ABERDEEN, Md.-David Gilbert describes being a volunteer in the credit union movement as like having been given a full scholarship to the Cooperative School of Financial Management.
"Dave Gilbert manifests the very essence of volunteerism in the credit union movement," said Don Lewis, CEO of Aberdeen Proving Ground FCU. "His energy, enthusiasm and sheer passion for the mission of credit unions inspire influence credit unionists locally and nationally. Dave consistently brings to the table a clear demonstration of the power of the cooperative spirit."
For those reasons and others, Gilbert, chairman of APGFCU, has been named as NAFCU's 2009 Volunteer of the Year for CUs with more than $150 million in assets. Gilbert has more than 40 years of credit union leadership experience, including 14 as chairman at APGFCU. He has served on numerous national committees since 1969, and spent 10 years as a director of NAFCU. When his time with NAFCU ended in 2007, he was elected as a director of the Maryland and DC Credit Union Association.
Gilbert was also a charter member of the Maryland CU Chairmen's Forum, created to foster discussion and idea exchange among volunteer leaders of both large and small credit unions. At ABGFCU, he championed the development of volunteers by introducing a successful associate director program that brought non-voting volunteers into board meetings and discussions to gain "on-the-job" experience. He was also instrumental in the creation of a technology committee at APGFCU. Today, volunteers with expert technology credentials sit on the committee and successfully interact with the professional staff.
