Christina Mullins Named 2026 CUES Emerging Leader
By CU Today Staff —
MADISON, Wis. -- Christina Mullins, senior lending resources specialist, State Employees' CU, North Carolina, has been named the 2026 CUES Emerging Leader.
As one of five finalists, Mullins’ journey began when she was selected into the CUES Emerge program early in 2026. From there, attendees engaged in live online courses and Mastermind sessions, creating project ideas and developing business cases that were reviewed by a panel of judges, CUES noted.
On Oct. 7, Mullins and four other finalists presented their projects live during an online pitch show. The event was hosted by Tim McAlpine, Founder and CEO of Currency Marketing.
Two other finalists, Justin Thompson, marketing automation analyst, Royal CU, Wisconsin, and Brandon White, manager financial crimes analytics, Wings CU, Colorado, were named as runners-up.
Each Top 3 winner will receive a CUES educational package with options to advance their growth, led by top executive education professors, plus leadership assessment and coaching from Envision Excellence.
Mullins’ winning business case, BUILDing from Within: A Scalable Succession Management Framework, offers a five-phase approach to succession planning that helps credit unions develop future leaders from within, reduce turnover and hiring costs, and establish a board-approved process aligned with NCUA expectations.
The other finalists taking part in the online pitch show were:
CUES Emerge was created to offer free professional development to the industry’s up-and-coming leaders. Participants who complete the course work and business case earn the Certified Credit Union Manager (CCM) designation in recognition of their commitment to their career, credit union, and the movement.
Applications for CUES Emerge 2027 open in January.
Watch the 2026 CUES Emerge Pitch Show replay and explore the program at CUESEmerge.com.
Learn more about CUES at cues.org. For more on Currency Marketing, visit CurrencyMarketing.ca.
Originally reported by CU Today.