My Journey to Credit Union Leadership: Edina Rizvic of Columbia Credit Union

Name: Edina Rizvic

Credit union: Columbia Credit Union ($2.3 billion, Vancouver, Wash.)

Title: Vice President Digital Experience

Number of years at current credit union: One

Educational background: MBA, BA in Business Administration/Organizational Development, Project Management Certified (PMP), Product Owner Certified (CSPO)

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

Rizvic: The VP of Digital Experience is a new role in charge of setting the strategic direction, defining the vision, and creating roadmaps to ensure the execution of initiatives that improve the overall member experience with digital banking and payments products.

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

Rizvic: I started out my credit union career as a teller while in college obtaining my undergraduate degree and I’ve steadily advanced through various roles within the credit union industry since.

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

Rizvic: Digital banking and payments are the most common ways members interact with the credit union. Leading with the member experience in mind, having strong collaboration and communication skills are essential. My diverse background spans multiple facets of the credit union, encompassing branches, contact centers, loan production, loan operations, payments, strategy development and project management. This breadth of experience provides me with a unique advantage — I can think strategically and swiftly pinpoint areas where collaboration and communication are essential to successfully execute initiatives and deliver the optimal member experience.

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

Rizvic: I’ve been very lucky to be mentored by a variety of great leaders who have recognized potential in me and helped me grow. I think what is key is to seek out mentorship from wide-ranging fields and expertise. The more perspectives from differing roles and industries the better.

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

Rizvic: In leadership roles, it is essential to motivate from the top and lead by example. It’s about communicating a shared vision, bridging gaps and bringing people from different parts of the organization together on the same journey.

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

Rizvic: In overseeing the complete digital experience for our members rather than isolated features, managing vendors becomes increasingly complex, and that can be a challenge and an opportunity. The key is to ask a lot of questions in various ways to ensure you’ve uncovered the essential elements that could impact the decisions you’re making.

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

Rizvic: I definitely strive to be a collaborative and inclusive leader. I want to bring my team in for key decisions at every turn.

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

Rizvic: The pandemic ushered in a massive shift in people’s expectations when it comes to their digital experience in every industry. So, we have to be at the top of our game. The expectation is for our digital banking and payments experience to be seamless and offer the latest and greatest — because that’s what they’re getting everywhere else. We have to constantly be striving to do more and be innovative.

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

Rizvic: Columbia Credit Union’s motto is “making life better” and I want to continue delivering on that for our members’ digital experience — more convenience, more self-service options, better features and a seamless payment experience. These are the crucial touchpoints that can either strengthen or jeopardize their relationship with us.

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

Rizvic: My biggest piece of advice is to strive to understand the big picture. Know the higher goals of your organization and how it operates. Obtain skills and knowledge you can transfer to different areas and align yourself with the big picture as a whole. Connecting what you can do to the organization’s overall goals shows what you can bring to the table.

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.