Volume 7, Issue 6—August 2016

FWIT NEWS

FWIT ANNUAL CONFERENCE SCHOLARSHIP

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

FWIT Association Awards & Scholarships Chair for 2015-2016 Teresa Coleman made the an-

nouncement:

I was excited to receive 13 applications for the Annual Conference Scholarships. With 5 of

the scholarships budgeted for first timers, all 4 first time applicants were voted as winners for that

category. The remaining scholarship was approved to be added to the 5 scholarships budgeted

for returning members to allow 6 of the 9 applicants to receive $300. The remaining 3 returning

members each received a portion of the $500 funds remaining from the FWI Grant Funds. Here

are the winners with their group and employer:

First Timers:

Danielle Reboli with the Dallas Group works at Porter Capital Corporation

Nilda Miranda with the Paso del Norte Group works at GECU

Cynthia Garcia with the Virtual Group works at Affordable Homes of South Texas, Inc.

Erika Flores with the San Antonio Group works at Wells Fargo

Returning Members:

Lynda Huffaker with the Llano Estacado Group works at American Bank of Commerce

Lorrie Hess with the Hill Country Group is a Business Coach/Professional Speaker

Tammy Gibbons with the East Texas Group works at Spring Hill State Bank

Judy Helm with the Llano Estacado Group works at American Bank of Commerce

Isabel Olivo with the San Antonio Group works at Wells Fargo

Donna Raedeke with the Dallas Group works at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Nancy Kinder with the San Antonio Group is an Independent Consultant

Michelle Muckleroy with the East Texas Group works at Travis Mortgage

Ellen Parsons with the Hill Country Group works at Centennial Bank

Thanks to all for applying and HUGE CONGRATS. See ya’ll at Conference.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

NEW! FWIT

DISCUSSION FORUM

There is a new discussion forum on

www.fwitexas.org, located on the

FWIT News page. It is a place where

members can collaborate, share job

postings, ask other members for ven-

dor recommendations, etc. Members

must sign in to access the discussion,

and can select to receive e-mail notic-

es of postings.

Try it out, and if there are other top-

ics we should add, let us know!

Dates to remember

August 15—last day to preorder shirts

for Conference

August 21—Conference hotel room

block expires—SOLD OUT!

August 31—final day for Annual Confer-

ence registration

September 1—FWIT membership re-

newal starts

September 16-18—Annual Conference

ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT CHERYL LINDER Competing – Collaborating – Compromising – Avoiding – Accommodating…What’s your style? That

was the question of the day at the 2nd FWIT Leadership Forum, which was held July 23rd in Austin,

Texas. We were so excited to have 37 FWIT members and guests attend the Forum!

Randy Ransleben had been highly recommended, and needless to say, we were not disappointed.

The room was full of energy as he began the morning touching on leadership and

management, generational gaps, and EQ vs IQ. We found this quite interesting as

these are all session topics for our upcoming conference! Randy then introduced

everyone to the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument. After everyone

completed the short assessment, results were tallied, charted and studied…then the

fun really began! As we went through the various styles, Randy not only shared great

information, but attendees interjected and shared information and stories. This is

what makes the Forums so great– everyone is open and we all learn.

Randy then had everyone break into groups, first based on their highest scoring trait

then based on their lowest scoring trait. He placed everyone on a graph he had taped

out on the floor in the next room. Here, he reviewed the various traits in more detail,

demonstrating the two basic behavior dimensions – Assertiveness and

Cooperativeness – and how these behaviors can be used to define the five methods of

dealing with conflict – Competing, Collaborating, Compromising, Avoiding, and

Accommodating. To finish off the session, Randy had everyone break into groups

based on the trait they wanted to learn to work with more effectively. This was great,

as everyone was able to share information they perceived about the respective trait – Indicators and Needs –

then learn how to effectively and ineffectively communicate with a person with this trait. Continued on page 2

FINDING BALANCE IN 2015—2016

The groups then shared the information they had perceived

about the trait, and views were confirmed and corrected. It

was a great Forum, with a lot of information we can all use

every day - and fun too!

