Team education efforts lead to smarter, happier members.

Much of what drives Gail Lewis today started when she landed a job reconciling bank business accounts at age 16 through a work-study program.

“I had a great supervisor who set many of the standards I hold today—mostly that a leader’s role is to grow and develop people,” says Lewis, director of consumer lending/credit manager at $440 million asset 121 Financial Credit Union in Jacksonville, Fla. “He pushed you forward even when you didn’t believe in yourself or think you could do something.”

This philosophy has served her well over the years and of late: The readers of Credit Union Magazine have named her the 2015 Credit Union Hero of the Year.

Lewis’ primary professional roles are managing consumer and indirect lending (she has a great team of underwriters, she points out), and developing staff.

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