As a proud alumna of Michigan State University, April Clobes has built an exceptional career spanning nearly three decades at the credit union that shares her alma mater’s name. Since becoming president/CEO in March 2015, Clobes has guided Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) through a period of robust growth and geographic expansion. Under her leadership, asset size has more than tripled, rising from $2.5 billion to $8.2 billion. Helping to drive this growth, MSUFCU has expanded its geographic footprint beyond the region surrounding its East Lansing headquarters to encompass all of Michigan and parts of northern Illinois.

Adjacent to her role at MSUFCU, Clobes also serves as CEO of Reseda Group, a wholly owned CUSO that is building a better future for credit union members through fintech investments. Additionally, she devotes countless hours to industry and community causes, including extensive support for Michigan State.

These many accomplishments epitomize why Clobes was selected to receive the CUES 2024 Outstanding Chief Executive Award, an honor recognizing leaders at the CEO level who have made significant contributions to their credit union, their community and their industry. At the core of Clobes’ accomplishments is a dedication to hard work and a commitment to helping others achieve their own success.

“I have a philosophy that I share with others, which is every day is a job interview,” Clobes said. “I also believe it’s important to work hard to be the leader that everyone is hoping they have in their organization.”

Those who work closest with Clobes attest that she has achieved this level of respected leadership. “April is a true visionary leader,” said CFO Sara Dolan, who has worked with Clobes for 19 years. “She keeps MSUFCU on the leading edge of delivering services to our members and to the industry. She also demonstrates the values of giving back and sharing knowledge and participating in the cooperative movement that is credit unions. She has inspired others throughout our organization to do the same and to work at making financial services better and inclusive for everyone.”

MSUFCU Board Chair Greg Deppong works closely with Clobes and has been impressed with her strong dedication to the mission of the credit union. “As a board member and board chair, if I had to pick one word for April’s leadership style, it would be transparent,” he said. “She’s a leader who keeps her board engaged and aware of what she’s thinking. She’s achieved the right level of transparency about what’s going on so that we’re prepared to lead and be the best board we can be. The confidence the board has in her and her team is extremely high.”

Deppong added that Clobes’ ability to develop a cohesive team has been a primary driver in the credit union’s success. “The culture at MSUFCU is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” he remarked. “It’s an excellent example of an organization in which everyone is moving in the same direction with their eye on the credit union’s mission of serving its members. That type of culture starts at the top with April.”

A Strong Work Ethic

Clobes grew up in Bay City, Michigan, just 90 miles north of East Lansing, which is where both Michigan State and MSUFCU’s headquarters are located. Her mother instilled in her a strong work ethic, and she took that to heart by working three jobs to put herself through college at MSU. She prides herself on being a first-generation college student on both sides of her family, graduating with a business degree in marketing in 1994. Later, she would go on to earn a master’s degree in advertising and public relations, also from Michigan State, and an MBA from Western Michigan University.

Additionally, Clobes takes pride in her heritage as a first-generation American born in the United States. “My father was born in Germany,” Clobes said. “My grandparents immigrated here after World War II. Relatives on the paternal side of my father’s family were Jewish and held in concentration camps before being liberated to the U.S.”

Clobes’ parents divorced when she was young, which played an important role in shaping her life. She remains close to her mother and stepfather to this day. Being raised by a single mom gave Clobes an appreciation for how hard it is to stretch a dollar. She learned firsthand the importance of free lunch programs and other assistance for families on a tight budget, and these lessons continue to resonate with her as an executive in the credit union industry.

“It’s why we spend a lot of time as an organization on financial education, providing financial knowledge and empowerment for people to make impactful financial decisions,” she reported. 

Clobes’ philosophy of treating every day like a job interview stems from her days as a student employee at Michigan State. Her first campus job was as a student receptionist for the student union building, which quickly taught her the importance of making a good first impression.

