The National Foundation for Credit Counseling is the largest nonprofit credit counseling organization in the United States, and the starting point for millions of people seeking debt relief each year. However, what’s less discussed is who actually runs it. Every fact below comes from NFCC’s own public website, captured in June 2026, with the board roster, the member titles, and the organization’s stated mission reproduced as written.
This piece answers the question of who governs the NFCC, an organization that many consumers treat as a neutral nonprofit guide to getting out of debt.
The Board, As NFCC Lists It
The NFCC publishes the full names and titles of its board of trustees on its “Who We Are” page. The roster below reflects the public page at the time of capture.
| Name | Title | Institution |
| Michael Grossberg | EVP, Head of Operations (Credit Card, Unsecured and Small Business) | Wells Fargo |
| Sarah Goldfrank | Head of U.S. Personal Banking Legal | Citibank, N.A. |
| Kavita Kamdar | Head of Strategy and Business Development, Community Banking | JP Morgan Chase |
| Amy Hellen | Advisor | Capital One |
| Wesley Perkins | Managing VP, Head of US Card Collections and Recoveries Strategy and Operations | Capital One |
| Faisal Uddin | SVP, Global Collections, Recovery and Operational Solutions | Synchrony |
Roster reproduced from nfcc.org “Who We Are” at the time of capture.
What the Roster Represents
The institutions represented on the board, including Wells Fargo, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, Capital One, and Synchrony, are among the largest credit card issuers in the United States. That context is relevant because credit card debt is the primary category of debt that consumers bring to nonprofit credit counseling agencies. These aren’t peripheral stakeholders in the credit counseling industry, but rather, they’re the creditors whose balances consumers are seeking help managing.
The NFCC’s governance structure is also not a recent development. The organization was founded in 1951 by major card issuers, as documented by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. This was just two years after the first credit card was introduced. The Federal Reserve described the founding purpose as helping card issuers reduce cardholder defaults, which is a recovery mechanism, not a consumer advocacy initiative.
Understanding who governs the NFCC matters because the NFCC sets standards, accredits member agencies, and serves as the primary advocacy body for nonprofit credit counseling in the United States. When a consumer is referred to an “NFCC-member agency,” they are being referred to an organization that operates under standards set by a board composed of the executives listed above.
The Collections Detail
Two of the six listed board members lead collections or recovery functions at their institutions. Wesley Perkins holds the title Managing VP, Head of US Card Collections and Recoveries Strategy and Operations at Capital One. Faisal Uddin is SVP, Global Collections, Recovery and Operational Solutions at Synchrony. Those are their titles as published by the NFCC.
Collections and recoveries are the functions within a bank responsible for recovering unpaid debt from delinquent or defaulted customers. From a creditor’s perspective, a consumer in financial distress is a collection problem to be resolved. The executives who lead those functions at two of the nation’s major card issuers also sit on the board of the nonprofit organization that accredits the agencies those consumers turn to for help.
The Promise on the Same Page
The NFCC presents itself publicly as a consumer-facing organization. Its website describes it as the nation’s largest nonprofit financial counseling organization, and its member agencies are marketed to consumers as neutral alternatives to for-profit debt relief providers. The NFCC’s “Our Promise” states that the organization operates in the interest of the consumer first and foremost.
That promise and the board roster appear on the same webpage, published by the same organization. A consumer researching nonprofit credit counseling as a debt relief or debt resolution option should read the NFCC’s board roster, the consumer-first promise, and the funding model, weighing all three together before making a decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who governs the NFCC?
The NFCC is governed by a board of trustees whose members are listed publicly on nfcc.org. As of June 2026, the board roster includes executives from Wells Fargo, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, Capital One, and Synchrony. Members include Michael Grossberg, EVP at Wells Fargo; Sarah Goldfrank, Head of U.S. Personal Banking Legal at Citibank; Kavita Kamdar, Head of Strategy and Business Development at JP Morgan Chase; Amy Hellen, Advisor at Capital One; Wesley Perkins, Managing VP, Head of US Card Collections and Recoveries at Capital One; and Faisal Uddin, SVP, Global Collections, Recovery and Operational Solutions at Synchrony.
Does a creditor-linked board mean the advice is biased?
A creditor-linked board does not always mean advice is biased, but readers can draw their own conclusions independently based on how they perceive this conflict of interest. The board composition is public record, and the organization’s consumer-first promise is published alongside it. Both facts are available at nfcc.org, and both are worth reading before enrolling in any debt management or debt resolution program.
Is the NFCC still a nonprofit?
Yes, the NFCC is still a nonprofit. Nonprofit refers to the organization’s tax status, specifically its classification as a tax-exempt organization under the IRS code. Tax status is a separate question from board composition and from how member agencies are funded. A nonprofit can carry a creditor-linked board and still maintain its tax-exempt status, as the NFCC does. The IRS has revoked tax-exempt status from individual credit counseling agencies found to be operating for creditor benefit rather than consumer benefit, but the NFCC itself retains its nonprofit classification.
