Dorsa Leaves CU Mortgage Association
ACUMA co-founder and former president plans to continue sharing his 47 years of credit union experience.
Bob Dorsa has left the building, virtually speaking, at the American Credit Union Mortgage Association.
After 47 years working with credit unions, including 15 years as ACUMA’s president and the last 15 months as its senior advisor, he announced Wednesday that he is relinquishing his last role with ACUMA.
The non-profit trade association is now based in Middleton, Wis., six miles west of Madison and about half a mile east of the National Mustard Museum. Dorsa has been living in Las Vegas since 2000.
Even without Dorsa in the ACUMA office, he will still be in the credit union neighborhood.
“I just felt it was time for me to step away,” Dorsa said. “I’ve had the opportunity to watch ACUMA grow for more than two decades, and that brings me a lot of satisfaction.”
Dorsa said he intends to keep serving credit unions until at least 2024, and possibly beyond, “as long as I still have fuel in my tank.” With the COVID-19 pandemic receding, Dorsa said, “Credit unions will have great opportunities for growth, and I hope my experience can lend a hand.”
Dorsa began his credit union career in 1974. He was a co-founder in 1984 of the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations (NACUSO), a group designed to help credit unions explore the use of CUSOs and the delivery of non-traditional products and services. He served as president of NACUSO for 15 years.
He helped found ACUMA in 1996, and became its president in 2005. In September 2018, ACUMA announced that Dorsa would step down as president in January 2020, and hand the reins over to longtime colleague Tracy Ashfield.
“Bob’s knowledge and experience with credit union real estate lending led to the creation of ACUMA, and he has always believed that real estate lending is the most important issue facing credit unions,” Ashfield said. “We will miss his leadership and counsel, and we wish him the best for the future.”
ACUMA provides resources and education to credit unions aimed at streamlining performance, processes and procedures for real estate lending services. It states its goal is “to encourage credit unions to help more consumers get fairly priced and safe mortgage loans delivered locally, and in so doing, providing them with a pathway to the American dream of home ownership.”
A news release from ACUMA said Dorsa led the growth of ACUMA from a handful of credit unions to become the largest association of CU mortgage lenders with more than 400 member owners, including most of the Top 300 mortgage-originating credit unions.
Under Dorsa, ACUMA built a relationship with the National Association of Realtors (NAR), and the association staffed an exhibit at NAR’s annual conference from 2003 to 2019.
On his LinkedIn page, Dorsa declares it was “a great personal pride and privilege to lead this group.” He describes himself as “a passionate leader focused on Housing Finance Issues and Solutions for Credit Unions for more than four decades. The conductor of a symphonic orchestra of talented mortgage lenders during a dynamic opportunity growth for CU mortgage lending.”