Ultimately, this philosophy played a significant role in how she landed her job at MSUFCU. In her senior year at Michigan State, she worked as a marketing intern, which gave her the opportunity to connect with prominent East Lansing business leaders—any one of whom could have been a potential employer. As fate would have it, one of those leaders was the then-VP of marketing for the credit union. 

“I met with her to ask for support for the programs that were happening in the student union, which is something I did with all our vendors,” Clobes recalled. “When I applied for a position at the credit union a couple of years after graduating, thankfully she remembered me in a positive light. That’s how I came to MSUFCU as a marketing specialist in 1996.”

Major Achievements

In the 28 years since taking that marketing specialist position, Clobes has been instrumental in helping MSUFCU achieve several important milestones. In 2000, she was tasked with building the credit union’s first functional website. This led to her assuming the role of manager of e-commerce in 2001, overseeing development of online banking, a mobile app, online chat, and online messaging that were the precursors for the digital technology the credit union uses today. “Everything you would expect as a consumer today for digital interaction with your financial institution, we set up during my time as department manager,” Clobes recalled.

The increasing importance of digital saw Clobes rise to assistant vice president of e-commerce in 2004 and then VP of e-commerce in 2006. During this time, she focused much of her attention on building out the mobile development software team and electronic service team. 

When the marketing leader who hired her retired in 2009, Clobes assumed the expanded role of VP of marketing and e-commerce. In 2010, she became executive vice president/COO, serving in that position for five years before becoming CEO. Since Clobes’ ascension to CEO, MSUFCU has continued to expand its digital capabilities. “Five years ago, we set up our first chatbot for online service, putting us at the forefront of emerging AI technologies,” she reported.

One of the most impressive achievements that has occurred under Clobes’ leadership is the wide geographical expansion of MSUFCU’s branch network, which now encompasses 35 locations serving 370,000 members. “We branched into southeast Michigan, west Michigan, and northern Michigan to provide our members with the service that they expect from a branch,” Clobes said. “That has been beneficial to us. We have data points showing that, when we put in a branch, we have a payback on the investment within two-and-a-half to three years, and we see a 30% increase in deposits, loan balances, and increased membership.”

Eventually, MSUFCU’s geographic expansion encompassed northern Illinois. The expansion has been augmented through a series of strategic mergers and acquisitions. “This past year, we completed a small credit union merger, and we did our first two community bank acquisitions,” Clobes reported. “Both banks were fairly small—one was $110 million in assets, and the other was $230 million—but they allowed us to round out our expansion into Illinois, where we had already placed de novo branches in the city of Chicago.”

With an expanded geographic presence, MSUFCU has been able to better serve the university alumni who make up a significant percentage of the credit union’s membership. “Michigan State has grown to 500,000 living alumni,” Clobes noted. “Some of them attended the university before we had digital services, so when we move into their communities, it gives them the opportunity to re-engage with us or deepen their relationship by having access to a branch.”

Another major achievement under Clobes’ leadership was the 2021 launch of Reseda Group, a wholly owned CUSO that serves as a launching pad for fintechs and other businesses. “We’ve invested in 26 startup fintechs and a variety of other organizations,” she said. “We wholly own a printing company and an ad agency through the group as well.”

As board chair, Deppong is pleased with how Reseda Group has helped establish MSUFCU as an industry leader. “It’s afforded our credit union the opportunity to engage with fintechs at a level that we’re able to influence development,” he explained. “In making our investment choices, it’s always with an eye toward doing what will be most beneficial to our members.

“We’re also seeing examples of how getting these fintechs out into the marketplace is helping other credit unions, and that’s invigorating,” Deppong added. “It’s a part of our ethos in this industry to be community-based and work with other organizations for the benefit of all credit union members.”

With Clobes at the helm, community involvement has become more substantial at MSUFCU. “We have a budget process where we allocate $10 per member per year to corporate giving,” Clobes said. “In 2024, that amounted to about $3.5 million. A significant portion of those funds are directed to Michigan State University and Oakland University, our two university partners, and then into the communities where we have branching. We also serve on boards in some of the organizations where we provide financial support.”