If you missed out on the 2015-2016 FWIT Leadership Forums,

don’t worry…they’ll be back for the 2016-2017 FWIT year!

This was a unanimous decision made at the Board of Directors

and Transition Meeting which was held immediately following

the Forum. We want your input! What would you like to see

as a topic for a half day Forum or Workshop? Do you have a

speaker or presenter in mind? Please share your ideas with

us! We’ll have opportunities at Conference to share this

information, or please contact myself, Barbara McMillen (2016-

2017 Association President), or Michele Carfello (2016-2017

Education Director) with your recommendations!

See you soon in Dallas at Conference!!!

Cheryl

Page 2

FWIT NEWS

FWIT GROUP NEWS

More Group News on page 3

The Austin group has grown to 45 members and counting! Welcome to all FWIT Austin Group Members!

Austin group held its last meeting on June 16, 2016 at 11:00 at University Federal Credit Union, Austin with 23 members in attendance.

The meal was sponsored by University Federal Credit Union. We were joined by guest speaker, Sergeant Renee Koog of the Georgetown

Police Department who spoke on personal and professional women's safety. Heather McKissick, Vice President of Human Resources and

Organizational Development at UFCU also addressed the group about their mission. UFCU was thanked by the President for their generous

hosting of our 2015-2016 meetings at their Mopac location and for their support by hosting the meal. Both Heather McKissick and Ser-

geant Koog were presented with FWIT logo items as tokens of appreciation.

The last meeting for the 2015-2016 year will be held August 18, 2016 at UFCU at 11:00am. This will be the group's annual transition

meeting and all are invited to attend and plan for the 2016-2017 year!

The Austin Group held 5 meetings so far this year with approximately 25 - 30 members in attendance at each one. We had meal sponsors

for each meeting to offset the meeting costs for members and free up funds for scholarships to conference. Guest speakers were at each

meeting and topics included, Leadership, Women's Fitness and Health, History of Banking and Mergers & Acquisitions, and Women's Safety.

During the 2015-2016 year, we have increased membership from 27 in October to 45 in July!

New Group Leadership for 2016-2017 Year:

President – Pam Barbeau - UFCU

Vice President – Laura Wyne - Bank of the Ozarks

Treasurer - Tiffany Moorman - UFCU

Secretary – Lauren Stark - Fenimore, Kay, Harrison & Ford

Communications – Kathrin Kremer – Horizon Bank

Membership – Kristin Ulmschneider – Horizon Bank

Austin Group President Melissa Nance will become the Association Membership Director for 2016-2017.

Austin Group

FINDING BALANCE—FWIT Association President Cheryl Linder (cont. from page 1)

7th Annual Conference

Sponsors

Thank you to the following sponsors who are

making our Annual Conference possible—

Independent Bankers Association of Texas

Advantage Health Plans Plus / Kempton Trust

Texas Bankers Association

Harper & Pearson Co., P.C.

TIB-The Independent Bankers Bank

Crowe Horwath, LLP

Frost Bank

FirstLight Federal Credit Union

Davis Kinard & Co., P.C.

GECU

BKD, LLP

Wells Fargo

NewFirst National Bank

Oliver Garrison, LLC

Centennial Bank

Alliance Federal Credit Union

FWIT NEWS Page 3

FWIT GROUP NEWS (cont. from page 2)

More Group News on page 4

On May 24 we had our dynamic state association president, Cheryl Linder, visit our group in

Lubbock and install new board officers. Shown in the photo (L-R) are:

Diana Melcher, American Bank of Comerce, VP-

Communications

Jamie Lane, YWCA, VP-Programs

Andrea Cloud Garcia, Cloud Training Services,

President

Judy Helm, American Bank of Commerce, VP-

Membership & Recruitment

Kathy Britton, City Bank, VP-Scholarships

Danetta Durrett, American Bank of Commerce,

Secretary

Cheryl Linder, FWIT State Association President

New Board Members not shown: Brooke Frizzell, Peoples Bank, VP-Fundraising and Rusty

McDonald, City Bank, Treasurer

The Llano Estacado Group has a Summer Membership Mixer scheduled on August 9, 2016,

5:30 –7:00 p.m. at Fragrance of Heaven. Everyone who attends will be entered into a draw-

ing to win a specialized Financial Women in Texas Llano Estacado candle… our board devel-

oped our own signature candle scent! I believe we are donating one to the FWIT Conference

Silent Auction.

