WASHINGTON – This year’s recipients of the prestigious National Credit Union Foundation’s Herb Wegner Memorial Award were a former undocumented immigrant who became a credit union CEO, a retired president/CEO of the nation’s largest CUSO, who served as a credit union board member at the age of 19, and an organization that started a group of young up and coming credit union professionals who love to crash the GAC every year.
At Monday night’s Herb Wegner Memorial Awards celebration dinner, attended by more than 900, Maria J. Martinez, Stan Hollen and the Cooperative Trust were honored for their invaluable contributions that made a difference in advancing the credit union movement.
“I grew up in a home where we didn’t have a lot of money, but there was a lot of love and compassion,” Martinez said after accepting the award for outstanding individual achievement. “When we immigrated to this country, we gathered every single thing that we had, and though we were poor, we were always taught to be compassionate. Being undocumented for almost 13 years – yes border patrol was after us but they couldn’t find us.”
While working odd jobs, Martinez continued her education and earned a degree in accounting. Then under the Immigration Control and Reform Act, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, Martinez become one of two million immigrants who secured legal status.
Her experience growing up as an undocumented immigrant established her drive and passion to serve the underserved.
In her more than two decades at the $139 million Border Federal Credit Union in Del Rio, Texas, Martinez has led several initiatives to provide financial services to low-income, predominately Hispanic communities. In 2003, she used a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a free home/financial counseling program to help individuals buy houses, develop a budget, improve their credit and become banked.
In 2005, Martinez obtained an NCUA grant to create a Volunteer Income Tax Assistant service site where citizens gain free tax preparation services from volunteer certified preparers and local high school accounting students. Eleven years later, her VITA site is currently the highest producing in the region, having processed more than 13,000 free income tax returns to date. Martinez also fought for BFCU’s Certified Acceptance Agent status, which frees them to provide non-U.S. citizens with an Individual Tax Identification Number.
Martinez also played a pivotal role in earning BFCU a Community Development Financial Institution certification, which allows them to apply for funds to provide benefits and services to underserved communities. She also led a successful effort in 2010 to secure more than $3.2 million in funds from the U.S. Treasury Community Development Capital Initiative to offer more loans and services to low-income individuals.
“Maria is the prototype anyone in our credit union industry would want to follow and one of the best examples of ‘people helping people,’” John A. Herrera, SVP for Latino/Hispanic Affairs for Self-Help Credit Union in Durham, N.C., said. “[She] embodies the true spirit and philosophy of the credit union movement and her tireless leadership efforts … honor Herb Wegner’s legacy.”
Stan Hollen has filled a wide variety of leadership roles throughout his career, from serving on his credit union’s board of directors at age 19 to becoming president/CEO of CO-OP Financial Services, the nation’s largest credit union service organization, in 2005. During his tenure at CO-OP, Hollen pursued a range of innovative business initiatives and strategies that significantly increased the company’s ability to improve the financial lives of credit union members.
“It was really a privilege to be the leader of the CO-OP at an exciting time and to develop it to what it is today,” Hollen said after accepting the Herb Wegner award for outstanding individual achievement. “I think that, in closing, hopefully the thing that each of does in our industry is to make a difference, and hopefully I’ve done that, so thank you very much.”
Unquestionably, Hollen did make a difference in many ways.
For Hollen, strengthening the credit union movement includes strengthening credit union professionals. In this area, his most notable work has been mentoring burgeoning credit union leaders by bringing them onto his executive team and providing them with meaningful experience in high-level management and operations.
Sixteen of Hollen’s former apprentices have gone on to become CEOs, more than any other mentor in the credit union movement.
Paul Gentile, president/CEO of the Cooperative Credit Union Association and a colleague of Hollen’s, has dubbed him “the ultimate ‘CEO Maker.’”
Hollen has also been widely lauded for placing women in prominent leadership positions, earning the Athena Leadership Award for his progressive appointments and his support of the Global Women Leadership Network.
Hollen retired from CO-OP in July of 2016, but will continue to serve the company as a strategic consultant. At the time of his departure, the company had expanded its shared branching network to more than 5,400 locations and had built up more than 30,000 ATMs.
“Stan is a catalyst of change,” Diana R. Dykstra, president/CEO of the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues, said. “He has never been satisfied with status quo and pushes himself and others around him to continually enhance and develop new ways to serve and enhance the lives of members.”
The Herb Wegner Memorial outstanding program award was presented to The Cooperative Trust from the Filene Research Institute, which developed the Crashers’ program.
Currently, between 12 and 15 Crash events are held per year, with attendees from all 50 states participating in the program in each of the last three years. For Crash the GAC, The Cooperative Trust’s biggest event, more than 150 young professionals have been able to attend CUNA’s GAC each year since 2010.
The Cooperative Trust’s most significant initiative is the Crash program, which provides scholarships for young credit union professionals to attend the industry’s biggest events. Nicknamed “Crashers,” recipients of the Crash scholarships take part in a specially designed curriculum of sessions and activities at the events, and get to network with the more experienced professionals in attendance.
Research conducted by the Filene Research Institute revealed that Crash programs have a demonstrably positive effect on their participants. For example, 95% of participants in Crash the GAC said the experience increased their interest in furthering their career in the credit union industry, while 90% said it made them more likely to tell their members about the good credit unions do.
“I ‘Crashed’ the GAC in 2011 [when] I was the chief financial officer at Mazuma,” Brandon Michaels, president/CEO of the $580 million Mazuma Credit Union in Overland Park, Kan., said. “The experience reignited my passion for the industry and jump-started my quest to becoming one of the youngest CEOs of midsize to large credit unions in the country. I can say that, without a shadow of a doubt, my involvement in The Cooperative Trust positively impacted my candidacy for president/CEO.
”The Cooperative Trust also facilitates mentorship opportunities that connect young professionals to senior leaders by leveraging its extensive network of credit union veterans, who volunteer countless hours each year to share their wisdom and experience during special sessions and events for young adult members.
Since they were introduced at Crash the GAC, these mentorship events have become one of the Cooperative Trust’s most popular offerings to members. Representatives from a wide range of credit union and financial services organizations currently participate in their mentorship programs, including staff from CUNA, CUNA Mutual Group, the World Council of Credit Unions and Fiserv, among others.
