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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MARCH 23, 2026 B15 T H E 2 0 2 6 WOMEN IN BUSINESS H O N O R E E S conversion, achieving 10.27% loan growth in 2023, sustained performance in 2024, and accelerating to 13.34% in 2025. Equally important, I strengthened our lead- ership team, modernized our brand and built a culture grounded in accountability, service and long-term stewardship. What's the next big goal you want to accomplish professionally? My next goal is to responsibly grow Dutch Point to $1 billion in assets by expanding access to membership, investing in a more intuitive digital experience and repositioning our branch network to better meet people where they are. Beyond scale, my focus is on ensuring that growth strengthens trust, deep- ens relationships and positions Dutch Point as a modern, values-driven financial partner. What's one of the biggest professional challenges you've overcome? Leading significant change while honoring cooperative values has been my greatest challenge. The challenge wasn't change, but ensuring transformation strengthened trust in a member-owned organization. Balancing speed and inclusion through lead- ership transition, centralized lending and a full rebrand required clarity, transparency and disciplined communication to keep people aligned and members at the center. C harlyn Tanner is president and CEO of Dutch Point Credit Union, a Connecticut-based cooperative serving more than 24,000 members statewide. With over two decades in the credit union industry, she is known for purpose-driven growth, people-first lead- ership and modernizing how financial services show up for communities. Since becoming CEO in 2023, Tanner has led a digital transformation, organiza- tional rebrand and branch modernization strategy focused on access, relevance and trust. Previously, she served 17 years as chief financial officer, strengthening long-term financial resilience. A CPA and certified chief executive, Tanner is nationally recognized for advancing the credit union mission through service, innovation and community impact. What have been your biggest profes- sional accomplishments so far? Since becoming president and CEO, I've led Dutch Point through a period of purposeful transformation — balancing strong financial performance with meaningful improvements to the member and employee experience. We ranked first among Connecticut's top 20 credit unions in asset growth while navigating a major lending system CHarlyn tanner President & CEO Dutch Point Credit Union A Leader Who Makes Every Count Point Congratulations, Charlyn! Charlyn Tanner's leadership continues to expand what's possible for our members, our teams, and the communities we proudly serve. Her vision, courage, and commitment to people guide Dutch Point forward every day. We proudly celebrate her recognition as a Hartford Business Journal Women in Business honoree! Life Happens Here. Make Every Point Count. S arah Westby is a partner at Shipman & Goodwin LLP in the firm's Labor, Employment and Education Practice Group and chairs its Cannabis Practice. She represents clients in the health care, education and consumer packaged goods sectors on employment and personnel matters, including discrimination complaints, leaves of absence and accommoda- tions, termination and severance, and workplace safety. Her work includes litigation, coun- seling and conducting workplace investigations for state agencies and corporations. She also advises cannabis businesses on formation, licensing, regulatory compliance and social equity partnerships. What have been your biggest profes- sional accomplishments so far? I created a brand-new practice area at Shipman & Goodwin in cannabis law, shortly after the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill. I have established and grown the practice from a concept to one of the premier cannabis practices in the state of Connecticut. Outside of my legal practice, I serve on the board of directors for Simply Smiles Inc., a not-for-profit organization that builds villages of foster homes in Native communities. Through this role and a pro bono partnership with Shipman, I created an employment structure to profession- alize the organization's foster parenting program for a new village on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation in South Dakota, where Simply Smiles built a first- of-its-kind intentional community of foster families for Native children. This work involved crafting complex, unique job descriptions, employment agreements and housing agreements to address the specific needs of Native foster children and the demands of living on the Reservation, in compliance with state, federal and tribal law. What's the next big goal you want to accomplish professionally? I would like to expand our cannabis practice to serve more businesses in surrounding states, such as New York and Massachusetts, particularly in litigation and dispute resolution. I hope to leverage my background in complex and class action litigation as well as Shipman's deep bench of talented litigators and appellate attorneys to expand commercial opportu- nities and pursue legalization efforts for licensed cannabis businesses. saraH westby Partner shiPman & goodWin llP susan winKler Vice President & Executive Director ct insurance & financial services/ metrohartford alliance S usan Winkler represents the busi- ness interests of 23 insurance and financial services (IFS) companies in Connecticut, including property and casualty, life/retirement and health insurers, financial services companies and service providers. Her role as executive director began as a three-year assignment to expand and grow a competitive workforce in Connecticut. She soon realized that the IFS workforce had an economic value that contributed over 20% to the state's GDP. Winkler's passion to sustain the vitality of the IFS industry, including its diversified and dynamic people, is the driver for her to maintain the course for over 20 years. What have been your biggest profes- sional accomplishments so far? I am proud of 'growing our own actuaries' in Hartford. The Actuarial Boot Camp has annually hosted high school students and created hundreds of actuaries. One nota- ble accomplishment was the marriage between two bootcampers! Additionally, CT IFS established an inter- national partnership between Connecticut and the U.K. to grow insurtech startups in Hartford. What's the next big goal you want to accomplish professionally? The Women in World Trade New England (WWTNE) is a trade association of women involved in international busi- ness. Working with its New England leadership, I have decided to create a CT Chapter, since there was none, to provide our local women a place of business support and friendship. What's one of the biggest professional challenges you've overcome? The first time that I convened the CT IFS board of directors, I was the only woman around the boardroom table. With stra- tegic and thoughtful suggestions, today the board consists of both executive men and women providing diversity of thought, balanced discussion and great camaraderie of which I am proud. How are you involved in the community? I am especially proud of my work with NINA, Northside Institutions Neigh- borhood Alliance, a nonprofit that I co-founded in Asylum Hill that is dedi- cated to destroying blight and building homeownership. NINA has rehabilitated over 20 homes and built two new ones with many more to come! There is no success without a friend, partner and family member who is with you through the years — to my husband, Jim, I am forever grateful.