Feb. 12, 2013 – NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz on Monday announced that Joy Lee is now the agency’s ombudsman, a position that serves as “the public’s voice to NCUA leadership.”
Lee has been serving as senior advisor to Matz as chairman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. She succeeds Moisette Sweat, who has been NCUA’s ombudsman since 2010.
NCUA has elevated the position so the ombudsman will now report to the NCUA Board but be supervised by the executive director’s office. (An NCUA Inspector General report last August urged that this position report directly to the highest agency official or to the board.) The ombudsman most recently has taken assignments from the division of consumer compliance and outreach within the NCUA Office of Consumer Protection.
Lee joined NCUA as an examiner in 1987. Since then, she has served as Region II’s associate director of operations and programs, as director of supervision for the Office of Examination and Insurance and as acting director of the Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas.
The NCUA Board established the ombudsman position in April 1995, as required by the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994. The ombudsman investigates complaints from credit unions and consumers and recommends solutions. She also provides complainants with an objective third party to resolve disputes that cannot be resolved at the operational level.