MSUFCU further supports the community through the Desk Drawer Foundation, named to commemorate the founding of the credit union out of a single desk drawer on the MSU campus in 1937. The foundation provides grants to the community, focusing on five philanthropic pillars: the arts, entrepreneurship, financial education, stable housing, and youth empowerment. “Since we started the foundation in 2019, we have gifted over $2.5 million into our communities,” Clobes reported.

A People Leader

As CEO, Clobes never forgets her important role as a leader of people. She is a strong advocate of lifelong learning, working to ensure that every employee is in a position to achieve personal and organizational success. “The first step in achieving this is to align people to the right role in the organization,” she said. “We focus on their strengths and give them the opportunity to shine in their roles. We provide people with autonomy and the ability to be successful.”

Communication with the staff is a key component of Clobes’ leadership approach. “I make sure my communication with our team is frequent and transparent,” she reported. “We do regular town hall meetings to provide updates on the credit union’s goals and the projects we’ve undertaken to achieve those goals. I hold a president’s council every year and also conduct quarterly meetings with groups of managers and employees so that they can provide their feedback directly to me. I focus on spending time with everyone in the organization, meeting with each new hire class each month.”

Dolan affirmed that the Clobes’ approach has been instrumental in building a team of high-performing employees. “We create strategies that develop our employees on their own career path and help them continue to learn and grow throughout the organization,” she said. “April leads us on the journey to make sure that we stay relevant for our members, that we deliver the products and services and education they need to be financially successful, and that we give back to our communities and industries. As she does that, she’s bringing up leaders and experiences not only within MSUFCU, but across the credit union industry.”

As proof of Clobes’ excellent people skills, Deppong pointed to the inclusion of MSUFCU on the Detroit Free Press “Michigan Top Workplaces for 2024” list. The list also included a special awards category, in which Clobes was named the top leader among large employers of 500 employees or more. “This is an award for which employees of your organization put your name in nomination, and employees alone vote for,” Deppong explained. “I think it speaks well of April’s connection to her employees that she was singled out for this award.”

Giving Back

Consistent with her standing as an outstanding chief executive, Clobes works tirelessly on behalf of the credit union industry, the community, and her alma mater. She serves on the board of several industry organizations, including Filene Research Institute as chair, Trellance as vice chair, and Members Development Company as secretary/treasurer. She recently joined the Origence board as an associate director. Clobes stressed how important it is for industry leaders to engage with such organizations. “To me, these are critical system partners that provide benefit to all of us to learn and grow and to strengthen our own organizations,” she said. 

Clobes also is active in organizations outside of the credit union industry. She serves as vice chair of McLaren Greater Lansing, a local hospital. In addition, she currently or previously has served on several advisory councils affiliated with Michigan State University, including the Wharton Center for Performing Arts’ Advisory Council, the College of Music National Leadership Council, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum Advisory Board, and the Broad College of Business and College of Communications Arts and Sciences alumni boards.

In 2021, Clobes’ extensive contributions to the university earned her the prestigious MSU Distinguished Alumni Award. Just this past year, she received an honorary doctorate of business from MSU and was the commencement speaker at the graduate ceremony for master’s and educational specialist degree recipients.

When she is not working or dedicating her energy to worthwhile causes, Clobes enjoys spending time with family and friends. She and her husband, Glen Brough, will celebrate their 25th anniversary in 2025. She likes to travel, attend Broadway shows, and go to art museums. As a lifelong reader, she also enjoys the pleasure of staying home and curling up with a good book.

In her efforts to remain an effective chief executive, Clobes will always prioritize her responsibility for putting people in the best position to succeed. “I feel our roles as leaders are to provide people the ability to do what they want to do best and to provide them the resources, remove obstacles, and help them focus on the strategic goals of the credit union,” she said. “We have a great vision for our organization to grow and be successful. I want us to have the leadership that provides the empowerment to have all of us achieve our goals.”

Based in Missouri, Diane Franklin is a longtime contributor to CU Management magazine.