Teresa Freeborn

Teresa Freeborn is a credit union executive, author, and advocate with a four-decade career in the financial services industry. Freeborn began her career as a teller and advanced through a range of roles within the industry. Her executive experience includes serving as senior vice president of Central One Credit Union in Canada, chief executive officer of Xceed Financial Credit Union, and president of Kinecta Federal Credit Union. As president of Kinecta Federal Credit Union, the 35th largest credit union in the United States with approximately $6 billion in assets and 300,000 members, Freeborn assumed the role following the merger of Kinecta with Xceed Financial Credit Union, where she had previously served as president and chief executive.

Throughout her career, Freeborn has advocated for change within the credit union movement, focusing on diversity and inclusion, technological innovation, and collaboration among credit unions. She has served on the board of directors for the Credit Union National Association and chaired CU Awareness LLC, an industrywide program aimed at attracting more consumers to credit unions. Freeborn has also served on the Research Council for the Filene Research Institute and chaired both the California Credit Union League's board of directors and the Credit Union Executives Society board of directors.

Freeborn's contributions to the credit union community have been recognized with several industry honors. She was inducted into the Credit Union Executives Society Hall of Fame and received both the Distinguished Service Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Credit Union League. She is also a recipient of the Herb Wegner Memorial Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement from the National Credit Union Foundation. Credit Union Times named Freeborn one of the industry's women to watch.

A champion for women in the workplace, Freeborn is the author of the business book "Suits and Skirts: Game On! The Battle for Corporate Power" and is a public speaker. The book encourages men in leadership positions to reevaluate their practices and support the advancement of women in leadership. Freeborn is also a champion for the World Council of Credit Unions and was an inaugural member and chair of its Global Women's Leadership Network. With extensive experience in finance across Canada and the United States, Freeborn is recognized as a leader and advisor in the credit union and financial services sectors.