EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT Q: What led you to the credit union sector, and to USALLIANCE Financial? A: I stumbled into the credit union sector by chance. I saw the local telephone company credit union at my university job fair. I hoped my fast-food cashier experience would translate to a teller opening, and they gave me a chance. I was surprised during my onboarding to learn that I was already a member. My parents (who had both worked at the phone company) had set up a savings account for me when I was young. The $300 savings account felt like a windfall to me at the time. Years later, while working at NCUA, I got the opportunity to join an innovative, fast-paced, growing credit union in USALLIANCE, and I’m really happy I took the chance. Q: What’s your leadership style? How do you lead an engaged team? A: I work to support an environment focused on growth, core values and opportunity. I strive to help others unlock their growth potential through encouragement and coaching, and I am big on listening and working to get each person’s buy-in to their goals. That two-way process of sharing and listening goes a long way to support accountability and success. My job is to make sure we’re thinking years ahead, and I’m fortunate BRETT WHEELER Interim CEO of USALLIANCE Financial to work with a team that is bought in to that growth mindset. Q: What are some of the ways USALLIANCE gives back to the communities and members it serves? A: At USALLIANCE, we’re hitting our stride and expanding the ways we give back. Over the years, we have taken a lot of steps to increase our impact in low-income or underbanked communities, including a lot of fee reductions and eliminations in 2022, efforts to boost first-time-homebuyers and more. Some really innovative examples include launching Dora, a cooperative neo-credit union with native, Spanish-language functionality, and launching the Live Life Fully Foundation, which has helped support people and organizations within our communities. After the Maui wildfires, we worked with contacts inside one of our Select Employee Groups (SEGs), Marriott International, to offer aid and financial assistance to members in the affected area. Q: What advice do you have for leading teams and organizations through a transitional time? A: We’ve been in transition since the beginning of June when our CEO took another opportunity. Transitional periods are tough. Feelings of uncertainty can be elevated by a change, especially at the top. We have focused on strategy alignment and transparent communications with teams. We’ve had great support from our board as well. We have shared more at all levels of the organization, keeping staff informed with details about the CEO search process, talking with them about our board’s commitment to our strategic direction and giving them the opportunity to ask questions. We’ve also kept our foot on the gas with our goals and plans, rolled out new culture initiatives and much more. Q: How can credit unions handle the current lending and liquidity environment? A: It’s really important for credit union leaders to stay dialed in to the environment. We knew in early 2022 that rising rates would slow everyone’s loan prepayment speeds dramatically. We put together a plan to pivot early, based on where we thought things might go throughout the course of 2022. One critical element was getting the right people involved. It was an important experience, and it was one that helped us stay on track. We also evaluate different scenarios often. When Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, we looked at that and asked, “What’s our capacity to deal with that scenario?” We take those exercises seriously, and we often find opportunities to enhance policies or practices. 25 THE NAFCU JOURNAL November–December 2023
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