My Journey to Credit Union Leadership: Megan Eisenhard of University Credit Union

Name: Megan Eisenhard

Credit Union: University Credit Union ($1.1 billion, Los Angeles)

Title: Chief Growth Officer

Age: 43

Number of years at current credit union: Four months (started April 28, 2023)

Educational background: B.A., California State University-Sacramento; M.A., University of California-Berkeley

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

Eisenhard: I lead the Growth Team, a new division at University Credit Union. This team is responsible for growing our relationships with the University communities we serve and developing new memberships on college campuses.

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

Eisenhard: The member-owner model of credit unions. I love that our members own University Credit Union and we are stewards of our member-owners. Additionally, University Credit Union specifically serves all constituents of higher education – students, families, faculty, staff and alumni – and this is a community I am passionate about.

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

Eisenhard: My father got his PhD at the University of Chicago and was a leader at our local community college throughout my childhood, so I have been on some form of a college campus since I was young. When I started a career of my own, I also joined higher education but on the collegiate athletics side of campus, working in marketing and corporate partnerships at Sacramento State and Cal-Berkeley. I then joined Learfield and held a variety of leadership roles at the media and technology company that serves over 200 collegiate athletics and campus partners across the country. All of these experiences give me a unique perspective on the different stakeholders throughout college campuses, which helps me understand and serve them in this role at University Credit Union. Additionally, my time developing and implementing corporate partnerships helps to determine how to best utilize our partnership components to reach and engage with members and prospective members on college campuses.

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

Eisenhard: I am incredibly lucky to have many people who have helped and supported me throughout my career! However, I would not be where I am today without the support and encouragement from my husband Eric. Even as he builds his own business in wealth management, he’s always supported my own career ambitions and we’ve found a way to make our marriage and family successful throughout all of the travel, meetings, stresses and joys of leading people and businesses in our full-time jobs.

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

Eisenhard: Not only am I new to the Executive Leadership Team at UCU, I am also new to the credit union industry and new to this organization. It’s a triple whammy! There is an incredible amount of new information coming at me at an extremely fast pace, so I must be a quick learner and fast interpreter of information to be able to contribute to the leadership group and help make good decisions. As an executive, you are given access to information that affects the entire organization, not just your department, and you must contribute based on what will be best for the organization. It can be challenging to balance decision-making for the good of the whole organization versus the good of just the department you lead. Additionally, as an executive leader, you must trust your team to do the work. I’ve been successful by doing things in my past roles, but now I’ve had to shift to be more strategic and forward-thinking in order to set a clear vision for the company while trusting the team to execute that vision.

CU Times: What’s a challenge you faced when you first joined your executive team, and how did you overcome it?

Eisenhard: Imposter syndrome. I certainly had internal doubts if I really belonged here, especially since the rest of the leadership team had many years of experience in the credit union and financial services industries. However, over time I have became more confident in what I bring to this group – an outside perspective and a new lens to see how we operate our business, how we serve our members, and how we plan to grow and gain new members. It’s now exciting to think about how to integrate new ideas from my past experience, knowledge and industry into this organization.

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

Eisenhard: I strive to be a servant leader (but you will have to ask the team if I am attaining that!). I am candid, honest, authentic and transparent, and do my best to hold myself and the team accountable to our goals and actions. I also believe that optimism, gratitude and joy are contagious; I try to lead with these every day.

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

Eisenhard: I’ve become much more prolific on Microsoft Teams! I’m also much more intentional in how I build relationships with people. With most of us in a remote work environment, I am more proactive in how and when I communicate virtually. Additionally, I hold in-person meetings sacred as they are much harder to achieve today – but often yield the greatest results.

CU Times: What’s next for you on your executive career journey? Do you have any specific career goals you’re working toward?

Eisenhard: Making it through my first year! I am still so new to this position and this industry and have a lot to learn. Luckily, I have a great CEO and executive teammates to learn from at UCU. So – ask me that question next April!

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

Eisenhard: Our mission at University Credit Union is to give everyone in the University community a financial advantage. There are still so many people we haven’t reached yet at the schools we currently work with. The more members we have at our partner schools, the more we can do to give back to these communities through scholarships, special programs, financial wellness and so much more. I hope that we will continue to grow our impact at these colleges for all of our members and prospective members.

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

Eisenhard: Your unique experiences and perspective provide such a valuable voice to other people – do not be afraid to use it. Speak up on behalf of yourself and others – you’ll be amazed at what you say and the impact it has on the people around you.

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.