Credit union museum gives women leaders a long overdue spotlight

MANCHESTER, N.H. — America's Credit Union Museum is cementing the legacies of 20 female credit union leaders who have championed the movement throughout their longstanding careers, and many honorees were on site at the Manchester, New Hampshire, museum to witness the exhibit's unveiling.

The museum, which opened in 2002 is housed in the same building that was once home to St. Mary's Cooperative Credit Association — which through the assistance of Canadian credit union pioneer Alphonse Desjardins became the first credit union founded in the U.S. But in the museum's 20-year history, stories of women pioneers had been largely absent from its exhibits and displays, said Stephanie Smith, executive director of the museum.

"Right from the beginning, that was an entire part of the credit union movement that we didn't have included in the museum," Smith said. "The exhibits have changed over the years, but we really had never done anything like this before."

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While at the 2022 Credit Union National Association's Governmental Affairs Conference held in Washington, D.C., this February, Smith began putting out calls to action and inviting nominations for the hall of fame's inaugural class. Twenty were chosen out of 130 total proposed candidates, with some posthumous figures recognized as well.

The "Credit Union Women Making History … HERSTORY" exhibit officially opened on Thursday, featuring an interactive display of plaques with biographies describing a portion of each honoree's career and achievements.

"This is a great moment to honor these women, but so many of them said their work isn't done and they have more work to do," Smith said. "That's exactly how the museum feels [as] this is a great moment, and we want to pause and celebrate it, but it's just the beginning of what we want to do with this exhibit."

Many credit unions are furthering the movement for diversity and inclusion by creating suites of diverse leaders and workforces and listening to new generations of credit union executives.

Lily Newfarmer, president and chief executive of the $121 million-asset Tarrant County's Credit Union in Fort Worth, Texas, was honored in part for her work in establishing the Credit Union Women's Leadership Alliance in December 2020. The organization offers a forum for sharing best practices and policies, as well as other resources, exclusively for women CEOs who run institutions with assets of $300 million or less. 

"We just found it critically important to provide a platform and a voice for these women from smaller credit unions because, guess what, smaller credit unions are critical to the ecosystem of the credit union movement [and] our industry," with most being led by women, Newfarmer said.

Newfarmer gave special thanks to her two children Ashley and Cameron — both of whom work in the credit union industry — and expressed pride in their choice of employment.

"For a long time, I felt a lot of guilt about them not having as much 'mommy time' because I was out doing all this other stuff, so the fact that they are in our movement makes me extremely proud," Newfarmer said.

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Honorees and representatives for inductees who were unable to attend holding the award plaques. (Frank Gargano)

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Commemorative plaque signifying the building's history as the home of the first credit union founded in the U.S. (Frank Gargano)

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Interactive exhibit featuring biographies of each woman inducted this year. (Frank Gargano)

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The award plaques for each honoree inducted into the museum's HERSTORY Hall of Fame. (Frank Gargano)

Other inductees included those working at regulatory agencies, national trade organizations, state credit union leagues and consultancy firms.

Susan Mitchell, president and CEO of the consultancy firm Mitchell, Stankovic & Associates in Boulder City, Nevada, remarked about the lasting impact the work of she and her fellow honorees have undertaken throughout their careers.

"I look at our grandchildren, and I think about their futures and the legacy that we leave them. … I know that that means we have to use our voices, that we have to be strong, we have to be the trees that these Maple Leaf [awards] come from, we have to have strong roots and we have to stand up," Mitchell said. "We have to build the systems that will ensure the next generation, and really all generations, have access to financial democracy."

The full list of living honorees includes Sarah Canepa Bang, Diana Dykstra, Roshara Holub, Gigi Hyland, Lucy Ito, Lois Kitsch, Harriet May, Maria Martinez, Susan Mitchell, Lily Newfarmer, Renee Sattiewhite, Carol Schillios and Denise Wymore. Posthumous inductees include Agnes Gartland, Elizabeth "Sis" Hamilton, Louise Herring, Dora Maxwell, Angela Melville, Rose Nevener and Miriam Rivera Lieb Vellek.

"America's Credit Union Museum is all about capturing the stories of credit unions and the difference that they make in people's lives. … But it's also about capturing the stories of the people that are the difference makers and changemakers," said Nathan Saller, chair of the museum board and CEO of the local $576 million-asset Bellwether Community Credit Union.