Catherine Galicia has been selected as chief of staff by National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board Chairman Todd Harper, the credit union regulator announced Monday.
Galicia had been serving as senior policy counsel since 2019 to Harper, who was a board member at the time and was designated chairman last month by President Joe Biden. Before joining the NCUA, she headed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) legislative affairs office and has also worked for Banco Popular as vice president for government affairs, where she led the bank’s Washington office.
The NCUA said that Galicia is one of the highest-ranking Latinas in a Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) agency. She worked on Capitol Hill for 15 years, it noted, during which time she served as counsel for Sens. Chris Dodd and Tim Johnson during their respective periods chairing the Senate Banking Committee; for Sen. Evan Bayh as staff director of the International Trade and Finance Subcommittee and Banking Committee counsel; as legislative director and financial service policy aide to Rep. Jim Maloney; and as legislative director and financial service policy aide for Rep. Nydia Velázquez.
Galicia holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Connecticut and a Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law. She is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association.
Harper, in a statement in Monday’s release, said Galicia’s “vast bicameral experience on Capitol Hill, at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and as a leader in the private industry has established her as a trustworthy negotiating partner among stakeholders to forge consensus agreements. She is a champion for economic equity and justice and an invaluable advocate for 123 million credit union members across the nation.”