Departments People on the Move

People On the Move

Freedom Credit Union announced the promotion of three officers within the credit union and the appointment of a new Mortgage Loan Originator.

Karen Chauvin Katsanos

Karen Chauvin Katsanos

Karen Chauvin Katsanos has been promoted to Vice President of Human Resources at FCU. She will continue to manage the human resource and training activities for the credit union, which employs a staff of 130. Katsanos joined the credit union in 2012 and has 20 years of HR experience in several industries, including healthcare and manufacturing. She has held a number of senior-management positions throughout her career. Katsanos earned her bachelor’s degree from the UMass Amherst and has earned two master’s degrees — one in psychology from Westfield State College and the other in business administration from Western New England College. She holds an SPHR designation that she earned from the Human Resource Certification Institute. She is a board member for the Human Resource Management Assoc. of Western New England and the Ronald McDonald House of Springfield.
Cheryl Podgorski

Cheryl Podgorski

Cheryl Podgorski has been promoted to Vice President of Operations. She joined the credit union in 2012 and has more than 26 years of operations experience in both the banking and credit-union industries, holding several senior-management positions throughout her career. In addition to her responsibilities in the credit union’s Operations Department, Podgorski has been managing Freedom’s Loan Servicing Department for the past year. She earned her master’s degree in business administration from Western New England College and holds a Six Sigma Green Belt certification. She is a past certified treasury professional through the Assoc. for Financial Professionals.



Lisa Astley

Lisa Astley

Lisa Astley has been promoted to Branch Officer of Freedom’s Ludlow Branch. In her new position, she oversees the financial and lending operations of the branch, develops new business opportunities with individuals and businesses, and promotes financial literacy at area schools. Astley has been employed at Freedom for five years and has 12 years of experience in the banking and financial-services industries. Prior to joining Freedom, she was customer-service supervisor at Randall’s Farm in Ludlow for 15 years. Astley is currently working toward a financial services degree with the Center For Financial Training.



Antonio Sanches

Antonio Sanches

Antonio Sanches has joined Freedom as a Mortgage Loan Originator and is responsible for real-estate origination throughout Hampden and Hampshire counties. As he helps expand Freedom’s mortgage services to its members in Hampden and Hampshire counties, he will offer his expertise in conventional, FHA, MassHousing, Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s One Mortgage, and USDA loans. He has 10 years of experience in the finance industry, including expertise in residential mortgage origination, first-time home-buyer assistance, and secondary market sales. Most recently, he was assistant vice president at Florence Savings Bank. Currently, Sanches is president of the Rotary Club of Ludlow and a corporator at the Randall Ludlow Boys and Girls Club. In June, he was named “Affiliate of the Year” by the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley.  Sanches is working at the Freedom branch on Center Street in Ludlow.
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Maria Koutroubila

Maria Koutroubila

FieldEddy Insurance announced that Maria Koutroubila has joined the firm as a personal-lines account manager. She brings more than 10 years of insurance-related experience to the position, and is a member of the National Alliance, holding the CISR designation and working toward CISR Elite designation. Koutroubila will be responsible for educating and ensuring that clients have the proper insurance coverage. As part of the personal-lines team, she will work to implement daily operations and ensure that that standard working procedures, key performance indicators, and other account metrics are achieved on a regular basis.
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Berkshire Bank announced that Thaddeus Welch III has been hired as Portfolio Research Analyst and Trader, joining its Wealth Management team. In this position, Welch will be responsible for managing all trading activities and performing fundamental, economic, and sector research to assist in generating overall investment strategies. In addition, Welch will work with clients to customize their portfolios for appropriate risk-reward allocations and to achieve their long-term goals. His areas of specialization are trading,
equity research, and portfolio management. Welch will be working out of Berkshire Wealth Management’s office at 25 Main St. in Lenox. Previously, Welch worked for Spinnaker Trust in Portland, Maine, where he was a member of the investment committee. He received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Bowdoin College and is a CFA level II candidate.
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The Massachusetts Nonprofit Network (MNN), the statewide organization that unites and strengthens the nonprofit sector through advocacy, public awareness, and capacity building, announced that it has appointed James Ayres, CEO and Executive Director of United Way of Hampshire County, to its board of directors. “We are honored to welcome Jim Ayres, whose passion and considerable experience at the community and state level will help strengthen our state’s vast nonprofit sector,” said Rick Jakious, CEO of the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network. “MNN’s board of directors reflects the rich geographical and organizational diversity of the state’s nonprofit sector and is the voice of a strong, united nonprofit sector in Massachusetts.” Said Ayres, “the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network is an invaluable organization for promoting public policy, support, and public understanding of the not-for-profit sector. A vibrant and well-equipped nonprofit sector, in turn, profoundly impacts quality of life thoughout theCommonwealth. I’m excited to join the MNN board and to work with other statewide leaders to shape the direction of the organization.” Prior to his role at United Way of Hampshire County, Ayres served for 12 years as executive director of the Northampton-based Center for New Americans, an education and resource center for immigrants, refugees, and other limited-English speakers in Western Mass. In these roles, he has worked extensively with local and state governments, community coalitions, workforce boards, and NGOs to develop policy and programming. Ayres holds master’s degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.