Bill Raker, President/CEO of Firefly Credit Union, Burnsville, Minn., has announced he will retire at the end of this year.
The $1.2 billion credit union’s CEO started his 20-year career there as a volunteer, serving on the board of directors for 12 years before taking the helm in 1997, at which time the credit union had about $250 million in assets.
But his interest in credit unions started long before that in the 1970s, when he was a math teacher at Fort Knox High School in Kentucky, where he served as the faculty advisor for what was reportedly the first student-run credit unions in the nation.
During his tenure as president and CEO, Raker has overseen a number of strategic changes at Firefly, which was originally founded to serve postal employees, then grew to include hundreds of select employer groups and eventually converted to community charter in 2004.
He has also been active in regional, state and national credit union advocacy groups, having served on Credit Union National Association subcommittees on governmental affairs, federal credit unions, examination supervision and more. Raker also served on the National Credit Union Administration’s Risk-Based Capital Working Group, as well as chairing CU Service Centers Executive Committee and the Minnesota Credit Union Network.
Raker’s industry recognition includes being named to the World Council of Credit Unions’ International Executive Volunteer Corps, MnCUN Outstanding CU Professional of the Year (2009) and being inducted into the CU Hall of Leaders at Credit Union House in 2015, as well as being a 2016 inductee into the Credit Union Executive Society’s Hall of Fame.
Outside of the industry, Raker serves on the Inver Hills Community College Foundation Board of Directors, the Prepare+Prosper Board of Directors and the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce.
