Our Team

​Find emails, direct phone lines, and areas of expertise below. We're here to help!

Jeff Olson
President/CEO
701-250-3940  |  jolson@dakcu.org

Jeff Olson has worked at the Dakota Credit Union Association since 2008, becoming the President/CEO in 2015. Prior to that, he was the EVP of Governmental Affairs. Before joining the Dakota Credit Union Association, Jeff was a partner in an advertising and marketing firm. He also has served as a political strategist and consultant on several legislative campaigns and initiated measures throughout North Dakota.  

Jeff currently serves as Chair of the CUNA’s CULAC (Credit Union Legislative Action Committee; Vice-Chair of the Executive Board of the American Association of Credit Union Leagues (AACUL); Secretary of the CUNA National Action and Response Program Administrative Council and the National Advocacy Steering Committee; Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Awareness LLC Board of Directors; and serves on the CUNA Strategic Services Board of Directors (Ex-officio). He is also the Chair of the Dakota Credit Union Association Heath Benefits Board of Trustees, and Vice Chair of Pactola, a business lending credit union service organization.  

Karla Clark
CFO/VP of Operations
701-250-3926  |  kclark@dakcu.org

Karla Clark (no relation to Kent) is DakCU’s CFO and VP of Operations. Besides handling all accounting related aspects at the DakCU, she also manages to organize and administrate the financial side of both the ND and SD PAC accounts, the Dakota Credit Union Foundation, and both the ND and SD side of the association’s Health Benefits Trust. Then, she tackles anything else that comes up under the “all other duties as assigned” category. Her organizational skills and precision are a true asset, especially during annual audits. Yes, even the association has to make it through those darn audits! 

Karla’s tenure at DakCU goes back to 1993, when newly married, she made the move to Bismarck. She began her career with ProData, the old data processing arm of the league, moving into the accounting position shortly thereafter. Prior to working for the association, she worked as an accountant at Fargo VA FCU. 

Karla hails from Hillsboro, ND and is a NDSU alumni – GO BISON! Karla, her husband, and son Josh enjoy traveling and spending time outdoors. With Josh continuing his education at NDSU in Fargo, they make the most of any time they have together. Their yellow Labrador Retriever, Koda, keeps Karla on the walking path early mornings and again most evenings. Karla enjoys time with family, friends, cooking and baking, or happily working a Sudoku puzzle. ​

George McDonald
Chief Officer of Strategic Services, Events and Sponsorships
701-250-3942  |  gmcdonald@dakcu.org

​As Chief Officer of Strategic Services for the Dakota Service Corporation (DSC), George McDonald serves as a resource and strategic partner to member credit unions and their leadership teams to help identify business solutions, creative solutions, and process improvement for the growth of their credit unions. In addition, he provides strategic oversight of the Dakota Credit Union Association’s educational events and webinars.
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George has been in the credit union industry since 2016. Prior to joining DakCU, he worked in marketing and communication with an extensive background in event production and management. He has volunteered for a numerous community boards and organizations over the years and is a graduate of the University of North Dakota. George lives in Bismarck with his lovely wife Lynette. They have two children: a daughter who is married and living in Bismarck; and a son attending the University of North Dakota.   

Amy Kleinschmit
Chief Compliance Officer
701-250-3964  |  akleinschmit@dakcu.org

Amy Kleinschmit attended the University of South Dakota, graduating with a double major in Criminal Justice and Psychology. She took a year off from college before attending law school, during which time she worked as a youth counselor. After graduating from USD School of Law, she worked for a short time at a small law firm in Sioux Falls, and then joined the DakCU team in September of 2009. 

As DakCU’s Chief Compliance Officer, she peruses vast amounts of proposed rules, final rules, and guidance before summarizing in her weekly “Compliance Update” articles in the Memo. She is the author behind DakCU’s many comment letters, weighing in on issues that have the potential to affect credit unions. She also fields compliance questions; performs BSA reviews and training; reviews North Dakota and South Dakota state-specific content on the dues-supported resource InfoSight; and is the “point” person for AffirmX, DakCU’s compliance solution for credit unions. 

In 2020, Amy was appointed to the CUNA Consumer Protection Subcommittee and AACUL’s Regulatory Advocacy/Compliance Advisory Committee. She has earned both the Bank Secrecy Act Compliance Specialist (BSACS) and the Credit Union Compliance Expert (CUCE) designations. When she is not “compliancing” (or making up words), she enjoys cooking, camping, kayaking, crafting, and pirate trivia. She resides in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Jay Kruse
Chief Advocacy Officer
701-250-3928  |  jkruse@dakcu.org

As Chief Advocacy Officer, Jay leads the strategic direction of the association’s legislative and regulatory advocacy activities. He works closely with both states’ Government Affairs Committees as well as individual credit unions and their leadership to help identify policy goals and to protect and improve the operating environment for Dakota credit unions. In addition, Jay’s skills extend to accounting and compliance, providing strategic planning support. Jay holds CUNA’s Credit Union Compliance Expert (CUCE) designation and serves on AACUL’s national State Issues Committee.
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Jay has worked in the credit union industry since graduating college from Dakota State University in 2009. He Initially served as Internal Auditor and Controller for a local Sioux Falls credit union, before joining the DakCU team in 2015. Jay works from our Sioux Falls office and resides in Dell Rapids, South Dakota with his lovely wife Teri and their four dogs: Zazu; Kota; Hadely; and Cheeks.

