Number of Women Leading Large Credit Unions Grows Slowly

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2018, only nine of the CEOs of the top 50 credit unions by asset size were women, according to a CU Times analysis of NCUA data.

Now, five years later, women sit at the helm of at least 15 of the top 50 credit unions by assets. That includes women who lead three of the top five credit unions – Mary McDuffie of Navy Federal Credit Union ($165.2 billion, Vienna, Va.), Leigh Brady of SECU ($49.6 billion, Raleigh, N.C.) and Beverly Anderson of BECU ($28.9 billion, Tukwila, Wash.) – compared to just one, McDuffie, who ran a top-five credit union at the close of 2018.

And 2023 is shaping up to be a significant year for female CEO appointments – as of March 31, the number of women leading a top-50 credit union sat at 13, but the summer 2023 appointments of Brady at SECU and Linda Armyn at Bethpage Federal Credit Union ($13 billion, Bethpage, N.Y.) grew the figure in just months.

Despite the progress made in recent years, the fact that 70% of the nation’s top 50 credit unions by asset size are run by men demonstrates the ongoing lack of female representation in the corner offices of large credit unions, and what’s more, nearly one in 10 credit unions (502 credit unions total) do not have any female representation on their board, according to a 2022 CUCollaborate report. (When it comes to smaller credit unions and non-leadership roles, it’s a different story: Overall, 70% of the credit union workforce is female and 51% of the nation’s credit unions are run by women, but 66% of those women CEOs are at credit unions with less than $50 million in assets, according to CUNA.)

As credit unions seek new ways to elevate more women into leadership roles at large credit unions, one strategy that has stood out is the creation of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). In a webinar hosted by Co-op Solutions on Wednesday, panelists from the Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based Co-op and Alliant Credit Union ($19 billion, Chicago) discussed how ERGs have helped their organizations further diversity, equity and inclusion as well as empower all employees, including women, to thrive.

Alliant’s first ERG, INCLUDE, is designed for women and has been followed by four other ERGs for the LGBTQIA+, Black, Latino and Asian communities. Co-op’s ERG for women, INSPiHER, operates alongside ERGs targeting the LGBTQIA+ community, women in technology, Black fintech professionals and veterans. INCLUDE and INSPiHER engage in activities focused on mentorship, collaboration, pathways to leadership and giving back to the community, explained panelists Sara Jensen, SVP, governance and administration for Co-op Solutions and Diane Hughes, SVP, chief people officer for Alliant.

The panelists, which also included Alliant SVP, Chief Information Officer Neeru Arora and Co-op Solutions Director, Corporate Strategy and Business Performance Courtney Heimberger, emphasized the importance of allyship when building successful ERGs that can propel women forward in the workplace. Both Alliant and Co-op Solutions bring together all ERG members for joint events, for example, but what’s also important for aspiring female credit union leaders is having male leaders as advocates.

“Men allies, especially the ones in the management positions, have the network and the influence that they can use to open up opportunities to help women build their strengths,” Arora said. “And not only that, they can also change behaviors in their own circles as they lift somebody up.”

Heimberger added, “The reality is, women raise their hands every time they’re given an opportunity. We want the opportunities, but it doesn’t change the fact that statistically, we’re not at the top of the ladder. We need those at the top of the ladder to help us drive change and influence. So I think allies play an incredibly important role. It’s hard to sometimes get them engaged, but when you have them, make sure you show appreciation, make sure you’re engaging them effectively.”

In regard to collaborating across different ERGs, Hughes noted, “There is an intersectionality there – you’re not just one thing. I’m a woman, I’m African American, I’m a working parent, I have a son with a learning disability, and so you bring all of that to work, right? You want to find a community, you want to find support and resources at your organization to help you in all aspects of your life.”

When asked about the current barriers holding women back from reaching leadership positions at their organization, panelists named the following: Unconscious bias, lack of mentorship and sponsorship, and unequal pay.

“We obviously have hundreds of years of unraveling to do, and we’re not going to do it overnight,” Jensen said. “We’ve made a lot of progress, but I was looking at a study by McKinsey that showed for every 100 men promoted from entry-level roles into management roles, only 87 women are promoted, so we have a lot of catching up to do. And then that carries forward into those leadership positions that we’re talking about, for example at a board level – less than a third of directors at public companies are women. That first rung is really a focus area for us to get past this idea that women cannot be leaders. We need to really focus our energies there. Inequity in pay is also related.

“So how do we address that? I think a lot of it is what we’re doing today. We have to come to the table and have those open and honest conversations, and we need to challenge our organizations to do the same. It’s one thing for us to talk about it in a small little group, it’s another thing to say, what are we doing organizationally to help change this dynamic? And that goes back to that allyship we were talking about – having those allies who are also a voice for change is really important, and without that, we may move forward, but it’ll be much slower.”