Ascend FCU CEO Set to Retire This Spring

The $3.8 billion Ascend Federal Credit Union in Tullahoma, Tenn., is going to see a change in leadership this year as its President/CEO Caren Gabriel announced Monday that she will step down on April 7 to begin her retirement. Officials with Ascend also announced the credit union’s EVP Matt Jernigan will take over the CEO role on April 8.

According to Ascend, Gabriel has been with the credit union since 1985 when she joined the Ascend family as staff attorney. Throughout the years, Gabriel rose through the ranks until eventually becoming president/CEO in January 2004.

In her time as leader, Gabriel has helped grow the credit union from $960 million in assets with 12 branches and 117,000 members to more than $3.8 billion in assets, 27 branches and more than 255,000 members.

“It has been a great honor to serve this credit union, its members and employees,” Gabriel said. “I’m supremely confident the organization will continue to grow and thrive under Matt’s leadership. He was one of my first hires after being named CEO and we have worked closely together for some time. He is well-prepared to lead Ascend into the promising future that lies ahead.”

According to Monday’s announcement, Gabriel and the credit union’s board of directors worked diligently on a succession plan and “conducted a rigorous selection process to determine that Jernigan was the right fit for the position.” Gabriel will be working closely with Jernigan during the next few months to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

“I would like to thank Caren for her direction in guiding this credit union to its current heights and being a career-long mentor for me,” Jernigan said. “Ascend has risen to become one of Tennessee’s top performing credit unions under her guidance. Our members and employees are grateful for her leadership, which has produced tremendous growth while never veering from our member focus. The entire Ascend organization looks forward to building on her many achievements.”

Jernigan has been part of Ascend’s executive team since joining the credit union in 2005 as an internal auditor. Since that time, he was promoted to vice president of operations, COO and eventually EVP.

Chairman of the Board Pat Eagan said, “We will truly miss Caren and owe her much gratitude for her years of service to Ascend. We are excited to have Matt take the helm April 8th. His 17 years working alongside Caren and his performance as a credit union leader gives us great confidence that he is extremely qualified and ready to assume the position as Ascend’s new president and CEO.”