Diversity Unique in CU Movement
(August, 22, 2007 - New York, NY) The Federation is pleased to report that all Board of Director positions were filled during its recent annual conference this summer and its new Board of Directors continues to be one of the most diverse among credit union trade associations in the United States, in gender, race and credit union asset size (demographic breakdown is provided at bottom).
Last year, during its 2006 Annual Conference in Durham, NC, the Federation’s CDCU Policy Members voted to approve a recommendation by the Board of Directors to change the regional structure and board composition. In the new four-region model, each region gains an additional representative for a total of three directors from each of the four regions. Region 1 covers the Northeast states, Region 2 covers most of the Southern states; Region 3 covers the Midwest and parts of the Southwest; and Region 4 covers the Northwest and Western states.
The total number of At-Large directors was lowered from five to three to create a slightly smaller, but still representative, Board of Directors.
“The Board of Directors recommended changing the regions from a realization that our structure was confusing to some of our members,” explained Melissa Marquez, CEO of Genesee Co-op FCU (Rochester, NY) and long-time director on the Federation’s Board. “When we analyzed our membership, we determined that a four-region structure most evenly split our existing members, and would allow us to slightly downsize and streamline our Board of Directors.”
This year, every Board position came up for reelection and additional nominations were solicited from CDCU members. The request for nominations yielded a full slate of candidates for Regions 2, 3 and 4, where director positions went uncontested and all were elected by acclamation; both Region 1 and the At-large positions each had five candidates running for three available slots.
Mail-in ballots and on-site votes were tallied at the Federation's 33rd Annual Conference in New Orleans and the contested elections were decided. The results of the elections are listed below, and five of the fifteen winners are new to the Federation’s Board of Directors.
Since every Board of Director position was up for re-election this year, initial terms of one, two, or three years needed to be assigned in order to stagger terms going forward. Regional Director terms were decided by each region during the Regional Caucuses, while At-Large Director terms will be selected by the new Board of Directors in the upcoming Board Meeting in October.
Wherever possible, terms were assigned so that directors would reach term-limits within 9 years of service on the Board of Directors, consistent with the three, three-year term limits that the Federation’s membership voted for in 2006.
“Having a full-slate of candidates is never a bad thing, especially when high-quality individuals decide to run,” said Federation Board Chairman Eunice J. Rogers, “It shows interest on the part of our members in playing a leadership role in the governance and strategic direction of this organization, and that is always a good thing.”
The Federation’s 2007-2008 Board of Directors is composed of:
• Eight females and seven males;
• Five are African-American;
• Three are Latino/Hispanic
• One is Asian;
• Six are Caucasian;
• Eight come from credit unions with less than $10 million in assets;
• Five come from CDCUs with assets between $10 and $50 million;
• Two come from CDCUs with assets above $50 million
The 2007-2008 Board of Directors are:
Region 1
New Director – 3-year term: Deyanira Del Rio, Board Chairman, Lower East Side People’s FCU (New York, NY)
New Director – 2-year term: Miriam Fernandez, CEO, Rockland Employees’ FCU (Spring Valley, NY)
1-year term: Melissa Marquez, CEO, Genesee Co-op FCU (Rochester, NY)*
Region 2
New Director – 3-year term: Edgar Cosner, CEO, The United FCU (Morgantown, WV)
2-year term: Robert Jackson, Treasurer, 1st Delta FCU (Marks, MS) *
1-year term: Eunice J. Rogers, CEO, NRS Community Development FCU (Birmingham, AL) *
Region 3
New Director – 3-year term: Teri L. Portillo, CEO, Women’s Southwest FCU Dallas (Dallas, TX)
2-year term: Gregg Brown, CEO, South Side Community FCU (Chicago, IL) *
1-year term: Lynda Milton, CEO, Houston Teamsters FCU (Houston, TX) *
Region 4
New Director – 3-year term: Bernard Balsis, CEO, Ka’u FCU (Na’alehu, HI)
2-year term: Sandell McLaughlin, Community Dev. Director, Community Trust CU (Modesto, CA)*
1-year term: Marvin Jensen, Board of Directors, Episcopal Community FCU (Los Angeles, CA)*
At-Large
New Director – Term TBD: Michael Chan, Board President, Northeast Community FCU (San Francisco, CA)
Term TBD: Randy Chambers, CFO, Self-Help CU (Durham, NC) *
Term TBD: Helen Godfrey-Smith, CEO, Shreveport FCU (Shreveport, LA) *
* indicates incumbents
© 2007 National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions.
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