Jill Nowacki Leaves Connecticut League & Will Continue to Serve CU Industry

After recently leaving her CEO post at the Credit Union League of Connecticut, Jill Nowacki is opening a new chapter in her career to help credit unions win the war for talent.

“In my time with the league, I’ve had the chance to work with credit unions on strategic planning, and one of the areas where I see them being held back from really achieving their highest potential is that there are some pretty big gaps in the strategic planning process related to human capital,” Nowacki said.  “I am deeply interested in being able to help credit unions do a better job in the war for talent. And I think there is a tremendous opportunity in this space to be able to work with credit unions to be sure they have the right human capital strategies in place.”

Nowacki’s last day at the Connecticut league was May 15 after more than five years of service. She informed the league board of her planned resignation at the end of March.

“Over the past five years, the Connecticut league has become a more vibrant, engaged, and financially sound league,” Michael Hinchey said, who serves as CULC board chair and as president/CEO of $117 million Crosspoint Federal Credit Union in Hamden. “We look forward to building on that success for our member credit unions. The board has appointed a search committee to seek a new CEO and will continue as an independent league.”

About 95 credit unions are based in Connecticut.

While at CUCL, Nowacki launched a two-year executive education program, one of the initiatives she is most proud of.

“We’ve graduated about 60 students, with another 20 that are in the first year of the program right now,” she said. “And to me, that’s been a tremendous opportunity to really build up and develop leaders who can continue to advance the Connecticut credit union system and help fill some of those talent gaps that we hear executives complain about so often.”

Nowacki said she plans to be working as a consultant in partnership with an organization or other organizations, but nothing has been finalized yet.

With a booming economy and retiring baby boomers, the war for talent has become even more challenging than ever before for credit unions.

In addition to developing strategies to compete for talent, Nowacki said credit unions should also look at how to build more inclusive cultures to ensure that they are positioned to attract a diverse pool of employees and volunteers.

With the credit unions she has worked with over the years, women and people of color tend to be underrepresented on boards. What’s more, even though there are more women working today as CEOs at many small credit unions, many of the CEOs at credit unions with $1 billion in assets and more are men.

“There are studies that show that the best way for women to achieve pay equity, faster promotions, and to get on the career track that leads them to achieve their highest potential is by being mentored by a male colleague,” Nowacki said. “So part of that is to address human capital and its broader diversity, equity and inclusion within the credit union system by formalizing a mentorship relationship where these male leaders can opt to mentor female leaders or rising female executives.”

Nowacki made it to the top executive post at CULC in December 2013 after she served as vice president of development at Maps Credit Union in Salem, Ore. She also worked as the executive director for CUNA’s CU House and was director of advocacy and communication at the Montana Credit Union Network.