We are in the process now of planning our group’s 2016-2017 program meeting schedule.

Llano Estacado Group

The Big Country group held their bi-monthly luncheon meeting on Thursday, July 21st, at Mi-

guel’s restaurant. Twenty six ladies were in attendance, including several guests.

Our luncheon speaker was Matt Herren, Product Manager/Payments Analytics with CSI. Matt’s

program,” One Thing Leads to Another: Fraud Mitigation and Its Effect on the Future of Pay-

ments”, was very interesting and timely. Matt did present the group with several statistics on

recent cybersecurity breaches that certainly caught our attention!

Big Country has partnered with Faithworks of Abilene, a non-profit organization whose mission

is to help the underemployed, through personal, career, academic and spiritual development

acquire the confidence and skills for gainful employment. Joyce Dalzell, the Director of Faith-

works, will be our September luncheon speaker and we will participate in a personal care item

drive to donate to the organization. We look forward to volunteering our time and resources

to partner with ladies entering, or re-entering, the work arena.

The Board will be surveying our current membership in the near future to gain feedback on the

programs that have been offered and gain ideas for future programs. We encourage member

involvement as we continue to increase membership and expand the activities of the Group.

Big Country Group

San Antonio Group

The San Antonio Group met in June to plan meetings for the 2016-2017 year. Officers for

the Group have been elected: President—Rose Mary Slagel; Vice President—Sandra Navarro;

Secretary—Julie Bedson; and Treasurer—Isabel Olivo.

...from the Houston Group:

Geron Morgan of Harper & Pearson,

said “I do” to Shaun Lohmann on a glacier

top in Alaska! May the honeymoon last

forever!

Congratulations Geron!

...from the Austin Group:

Melissa Nance, Group President, and

her husband, Brian, are expecting a baby

girl due in January 2017! This is their first

child.

Congratulations Melissa!

..from the Paso del Norte Group:

Veronica Watts was recently promot-

ed to AVP-Branch Manager for WestStar

Bank overseeing their second largest and

busiest branch.

Congratulations Veronica!

...from the Houston Group:

Jennifer Friesz with BKD recently

passed the ICB exam to receive the Certi-

fied AML and Fraud Professional (CAFP)

designation. She sat for the very first test-

ing date and became one of the inaugural

Certified AML and Fraud Professionals!

Congratulations Jennifer!

..from the Llano Estacado Group:

Andrea Cloud Garcia has joined Cloud

Training Services as a Training Specialist.

Congratulations Andrea!

..from the Paso del Norte Group:

Sandra Payan, WestStar Bank, was

promoted to Branch Manager overseeing

the bank’s 3rd busiest location.

Congratulations Sandra!

...from the Houston Group:

Nicole Canestrini, Assurance Senior

with Harper & Pearson, earned the Certi-

fied Anti-Money Laundering Specialist

(CAMS) designation.

Congratulations Nicole!

FWIT MEMBER NEWS

To remove your name from our

mailing list, please contact Nancy

Kinder at nancyakinder@gmail.com.

Visit FWIT online!

www.fwitexas.org

FWIT NEWS Page 4

1. To bring together women in the finan-

cial services industry for the exchange

of ideas, experiences and interests;

2. To further the meaningful professions or

careers of its members and women in

general;

3. To encourage women to choose financial

services as a career and to advance

the career opportunities for all women

in the financial services industry; and

4. To serve as an advocate of, and to pro-

mote improvements in the profession-

al development, leadership skills,

education and training of women in

the financial services industry.

Objectives and Purpose

FWIT GROUP NEWS (cont. from page 3)

Houston Group

The Houston Group is excited to announce our first speaker of the 2016-2017 year! We will

be having Sallie Sargent who is President & CEO of the 2017 Houston Super Bowl Host Com-

mittee! We are very excited to have Sallie who has 14 years of experience managing sponsor

relations and special events including the Fiesta Bowl, the first Bowl Championship Series, the

Charles Barkley Roast for the NBA All Star Game, and the 2004 Democratic National Conven-

tion. We look forward to seeing everyone at this event in September.

The Dallas Group met at the office of SWACHA – The Electronic Pay-

ments Resource™, on July 12, from 5-7:00 p.m., with seventeen

members and four guests attending. Our speaker for the evening was

Dr. Rachel Croson, the former Dean of UT Arlington’s College of Busi-

ness and the incoming Dean at Michigan State. She talked about her

research on “The Future of Business,” which led to a lively discussion

on what the future may hold.

Following Dr. Croson,

Julie Eastland, the Core

Program Director for

Attitudes & Attire,

shared information

about Attitudes & Attire, a non-profit organiza-

tion that supports women in need. They offer

programs focused on self-esteem, communica-

tion skills, goal setting, interview preparation,

and work ethic, with special workshops for fe-

male veterans. Julie asked our group to consider

teaching financial literacy classes at Attitudes &

Attire.

Dallas Group

Paso del Norte Group

The Paso Del Norte Group met on Wednesday, July 27th at our local Federal Reserve Bank of Dal-

las – El Paso Branch. We invited guest speaker Patricia Caracena to share information on the top-

ic: “Leadership for Millennials” during our luncheon meeting.

We also presented our member of

the year Veronica Watts (right) with

a certificate and a $25 Chili’s gift

card to enjoy.

FWIT Board Transition Meeting

July 23, 2016 Austin, TX

FWIT CALENDAR AT A GLANCE

DATE GROUP MEETING TIME

AUGUST

9 Llano Estacado Summer Membership Mixer at Fragrance of Heaven 5:30—7:00 PM

18 Austin Annual Transition Meeting at UFCU 11:00 AM—

1:00 PM

SEPTEMBER

16-18 Association

2016 Annual Conference—”Finding Balance”—Dallas Marriott Suites Medical / Market Center

FWIT NEWS Page 5

To remove your name from our mailing list, please contact Nancy Kinder at nancyakinder@gmail.com.

For new members, guest speakers, door prizes, or you!

Promote FWIT in your workplace and community!

Order form available through the Members Only page at www.fwitexas.org

Items will be shipped to you at your cost with payments to Lori Victory, FWIT Association Treasurer

Questions?

Contact Michelle Muckleroy FWIT Director At Large

FWIT LOGO ITEMS!

Tumbler with

green translu-

cent lid

$12

Umbrella

auto-open in

black & white

$20

Visor in

black or

white $10

Leeds zippered

padfolio in black

with embossed

emblem $25

REGISTER NOW! Final registration deadline—August 31

TOP FIVE REASONS TO REGISTER NOW FOR FWIT’S 7th ANNUAL CONFERENCE!

5. I’m Sooooo Stressed Out! Julie Burch can help!

4. Finding balance in our industry with Randall James, former Texas Banking Com-missioner

3. Bridging Generational Divide in the Workplace with Sherri Elliott-Yeary

2. FWIT Leadership Lessons, networking, and fun!

And…

1. The SuperWoman Workshop with Dr. Jaime Kulaga, author of The SuperWom-an’s Guide to Super Fulfillment.

Register at www.fwitexas.org, make hotel reservations, and preorder your FWIT Conference shirt!

September 16 – 18, 2016 FWIT 7th Annual Conference

Dallas, Texas

GO TO WWW.FWITEXAS.ORG

FOR ALL THE DETAILS

You do not want to miss learning about