McKissick Moves CUES Forward

As a longtime resident of Austin, Texas, Heather McKissick developed an impressive career as a community, credit union and marketing professional. McKissick held positions such as president/CEO of the nonprofit Leadership Austin, director of organizational development and education for a $5.5 billion nonprofit health care organization, as well as spent time in the higher education world as an administration official and faculty member.

For the past decade, McKissick was EVP of community impact, marketing and communication for the $3.9 billion UFCU, also headquartered in Austin. On a very hot Austin day in late June, it was announced McKissick would become the CEO of the Madison, Wis.-based Credit Union Executives Society (CUES).

McKissick’s step into the position came after an exhaustive search during the months after John Pembroke died on Nov. 21, 2022. Pembroke had served as the CUES leader for more than seven years.

While McKissick plans on working remotely from Austin as her son finishes his senior year in high school, she will travel to the Madison headquarters as needed. CU Times caught up with McKissick from her home office about 45 days after she took over at CUES to talk about her vision for the organization and why she believes CUES is in an interesting position to help influence the credit union movement.

CU Times: How are you feeling about your new position so far?

McKissick: So it’s still very early days in terms of my tenure at CUES, but I am honestly more excited than ever. I’ve spent these first 45 days really just focused on developing relationships with the team and with the board, and doing my best to listen first and learn as much as I can. And most recently I have been kind of expanding that outreach out a little bit further, talking with CUES members to better understand their needs.

CU Times: What interested you about this job at CUES?

McKissick: I am very dedicated to the credit union movement, although I only came to the movement as a credit union employee 10 years ago and I know some people have spent their entire lives dedicated to the movement. I’ve spent my entire career focused in nonprofit or not-for-profit organizations. I’ve worked across six different industry sectors, but always in service to a not-for-profit mission of one kind or another. And so when I found credit unions, it felt very much like home to me for that reason, because of the mission and member focus of movement. During the course of that nonprofit career, my career kind of evolved … the idea is that, yeah, everything that I’ve done up until now in my career is something that CUES does. And so when I saw that, when I saw that there was a need, and it wasn’t just something that I could professionally contribute to, it was also in the credit union movement, which means so much to me, that’s when I really honed in on the opportunity at CUES so that I could bring my skills and my experience … and kind of stand on a very strong brand that ­already exists, but also bring my own ­vision and create new things with the organization on behalf of its members.

CU Times: Can you talk about your vision for CUES?

McKissick: Absolutely. I almost want to say as a caveat that I reserve the right to change my mind <laughs>, only because it has been a very short time, and I do not in any way claim to know everything about the organization. I can tell you a few things though that are clear. Based on the member feedback that I have reviewed and that was collected very shortly before I arrived, it’s clear to me that the value of CUES membership is strong and that the members value the membership. And as simple as that might sound, that is an important piece of the puzzle, right? Our members really value us as much as we value them. So that in and of itself is an important discovery.

For me, I think what that means is we need to very closely examine what those things are about membership in CUES that are the best and highest valued, and how we maintain and grow those things that are already valued about membership. Then there are also things that are less appealing or that need some work, and I think it’s my job at this stage to also examine those things. So in other words, it’s, how do we build on that which is already strong, and how do we reexamine some of the things that haven’t gone as well? So that’s real simple, but that’s the 45-day outlook in terms of membership and programs. I can tell you in addition to that, however, I think that one of the things about me and my background that will add value and be different related to CUES, is our kind of strategic position and value add back to the credit union industry and movement overall.

CU Times: How have you addressed the passing of John Pembroke?

McKissick: I’ll tell you this, one of the very first things that I asked, even in the interview process was, ‘Where is the organization in its grieving process?’ It was one of the things that I really wanted to understand first because it’s one thing to have this sort of tragic loss of a beloved leader, and then it’s another thing to have anxiety and anticipation around who that next new leader is going to be and what they might do. And even though you might consider a new leader a positive change or a positive stressor, those are two big events in the life of an organization. So I really did ask a lot about that during the process and wanted to understand it so that I could enter appropriately if I were selected.

One of the things that I did between the time that I was hired and the time that I started on the day the announcement was made is I picked up the phone and made a personal phone call to every CUES employee – and that’s about 50 people. The reason I did that was because I wanted each person to hear my voice and know that I was real, if that makes sense. [I wanted] to try to help with that anxiety or concern as early as I could by making myself human, talking to them, thanking them, and acknowledging the real challenges that the organization went through as a result of John’s illness and death. People were so gracious and welcoming. I think they appreciated the effort, but more importantly, they were excited to move forward. You know, the grieving process was difficult for the organization, but to a person, everyone expressed their enthusiasm for the future because they know that clearly that’s what John would’ve wanted.

CU Times: What would you say is your leadership style?

McKissick: I like to lead with mission first. Because of that, my style tends to be highly collaborative and inclusive. That’s a big reason why I’ve spent so much time and intend to spend more listening and learning, and make the decisions that I have to make based on as much credible input from our important stakeholders as I can. I’ll tell you that one of my very first things that we are doing is conducting a brand audit. The idea is that we’re partnering with an outside agency to help us gather input from all of our important stakeholder groups around the market, and the perception of CUES and the opportunities that we have. The very first major undertaking that I have initiated is, again, casting the net very wide when it comes to getting a diverse array of voices and a lot of input about how we’re doing so that we can make informed decisions in an inclusive fashion.