NAFCU Journal September October 2021

29 THE NAFCU JOURNAL September–October 2021 In his role as chief administrative and development officer for New Orleans Fireman’s Federal Credit Union (NOFFCU), Armand Parvazi has led the credit union in building a better experience for its members and communities. One specific way he has achieved this has been through the modernization of NOFFCU’s digital options and building deeper, more meaningful engagement with members. While he often works with internal teams and vendors to push initiatives forward, he also works directly with members to troubleshoot and resolve problems. After reviewing NOFFCU’s data, Parvazi could see the credit union had a tech-savvy membership that would welcome upgrades and new features. After redesigning email campaigns to be mobile-optimized and seeing an increase in engagement, Parvazi spearheaded NOFFCU’s process of converting online banking vendors. The result? A new online banking experience delivering more services to members—all in one app. Parvazi also prioritizes community. He organized the business development team’s work with local hospitals throughout the coro- navirus pandemic to deliver meals and support healthcare workers. Though Parvazi is often the one to spearhead and push inno- vative initiatives forward, if you asked him, he would tell you believes the success of NOFFCU comes from the amazing team at the credit union. Professional of the Year $250M or Less Armand Parvazi New Orleans Fireman’s Federal Credit Union Metairie, Louisiana Volunteer of the Year More Than $250M Anthony Taylor Ascend Federal Credit Union Tullahoma, Tennessee Anthony Taylor has served as chairman, vice chairman, trea- surer and as a member of the supervisory committee through- out his 18+ years of service as a member of Ascend Federal Credit Union’s board. Taylor was the first African American appointed to Ascend Federal Credit Union’s Board of Develop- ment Committee in 2003 and has been driving the force to build the company into the largest credit union in middle Tennes- see—and one of the largest in The Volunteer State—ever since. While Taylor was vice chairman, Ascend was awarded the 2015 NAFCU Annual Award for Credit Union of the Year and during his stewardship as chairman, the credit union experienced remarkable growth, with assets increasing 21% to $2.6 billion, and membership rising 21% to more than 208,000. Throughout his time at Ascend, Taylor has devoted thousands of hours toward ensuring members from all different walks of life feel that Ascend is providing them with the products and services they need to become better financial stewards of their money. In addition, he has been a key champion of ensuring Ascend has a high-performing board that serves the best inter- est of its members. This includes helping to ensure Ascend’s board reflects the diversity of its membership. Taylor’s leadership and influence extends far beyond increasing assets, loans and income, though. He embodies Ascend’s philos- ophy of “people helping people,” and has been recognized for his service to many middle Tennessee charitable, philanthropic and social service organizations.