Kayla Pulvermacher
State Legislative Director
701-250-3948  |  kpulvermacher@dakcu.org

​Kayla Pulvermacher, State Legislative Director, joined the association in December 2020, expanding our advocacy team. She has a vast amount of legislative and government relations experience, as well as a degree in Political Science from North Dakota State University. Most recently, she served as a policy advisory and account executive for Clearwater Communications where she assisted clients with government relations, policy strategy, and served as lead lobbyist for several nonprofit organizations. She is also a previous director of government relations for the North Dakota Farmers Union. 

Now at DakCU, Kayla represents member credit unions in legislative matters, provides updates to the ND Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC) and assists with political fundraising objectives. In addition, she serves as the Executive Director of the Dakota Credit Union Foundation, overseeing fundraising and marketing strategies in coordination with the Foundation Board of Directors. 

Kayla grew up on a family farm in northwest North Dakota, near the town of Crosby. She resides in the city of Lincoln (just south of Bismarck) with her two sons: Jack (13); Ty (10); and the family pet, a bulldog named Marv. 

Lindsey Hefta
Director of Marketing
701-250-3968  |  lhefta@dakcu.org

As the newest member of the DakCU team, Lindsey is primarily responsible for performing both external and internal marketing strategies for DakCU.  She develops and implements promotional and membership strategies, as well as collateral resources for DakCU events, educational conferences and seminars, and social and political functions.  She also assists with the creative development and implementation of all visual and video assets, including creative design and support for DakCU’s digital assets, the website, and social media platforms.

Lindsey has several Associate Degrees in Arts, Science, and Applied Science in Graphic Design & Communications all from Bismarck State College.  She has also received her Bachelor’s in Business Administration from University of Mary, graduating Cum Laude.  Prior to joining DakCU, Lindsey worked as the marketing director for a local community bank where she built and maintained brand success across multiple marketing channels.
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​Lindsey received the 2021 American Marketing Association (AMA) 4 Under 40 Emerging Leaders Award, which honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of marketing and its sub-fields, with demonstrated leadership and continuing service.

Shawn Brummer
Communications/Media Specialist
701-250-3966  |  sbrummer@dakcu.org

As Communications & Media Specialist, Shawn Marie Brummer is primarily responsible for the electronic communications from DakCU, “The Memo” and for the association’s social media accounts. Shawn is also responsible for the daily operations of the DakCU owned website, CU Social Good. She actively promotes credit unions via social media and writes and distributes press releases issued from DakCU. Her other duties include proofing/editing many of the association’s published materials. 

She has been with the DakCU since 2011; prior to that she worked for 11 years with Midwest Corporate Federal Credit Union as a member service consultant. She was a freelance columnist for the Bismarck Tribune for five years and was a human resources and process manager for a small corporation in Brainerd, MN for nearly a decade. She received her associate’s degree from Brainerd Community College and then completed the Management and Communications program through Concordia College, St. Paul, MN. 

Shawn works remotely from her home in Brainerd, MN where she lives with her husband and enjoys many hours floating around Nokay Lake or trekking through the woods on an ATV. She has two adult children, both married, and two grandsons. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, watching old movies, and sewing.

Debbie Kruckenberg
Member Support Specialist
701-250-3924  |  dkruckenberg@dakcu.org

Debbie Kruckenberg, Member Support Specialist has been with the organization since 1976. In fact, she began working for the league just nine months after graduating from high school. She has based her entire career on advice given to her from Mr. Arnold C. Paulson, long-time and esteemed league president who was her first mentor. He told her, “Remember that the credit unions are your boss, you work for them.” Deb says she has tried to follow that advice through the years, in everything she does while working for our member credit unions and the industry at large.

Debbie is, essentially, the eyes and ears of the Association. She is quite likely the first voice you will hear if you call the office in Bismarck, she is the person behind the registration desk at many association functions, and she is the person who fills the many orders for Pee Wee Penguin products. She is also the “library” of historical information. Whenever a question arises about an event or a person from the past, if she doesn’t know the answer off the top of her head, she knows where to find it.
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Deb has been married to her “sports loving husband” for 30+ years, which has worked out just fine because Deb is also a bit of a sports fan and is often watching games and cheering on her favorite Minnesota teams, the Vikings and the Twins! They have two grown children and two grandsons. When she is not at work, Deb enjoys gardening, cooking, and many fine needlecraft hobbies including crochet, cross stitch, and Swedish weave.