My Journey to Credit Union Leadership: Diane Kapuranis of SLFCU

Name: Diane Kapuranis

Credit union: Sandia Laboratory Federal Credit Union ($3.4 billion, Albuquerque, N.M.)

Title: SVP, Retail and Mortgage Lending

Number of years at current credit union: 37

Educational background: Bachelor of Business Administration, Texas A&M University

CU Times: What are your key responsibilities in your current role?

Kapuranis: My key responsibilities are overseeing retail consumer and mortgage lending, and loan services.

CU Times: What drew you to the credit union industry?

Kapuranis: While I was attending college, my first professional summer job was working at a credit union. I fell in love with the industry, catching the “credit union bug” of helping members and putting their needs first. I got a full-time credit union job after graduation and have been in the industry ever since. I have worked in a number of different positions, including branch management, but have discovered that my real love is lending and being able to help members meet their financial goals.

CU Times: What unique skills, experience and attributes do you bring to your senior management position?

Kapuranis: Because I’ve worked in a number of positions, I have a deep understanding of how the credit union operates. I’m a positive yet pragmatic person. I believe we can arrive at solutions to problems by working together. Although I’ve been in the credit union industry for more than three decades, I do not believe I know it all. I am open to learning new things and considering different approaches that may be suggested by my colleagues.

CU Times: Which person (or people) do you credit the most for helping and supporting you along your career journey?

Kapuranis: I have had so many mentors along the way. They have recognized my achievements and encouraged me to keep going. They have taught me to always be willing to take on a new challenge, and to be proud of what I have accomplished.

CU Times: What are some of the biggest differences between working in your current senior management role and your previous, non-management roles?

Kapuranis: As with any management role in an organization, it is critically important to ensure that the communication with my team and expectations I’m holding them accountable to are clear. Effective communication also fosters open and transparent conversations, allowing me to truly understand my team’s perspectives and how I can best help them. As a part SLFCU’s senior management team, I need to always keep our credit union’s big-picture goals and vision in mind as they relate to my areas of responsibility. As part of that vision, our credit union is focusing on broadening our borrower base, with an emphasis on lending deeper into communities that have been underserved in the past.

CU Times: What’s a recent challenge you have faced as a senior leader in the organization and how did you overcome it?

Kapuranis: I was promoted to my current position in Fall 2022 with ambitious consumer loan and mortgage goals, but the economic environment changed dramatically in January 2023. Instead of focusing only on loan production, we are also focusing on attracting and retaining deposits. Our team concentrates on what is in front of us and what we have control over – which is putting our members first and providing what they need, when they need it.

CU Times: How would you describe your current leadership style?

Kapuranis: I’m a relationship builder and collaborator. I hold open, transparent conversations with my team, encourage them to work together and welcome their new approaches to doing things.

CU Times: Do you approach your job any differently now compared to how you did pre-pandemic? If yes, how so?

Kapuranis: Before the pandemic, we were generating lots and lots of paper, especially in mortgage lending. Since then, we’ve integrated digital technology and solutions, which allows us to be more productive and efficient in our processes and service delivery. We were already headed that way, but the pandemic accelerated the goal of a paperless work environment more quickly than what would have been the case otherwise. The pandemic also forced us to improve our communications since we were working remotely instead of all in the same office. In an effort to stay on top of the constantly changing environment and make sure we were connecting and engaging with staff, we established weekly leadership check-in meetings, which have continued as we have returned to the office.

CU Times: What big-picture impact do you hope to make within your credit union, as well as for your members and community? 

Kapuranis: We want to make our retail consumer and mortgage loan application process a superior member experience. We want SLFCU to be more accessible to more people. We recognize that what we do changes our members’ lives. Whether we are helping them out of a tight spot, helping them fix their credit, helping them buy their first car or helping them buy a home, we want them to achieve those milestones. We are also incorporating state-of-the art technology from our partners to make it easier for all members to access our consumer and mortgage loan products and see how those products can benefit them.

CU Times: What career advice would you give your younger self?

Kapuranis: I would tell myself to always be open to new things, but to make sure I’ve mastered what I was working on before moving on to something new. I would also advise myself to always show my supervisors that I welcome more duties and challenges, but also be willing to ask for help and guidance when needed. And I would tell myself to be proud of what I accomplish, and to never stop trying to accomplish more.

Would you or someone you know like to share your journey to credit union leadership? Please reach out to Natasha Chilingerian at nchilingerian@cutimes.com. To qualify, you must have been placed or promoted into a new senior-level leadership role within the last three years at a credit union.