NASHVILLE, Tenn.–Mike Williams, CEO of Colorado Credit Union was named the winner of the Pierre Jay Award during the NASCUS State System Summit.
The Pierre Jay Award, named for the first commissioner of banks in Massachusetts, honors those who have demonstrated outstanding service, leadership, and commitment to NASCUS and the state system. The award is NASCUS’s highest honor in recognizing champions of the state credit union system.
“On behalf of the NASCUS leadership and staff, I wish to extend our congratulations to Mike Williams for his outstanding accomplishments. This award recognizes the significant positive influence he has had on the overall health and prosperity of the state system,” said Katie Averill, superintendent of the Iowa Division of Credit Unions and NASCUS Regulator Board vice chair.
‘Unwavering Commitment’
“Mike has committed his professional lives to guarantee a secure, stable, and resilient dual charter system, and we sincerely appreciate his enduring friendship and unwavering commitment.”
NASCUS said Williams has dedicated his entire 38-year career to financial services, specifically credit unions. In addition to his role as president and CEO at Colorado Credit Union in Littleton, he has served on nearly every board in the credit union industry, “offering his wisdom and expertise to help foster growth. His priority has been focused on ensuring an efficient and competitive operating environment for state-chartered credit unions.”
Career Accomplishments
In addition, NASCUS noted Williams:
- Has served on the NASCUS Credit Union Advisory Council, serving as chairman from 2000-2022, and has served as a board member of the State of Colorado Division of Financial Services since 2018.
- Has served on the NASCUS Credit Union Advisory Council for the past decade and served as chairman from 2020-2022. During his term as chair, he helped the organization navigate through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic as well as the search for a new CEO.
- Has served as the board vice chair from 2018-2020 and secretary from 2016-2018.
- Has served as a board member of the State of Colorado Division of Financial Services since 2018.
- Currently serves on the Interstate Branching/Operations Task Force and has been actively involved in NASCUS’ Legislative and Regulatory Affairs work.
- For the past 31 years has served as president/CEO of Colorado Credit Union and grown the organization from solely serving Johns Manville employees to being open to nearly all Colorado residents. Under his leadership, Colorado Credit Union has grown to more than $375 million in assets with more than 26,000 members. Recently, he helped navigate the merger of White Crown FCU into Colorado Credit Union.
- In addition to the Pierre Jay Award, Williams’ personal accolades also include being elected Mountain West Credit Union Professional of the Year (2011) and receiving the Distinguished Leader Award from the Center for Credit Union Leadership (2017). He was elected to the Credit Union House Hall of Leaders in 2013. He is also an alumnus and serves on the Board of Trustees of Western CUNA Management School.
A ‘Tremendous Honor’
“I am sincerely grateful for being honored with this award. Thank you to the NASCUS team, NASCUS President/CEO Brian Knight, the staff, and the leadership for this tremendous honor,” said Williams. “Serving on the NASCUS Joint Advisory Council has been a privilege. I appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with a skilled group of state credit union regulators and industry experts nationwide, all aimed at preserving the state charter’s robustness, adaptability, and innovation.”
‘Decades of Leadership’
“We are thrilled to see Mike honored for his decades of leadership and passion for credit unions and the state system,” said Troy Stang, president and CEO of GoWest Credit Union Association. “His longtime leadership helped guide the original Colorado Credit Union League, which became the Mountain West Credit Union Association, to what is now GoWest, with over 300 credit unions representing more than 16.5 million consumer members. A strong state system is essential to all our success.”
‘Truly Appreciated’
"I want to thank Mike for serving on the Financial Services Board the last several years,” said Mark Valente, commissioner for Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. “His dedication to serving Colorado citizens and the Colorado credit union industry is truly appreciated. In addition to serving as a credit union CEO, Mike is a NASCUS advisory council member, where he positively impacted the state credit union system by being a voice of reason and an advocate for improvements in the state credit union system and encouraged his colleagues to be involved also."
How to Get the Daily CU News Headlines In Your Inbox Each Day, For Free!
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free in ’23! Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more.
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?