INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana CU League has honored a number of people for their accomplishments. Recognized were:
* Brittani Richards of Thrive FCU in Muncie is a recipient of the 2016 Emerging Leadership Award from the Indiana Credit Union League.
Richards is director of Marketing and Training at Thrive FCU. She has been one of the driving forces behind the transformation of the credit union, which used to be known as Industrial Centre. The name change and branding overhaul, combined with a renewed focus on three core values are changing the culture at the credit union, and they are a centerpiece for her marketing and training efforts. She is a founding member of Credit Unions for a Cause, a group of five Delaware County credit unions that educate about the credit union difference while supporting various community causes and events. One of the group’s notable projects is the award-winning International Day of Kindness.
* Kerie Sekal of INOVA FCU in Elkhart is a recipient of the 2016 Emerging Leadership Award from the Indiana Credit Union League.
Sekal is vice president of marketing and member engagement, but she has worked many jobs in the credit union business at INOVA FCU and elsewhere. Since coming to INOVA FCU, she has been a branch manager and served as managing director of the credit union’s prepaid Visa Card credit union service organization, Innovative Card Services.
This is in addition to being a team member on a variety of other projects focused on the credit union’s success.
Outside the credit union, she is a graduate of the Elkhart County Chamber of Commerce Leadership Academy, a member of several boards and an active community volunteer. Kerie is currently a graduate student pursuing an MBA at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana.
* Jason Ford of Afena Federal Credit Union in Marion is a recipient of the 2016 Emerging Leadership Award from the Indiana Credit Union League.
Ford is a branch manager, and he has also worked as a loan officer.
He is politically active, having served as Clerk-Treasurer for nine years in Fairmount, and he has worked on the political campaigns of others.
A graduate of CUNA Management School, he was elected by his peers as class vice president and served in that capacity for two years. He holds the Certified Credit Union Executive designation. He is also a past president of the Grant County Chapter of Credit Unions in Indiana. Additionally, Ford is an active community volunteer, working with his church and on behalf of a number of non-profit organizations in the Marion area.
* Cindy Duke,
CEO of Natco Credit Union in Richmond, is the Indiana Credit Union League’s 2016 recipient of the Professional Achievement Award. The presentation was made at the Chairman’s Awards Banquet at the JW Marriott Hotel on October 14 as part of a special event during the League’s statewide convention.
Duke has been with Natco Credit Union for 29 years, and has been the CEO for 24. During her tenure, she has made impressive progress, adding products and services to meet the needs of the credit union’s 14,000 members. Under her leadership, the credit union has had significant growth. It was $44 million in assets when she began and has assets in excess of $78 million today. Duke believes in creating future credit union leaders and providing a high-quality work experience for her team. She provides rigorous lending and leadership training for her staff so they can serve the complex needs of the credit union’s members, many of whom have challenging situations in their financial lives as well as in their personal lives.
In working with some credit-challenged members, Duke saw a need to help them move from poverty to self-sustainability. The Natco Community Empowerment Center was established as a result. Under her watch, the award-winning center opened in 2013. It is a place where citizens of Richmond and surrounding areas can get valuable community resources such as résumé writing, job interview preparation, and financial education and counseling. The center is a partner with the United Way’s Circles® program, it is a VITA site and recently established 501(c)(3) status so it can apply for more grants to provide additional community service. Duke is also an active community volunteer, and she has served on several Indiana Credit Union League committees over the years.
* Don Weaver,
board member of Indiana University Credit Union (IUCU) in Bloomington, is the Indiana Credit Union League’s 2016 recipient of the Professional Achievement Award. The presentation was made at the Chairman’s Awards Banquet at the JW Marriott Hotel on October 14 as part of a special event during the League’s statewide convention.
Weaver came to IUCU in 1964, and in the years since he has been a volunteer member of the board of directors, the credit union has seen a number of modernizing changes. Weaver has had an influence on all of them, from the addition of numerous products and services to the development of the branch network, a merger, a charter change and CEO transitions.
Weaver’s career spanned 40 years at Indiana University where he was Assistant to the President for State Relations. As a political advocate for the university, his relationships with many key contacts carried over, and he represented credit unions across the state as a member of the League’s Governmental Affairs Committee for several years. Don has helped deliver the credit union message to state and federal legislators during many trips to Washington, D.C. on credit unions’ behalf.
His advocacy continues as a member of the Indiana Credit Union League’s Political Involvement Leadership Advisory Group. He has been a key contributor to IUCU’s governance issues as well, laying a foundation for future volunteers. He was also instrumental in establishing the credit union’s tradition of providing scholarships for high school, Ivy Tech and IU students.
To recognize his many contributions, Don was inducted into the Credit Union Executive Society’s Volunteer Hall of Fame in 2011. His volunteerism extends beyond the credit union and includes the Bloomington Boys’ Club, Bloomington Little League, Faith Lutheran Church, the Salvation Army and University Lutheran Church.
* Jerry Walters,
board member of Harvester Financial Credit Union in Indianapolis, was inducted into the Indiana Credit Union Hall of Fame during the Indiana Credit Union League’s statewide Convention.
Walters has been a board member of Harvester Financial Credit Union since 1977, and he has been chairman since 1979. He has overseen a merger as well as the construction of two headquarter buildings and a successful branch in Shelbyville. His tenure occurred at a time when many thought the credit union would not survive. There were delinquencies and loan losses that were, in Walters’ words “sky high,” as the membership fought through the longest strike in UAW history and the most massive layoff in the auto industry.
The credit union pulled through these downtimes and is stronger today. Walters has served the credit union industry nationally since 1982 as a board member of the Combined Council of America’s Credit Unions, an organization that facilitates and promotes education for management, directors, supervisory and audit committees and which advocates for regulatory and legislative issues on credit unions’ behalf.
Walters has always been an active credit union volunteer, attending many legislative events, interacting with legislators at the state and federal level and visiting Washington, D.C. on countless occasions to represent credit union interests on Capitol Hill. He was also active in leadership of the Central Chapter of Credit Unions in Indiana, and he organized the first Executive Luncheon, an event the chapter still holds.
He was the Indiana Credit Union League’s Leadership Achievement Award recipient in 2011, and he is also a Kentucky Colonel. Jerry is involved in numerous organizations outside the credit union business including the Masonic Lodge, where he is a past master, the Murat Temple, Eagles and the Tennessee Outdoorsman conservation group.