Raiz Directors and Management Team

Lillian Crouch has served on the Credit Union’s Board of Directors since 1992. During this time, she has held the positions of Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and Board Liaison to the Supervisory Committee.

Mrs. Crouch retired from the El Paso Independent School District in 2001 after thirty-two years of service. She was an elementary and junior high school principal during her career. She retired from EPISD as the Executive Director of Human Resources.

Mrs. Crouch is the recipient of several community awards, including UTEP’s College of Education 2012 Gold Nugget Award, and was inducted into the Commission for Women Hall of Fame in 2005. Her commitment to the community has been through service-oriented activities. These activities include serving on the Board of Directors of El Paso Community Foundation, Woman’s Club of El Paso, and the Woman’s Auxiliary University of Texas at El Paso.

Richard Perez has served on the Credit Union’s Board of Directors since 2006. He has been a member of Raiz for over 42 years, now known as Raiz, and prior to his Board appointment, he served on the Credit Union’s Nominating Committee for three years. He retired from the El Paso Independent School District after a 30-year career as a teacher and administrator. He is currently an independent test administrator for several schools and businesses, and is a part-time adjunct professor for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi University.

Armando Novoa has served on the Credit Union’s Board of Directors since 2015. He recently joined the Raiz Board, now known as Raiz, after serving over 15 years with the Board of Directors for Golden Key FCU, with the last five years serving as Chairman. Mr. Novoa worked for Safeway for 25 years and at Montana Beverage for five years. For the past 15 years, Mr. Novoa has been working in the automotive customer service industry.

Mr. Novoa is very involved in the community. He has served on the Curriculum Advisory Board at David L. Carrasco Job Corps for three years and as part of the Head and Neck Cancer support group at Providence Outpatient Hospital.

Rene Chavez has served on the Credit Union’s Board of Directors since 2016. He has been a member of Raiz for over 30 years, now known as Raiz, and served on the credit union’s Supervisory Committee from July 2007 to October 2015 before becoming a Board Member. Mr. Chavez attended UTEP and the University of Phoenix and has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s in Organizational Management. He worked for Socorro ISD from 1997 to 2010, where he served as a Compensation Officer, Payroll Manager, and for eight years as a Director of Human Resources.

In August of 2010, Mr. Chavez was named the Director of Human Resources for Clint ISD, and in 2017 he was named Chief Human Resources Officer for Clint ISD. He continues to work in this capacity today. He has also taught business management and organizational behavior courses at the University of Phoenix.

Alberto Lopez, Jr. has served on the Credit Union’s Board since 1998. During this time, he has also held the position of Board Secretary and Vice-Chairman.

Mr. Lopez is the Assistant Vice President for University Relations at the University of Texas at El Paso. His 29-year career in education began as a high school teacher in Sherman, Texas.

Previous positions include Executive Director for UTEP’s Office of External Relations, Director of Recruitment and Scholarships, Assistant Director of External Relations at UTEP, Admissions Counselor for New Mexico State University, Field Researcher for System Development Corporation, and other college counselor and director positions.

Art Jordan joined Credit Union’s Board of Directors in 2003 and has since then held the positions of Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, and Secretary. Prior to joining the Board, Mr. Jordan served on the Credit Union’s Nominating Committee for five years.

Mr. Jordan retired in 2008 as the Executive Director of Research, Accountability, and Assessment for the El Paso Independent School District. He began his career with EPISD in 1982 as a math teacher at Bowie High School. He also worked for 12 years as a part-time math instructor at El Paso Community College and 1½ years as a program evaluator for the Head Start Program. Mr. Jordan is an independent educational consultant and stays active in the community.

Gregory Lucas began his service as a member of the Board of Directors in 2010. For his first five years, he served as Secretary and was a part the ALCO committee for Golden Key FCU’s Board of Directors. In 2015 he joined TFCU’s Board of Directors, now known as Raiz. He brings over 18 years of experience in the retail grocery business from Safeway Foods, Inc. and Furr’s, Inc. Mr. Lucas is currently in his 25th year at Frito Lay as District Manager.

Rene Vargas has served on the Credit Union’s Board of Directors since 2014. He is a native El Pasoan that graduated from Riverside High School. After graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served with the Marine Corps Air Wing Division. He was honorably discharged after serving six years of active and inactive duty. Upon returning home, he acquired an associate’s degree in electronics and began his career as an electronic technician.

He also attended UTEP and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting. He has over 20 years of experience in accounting and business, and is employed with Socorro I.S.D. as the Director of Business Services. Mr. Vargas has been a member of TFCU, now known as Raiz, since 2000 and has served on the Credit Union’s Supervisory Committee since January 2007.

John Alarcon is a new member of the Credit Union’s Board of Directors. Previously, he served in the Credit Union’s Supervisory Committee for the past four years. He is a native of El Paso who received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Phoenix. He is currently employed by the Education Service Center Region 19 as the Director of Facilities Maintenance, Transportation, and Support. Before this role, Mr. Alarcon was the Director of Maintenance and Operations for Socorro ISD from 2005 to 2015. Mr. Alarcon has been an active member of the Texas Association of School Business Officials for over 15 years. His volunteer work in the community includes being a confirmation instructor and a finance coordinator at San Felipe de Jesus Catholic Church. He has been a member of TFCU, now known as Raiz, for over 25 years.