Allegacy President & CEO Cathy J. Pace announces retirement effective January 1, 2025
45-year career makes Pace the longest continuous serving Allegacy employee
WINSTON-SALEM, NC (September 12, 2023) — After a decade as the chief executive at Allegacy Federal Credit Union and more than 45 years of continuous service to the credit union, President and CEO Cathy J. Pace has officially announced her retirement. Pace informed the Allegacy Board of Directors of her plans to retire, effective January 1, 2025, and wrote to the credit union’s 175,000 members that she is “following the advice we have given to so many Allegacy members” in personally planning for a purpose-filled future. She said there will be a comprehensive search for a new CEO, “to find the person who is the best fit and will lead Allegacy forward in the promise of continued prosperity.”
Pace has been a fixture of the Winston-Salem community for decades. She has served on multiple boards and is now the current chair of Greater Winston-Salem, Inc. Pace began her professional career in the financial services industry as a switchboard operator for Reynolds Carolina Federal Credit Union (the predecessor to Allegacy). With an expertise and keen focus on business development, marketing, financial education and wealth management, Pace worked her way up through the ranks of leadership and brought national recognition to Allegacy.
The credit union serves a broad membership, including employees, retirees, and families of thousands of companies throughout the country. During her tenure—the longest running of any employee— Allegacy has grown from nearly $50 million in assets in 1978 to more than $2.2 billion in assets today, plus more than $1.5 billion in assets under management in Allegacy Investment Group.
“Cathy is an authentic leader who has truly propelled Allegacy to the forefront of regional and national credit unions,” says Ann Johnston, former Allegacy Board Chair and current Board of Director who has worked with Pace for more than 30 years. “Her personal values of honesty, integrity and ‘doing the right thing’ have strongly influenced the organization’s culture and growth. She has intentionally developed relationships with local, regional and national organizations because she personally believes that it is critical for any business to support the communities in which they operate and support causes that are important to our employees and members.”
“Cathy is incredibly visionary, and always willing to try new things,” says current Allegacy Board Chair Lisa Marshall. Marshall is Chief Philanthropy Officer and Vice President of the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Relations at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist where Pace serves as chair of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Regional Advisory Group. “She is the personification of Allegacy’s promise to always do the right thing, but she has never been just a one-woman show. What she has done is create an environment that fully engages her team, the members and the community-at-large that has created a gateway for a new CEO to be successful.”
Noteworthy Allegacy Initiatives
Pace is credited with spearheading many noteworthy initiatives that have brought distinction to Allegacy, including:
- The name change in 2001 and development of a comprehensive and distinctive brand for Allegacy. The Allegacy name was designed to reflect the importance of Allegiance and Legacy, including history, heritage, and the deep relationships with the communities served.
- Allegacy has been on the leading edge of creating a culture of wellbeing for employees that helped define the rebranding effort and focused it on member and community wellbeing. In 2016, Allegacy launched the Allhealth Savings Account to encourage members to do the right thing for their wellbeing. In partnership with the YMCA and UNCG Kaplan Center, there are thousands of accounts with members earning a higher dividend based on their number of visits to the gym.
- The evolution of financial education, financial planning and wealth management as core to the credit union’s mission and growth. The Allegacy Investment Group is distinctive among credit unions nationwide, with $1.5 billion in assets under management.
- The 20-year historic partnership with Wake Forest that includes Wake Forest University and Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Allegacy Select Employee Groups; the Allegacy Center for Character and Leadership at the School of Business; the official credit union of Wake Forest Basketball; and the recent naming of the Allegacy Stadium which will exponentially expand Allegacy’s visibility and reputation in the Triad and beyond.
Allegacy Executives Prepared for Future
While a national search will be launched to identify the next CEO, Pace says her executive team is well-positioned to lead seamlessly through the transition. Allegacy Chief Experience Officer and Executive Vice President Annette Knight says “Cathy has prepared us well. Her influence is felt all through the hallways of the credit union and throughout the community. Her belief in all of us, her coaching and mentoring, her pushing us and developing us are all in an effort to help us be the best we can be. We are ready to embrace our future with another leader who will lead us forward. We are excited about our future and what we will do to grow our membership and expand market share in new areas. We have so much opportunity!”
DDJ Myers, the well-known executive search and leadership development firm, will serve as facilitator in the CEO search, working closely with the Board to find the best fit possible by thoroughly evaluating both internal and external candidates.
Additional Background
A recipient of numerous awards, Cathy has won the Triad’s Most Admired CEOs, Triad’s Top 40 Most Influential People, Triad Power Player, Women in Business, Business Leader’s Women Extraordinaire, and one of five Outstanding Women Leaders of Winston-Salem in 2020. Her credit union industry work has also been acknowledged with awards from the Carolinas Credit Union Foundation and the Credit Union Executive Society as Marketer of the Year. Pace often says her greatest award is being the wife of an amazing husband and mother to two remarkable daughters.
Pace also serves on numerous boards including Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center Regional Advisory Group; Wake Forest School of Business Board of Visitors; Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Piedmont Triad, Inc.; and PSCU, a national credit union service organization that supports over 1,500 credit unions (where she formerly served on the PSCU Executive Committee).
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About Allegacy Federal Credit Union
For 57 years, Allegacy Federal Credit Union has helped its members, employees, and the communities it serves be their best by helping all make smart financial decisions. Allegacy is one of the largest credit unions in North Carolina, serving more than 173,000 members worldwide with $2.2 billion in assets and more than $1.5 billion in assets under management in Allegacy Investment Group, offered through CUSO Financial Services, LP. With roots in Winston-Salem, Allegacy has 19 locations across the Triad and Charlotte areas, and nine high school student-run credit unions. Allegacy offers personal and business financial services to its members, including the employees, retirees, and families of more than 5,000 companies throughout the country. To learn more, visit Allegacy.org.
