For immediate release

Contact: Daneil Mazone, Media Relations 

Philadelphia, PA — The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia today announced the appointments of Traci Donahue, president and CEO of Cross Valley Federal Credit Union, and Andrew Samuel, CEO and chairman of LINKBANK, to its Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council (CDIAC). Donahue and Samuel begin their three-year terms in November 2021.

The 12-member council is composed of representatives from commercial banks, thrift institutions, and credit unions. The group convenes twice a year with officials from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia to share insights about economic and business trends facing community depository institutions in their local markets. After each local meeting, a representative from the Philadelphia council joins counterparts from other Federal Reserve Banks at a meeting hosted by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C.

Before leading Cross Valley Federal Credit Union, Donahue spent nearly two decades at Horizon Federal Credit Union, where she held positions of increasing responsibility across multiple departments. She worked in credit union member services, compliance, loans, collections, accounting, investments, operations and, ultimately, management as CEO. She currently serves as treasurer and a board member of the NEPA Chapter of Credit Unions.

As CEO and chairman of LINKBANK, Samuel brings more than 36 years of experience in banking to clients across central and southeastern Pennsylvania. Prior to his current position, Samuel served most recently as CEO and president of Sunshine Bancorp, Inc., and Sunshine Bank. Before that, he worked as president and director of Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc., and as CEO and chairman of the board of Susquehanna Bank, where he led more than 240 branch offices. Samuel was also founder, chairman, and CEO of Graystone Financial Corp., Graystone Bank, and Tower Bancorp, which grew to $2.8 billion in assets in six years.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia helps formulate and implement monetary policy, supervises state member banks, bank holding companies, and savings and loan holding companies, and provides financial services to depository institutions and the federal government. It is one of the 12 regional Reserve Banks that, together with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia serves eastern and central Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware.