Over the years, I’ve often spoken about my dream to become a credit union CEO. As that dream formulated, I received lots of career-focused advice, including:
- “Expand your experience well beyond marketing. Most credit union CEOs grow from the CFO seat. You have a lot of obstacles to overcome.”
- “Be sure you’ve worked at different asset-size organizations. Being able to demonstrate how to navigate the complexities of diverse credit unions will matter.”
- “Stay in roles long enough so people see that you have great ideas and can also execute. Do not stay too long so that people forget your other experiences and define you from one role.”
I also received advice or commentary that was sometimes personal and pointed:
- “Don’t worry so much about this role or your work. Make sure you spend quality time with your daughter.”
- “Your husband must be a saint. I don’t know how you travel this much. Your daughter must really be suffering.”
My mom and dad raised me to put my head down and do good work. They taught me that no matter the obstacle, my tenacity and commitment were things that nobody could take away. As a result, I stayed focused on my pursuit and frequently “missed” gendered missiles. I once left a conversation where someone who had spent very little time driving in northern climates explained to me for 20 minutes how to drive in the snow and ice. When we left the room, another colleague asked, “How did you do that?”
I responded in ignorance, “Do what?”
“Have someone explain how to do something you’ve been doing your entire adult life.”
Other times situations did strike me. In the early days of my newest role as Community Financial Credit Union’s President & CEO, I was invited to speak at a local event, and the person who introduced me failed to focus on my bio and instead shared a story about how great my husband was and invited attendees to get to know Scott better. Though I encourage folks to get to know Scott, in a professional setting, it was stunning to have committed north of 26 years of my life to a career and be introduced on the merits of the person I married.
When I started the President & CEO role at Community Financial Credit Union in June of 2022, I assumed things would be different. In my head, I thought many of the hurdles, obstacles, and small comments lingering throughout my career would stop. Optimistically, I believed the title would signal I had earned a space of parity and respect. Instead, being in the seat seemed to escalate negative and gender-biased biased behaviors and reactions. This was so pronounced that several women observing who had their own dreams of stepping into a CEO seat shared with me they’d changed their minds.
I heard, “I do not want to go through what you have.”
Initially, this reaction devastated me. Now, it has me determined. As we celebrate Women’s History Month, I believe credit unions can play a bigger role in changing the trajectory for women in the workforce and women’s financial health. It can be a unifying goal for all of us and ultimately be a path to relevance, growth, talent attraction, and retention.
Credit unions have an incredible opportunity to create even more relevancy by becoming the financial solution to the economic pain many feel. According to America’s Credit Unions’ "Women in Credit Union Leadership Brief," the study’s sample “of 162 publicly traded banks comparable in assets to credit unions finds that just 4% of commercial bank CEOs in the U.S. were women in 2022, and 23% of board members at those banks were women. This ratio of women CEOs matches research by S&P Global from 2021, which found just 10 out of 347 CEOs at publicly traded U.S. banks were led by women.”
Credit unions do better. Huzzah! Within the same America’s Credit Unions’ study, “51% of U.S. credit union CEOs and 36% of credit union board members are women. The percentage of women in credit union leadership has held relatively steady since at least 2018. The percentage of credit union board members identifying as women has increased slightly every year in data provided by the NCUA beginning in 2012, when 34% of board members identified as women.”
It is incredible to celebrate the difference within credit unions and it should catalyze us to be impatient with even more progress. While we do better overall, there is reason to stay restless. The "Women in Credit Union Leadership Brief" also demonstrates that “As the size of credit unions increases, the likelihood of the CEO being a woman decreases. This indicates that a ‘glass ceiling’ exists such that women are less likely to rise to become CEOs of larger institutions. However, women are substantially more likely to rise to the CEO role at credit unions than at banks or most other U.S. companies across every asset level.”
Additionally, the gender pay gap continues to persist. The Pew Research Center’s "Gender pay gap in U.S. has narrowed slightly over 2 decades" by Fry and Aragão shows, “In 2024, women earned an average of 85% of what men earned, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers. In 2003, women earned 81% as much as men.” It is trending in the right direction, and in the longer term, it has shifted significantly; not much has changed since 2003. That’s more than 20 years of modest gains.
You may wonder why credit unions would want to play a stronger role in gender equity and the pay gap. There is a direct connection to our work. Consider that according to Financial Health Network’s "The Gender Gap in Financial Health: Identifying Barriers and Opportunities for Improving Women’s Financial Health" by Greene, Warren, and McKay:
- "Only one in five women (20%) are Financially Healthy versus 29% of men. Even after controlling for income and other demographic factors, women are still 5 percentage points less likely to be Financially Healthy than men.
- Women are more likely to have low household incomes (defined here as $30,000 or less) than men due to the wage gap, occupational segregation, and unequal caregiving burdens, among other factors.
- Women report worse outcomes on all measures of financial health: spending, saving, borrowing, and planning.
- Women are more likely than men to say that their financial situation is worse now than it was prior to the pandemic (28% versus 23%).
- Only 11% of Black women and 7% of Latina women are Financially Healthy. By contrast, the same figure rises to 25% for White women."
