TACOMA, Wash.–Mike Beall, the former president of the DC/Maryland and Missouri CU leagues, has been named chief strategic and advocacy officer by CU Strategic Planning. Beall had been working with the company as a contract consultant, but is now joining full time to help manage what the firm described as its “significant growth beyond CDFI grant writing.”
CU Strategic Planning reported it added Beall after winning $20 million in CDFI Awards in 2015, as it was the only organization to write more than one winning CDFI application for credit unions last year.
“To grow impacts over its already $55.9 million in awards to date, the firm needed to build capacity to serve more credit unions – which is where Beall will play a significant role in establishing partnerships and implementing programs,” CU Strategic Planning said in a released statement.
Beall has worked for CU Strategic Planning under contract since leaving the National Cooperative Business Association.
Jamie Strayer, the founder of CU Strategic Planning, credits Beall’s background as a turn-around CEO at the NCBA as an attractive strength to her firm. Strayer says his skills align with the next record CU Strategic Planning wants to break, which is taking stock to measure the greatest loan and ROA growth for a group of credit unions.
“I’m not going to be shy about saying we recruited the heck out of Mike,” said Strayer. “He is a big win for us. Mike is a visionary champion for credit unions. He was the first credit union trade association CEO to understand the power of what we were doing with CDFI; and his key role on HR1151 stands on its own.”
Beall hired CU Strategic Planning to develop the highly successful Community Development Across Missouri program, which has since been replicated in Florida and Louisiana and is launching next in Alabama.
“Community Development Across Missouri was a huge expansion of CU Strategic Planning between 2012 and 2014, and an even larger expansion of mainstream credit unions into community development,” Strayer said. “Mike’s vision of the power of CDFI resulted in 25 Missouri credit unions obtaining CDFI certification.”