Bob Bender is Chief Technology Officer for Founders Federal Credit Union and Founders Innovative Technology LLC. As part of these Executive Management teams, he works to drive long-term strategic goals and leadership. He is responsible for the overall information technology direction and works to strategically implement next generation solutions. His career with credit unions began when he started working for Fiserv after graduating from Oregon State University. Bob co-developed the OPAlert System in the late 1990s to improve systems information notification used by data center managers and computer operators. Bob joined Founders Federal Credit Union and currently manages the Information Technology daily operations. Founders Federal Credit Union serves members in both North and South Carolina. Bender sits on the board of multiple organizations, including the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), an association focused on IT governance which serves over 180 countries.

Through this organization he has become:
• Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC)
• Certified in Information Security Manager (CISM)
• Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE)
• Cybersecurity Audit Certified (CAC)

Bender serves on the Technology Advisory Board of PSCU, the Technology Advisory Panel of Dell EMC and Technology Product Advisor group of Bitsight Technology. In addition, Bob is currently appointed as an executive Board Member for the National Credit Union Information Sharing Analysis Organization where he promotes productive credit union cybersecurity collaboration standards and direction. Through his vision, Founders Innovative Technology, LLC (FIT) was created to provide IT services to our community and local businesses, becoming Founders’ third CUSO. FIT enterprise architect designs assist organizations with cybersecurity programs, IT Governance, Risk, and Compliance program, risk assessments, core programming, digital analysis, digital transformation, virtual CISO resources and software asset management. Bob provides instruction on cybersecurity and system integrity strategies to financial institutions. He promotes cybersecurity training programs for board members, executive teams and employees. He provides this through traditional education and the publishing of articles for members through blogs,
newspaper articles and credit union publications. He is also a member of Infragard, a partnership organization between the FBI and private sector. This group expedites the timely exchange of information and promotes mutual learning opportunities relevant to the protection of critical infrastructure.