Michael J. Curran, Chairperson
Mike is currently co-president and a director of Curran Group Inc., a diversified holding company with interests in road construction, porcelain tile manufacturing, railroad related contract services and manufacturing of paint finishing systems. He serves on the Centegra Health System and Road Builder Charities boards of directors. In addition, he has served on the board of the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association as treasurer and chairperson of its Technology committee. Mike is also the founder and director of the Alpine Children’s Charity. Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Miami University with special interests in accounting and information technology.
Paul Martin, Vice-Chair
As former senior vice-president and chief information officer at Baxter International, Paul is a renowned leader in information technology, strategy, operations, security and processes. Since 2017, Paul has served on the board of directors of Unisys Corporation and is currently a member of its Audit and Finance Committee as well as chair of its Security and Enterprise Risk Committee. He also joined the board of directors of Owens Corning, a global building and industrial materials leader, where he serves on the Audit and Finance Committees, and Steris plc, a leading provider of infection prevention and other procedural products and services. Paul was the recipient of the 2020 Chicago CIO of the Year Leadership ORBIE Award. In 2017, he was named to the CIO Hall of Fame by CIO Magazine for IT innovation and business leadership. Paul received a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Western Kentucky University.
Betty D. Larson, Secretary
Betty joined Merck in April 2024 as the executive vice president and chief human resources officer, overseeing global human resources and diversity, equity, and inclusion. With over two decades of healthcare industry experience, she previously served as chief people officer at GE HealthCare, providing strategy and leadership for its human resources and corporate marketing and communications teams. From 2018 to 2022, Betty was the executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), where she also managed communications and social investing. Betty joined BD through the acquisition of C.R. Bard Inc., where she was the chief human resources officer from 2014 to 2017. She began her career at Baxter International in various human resources leadership roles. In addition to her role on the BCU board of directors, she has been a board member of Fortrea and the Overlook Foundation. Betty holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Northwestern University.
Bill Costa, FCAS
Bill is dedicated to developing consumer-centric insurance and financial solutions through innovative use of data, advanced analytics, and digital product design. He currently serves as the Managing Partner of the consulting practice, Counsel Crew, LLC. Bill began his career in GEICO’s actuarial department and was noted for advancing methods used in pricing, reserving, and research capabilities. Bill expanded the impact of data and analytics by leading the development of an enterprise data warehouse and creating a corporate customer metrics practice. With his election to officer in 2007, Bill worked extensively to enhance the insurance product and underwriting operations, leveraging embedded decisioning models, innovative vendor partners, and optimized customer applications. Prior to leaving GEICO in 2021, Bill’s leadership in product development and data science included digital telematics products and expanding the corporate impact of data science. Bill is also the former chairperson of GEICO Federal Credit Union (GFCU), which merged with BCU In August 2020 to form the new GEICO Credit Union.
Brett Craig
Brett Craig is executive vice president and chief information officer for Target and a member of its leadership team. He leads the strategic direction and management of the enterprise technology systems that elevate Target’s guest and team member experience. In this role, Brett is responsible for the company’s technology roadmap and oversees Target’s global product engineering, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data sciences, and architecture teams. Brett joined Target in 2008 and has held a variety of leadership roles across the company. Prior to his promotion to chief information officer in 2022, Brett was senior vice president of Target’s digital team. He oversaw the site merchandising, digital solutions, product and user experience functions, and led the teams responsible for Target’s differentiated digital shopping experience. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of merchandising capabilities and spent ten years on Target’s technology team. Before joining Target, Brett worked at The Hartford Financial Services Group. Brett earned his B.S. in management from Cardinal Stritch University. He currently serves on the board of directors for BCU and Genesys Works.
Christine Fleming
Christine is currently assistant treasurer at Baxter International Inc. leading the capital markets, foreign exchange and benefit plan programs. She joined BCU as a member of the Finance Committee in 2016. Christine began her career with Baxter in 2000 and has held several roles of increasing responsibility, primarily within the Treasury function. She also serves as treasurer of the Baxter International Foundation. Christine earned her MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Both degrees were awarded with honors.
Christine McCauley
Christine has been corporate vice president, human resources at Edwards Lifesciences since 2012. She has over 25 years of experience across all disciplines of human resources, including 17 years in roles of increasing responsibility at Edwards and, prior to the company’s spin-out, Baxter. Christine is on the board of the Edwards Lifesciences Foundation and OCTANe, a nonprofit focused on innovation. She actively supports the American Heart Association, including serving as the Orange County Go Red for Women chair. Christine earned a dual bachelor’s degree in business administration and organizational effectiveness at The College at Brockport State University of New York and a master’s degree in human resources management from Chapman University.
Alfred Nietzel
With over 30 years of finance and business development experience, Al Nietzel’s contributions span numerous industries and competencies. At Proctor and Gamble, Al forged both domestic and global alliances throughout the consumer-packaged-goods industry. As a senior financial executive and corporate officer for ADP, Al was instrumental in driving strong revenue and profit growth resulting in significant shareholder value for the global HCM company. As the CFO for CDK Global, Al continued to leverage his broad and deep expertise to deliver excellent business results. Al holds bachelor’s degrees in accounting, finance, and economics from Eastern Illinois University.
Ola Snow
Chief human resources officer at Cardinal Health, Ola has been with the organization for over 20 years. She currently oversees the company’s human resources, diversity, equity and inclusion, community relations, communications, environmental health and safety, security and real estate, and facilities organizations. Previously, Ola led the enterprise global total rewards, talent acquisition and the corporate business partner teams as senior vice-president, human resources. Prior to her time at Cardinal Health, Ola was regional human resources director for TeleSpectrum Worldwide.
David Strauss
As senior vice-president of UnitedHealth Group’s Total Rewards function, David Strauss is responsible for directing the design, implementation, communication and administration of the company’s overall compensation and benefits programs. Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, David was the Head of Compensation for Genentech, responsible for leading compensation programs and services for the North America Pharmaceutical business. Previously, he held leadership roles with Fidelity Investments, Dell, MasterCard and Merrill Lynch. David earned his bachelor’s degree from Duke University and an MBA from Columbia University with concentrations in accounting and finance. He also holds a JD and an LLM in taxation from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.
Mike Valentine, President and Chief Executive Officer
With more than 38 years of sales and service experience, Mike brings unique insight and magnetic energy to his position. His credit union career began in 1984, when he joined BCU as manager of lending & collections. After a decade of cultivating strong sales and service culture, Mike was appointed President/CEO in 1994. With a humble and approachable style, Mike sees himself as a coach. He believes in the development of employees and encourages his leadership team to treat BCU as a learning organization. This collaborative, team-based management style has led BCU to unparalleled success. Mike received his bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois University and MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.
