MADISON, Wis.—The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) has named a new president/CEO to succeed the retiring Brian Branch.
WOCCU has selected Elissa McCarter LaBorde to lead the organization, the first woman to ever serve in the role at WOCCU, which was created in 1970. The World Council said LaBorde brings more than 20 years of experience leading organizations in delivering financial services to underserved communities across the globe.
Since 2009, LaBorde has served as CEO of Vitas Group, a for-profit holding company she established under Global Communities, an international development and humanitarian aid organization that operates in 27 countries.
WOCCU said that Vitas Group has become the largest commercial retail microfinance operation in the Middle East, and that over the last decade its subsidiaries have disbursed over $3-billion at a less than 1% annual default rate to small business owners.
About Vitas
Vitas employs more than 1,300 local professional staff in Romania, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq and Egypt, with a dedicated IT Hub in Serbia.
According to WOCCU, under LaBorde’s leadership Vitas established three major initiatives:
- Vitas Values Equality, which promotes gender diversity
- Vitas Ventures, an early-stage fintech venture investment portfolio
- Vitas Lab, part of an “ambitious long-term shift to a data-centric, digital-first lending model.”
For the past 16 years LaBorde has also served as Global Communities’ VP of development finance, overseeing the non-profit organization’s strategy, investment and fundraising efforts, and thought leadership in financial inclusion. In that role, she is the principal liaison to the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (formerly OPIC) for loan guarantee facilities worth over $550 million, with commercial banks in Jordan, Egypt, Kenya and Malawi, WOCCU said.
She also participates in business development efforts with key U.S. and international donors.
“Elissa went through a long selection process with the best results and was unanimously selected by the WOCCU Board of Directors,” said Rafał Matusiak, WOCCU board chair.
International Experience
In addition to the U.S., LaBorde has lived and worked in five countries (France, Benin, Armenia, Turkey and Zimbabwe) and has traveled to more than 70 countries around the world. She is a published author of two books, as well as academic journals and essays that span a number of topics related to financial inclusion and economic development. She also serves as an adjunct professor at John’s Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a position she's held for 10 years.
LaBorde resides just outside Washington, DC with her husband, three young children and a pet fish, WOCCU said.
“World Council of Credit Unions is a well-known and respected organization with massive reach and the potential to truly deliver next-generation financial products and services to last-mile customers all over the globe,” said LaBorde. “I am honored to join its work in expanding the credit union footprint and its mission to improve the lives of its vast network of members, especially in lower-income and disadvantaged communities. The opportunity to lead and rethink how we scale financial services by leveraging technology and building on the trust that credit unions uniquely have in so many places is exciting.
LaBorde will start at World Council in August.