Leadership Team

Mike joined S3 as Chief Operations Officer in 2012 and was named Chief Executive Officer in 2014. In 2024, he earned a dual leadership role of supporting S3 and its sister Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO), Open Technology Solutions. Mike has over 30 years of experience in strategy development, plan execution, high-level collaboration and employee engagement. He has a long, successful history of working with Boards and stakeholders to develop innovative and cost-effective strategies for enhancing competitiveness, market awareness, increasing revenues, and improving customer/member service offerings and delivery. Prior to S3, Mike was Executive Vice President at American Bank. His previous experience includes executive roles with Tenacity Group and Wells Fargo Financial. Mike earned his Bachelors of Science degree in Finance from Loyola College.

Valerie Brandenburg

Chief Human Resources Officer

Valerie joined S3 in 2022 as Director of Human Resources and was promoted to Chief Human Resources Officer in 2025. She serves a dual leadership role of supporting S3 and its sister Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO), OTS. Valerie has more than 30 years of Human Resources experience and puts her passion for enhancing the employee experience to work in the healthcare, health insurance and banking industries. She has supported companies ranging in size from 1,000 to over 10,000 employees as well as local and national organizations. Valerie earned her Master’s Degree in Management from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and Bachelor’s Degree in Business from Towson University.

Kevin joined S3 in 2014 and was promoted to Chief Strategic Initiatives Officer in 2023. Kevin has more than 30 years of experience in financial services, including serving as President of Consumer Real Estate at Bank of America as well as Senior Vice President, Enterprise Credit Risk Management Executive. He provides financial service consultancy that is focused on developing, implementing, and managing core capabilities for financial institutions through delivered results. Kevin earned his BSBA in Marketing and MBA from East Carolina University.

 

Joe joined S3 in 2015 as Director, Contact Center and was named Chief Experience Officer in 2021 with overarching responsibility for Member and Employee delivery. He has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry across member/customer direct delivery channels including Direct Banking Operations, Sales, and Service. Joe has held senior leadership positions at local, regional, and national financial institutions including Provident Bank, Maryland National Bank/Nations Bank/Bank of America, and stints outside of industry at Ascend One and Medifast. Joe earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration from Towson University.

Jeffrey Buell

Chief Risk Officer

Jeff joined S3 as the Chief Risk Officer in 2021 and oversees the Compliance, Risk, & Fraud Teams. He has over 20 years of experience in the Financial Service industry. Prior to joining S3, Jeff was head of Fraud & Dispute Management for US Bank where he was responsible for overseeing fraud strategy, analytics, & operations. Prior to US Bank, he was the National Service & Solutions Executive for Bank of America. In addition, Jeff has held leadership roles in the Media & Telecommunication industries. Jeff earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from State University of New York at Buffalo.