6 minutes
Meet the 2014 CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec Top 15
Online voters and a panel of past finalists narrowed the CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec field from 24 to the Top 15 applicants. The challenge, held in conjunction with DDJ Myers and administered by Currency, searches for emerging leaders age 35 and under from within the credit union industry.
The Top 15 are blogging about their project on www.nexttopcreditunionexec.com/blog. And to provide additional value to the competition experience, they’ll each receive an executive coaching session from DDJ Myers, a CUES Supplier member and strategic provider. A judging panel of two CUES members and Deedee Myers of DDJ Myers will then score the Top 15’s applications and blog posts, narrowing the competition to five finalists.
The five finalists will receive additional coaching, airfare, accommodation and registration to CUES’ CEO/Executive Team Network™, Nov. 2-5 in Amelia Island, Fla., where they will give their final presentations. The 2014 CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec will receive further coaching, airfare, accommodation and registration for two CUES’ CEO Institutes, a total prize package valued at $20,000.
For the next several weeks, we’ll be checking in with the Top 15 to see how their project is going and learn a bit more about these next generation leaders.
Jennifer Laud, CCUE
Director of Marketing & Innovation
$67 million First Financial Credit Union
Chicago
Follow Jennifer on Twitter: @jenmlaud
Follow her on LinkedIn
Watch Jennifer’s CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec video
Give us the elevator speech about your project (as in how would you describe your project to someone you meet in an elevator?):
Credit unions have a great story to tell about their cooperative business model and how they benefit their members; however, many consumers still haven’t heard that story. By working together on a state and local level, we can transition from being the best kept financial secret to a household name. With the help of the Illinois League, ILCUnite is a website and campaign that’s getting Illinois credit unions on social media, arming them with a unifying hashtag, and giving them a community space to notify each other of stories to share and collaboration opportunities to participate. By creating more buzz and social media awareness for the things our credit union, our neighboring credit unions and our joint forces are doing for our members and community, we can educate Illinois consumers and effectively share our story.
What is your long-term career goal?
I’ve realized that teamwork, innovation and culture are incredibly important to me as a part of my job. Long-term, I want to be managing an organization or group of teams working to bring meaningful product innovations to consumers through design thinking. My ideal position would be as a chief innovation officer at a credit union or at an organization supporting the movement, like a CUSO or research institute.
Fill in the dots: The future of credit unions will be bright if ...
We stay true to our philosophy of people helping people and, even through mergers and growth, we continue to be the best at serving our niche communities and their unique needs.
What my generation brings to the credit union movement is …
We bring passion, creativity and a desire to leave our imprint through change. Many of us are incredibly concerned about the future. Not just for ourselves, but for our environment, government, economy and society. Credit unions are a great fit because we strongly connect with the business model and mission. Growing up with technology meant that barriers to information were drastically reduced, and we’re curious to find ways to improve on old ideas and see how others are making a bigger impact. This drives our creativity and desire to answer the question “how can we do this better and bring more value to our members?”
People consider me a leader because …
I care about the people we are here to help and I take advantage of opportunities. It’s incredibly important to remember the members we are here to serve and I always try to bring their perspective and needs into conversations at the credit union. I’ve been known to consistently search out new opportunities, networks and events to help broaden my knowledge and add to the skills I use to help shape our products and services. Through my own opportunities, I can then pass on knowledge, connections, new opportunities or start projects with others in our organization so they can learn and discover what they are passionate about.
Who is your hero and why?
My hero is my grandmother (to me, mawmaw). She started her legacy of being a lifelong learner when she graduated from the University of Arkansas Medical School in 1954. That’s not a small accomplishment for anyone, particularly a woman who was pregnant with her first of five children! She then received a certification in public health and later completed a fellowship in diagnostics.
She cared about equality and giving people opportunities to grow and learn. A great example of this is when she started the county’s first mixed-race Girl Scout troop in their town of Rutherfordton, N.C., in 1966. Whether it was through the troop, her involvement with the town’s Methodist church, or just being a good neighbor, she was a mentor and a leader for so many people in her community.
Lastly, she never let obstacles get in her way and she always adapted to change. I don’t think she saw her mother passing when she was young; the town being less than excited to visit a female doctor; or my grandfather’s failing health later in life as adversity or hardship. They were challenges, but parts of life that had to be either accepted or, when possible, changed. She learned what she could from the experiences, made herself stronger, and changed things for the better.
If there are only three qualities I could choose to have passed down from her, it would be her constant desire to learn, her empathy and compassion for all people, and her adaptability and resilience.
Who is a must-follow on Twitter?
I love following a mix of people and brands for inspiration on different topics, so it’s hard picking just one! Here are my top picks for my favorite topics:
Leadership and culture: @MattMonge from Mazuma Credit Union
Innovation and design: @Ideas42
Financial services: @FinancialBrand
Brands doing social media right: @BurtonSnowboard
Does your credit union have Twitter/Facebook/YouTube/Pinterest/LinkedIn/Instagram other social media accounts?
What is your favorite CUES member benefit? Or, if you are a new CUES NextGen member, what benefit are you most looking forward to using?
Our management team just got set up with our CUES membership, so I’m very new to all that CUES has to offer. Right now, I’m excited to have access to the whitepapers, webinars and Members Share library!
