analyst in the industry he's regularly traveling to provide strategic planning and consulting expertise to credit unions and credit union partners across the country.

Jay has over 20 years of financial industry experience working at top 20 banks and within the credit union industry. Much of his work has focused on lending and capital market areas, as well as innovative new product development including Callahan's prominent Peer-to-Peer data analytics software. Jay also leads Callahan's industry analysis through webinars, including the much anticipated quarterly Trendwatch calls, Creditunions.com, and Callahan's top publication Credit Union Strategy & Performance. To add to Jay's expertise he is a CFA Charterholder and holds FINRA licenses 7, 24, 27, and 63.

Jay's impactful presentations provide real world examples of successful strategies, tactics, and programs that give a new way of thinking to maximize cooperative strategies. Many of Jay's thought provoking talks deliver fresh ideas for creating greater member value, allowing credit union executives to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, placing emphasis on collaboration among credit unions. With every presentation, Jay provides key strategic questions and actionable ideas to implement when the audience returns to their offices.

As a board member of the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations (NACUSO), Jay maintains regular insights into new collaborative developments within the industry. He is also President and Treasurer of TRUST Mutual Funds. Jay's participation in this industry outside of his role at Callahan & Associates demonstrates Jay's belief in the credit union industry and the role it plays in the economy.

Alix Patterson, Chief Operating Officer of Callahan & Associates, is a firm believer in the power of print. As the creator of Callahan's leading publication - Credit Union Strategy & Performance - she has a thorough understanding of what keeps credit union executives up at night, and she recognizes the need for strong print and online resources.

Alix is a lifelong credit union member and has 15 years of professional credit union experience under her belt. She supports the role of credit unions in America's financial system and has extensive knowledge about the difficulties the industry faces. Her background informs her decisions as the Editorial Director for Callahan's suite of media products - including CUSP and Creditunions.com - and helps her steer conversations as the moderator for Callahan's Leadership Roundtables and producer of Callahan's weekly webinars.

Alix possesses a big-picture view of the industry. In her daily work, she shares compelling stories about credit union successes. But because she understands data is critical in helping credit unions set and achieve goals, her analysis of industry success is grounded in data.

With a firm grasp on the numbers credit unions need to make important decisions, Alix is talented at pinpointing strategic patterns to enhance the breadth of content in her speaking portfolio. She chronicles case studies from all angles and identifies common threads that span credit union departments. Audiences will walk away with a panoramic view of specific credit union success and how it relates to all employees.

When Alix isn't busy sharing her insight and steering content for Callahan's publications and Creditunions.com, you will most likely find her behind the camera. At age 12 she picked up the camera to avoid being in front of it. She's an athlete that enjoys running and a rowing, and in school often served as her team photographer. Now, she takes vivid shots of her two sons as they participate in their favorite sports.

To leverage the people-helping-people ideal ology of the cooperative business model, Jon Jeffreys, President of Student Choice, created the private student lending program to help student's access quality financial aid and schools.

In the first year of the product, Jon Jeffreys and his team received the NACUSO Collaboration and Innovation award that recognizes leaders in the industry. With 11 years in the credit union industry, Jon has presented at numerous conferences including the Dublin World Council of Credit Unions in 2006, CUNA CFO and Lending Councils and several sessions at NACUSO.

Jon brings insights into what other credit unions are doing at high level providing your audience validation into strategies proven by their peers. Audiences find comfort in knowing that the new products and idea brought forth in the presentation are proven and they'll already know what tactics to avoid in implementing these strategies.

For the past year, Jon has sat on the board of MyCUMortgae, a credit union service organization that provides quality and cost-effective mortgage solutions for credit unions to offer their members. We're also very proud of Jon's induction into the CU Times Trailblazer alum in 2011 which recognizes leaders under 40 in the credit union industry. Jon is also Vice President and Assistant Treasurer of TRUST Mutual Funds.

Scott Patterson serves as the Vice President of Analytics & New Business at Callahan & Associates where he focuses on areas of credit union innovation, comparative performance analytics, lending strategy, and CUSO development.

Scott is deeply passionate about exploring the opportunities credit unions have to better serve their members.  He began his work in credit unions as an internet strategy consultant for the Credit Union Online Organizational Link CUSO in 1996 where he helped several of the industry's leading credit unions develop and implement their early web strategies.

Scott was initially hired by Callahan & Associates in 1999 to launch the CreditUnions.com industry portal to meet the need for data-driven strategy information by credit union executives.  Since 2007, he has led the Callahan Analytics department which oversees the popular Peer-to-Peer and CUAnalyzer.com financial performance resources for credit union senior management teams.  He has also led innovative research initiatives aimed at helping credit unions recognize best practices in their member service strategy. 

In 2008, Scott co-founded CU Student Choice, a private student loan CUSO aimed at helping members access fair-value financial aid through their local credit union. Today, there are over 200 participating credit unions nationally involved in CU Student Choice.  These credit unions have helped tens of thousands of students with their dream of attaining a higher education degree and in-turn have empowered their future career opportunities.  Scott is currently Executive Vice President of CU Student Choice in addition to his role as Vice President at Callahan & Associates.

Scott holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Economics with a minor in Chinese language from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.  He earned his MBA from the University of Oxford's SAID Business School in England.