INDIANAPOLIS –The Indiana Credit Union League bestowed honors on both professionals and volunteers during its recent annual meeting.
Among those honored:
- Bob Urick, board member of REGIONAL Federal Credit Union (FCU) in Hammond, is the Indiana Credit Union League’s 2017 recipient of the Leadership Achievement Award. Urick has been a volunteer with the credit union since 1971 when he joined the Supervisory Committee; he joined the board of directors of the credit union in 1975. During his time with REGIONAL FCU, he has served on a variety of committees and was board chairman from 1982-1984. He is currently vice chairman of the board and a member of the Asset-Liability Committee where he is a past chairman. Political advocacy on behalf of his credit union and others in Indiana is important to Bob as well. He is a member of the League’s Political Involvement Leadership Advisory Group, helping develop and support many of the Leagues advocacy initiatives. He has been a significant part of successful visits to his credit union by state and federal lawmakers, building important relationships. REGIONAL FCU was founded by educators, and during Urick’s tenure on the board the credit union has established ten student-run branches that deliver award winning financial education to students in elementary, middle and high schools.
- Amy Sink, CEO of Interra CU in Goshen, is the Indiana Credit Union League’s 2017 recipient of the Professional Achievement Award. The presentation was made at the Chairman’s Awards Banquet at the JW Marriott Hotel on September 22 as part of a special event during the League’s statewide convention.
Sink has been in the credit union business since 1987, and has been CEO at Interra CU for the past four years, during which time the credit union has grown by nearly $300 million in assets and by 25,000 members. In addition to her leadership at her own credit union, her contributions have served credit unions in Indiana and across the country. She is a member of the League’s Governmental Affairs Committee, and she is an ICUPAC Trustee. Her regular interaction with elected officials from her area helps reinforce visibility for all credit unions and for key credit union issues.Sink is also a current board member and past chairman of Alloya Corporate Federal Credit Union, an associate board member of card services provider PSCU, and she is on the board of Members Development Company. She serves on the Credit Union National Association’s (CUNA) Credit Union Powers Committee, and as a past credit union CFO, she has been an active member of CUNA’s CFO Council. Additionally, she is on the board of the Goshen Health Foundation and has given her time to other notable boards that serve her credit union’s community.
- Stephanie Snow of Elements Financial Federal Credit Union (FCU) in Indianapolis is a recipient of the 2017 Emerging Leadership Award from the Indiana Credit Union League.
Snow is Vice President of Project Management at the credit union where she has had significant impact on a variety of projects including business continuity, large-scale reporting initiatives and a core system conversion. She was the implementation leader for the credit union’s first merger. She also worked from concept to implementation on Elements Financial FCU’s adoption loan product. Snow is an alumna of the League’s ignite initiative for emerging leaders, and she recently received her Project Management Professional Certification. The Emerging Leadership Award was developed in order to recognize the next generation of credit union leaders in Indiana for their accomplishments and for their potential to be an Indiana credit union leader in the future.
- Mike Wiggington of Crane Credit Union (CU) in Odon is a recipient of the 2017 Emerging Leadership Award from the Indiana Credit Union League. Wiggington is Vice President of Information Technology at the credit union.
During his six years at Crane CU and more than a decade in another credit union IT position, he has been instrumental in tying technology and member experience together. Recently he worked to upgrade the credit union’s mobile app and online banking platform, including the addition of remote deposit capture technology. He has also developed an application for the Amazon Echo, one of few such credit union apps in the country. The app allows members to get loan rates, branch hours and news from the credit union.
- Chris Wardrip, CEO of Financial Health FCU, was inducted into the Indiana Credit Union Hall of Fame during the Indiana Credit Union League’s statewide convention. Wardrip has been both a director and CEO/Manager of the credit union over the past 22 years. Under Chris’ leadership, the credit union has not only created and implemented many programs, products and services aimed at the underserved market, it has also demonstrated convincingly that serving the underserved can be a sustainable and successful strategy. His passion for credit unions has led him to be a valued advisor to other credit unions, a board member of the Central Chapter of Credit Unions and a member of League committees.
His dedication to cooperatives and to his urban members inspired him to become involved in the development of a food co-op in a neighborhood where the credit union had a branch, but members had little access to fresh groceries. He served as both president and treasurer of the co-op. He has been recognized for these contributions – he received the League’s Professional Achievement Award in 2013 and he was inducted into the Indiana Cooperative Hall of Fame in 2014.
- Frank Gulley, board chairman of Afena Federal Credit Union (FCU), was inducted into the Indiana Credit Union Hall of Fame during the Indiana Credit Union League’s statewide convention. Gulley started as a volunteer at what was then known as Marion Independent FCU. He joined the board in 1985 and has served in a volunteer capacity ever since, holding every position on the board including multiple terms as chairman. The credit union is now known as Afena FCU. His contributions to his credit union have been combined with two other careers over many years – he is retired from General Motors and he has held teaching and instructional positions at a variety of institutions, including Ivy Tech.
He served on the Indiana Credit Union League board from 2007-2016 and he was board chairman from 2012-2013. During his service, Gulley was a champion for credit union volunteers, leading the way for web-based and in-person educational efforts and serving as a popular facilitator at the League’s Volunteers/Officials Leadership Conference. Frank’s service to credit unions extends beyond the state of Indiana. He has served on two committees at Credit Union National Association including the Awards Committee and the Volunteer Leadership Committee, where he is currently a member. He is also a board member of the Council of General Motors Credit Unions and a board member of the Combined Council of Credit Unions.
- Karol Griffin of Teachers Credit Union was inducted into the Indiana Credit Union Hall of Fame during the Indiana Credit Union League’s statewide convention. Over her 40-year career she has held a number of key leadership positions in retail, human resources, branch operations and facilities at the credit union, where she was one of the first females to reach the vice president level.
Griffin has also served as Executive Director of the TCU Foundation, whose youth financial literacy efforts have won a national award. Teachers Credit Union serves nearly 300,000 members in Indiana and Michigan. Her contributions outside Teachers CU have benefited credit unions and their members in Indiana and nationwide. Griffin’s leadership was instrumental in the growth of shared branching as Credit Union Centers of North Central Indiana merged with others to form one statewide organization called Credit Union Centers of Indiana, and eventually included Illinois to become Credit Union Centers, where Griffin was president for 15 years. Her skills were recognized on a national scale when she was elected to the board of CUSC, a position she held for 10 years. She was influential in helping the CUSC board adopt the vision and strategy that led to partnering with CO-OP Financial Services, ultimately leading to the combining of the operations of three national shared branching networks into CO-OP Shared Branching, a unified national network, which currently has more than 5,600 locations throughout the United States.