Jim Dean
The Des Moines, Iowa-based Affinity Credit Union ($143 million in assets, 13,519 members) announced Tuesday its CEO Jim Dean has decided to retire after more than 30 years in the credit union industry. Officials with Affinity also announced the credit union's vice president of lending, Jeremy Smith, has been chosen to take over the CEO position.
According to Affinity, Dean will officially step down on Jan. 31, 2024 after more than five years leading the credit union.
Prior to his time at Affinity, Dean led the Plainfield, Ill.-based Oak Trust Credit Union for 27 years. Oak Trust was merged into the Warrenville, Ill.-based NorthStar Credit Union in 2016 and the credit union has since changed its name to NuMark Credit Union.
Dean began his tenure at Affinity in 2018 and, according to the credit union, has been an effective leader in a number of ways including his help in establishing Affinity's "Building Better Lives" mission statement "which continues to shape the values and motivation of the credit union."
Jeremy Smith Incoming CEO Smith, a lifelong native of Des Moines, has been in the credit union industry for more than a decade and has overseen Affinity's lending programs as well as managed the collection and retail branch operations.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
