Midsize Credit Union CEO Roundtable

Cheryl Dutton

SVP/CMO | Altra Federal Credit Union

Cheryl Dutton is the SVP/CMO for Altra Federal Credit Union.  She is also the champion for Altra Financial Advisors.  Cheryl joined the Credit Union in 2012 and has since led an award-winning team that has enhanced Altra’s brand awareness throughout their core markets and become an organization known for giving back to the community. She is a brand strategist with over 30 years of marketing experience.  She received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse.  Cheryl currently serves on the board of the TriUnity Foundation which focuses on reducing the financial stress of the terminally ill.   

Jennifer Esperanza

Senior Director of Organizational Culture and Strategy | Coopera

As Senior Director of Organizational Culture and Strategy, Jennifer champions Coopera's mission to drive financial success for a variety of consumer segments. With two decades of experience as a cultural anthropologist specializing in the intersection of culture and economics, she leads staff trainings, facilitates strategic planning with organizational leaders, and helps credit unions innovate products and services for today’s market. She also consults on transformative changes, such as mergers and leadership transitions, ensuring organizations navigate these shifts effectively.   

Before joining Coopera, Jennifer spent 17 years in academia—teaching courses in cultural anthropology, sociolinguistics, immigration and consumer culture. She previously held faculty positions at North Carolina State University and Southwestern University and served as a professor at Beloit College in southern Wisconsin. She holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and linguistics from the University of Southern California, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles.   

Jennifer is frequently invited to deliver public lectures and facilitate dialogues between various stakeholders for corporate and non-profit audiences. 

Sarah Wainscott

President & CEO | The League

For fifteen years, Sarah has served The League through various advocacy roles, culminating in the start of her tenure as President & CEO in January 2025. Her experience and expertise include lobbying, grassroots advocacy, political fundraising, and serving as Wisconsin credit unions' spokesperson on policy with legislators and regulators in Madison & Washington, D.C.  

In Sarah's time at The League, she has established reliable and strategic key relationships with influential policymakers that have helped elevate credit unions' impact. She has helped pass bills updating credit union statutes, requiring financial literacy credits for high school graduation, and permitting prize-linked-savings programs while also preventing the introduction or serious consideration of harmful proposals. Notably, she also developed the annual Wisconsin Credit Union Scorecard into a preeminent and persuasive resource on the power of The Credit Union Movement in Wisconsin. As a result of these tireless advocacy efforts, public support for Wisconsin's credit unions has grown by 19% since 2010.

Sarah is an Association of Wisconsin Lobbyists' board member and serves on the Inaugural Advocacy Committee for the American Association of Credit Union Leagues. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and communication arts and a master's degree in public affairs from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Paul Guttormsson

Senior Vice President & General Counsel | The League

Paul drafts regulatory comment letters on behalf of credit unions, helping to shape regulations that affect credit union operations, income, and member service. He also supports The Legal Affairs team with telephone and email assistance to credit unions as well as research and analysis to develop The League’s ii releases, and he is a frequent presenter for League compliance roundtables and webinars. In addition, he oversees The League’s forms program.

Paul graduated with honors from UW-Eau Claire in 1985 and worked as a newspaper editor for several years before attending the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he graduated with honors in 1994. He joined The League in 2001.