As we stand with people across the country to ensure they have a financial best friend and achieve the financial health that supports their dreams coming to life, improving financial outcomes and impacts for women would mean improved financial health for our entire country. Beyond making a difference for our country, it’s just smart business.
According to the CFP Board’s, "Building Wealth: Insights on Women’s Aspirations & Growing Financial Power", “more than 2 in 3 women serve as their households’ primary decision-makers for investments.”
Additionally, Germano shares in "How Women Can Change the World With Their Money Choices" that “women make 90% of household financial decisions.” Supporting the financial health and wellbeing of the financial decision-makers will help credit unions thrive.
The great news is that exceptional leaders within our space are walking this strategy forward. One of the most compelling is Summit Credit Union led by Kim Sponem. They’ve committed to closing the retirement savings gap for women in five ways:
- "Increasing women’s confidence in money to inspire action, by empowering them with information and support
- Building women’s wealth by helping them own homes and businesses
- Helping women create financial plans that balance paying down debt and saving
- Supporting women in increasing lifetime earning power
- Openly sharing our pay practices and data"
Summit Credit Union’s website says it well, “everyone building wealth makes our entire community stronger.”
Let’s take Summit Credit Union’s challenge seriously and strengthen the American community. Here are five ways credit unions can reduce the gender pay gap, elevate women in leadership, and become the financial best friends consumers need most:
- Walk with women: My journey shines with the men who walked with me. My father, Floyd Webb insisted I know that I “should love a man, and yet always make choices so that I was not dependent on one.” My husband, Scott Stearns, stayed home with MacKenzie to create space for my career to flourish. My friend Troy Stang stepped in when a conference attendee was making the setting uncomfortable for me and others. My friend Mike Neill offered me advice, shared guidance, gave it straight when needed, and eagerly learned about my experiences as a female leader. My friend Ryan Brown listens, encourages, and ensures I know I have someone I can call, no matter what. The men who walk with us create space and opportunity for the bold choices women dream about and demonstrate to other men how important it is to support women.
- Elevate women: We should always hire the best human beings for any job. We must celebrate successes across all those in our organizations. We must also recognize that a history of women not holding leadership roles can be an obstacle for women to overcome. Girls’ dreams will be more vivid and broad when they observe female CEOs, female doctors, female business owners, and female board members.
Our path to elevating women includes promoting women to these roles, creating educational opportunities, providing coaches and mentors, discussing obstacles, sharing best practices, and advocating for the women we know can rise within our workplaces and beyond. As women grow in their careers and have more financial opportunities, it can also impact their overall financial wellbeing for the long term. The two connect closely. - Shape space for women to talk about money: One way credit unions can elevate financial health is to create opportunities for people to talk more about money. According to “Money Talks” by Empower, “Over six in 10 Americans (62%) don’t talk about money. Mum’s the word with their family (63%), friends (75%), and even with their spouse/partner (46%). Many people would rather discuss politics (43%) and death (32%) than their finances (24%).” We learn when we talk. Those of more means tend to talk about money including how they invest it, what they do with it, how they spend it, and how they make more of it.
What if we took some of the resources used in traditional financial literacy programming and created social gatherings for women to connect and talk about saving, spending, and giving? It might shift our members’ financial health trajectory and build stronger social ties, both leading to overall health. - Create wage transparency: According to the National Women’s Law Center’s "Pay Range Transparency Helps Reduce Gender Wage Gaps" by Kim, negotiating dynamics change when pay range transparency exists. “Providing applicants with a pay range that the employer is willing to pay helps level the negotiating playing field by giving applicants important information that can inform an opening offer that is less tied to their previous pay levels or personal identity. And while women are often less likely to switch jobs for better terms, having pay information publicly available through job postings may encourage them to renegotiate their salaries with their current employers or to seek other, higher-paying opportunities.”
Summit Credit Union leads the way in this by doing so internally and on its website, where you can find the percentage of women in hourly roles, salaried roles, and executive roles. They also share their compa-ratios by gender. What if we followed this example and produced this as a movement, charting the course for monitoring and implementing positive change? - Stay restless: As I’ve discussed this topic more, some encourage me to say less. Some believe we’ve made enough progress. Others worry that more progress for women will mean less progress for men. The issues facing young men today compound those concerns. We can do more. We must do more. Doing more for women does not preclude us from solving issues for young men.
As we hold those two things, we have much to celebrate. Yet, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s "Gender and Racial Wage Gaps Worsened in 2023 and Pay Equity Still Decades Away," “If progress continues at the same rate as it has for the last two decades, it will still take until 2088 for all women workers to reach pay equity with men.”
We must expect more, and credit unions can lead the charge. Imagine the employer brand shift we might experience if we could show all industries how to accelerate progress and become known as the space where women shine so that all people shine. To reach that goal, we must stay collectively restless and relentless in our pursuit.
I have many passions in life. No two are as important to me as my daughter MacKenzie and credit unions. I know that every step I take informs her of opportunities and choices she sees and will have. I also know that strengthening our competitive stance with women in the workplace could elevate our relevancy, change the trajectory of financial health for women and all our communities, and make us the employer of choice we should be across the nation. I have bold dreams for my daughter. I have bold dreams for women. I have bold expectations for credit unions.
How will you jump in to walk with women toward their financial health?
