Former NCUA board member in new role

by. David Morrison

Gigi Hyland said she looks forward to helping the National Credit Union Foundation further clarify its mission and become an integral part of credit unions’ ongoing mission to better serve members.

The former NCUA board member, CUNA and credit union executive took over as executive director in August 2013 after the retirement of Bucky Sebastian.

Hyland said she hasn’t yet met with the NCUF Board to discuss the next specific steps the foundation will take, but added that she has spent her first six weeks in the position meeting with the foundation’s stakeholders—credit union executives, league executives, and staff from the foundation and other philanthropies—listening to their opinions about the foundation’s goals.

There are principles underlying everything the foundation does, Hyland said, including financial accountability, helping credit unions have an impact on their members’ financial lives and reminding credit unions of their purpose.

As an example of how those principles have driven the foundation’s actions in the past, Hyland noted the gradual shift in the way the foundation makes grants, moving from disbursing smaller amounts of money to fund individual credit union projects several times per year to making larger grants on an annual basis, funding projects with a potential to change how credit unions serve their members.

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